The Misfits. The Rebels. The Troublemakers.

Steve Jobs

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do…. “

Steve Jobs

Thinking back, I’m so glad we (this is Heidi speaking) moved and switched schools for my kids, if we hadn’t I’d have checked into homeschooling. Picture a kindergartner sitting in the principal’s office all day because he wouldn’t say he was sorry for jumping off the side of the steps. He wasn’t sorry, he wanted to jump down the last 2 steps, he wasn’t going to lie. And I imagine a hyperactive, ultra-curious 5 year old was more of a punishment to his office staff than the 5 year old. The principal told me I had the most stubborn child he’s ever met in all his years of teaching.

Picture his sister staying inside from recess because she didn’t finish her morning’s busywork and thinking she’d never have any money or amount to anything. Why so slow? Because part of morning’s activity was to draw a picture to go with the short poem they copied. She’d draw a masterpiece while her classmates quickly scribbled.

By middle school, the stair jumping boy was heavily into origami, making dragons and other cool creatures during class, teaching himself to program on a dial-up computer at night.

His sister, without any musical training, learned to play songs by ear, both hands. She also composed her own piano piece which won an award in the school’s talent show.

Their siblings are each unique, but all have strong creative minds. I’m proud of each and everyone. They aren’t the only ones. I feel it is a human quality. This drive, this need to be something, do something, no matter if it has been done before or not. To find your unique work, your calling. Old. Young. Rich. Poor.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
“If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.”
Steve Jobs

iShocked. iMourn. iGrieve. iSad.

iSad to hear of Steve Jobs’ passing. I want to challenge each and everyone one of you this week, try something new, something you’ve never done before, but wanted to try. Don’t just stick your big toe in the water to check the temp, jump right in, you know it is where you want to be. So what if you make a mistake, we all do. Learn from it!

Steve Jobs, Apple founder dies

—————————————-
Steve Jobs photo by Ben Stanfield

“iShocked. iMourn. iGrieve. iSad.” thanks to SunnyC

12 thoughts on “The Misfits. The Rebels. The Troublemakers.

  1. Thanks, Heidi. Must be tough to be his kids knowing the world will be waiting to see if your father’s genius has been passed on to you.

  2. Great post and tribute, Heidi. Sounds like your kids had a loving mom who fostered their creative spirit and individuality. Beautiful stuff!

  3. Oh, Heidi. The whole thing (Steve Jobs) reminds me so much of when we (I) lost John Lennon.

    It’s the end of another era. The end of another brilliant career and person to look to.

    Thank you for touching base with me on Twitter. A pleasure to meet you.

    I LOVE homeschooleers!

  4. Oops! Just reread your post. You DIDN’T homeschool. Admire that just as much. I’m always so happy when parents take charge of the learning.

    The scenes you painted were wonderful.

    RIP, Steve. I will always think different, not because of you, but because you resonated inside of me a I am. :/ You are so missed.

    • Thanks Paula, no I didn’t home school, but if we’d stayed in the same place we probably would have. It was more kids taking charge of their learning, parents encouraging, standing out of the way. Both of those children now have kids of their own who are being home schooled. They saw the term unschooling, wondering what it was, reading about it my son got it. “Oh, that is what I did at home!”
      We were lucky teachers didn’t mind my son doing origami during class. He really does think better while his hands are moving. We couldn’t keep him away from computers, something he has a natural affinity for. In high school, his classmates voted him most likely to succeed and they see him as another Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. He is brilliant, I catch glimpses of him on twitter inventing a new kind of js programming which seems extremely fast so far.
      I’d have other parents ask what do you do with your kids, enroll them in chess clubs or other things? I’ve had teachers ask too. Nope, I let them be kids. Always projects going on around the house, someone building something, making something. working together, sharing ideas with each other, play outside, help in garden. Natural curiosity.
      If we’d stayed in that school, whose principal prided himself on having the straightest, most orderly lines, they’d have been home schooled. Not as many resources back then, but would have found a way.

  5. Well, I love the concept and the style. That’s how I liked to run my classroom, t the extent that I could. And the year I did homeschool a few kids, it was wonderful! Love it. 🙂

  6. Heidi,

    Thank you for this reminder that it is the differences that make us special and each one unique, created for different purposes. You are a smart mom to encourage the talents and creativity of your children. I have tried to do the same with my daughters, because I too was the kid who was believing I could!

  7. I have always appreciated Steve Jobs creativity. What I learned from him was resilience. He was ousted by his own company by the investors! How painful must that have been, especially when you have such a strong vision about the product. Yet, he still went on formed a new company that did some innovative things. When he was asked back, he could be proud that he didn’t let his “failure” keep him back. He trusted his vision of the future of technology. He created a culture around apple that pc’s couldn’t compete with. As well as revolutionizing how we think about our laptop, computer, and mobile phone. Pretty amazing stuff.

    The one thing that my parents did that fostered my writing spirit was teaching me how to use the wordpressor…on our Macintosh. Yep, I am a mac girl from way back.

  8. Heidi–great post and great reminder to young parents to help their kids stay true to their authentic nature–not be what someone else wants them to be. Thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *