A Post To Share

Sometimes when you are on a simple living journey I think there are things you need to remember and this post really sums it up well.

Check it out: When Simple Isn’t Easy : 5 Ways to Cope with Homestead Overwhelm

Slow Parenting

1. Slow parenting (also called simplicity parenting) is a parenting style in which few activities are organised for children. Instead, they are allowed to explore the world at their own pace

I don't watch a lot of TV but of late I have come across a few great shows recently and last night on the ABC I watched a documentary about slow parenting called Frantic Family Rescue which you watch here until August 25th.  The show was lead by Carl Honore  and he is in the business of selling slow.  He encouraged 3 family to cut back on all structured activities for their kids (bar one), ditch all screens for a month (parents could keep their mobile phones during the day and do alternative activities together as a family.

1. 

The symbol above is one of the 12 priciples of permaculture "Use Small and Slow Solutions"

and while it may not directly relate to parenting I think it is a reminder that excessiveness (not really a word I know) in any aspect of our lives is unhealthy and means that we loose balance in other areas.
I am not a parent so I do not judge anyone for their choices but I firmly believe kids need time to be kids, unstructured time where they can exercise their imaginations and take small risks to help them become more confident people.  If their time is fully structured they miss out on the opportunity to develop these skills.

Do you practice slow parenting?
Did you the the show the other night?

Reducing Commitments

This year we have a lot of plans and are going to be making a lot of decisions about our move to New Zealand.
We do not have a definite time frame for the move but there is still a lot going on in preparation including selling our current home, finalising plans for our New Zealand home, reducing our possessions as there are many things we cannot take, and a whole lot of other things.  We are really trying to sort things out now rather that having to do it all right before we move.

Over the last week I have sorted out all the garden pots that I have.  They have all been washed and sorted into sizes ready to go to new homes.  I have already given all of the my tube stock pots to our local Landcare group, some large pots to a friend and a few to my father in law.  But there are plenty more to give away.

Because of all the different things that are or will be going on this year I have had to make the hard decision to reduce all of the community activities that I have participated in in the past.  In short I am simplifying my life.

The biggest thing I am giving up is the Classic Car show that I have been the event director of for the past 4 years.  I will still be available to the committee for them to check in on how things are done, or processes that I followed but for the most part I will be handing the baton on and trying to let others do it their way which I know will be quite tricky.

It was really hard to decide to give these things up but in some ways it has been a bit of a relief that there are a few less thing to juggle this year which reinforces the fact that it was the right decision.

Have you decided to give any thing up this year to focus on other things?

A Practical Action Plan for Living More On Less

I have heaps on today including a trip down to Brisbane and back to see my surgeon, and two other appointments.
So rather than a full post I thought I would share an article I really enjoyed.
Here is a taste of what it is all about.

Beyond  our  basic  material  needs for  food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  how  much  is  enough?  
In particular, how much money and how many possessions do we really need to live well and to be free? 

These are not questions that many people ask themselves in consumer societies today, but they are some of the most important questions of all.  Instead of  confronting  these  questions,  too many  people  today spend  their entire  lives  desperately  climbing  the  endless  ladder  of  consumerism,  seeking more and more income  to spend on more and more stuff. 
But at the end of life these  people inevitably discover  that  they  had  not  really  lived,  that  they  had wasted their only chance at life inside a shopping mall. 

A free and meaningful life, it turns out, does not actually depend on having all the latest consumer products or having the nicest house on the street. On the contrary, working long hours just to  ‘keep  up  with  the Joneses’  leaves  people  with  less  time  for  the  things  that really  matter  in  life,  like  friends,  family, community,  and  engaging  in  peaceful, creative activity. This is the stuff that makes life worth living, and the interesting thing is we don’t need to be rich to enjoy it all. 

The best things in life really are free.  Abundance is a state of mind.

The Simpler Way - A Practical Action Plan for Living More On Less

The Reason for The Silence

So I have been a bit quite on the blogging front.  This is because I am getting ready for a big operation and will need some time off work to recover.  What this basically boils down to is that I am cramming a lot of extra work into each day.  Plus lots to do at home.
I have an assistant holding the fort while I am away but the reality is that there is much of my job that she cannot do.  In the future this is something I intend to remedy by training her up so that when I take time off I can really relax.  I know that I have a bad habit of thinking that I am the only one who can do it all, but if I want to have relaxing holidays in the future I know I have to change my thinking.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Since I will not be blogging for the next couple of weeks I have some posts planned and scheduled.  I have been reading some interesting articles over the last few months so I thought I would share them with you.

They are quite long but I found them really inspiring and informative.  Enjoy reading them.

Here's the first one.

Mindfulness - The Doorway To Simple Living

Have You Seen No Impact Man?

The other day I happened to see this documentary on ABC.  It is the personal story about 1 man, his wife and daughter and their experiment to reduce/eliminate their impact on the environment.

For one year, my wife, my 2-year-old daughter, my dog and I, while living in the middle of New York City, are attempting to live without making any net impact on the environment. In other words, no trash, no carbon emissions, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, no toilets…

What would it be like to try to live a no impact lifestyle? Is it possible? Could it catch on? Is living this way more fun or less fun? More satisfying or less satisfying? Harder or easier? Is it worthwhile or senseless? Are we all doomed or is there hope? These are the questions at the heart of this whole crazy-assed endeavor.

You can also check out his blog here.

I found this to be a fascinating insight into exactly what is possible even in our modern world if you just have the determination to do it.

At this stage of our life when we are looking at moving overseas and starting over we are questioning many aspects of our life and looking at what changes we want to make.  We are also starting to declutter our home and reduce the possessions we own.  I think for me this documentary just proved that it really is possible for everyone to live a less impacting life and tread a little lighter on our planet.

It also made me realise that there is a lot more we could be doing.  It's not that I am plagued with guilt over the life we lead but it has made me questions some of my beliefs and assumptions  which I think is always a good thing.

So if you didn't get to see it you can watch it on ABC iView for the next 6 days.  If you have seen it what did you think?  Could you relate to the ideas shared?

Look at me Carbon Free

Over the weekend I got a new toy.  Isn't she lovely!

I have been looking at getting a bike for ages and I knew exactly what I wanted.

Must haves included a big bottom seat for comfortable rides, high upright handles so I can ride without leaning forward, a few gears to get me around the rural area where I live, a basket on the front and carry all on the back in case I get fit game enough to ride to town, and of course a pretty colour is important too (I got a mint green).

The Cordial That Broke The Camels Back

The camel in this story is my poor Hubby, and perhaps after telling you all the things he eats for lunch in my last post I was inviting this to happen.  But any way this is the story.

H = Hubby   M = Me

It is a Thursday evening at the end of another long week and Hubby still has to work again tomorrow and Saturday as he is an employee Mon - Fri but still runs his own business as well.

H - Honey can you get some cordial when you do the shopping.
M - What do you want cordial for?
H - I'm sick of drinking just water it would be nice to have something with a bit of flavour when I get home since I drink plain water all day at work.  (Hubby drinks about 3-4 litres of water a day because of his physical job)
M- Ok but don't put it on the list cause we have some lemons so I will make you some.
H - No!  Just buy it. I am sick of home made everything.  Everyday it is the same healthy food in my lunch grown at home and to be honest it is becoming boring as bat sh*t.
M - Ok... but it will be cheaper if I make it and will not have artificial colours and preservatives in it, and it will be better than what I can buy.
H - Yes I am sure it will be better and cheaper but it will still be home made.
M - So what is wrong with home made all of a sudden.  Thirty years ago there was no such thing as manufactured everything, if you wanted it you made it.
H - Its just boring.  Every day the same things, fruit and veg, fruit and veg or left overs I just want some thing different is that ok?
M - Ok.  Well what would you like me to make you for your lunches so they are not so boring?  I could make some stuffed capsicums, savoury muffins, vege pasties, mini pizzas...  You tell me what you want and I will make it for you.
H - No!  I don't want you to make anything.  It's not the point.
M - But if you are bored then tell me what would be better and I will make it.
H - Don't worry about it.
M - Well you said you were bored and I want you to be happy with your lunch so I will make you something different you just tell me what you want.  Do you want me to buy you some shapes (the crackers) with the shopping?
H - No you'll get the wrong flavour
M - Well what about something else?
H - It's not the point.
M - But you said you were bored?
H - I just want to be able to have what ever I feel like on the spur of the moment.  If I feel like a hamburger I want to have a hamburger, if I want to buy a packet of chips I don't want to have to think "oh I can't have that because I don't have any money"
M - What do you mean you don't have any money?
H - The ATM at the servo wouldn't give me a balance so I don't know if that developer has paid me and I have put the rest of my money into the mortgage offset account.
M - Ok well I have some money in my wallet if you want to buy your lunch tomorrow.
H - I can't.  We are working in the middle of nowhere so I can't get to the shops and the boss has put his foot down about us wasting time stopping on the way so everyone can buy their lunch.
M - Have you checked on line to see if you have been paid?
H - I'll do that now.

H - Oh far out!  I got paid on Monday, why didn't it show up?  That stupid ATM  never shows you a balance.  All this time I did have money.
M - Ok, so do you want me to make something tonight for you to take tomorrow.
H - No don't worry I'll find something.
M - Look I'll get the banana cake out of the freezer and make you some devilled eggs and there are muesli bars in the pantry.
H - Thanks honey and could you make some cordial on the weekend, yours will be heaps better than the shops stuff.
M - Sure no worries.

So it turns out that homemade is better, and money worries can mask themselves and morph into other things.  This was a great lesson in communication for us, it took a while but we got there in the end.
We also had a discussion about how the way we live, growing our own food, making what we can where possible (like the cordial) is not the norm for most people, although I'd like to think we were getting back there.  We also talked about the pressures to conform and how it can be hard at times not to feel like you are missing out.  But in the end we came to the conclusion that we wouldn't change the way we live.  In fact we will keep working towards being able to do more for ourselves and become more self reliant. 
We do however need to make sure we don't feel guilty about not always meeting the standards we set for ourselves.

Does this happen at your house too?
Are you hard on yourself about living up to your own expectations?

A Simple Life

Simple   n Clear, Easy, Not Complicated/Complex
Life       a Animate Existence, Way of Living

So what is a simple life?

For each of us there will be a different answer, depending on our perception of the world, and none of them right or wrong.
What one person considers a simple life may be an extravagant one for others.  Where some have already achieved their ideal simple life there are others of us still on the journey to where we want to be.
For us personally the simple life is about being less reliant on others for our food and power, not buying into the consumer lifestyle or trying to keep up with the Joneses, reducing our debts and living more frugally, making use of recycled goods and generally living more like our parents and grandparents did with a greater focus on what we do have rather than what we don't have.
American author and poet Henry Thoreau, who lived more than 200 years ago, tried to practice living a simple life by building a cabin in the woods and furnishing it with only a bed, table and a chair.  He lived like this for more that 2 years during which time he recognised the coming of a material age where people would be fixated by possessions. 
Thoreau said " Most of the luxuries and the so called comforts of life are not only dispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind". 
Now for most of us living in a log cabin with only a bed, table and chair is not only impractical but also not desirable either, or maybe for you it is?
For some families living a simple life is not so much a choice but a necessity.  However many people are now choosing to simplify their lives for a range of reasons from clearing debts or living a lifestyle that has a lighter environmental impact to simple choosing to make family and lifestyle a priority.  There is even a term for this type of lifestyle change "downshifting".
If you are someone who is choosing to downshift follow this link http://simplicityinstitute.org/ and complete the survey for the Simplicity Institute. 
We are still a long way from reaching some of our simple life goals but some have already been reached and crossed off the list.  I am sure as the days go by and life takes us in new and unexpected directions more will be added to the list but as they say "The only constant in life is change".

Goals

Switch to Solar Power
Raise Chickens
Build a Vegetable garden
Have a productive vegetable garden most of the year
Plant an Orchard
Harvest fruit from our Orchard
Grow enough vegetables to not have to buy them
Fiona to work from home
Fiona to work less
Fiona not to work
Barter food
Improve my sewing skills
Bake more
Preserve more food
Eat at least 1 meat free meal a week
Have a baby (or 2)
Plant trees on our barren land
Plant natives to attract the wildlife
Establish gardens around the house
Build a pond and dry creek bed
Build a new house