It’s been almost three and a half years since Zeb has been out of school. And it’s been five years since he decided – with the negative encouragement from some very poor art teachers at the age of five – to believe he wasn’t an artist.
In fact, until last week, there were three truths he held firm to:
- That only women made good artists
- That he was not artistic, nor interested in anything art related
- That at some point in the next few years he would have to outgrow his beloved LEGO collection
He no longer believes any of that.
In fact, several nights ago he declared that he is going to be a sculptor, and that he wanted to go to bed early so he could get started on a new project the next day. The last words he spoke before falling to sleep that night were, “Tomorrow begins my sculpting career.” 
Why the change? Zeb met one person who inspired him to view things differently.
His name is Chris. He’s a sculptor and he, his painter wife and their 4 year old daughter are currently living next to us in their RV.
They’ve had fun building light sabers out of PVC and duct tape, and the kids all love the dragons he made out of melted plastic trash.
But I think what first intrigued Zeb was that Chris loves LEGO so much he travels with his collection! For awhile now Zeb had assumed that growing older meant giving up the fun of childhood; Chris and his creative nature prove you can be a fun-loving kid at any age. 
Over the weekend, Chris held a “funshop” for the kids, showing them how to make their own dragons from wire and modeling clay. Zeb, the once self-critical perfectionist, is IN LOVE with his creations. He excitedly points out how he executed his ideas, what didn’t work and what he wants to try next time. My heart swells just thinking about it all.
This is what I was hoping to find on the road: awesome people who help us open up and expose more of the world and all its options to our son. Two months into this trip and we’re already hearing things from him we no longer thought we would hear, we’re seeing him do things passionately he once swore he couldn’t do and we’re watching him take pride in his work.
A big, huge thank you to Chris and Becky for your inspiration, patience and kindness.
Between his new-found passion for sculpting, the dozen unschooling kids he’s spent every day with, the endless games they play and the beautiful surroundings, he’s already dreading our upcoming departure date. And with all the fun we’ve had with the NuRVers this past week, so are we. 
To see more of what we’ve been up to, check out the Happy Janssen’s daily blog posts.
I'm Tara Wagner, life coach and creator of the 
