Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Nov 25, 2008, at 7:04 AM, Tim Oppenheim wrote:

> http://www.alternet.org/environment/108461/living_the_good_life_on_%245%2C000_a_year/
>
> Merkel decided not only to quit the business of war but also to stop  
> paying
> federal tax dollars that could fund government weapons. To do so, he  
> aimed
> to live on an annual income less than the U.S. taxable level of  
> $5,000.

Thanks, Tim. From that article I followed a reference to The Global  
Living Project

http://radicalsimplicity.org/

and there found this:

"What we have discovered so far, is that sustainable lives must be  
nurturing, thrilling and fun. And, examples are more inspiring than  
theory or theology. Put plainly, most would rather see a sermon than  
hear one.?"

This correlates with my take on diet, exercise and simple living. A  
healthful diet must also be delicious or it will not be followed.  
Exercise must be enjoyable or it will be abandoned. And simple living  
must be uplifting or it will be felt onerous and abandoned.

We homesteaders get all three as a big bonus package for our chosen  
lifestyle. Our gardens feed us better food than a millionaire's cook  
can buy; our daily lives gives us healthful exercise; and our entire  
homesteading adventures give us something to do and something to look  
forward to. The only addition needed for the fully-lived life is love.