how does waldorf lifestyle impact you professionally?

[noahs_wings]

I have been pretty involved with the waldorf lifestyle for the past 3 years of being home with dd.

I have recently done a few hours of work here and there while dd is with dad and i have some time to before ds is born

I feel like I am having culture shock or like im amish or am just overwhelmed by the "norm"

It is just so hard to go back to work with "normal" people and feel so out of touch with ipods and phones and aps and movies. I met a mom of a 5 year old today who is so overbooked and the things she is worried about for her child are things that are last on my list of concerns, frankly things I think are age inappropriate. Anyway thats a bit off topic but

Has finding or living the waldorf life changed you professionally? changed careers? changed focus within career?

Especially if you work with children in some capacity how do your alternative beliefs stay separate?

I assume most people need to separate because we cant all be waldorf teachers and if you work with the general public most likely not a big part of your clientele knows much about waldorf of embraces the lifestyle

[zoebird]

i do find it shocking at times, yes.

i find that i just go back to the idea that people are different and i can allow that. i don't have to disagree with them. if this person believes that this is absolutely the way to do things, then that's ok. then it is so for them.

mostly, i keep my mouth shut about things, and then i find that i move toward acceptance of it.

i don't work with children, and i teach yoga, so the environment is pretty spare anyway, so it doesn't affect much in that way.

when i am with children or working with them, i try to bring in a sense of rhythm, but beyond that, i don't worry about it.

[LuxPerpetua]

Well, we're Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, so it has had a pretty big impact on our lives in that way (we had not intended to homeschool dd when she was born). I hear you totally about culture shock. We have had people look at us like we're from Mars when we tell them we don't have a television--not that we just don't watch it, that we don't even OWN one. My dd has a little friend who is incredibly over-scheduled, but that's how her mom is as well. I try not to judge, but rather just be so thankful that is not our life. We don't have a Waldorf community around us and I have found it difficult to relate to people (and to protect dd). It seems like wherever go, there is always a television around (the opiate of the masses, we call it) and there is always some sort of character-marketing toward children. Needless to say, we limit the amount of time we spend in any retail establishment for these reasons. I have had some positive responses from people, too, though. The concept of rhythm and a relaxed, slow-paced life does appeal to some moms, I've seen. I've had many mothers ask "how I get it all done," so then I get to stick in a Waldorf plug.

[sweetest]

I am an attorney - I do Civil Rights litigation. Its a pretty demanding job to say the least. And we are also TV free, raise our own chickens, etc. We are lucky enough to have a wonderful Waldorf school close by that has become our community.

I feel like my professional life is benefited by our lifestyle. I have a quiet, peaceful homelife that recharges me to do my work in the political realm. There is a drastic difference between my home and work life, allowing me to really relax at home ( most of the time.)

I think Im very lucky to be able to have a variety of experiences. I am also lucky to work with very educated, intelligent people who can understand my lifestyle and not think Im "weird" - eclectic maybe, but not weird

[honeybunmom]

Like sweetest, I am also an attorney. A mergers and acquisitions and bank regulatory attorney. Also demanding and at times, fast paced. But, I'm also in-house in a financial institution, so, that really helps a lot. One of the assistants here knew me at my first firm when I just got out of law school. She still shakes her head when we talk sometimes. She cannot believe how domesticated I am compared to how I was back then. Well, back then, I was a first year, in a firm, single, with no children. So, of course I worked long hours! If I tell her I sewed a pair of pants for my son before coming in this morning, she just might pass out.

No day to day real impact for me. Plus, we're in a city, so, there is definitely a variety of where people are on the spectrum in our Waldorf community. We see characters at school some times and not everyone is tv free (ourselves included, although we do limit it to a large degree). I do get the odd look that we're not teaching our daughter to read, or looking for a school that offers academics for the pre-school set (schools are very competitive here and one must go through a testing and application process starting as early as pre-school. Thank goodness we were able to skip that!), and so on. But, I've never been one to be "in the loop" so to speak on office politics and stuff like that . . . so, being "out of it" on the school/lifestyle front really doesn't register with me much.