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  • From: <eureka AT hctc.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] [BULK] Simplified life ?
  • Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:21:50 -0500

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:43:19 -0800
Susan Trickett <gmasue AT inbox.com> wrote:
Because homesteading, self sufficiency and outside jobs take so much time how have you simplified your life?

One way I've simplified life is by not watching TV for the last 30 years. I decided as a teenager I'd rather be riding a horse than watching someone ride a horse and never turned the thing on again.

I am not disconnected without it. I got news by word of mouth until the Internet arrived. Even though I work (from home) in the field of advertising design I have been spared from watching commercials, knowing about the latest useless product, and developing any desire to visit the mall. An art reviewer once published a critique of my work saying I had a healthy disregard for trends. I think this applies to my entire life. Working from home has reduced my impact on the earth and my gasoline bill. I can get up in a pair of sweats and wear them all day long.

I've learned to say NO to people and causes that don't fit my lifestyle, purpose, belief system, etc. That is not to say I don't take time to read or listen to alternative views (I am on this list after all ;) I am open minded and try to expand myself through reading, which I can pick up and put down to fit my homesteading schedule. I have developed deep and lasting friendships with a few people, rather than superfluous ones with many.

We only make one trip into the city every 2-3 weeks. If we forget something we live without it. This has taught us to make better lists. We entertain ourselves with our garden and animals, cooking good food, taking long walks, swimming in the river, making music together, and an occasional card game, all of which cost nothing, and reading or downloading a movie on the computer which sometimes costs a little. We donate some of our time to community building, namely the library and our food group. My husband, who cannot live without a newspaper gets it a day late from our neighbor through a mailbox on the fence between our gardens. We later use it to line the garden paths before we mulch. To thank them we give them eggs or arrange flowers at their kid's wedding, etc.

We are always looking for ways to simplify. I think homesteading requires this of a person. It directs us from project to project. Projects keep our minds and money focused. We were talking last night about life without electricity, and both decided we could make do, if we had to, except for one thing: hauling water up from our pioneer well would do us in. So we are considering how to convert our pump to solar power and looking into a raised tank over a spring house (since most of you convinced us not to convert our ancient underground septic into a root cellar!).

--Sage
Way Out in Texas





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