What THEY Want vs What I Want For Them

Something hit me out of the blue the other day and I celebrated it as an unschooling epiphany (aka one of Oprah's "aha" moments). I was thinking about the kids and the different things they enjoy: fashion, music, design, video games just to name a few. I was trying to think of ways I could help them "enjoy" these things more. "You like fashion. You must want to be a designer. Want to learn to sew? What about drawing classes for sketching?" and "You love video games. You must want to be a game designer. Want to learn to code? Want to build your own computer?" And my children, deeply in touch with who they are responded with resounding...maybes. Hmmm...that's a let down. Or is it? Does everything they enjoy have to be fast-tracked into a career path? That's very traditional thinking. And my hope is that they never buy into traditional thinking unless it's what they choose. Can I let the kids have interests and hobbies without me projecting some type of skill-honing mindset onto everything? I have to. For all of us to reap the immense benefits of this lifestyle I have to let them BE. Not hands off, not uninvolved, not uninvested, not doing my own thing all the time. I have to support their interests without pushing an agenda. I think it's always ok to suggest and offer interesting things but I also have to accept rejection of those things with no let-down or emotional attachment. It's their life, not mine. They are free to spend their time as they please. Doing things for pure enjoyment is a skill that most adults I know I have lost. Or if they do things they enjoy they apologize for those activities or try to monetize them as justification. I hope to provide a space for my family to become adults who do things simply for the enjoyment of the activity.