Trackers PDX Blog

The Nature of Money

7th

April

I grew up in a working-class household. Learning how money moves in the world was a struggle for me. Yet I also grew up in home that valued freedom of its children above all else. Our parents told us we could accomplish anything if we put our minds to it. Conflicting messages? "Money is a struggle" opposed "you can accomplish anything."

Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I definitely don't equate success with money. I do know for a fact it's a primary stress for families, communities and even neighborhoods. How our children grow up and perceive livelihood directly affects how their own family relationships can freely blossom.

I think the desire to stay "off of the wheel" was strongly encouraged by my father who seemed to be locked on it. Many a morning, I'd hear him come home at 1am from 12-hours of overtime on the railroad. It's how he paid the bills. It's what he needed to do to feed his children... simple as that.

I turned into one of those kids that always seemed to have a new business in mind. It wasn't because I wanted to be rich. I wanted to save my family from a world that refused to allow finding shelter, water, fire and food to be a natural and joyful endeavor.

I think my first real business was selling comic book artwork at school for a quarter a page. In my teenage years I baked artisan bread and sold it to family and friends. My next endeavor was videotaping weddings and events in my late teens. At that same time, I started teaching wilderness skills as a contractor and from there I began Trackers in my late twenties.

When I first began classes with Trackers, many older people who'd spent their entire lives working for others told me things like, "You should get a job" and "You should get over it" and "You're not being realistic." Ironically many of these folks actually came from a childhood of privilege. I won't name names, but they know who they are. And it suffices to say that Trackers now cares for a lot of people. That makes me grin a little.

You see, they were looking at it from the perspective that I was simply pursuing childish ideals. I knew in my heart of hearts that this was about survival. My father worked hard all his life so I could experience what freedom felt like. I was not going to let that gift go for naught. I wanted to cast the same blanket of autonomy, community and family over all the people I worked for, cared for and loved.

Today I beam with pride when I realize that our new Youth Program Director and her husband have essentially been my "family" since I've known them for the past decade. I am ennobled that I can call Shaun Deller, our lead adult instructor, one of my best friends. I'm here to forge a livelihood with those I dearly love, those to whom I will entrust my own children, and that includes the instructors, the families, even the land we work with.

I often wonder if it's simply enough to bring nature connection to the children in our stead. Or through this appreciation for the diversity of life, can we also introduce them to a fiscal ecology? Can this same understanding shape a livelihood that tends to both family and the land around us? What do say, should Trackers run a camp called "The Nature of Money"? :)

Featured Youth Programs…

Little House Summer Camp is back We just opened 2 new groups of this ever popular camp. If your family has been waiting to get into LIttle House in the Big Valley, registration is now open.

New "When School's Out" Camps June 16-18 By parent request, we introduced a 3-day camp that begins after the last day of Portland Public Schools. It's a great opportunity to get a taster of this year's most popular themes…

3-day Bonus Session Little House in the Big Valley June 16-18 
3-day Bonus Session Secret Agent Academy June 16-18

There still time to register for...

Homeschool Guilds 7-week sessions begins April 19 
Youth Woodworking School 7-week sessions begins April 21

Check out our entire Summer Camp schedule

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