8. Zoe Lewis - Nurturing and holding space for creative self-expression and automatic writing is so important in our early experiences.

Handwriting & You!

Zoe Lewis​
Empowering Angel Facilitator of Change
Empowering Angels Global

Balance comes to heart when I feel into my education experience, for me it was complete discord my soul felt towards the system and methods used to ‘educate’ children. I have always loved writing – never a second thought as to whether I was good at it or if the spelling and grammar were correct or even if it made any sense or if it were legible to whom ever may read it, that was never the why for me, it was expression, release, creativity, and gratitude. My father did not have the grandest schooling experience and to this day his writing resembles that of an eight-year-old child, however it is understood perfectly, and his letters bring immeasurable joy to his grandchildren and he is never discouraged because of his lack of education – the joy it brings him far outweighs that. My mother was a writer, in fact so much of her expression went into her writing that it is a part of her that I miss the most and I read her writing often, the mere sight of it brings me comfort and animates her essence if only for that moment – the power of writing.

I never resonated with and pushed greatly against the idea that we participate in or learn to write in a specific manner or at a specific time, for me it was flow, to be told my own personal self-expression was ‘wrong’ simply for the spelling or shape of my letters or because I’d not followed the narrative given to write about to a satisfactory level often shut down the flow for me and created a disconnect from my love of writing that would shadow me throughout high school. As a result, my writing marks plummeted, and I was told I greatly lacked English skills necessary for life – I never felt that to be my truth.

I’d always felt it ignorant and power hungry for the very people entrusted to nurture my learning journey to have such critical and un nurturing feedback such rigid methods. I credit my inner connection with my authentic self and external rebellious spirit for keeping my love of writing simmering in the background, ready to re-emerge in the right environment. Once leaving school at fourteen and choosing to learn on my own terms in an environment I felt was much gentler on my being, I began to flourish and soon realised it was the system that needed the assistance, not me or my ways of learning.

This was all but forgotten until my first child was of school age. My daughter began pre-primary confident in her being, reading brilliantly, an absolute passion for writing and incredibly open and fearless nature. I recall chatting with her teacher on the first day as I was concerned may struggle in this environment as I had, I was quickly reassured and sent on my way. In less than six months Piper had declined substantially and her teacher’s notes were concerning me as they were astonishingly different to Pipers learning results at home. Without realising there was another option I allowed this to continue however two weeks into grade one, Piper and I could no longer watch her spark for learning and her natural abilities dwindle. I pulled her from school and stumbled upon home-schooling.

Fast forward eight years and Piper is now fourteen and running her own $2100 a week business alongside weekly private lessons and managing several aspects of several other businesses.

Speaks About

• Nurturing and holding space for creative self-expression and automatic writing is so important in our early experiences. The balance for me in this journey has been the gift of consciously parenting and ‘educating ‘ my children due to the lessons I received in experiencing such discord from the education system myself. Being a conscious parent has allowed me to create harmony with my children’s learning experiences, for that I am grateful.