Our Kids, Their Voices, Their Future
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It is Thursday.
I know many people are already looking toward tomorrow, thinking about the weekend, making plans, or simply trying to make it through the rest of the week.
But here at Gaia Gate Wellness, a signature company of Wolf Vibrations, LLC, I find myself thinking about something a little deeper.
What are we putting into the world while we are here?
At Gaia Gate Wellness, we believe in being a light.
Not a light that demands attention.
Not a light that tells everyone else how to live.
A light from within.
The kind of light that inspires another person to believe that they can grow, learn, heal, create, and become something greater than what their circumstances may have suggested.
Because I believe that is part of what builds humanity.
And today, that thought brings me back to my son.
From One Book to a Bigger Story
So my kid originally just only wanted to write a book.
That simple idea eventually became something much bigger when our family came together and decided that his story will become a series.
That series is Asher the Chief Ranger.
Asher is a young Native American boy who experiences a speech delay, but the story is not really about a speech delay.
It is about what happens when you are a child who experiences the world a little differently.
It is about finding your voice.
It is about learning that being different does not mean being less.
And, perhaps most importantly, it is about understanding that the things that make you different can become part of what makes your light unique.
But Asher the Chief Ranger is also about learning beyond the story itself. The series incorporates STEM learning, character development, Native American heritage, environmental stewardship, and hands on educational experiences designed to help children build confidence, strengthen reading comprehension, develop critical thinking skills, and discover that every child has a voice worth sharing.
Through Asherās experiences, children are encouraged to explore technology and the natural world, embrace curiosity, respect their heritage, care for the Earth, and understand that leadership can come through courage, kindness, perseverance, and speaking with purpose.
As a Native American woman, I know something about growing up knowing that the world may see you before it knows you.
My son and I are Native American. I am also a dark skinned woman, and I have experienced throughout my life what it means to sometimes be perceived through the lens of appearance before someone takes the time to understand who I am.
I never wanted my sonās biggest difference to become his skin color.
I never wanted his speech delay to become the definition of who he believed himself to be.
I wanted him to know that his voice matters.
His ideas matter.
His imagination matters.
His contribution matters.
And his light is just as worthy of being seen as anyone elseās.
Asher The Chief Ranger URL:Ā
(https://gaiagatewellness.com/products/asher-the-chief-ranger-classroom-adventure-kit-inspire-a-classroom-of-young-leaders-explorers-and-lifelong-learners?_pos=1&_psq=asher&_psid=9f88a1110&_ss=e)Ā
The People Who Inspire Our Kids
One of the things I love about watching my son grow is seeing the people and ideas that inspire him.
He loves what he calls his ātech wizards.ā
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, is one of them. My son is fascinated by technology and video games, and he loves the idea that technology can create opportunities for children around the world to connect and play together, regardless of what they look like at home, where they live, or how they sound.
He also looks at people like Bill Gates and Satya Nadella and sees something bigger than a company.
He sees people who helped build technologies that allow people to communicate, learn, create, and connect across distances.
He looks at Sundar Pichai and sees another example of someone who built a career in technology and eventually became CEO of Google.
These are the kinds of stories I want him to encounter.
Not because I expect him to become any of these people.
But because I want him to understand that people can learn.
People can build.
People can solve problems.
People can create things that change how other people experience the world.
And people who look different, sound different, come from different places, or experience the world differently can still contribute something extraordinary.
That is the lesson.
Not imitation.
Inspiration.
Why What We Allow Around Our Children Matters
As a mother, I think about this often.
We live in a time when social media can put an enormous amount of information, imagery, opinions, trends, and personalities directly in front of our children.
That does not mean every influence is bad.
It means we have to be intentional.
If I expect my son to one day understand leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, responsibility, and the possibility of becoming a CEO or steward of something meaningful, then I have a responsibility to introduce him to people who can broaden his understanding of what leadership can look like.
That means books.
That means conversations.
That means history.
That means technology.
That means science.
That means entrepreneurship.
That means learning about people who built things, people who failed, people who started again, and people who asked questions nobody else was asking.
It also means giving children room to discover their own interests.
Because our job as parents is not to manufacture the next generation of ourselves.
It is to help them discover who they are capable of becoming.
Why Zero to One Is Starting Our Reading Circle
That is one of the reasons I chose Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters as one of the books helping to launch our new reading circle.
The book challenges readers to think beyond simply repeating what already exists and to consider how new ideas, independent thinking, and continued learning can help shape the future.
That idea speaks directly to what I want for my son.
I do not want him to grow up believing that success means becoming a copy of someone else.
I want him to learn enough to recognize an opportunity.
I want him to ask better questions.
I want him to read beyond the headlines.
I want him to understand how things work.
I want him to learn from people who have built things.
And then I want him to decide what he can contribute.
That is the difference between simply consuming the world and participating in building it.
And perhaps that is one of the reasons this book felt right for the beginning of our reading circle.
Learning should never stop simply because we reach a certain age.
As parents, we should model that for our children.
As entrepreneurs, we should practice it.
As leaders, we should expect it of ourselves.
And as human beings, we should remain curious enough to keep learning.
Get The Book Here:
We Cannot Ask Children to Build a Better World Without Helping Them Find Their Voice
This brings me back to Asher the Chief Ranger.
The story is inspired by experiences from my sonās everyday life, but the message is much bigger than our family.
I want another child to read Asher and think:
I am not behind.
I am not less.
My voice matters.
There is something inside me that the world needs.
That is why I believe it is so important that our children know their voices matter.
Their ideas matter.
Their experiences matter.
Their differences do not make them less worthy.
And their light does not come from other peopleās approval.
Their light comes from within.
Protecting the Voices We Are Teaching Our Children to Find
That is also why I advocate for greater protection for our children on social media.
Because if we are going to tell children that their voices matter, then we also have a responsibility to pay attention to the environments in which those voices are developing.
Cyberbullying, cruelty, humiliation, and the constant pressure to compare themselves to others can influence how children see themselves and how they understand their place in the world.
Our children deserve better.
They are the future, and what they see, hear, experience, and learn today can influence the people they become tomorrow.
I do not want social media to become the place where my son learns his worth.
I do not want an algorithm, a comment section, or someone elseās opinion to determine whether he believes his voice deserves to be heard.
I want him to know who he is before the world tries to tell him who he should be.
That does not mean keeping children away from technology.
My son loves technology.
I want him to understand the incredible things technology can make possible while also understanding that technology comes with responsibility.
We can teach our children how to use technology without allowing technology to teach them who they are.
Because protecting our children does not mean shielding them from the world.
It means giving them the knowledge, confidence, guidance, and safe spaces they need to navigate it.
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This Is Part of Our Light
This is also why I believe Gaia Gate Wellness has a purpose beyond products.
Wellness is not only about what we put on our skin.
It is not only about meditation, crystals, nature, rituals, or creating a beautiful space.
Wellness is also about what we put into our minds.
What we teach our children.
What we choose to learn.
What we choose to believe.
What we choose to pass forward.
And ultimately, what we choose to contribute.
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Gaia Gate Wellness is a signature company of Wolf Vibrations, LLC, and my vision for this work has always been connected to something bigger than commerce.
It is about creating spaces where people can reconnect with themselves, reconnect with nature, discover something new, and remember that they still have something meaningful to contribute.
That includes our children.
That includes our families.
That includes the generations coming behind us.
And it includes the planet we leave for them.
Be the Light From Within
So while some of us are already looking toward Friday, I want to pause on Thursday.
Pause long enough to ask:
What am I learning?
What am I teaching?
Who am I allowing to influence me?
Who am I influencing?
What am I building that could matter after I am gone?
Those questions are part of why we are beginning our reading circle.
They are part of why my son is writing.
They are part of why I continue to learn.
And they are part of why Gaia Gate Wellness exists.
Because I believe the world does not need more people simply trying to be seen.
It needs more people willing to become a light.
A light that learns.
A light that creates.
A light that encourages.
A light that protects.
A light that gives.
A light that leaves something better behind.
And perhaps the greatest thing we can do for the next generation is help them understand that their light does not have to look like anyone elseās.
It simply has to be theirs.
Keep learning. Keep creating. Keep becoming.
And wherever you are today, be the light from within.
That may be one of the most meaningful contributions any of us can make toward restoring, protecting, and preserving our humanity and our planet.
Ciao,
Tawnie Wolf
Gaia Gate Wellness
A Signature Company of Wolf Vibrations, LLC