Episode Details

I must've been around 4 or 5 years old, already diving into the world of reading at an early age. My parents fueled my endless curiosity by encouraging my torrent of whys and hows. So, they figured, why not teach me to read and write, letting me explore things on my own?

Before 7 am, the morning papers would arrive, El Tiempo and El Espectador, and both my parents would sit, exchanging sections. Following their lead, I'd eagerly wait for my share, reading out loud everything, even the classified ads.

Remember those?

For years, I'd devour words and verbs, not just in my native Spanish, but also in Italian and French, thanks to my dad. This, while attending an American Catholic school (quite the horror, but that's a different tale).

By the age of 7, I was pretty fluent and always on the lookout for more knowledge.

"the teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which will affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences"

~John Dewey,

Andrew Anderson on progressive education after the 1930s

Whenever I had a big historical question, I'd dial (remember those?) my grandmother's number, asking, "Abuelita (granny), do you know anything about Egypt, Rome, Vietnam, or whatever else I was curious about?"

And she did. She was a storyteller, and she taught me the importance of asking—always ask, never stay quiet.

My mother's mother, a polymath, opened Bogota's first kindergarten in 1939. The progressive ideas of educating kids from an early age might not have had backing from neuroscience then, but progressive thinkers such as Maria Montessori and John Dewey influenced their philosophy. One such guiding principle was that 'Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.'

My mother followed her lead in 1967, naming her pre-school 'John Dewey,' where she nurtured her four children and guided future students with principles centered on joy, experiential learning, artistic expression, and the appreciation of real-life contexts and challenges as valuable educational experiences. Emphasizing the importance of actively engaging with problems, the belief that mere passive perception without a deep, emotional, and reflective connection to the consequences hinders the likelihood of meaningful adaptation, habit revision, or the construction of new habits—resulting in superficial changes, if any.

My mom handed me my first paying job. I learned then to be of service, I always had a liking for money and the concept of trading. The idea of value and the magical feeling of bartering intrigued me from an early age.

She tasked me with teaching summer school kids to read, or those lagging in their reading skills.

I had no set methodology, but I had wit and could improvise, she trusted my ways. I remember being patient, holding tiny hands to demonstrate how to write or pronounce a word. My mother always trusted my decisions.

As for the money and what I did with it, that's a bit hazy. It's been a recurring pattern for me—no issues earning significant amounts, but handling it? It seemed to vanish like magic.

Many times, I'd treat others with candy or whatever struck my fancy. Growing older, especially after my 2016 divorce, I found myself in a deep depression. The realization hit that I had no clue how to preserve my value. While I had no qualms putting a dollar sign on my work or services, figuring out the next steps was a puzzle.

I knew I wasn't alone, but perhaps shame held me back from seeking help this time and asking fundamental questions, such as what money is.

Fast forward to now, reflecting on the past 7 years, where I delved into the