"Cattle Dog"

Disclaimer: The term "Earthship" in the below writings is used to describe our Earthship-inspired ​home.

We’ve only been “out” about our desire to live in an Earthship for a little over a week now and there are no words to describe the wealth of warmth that is radiating from friends, family and most surprisingly complete strangers!  From the Craigslist ad that I posted earlier this week asking for building materials, we’ve already been in contact with five families who have donated to our future home.  But that’s only scratching the surface.  Their unbridled support has given us a high that only the most illicit of mind altering substances could touch.  People like this really exist?  

I must admit that both Zac and I have been feeling lost since our son, Elliot, was born.  A dark passenger of discontent has been accompanying us each day and we've had no clue how to shake him of our scent and satisfy our desire for a life steeped in meaning.  We had finally reached a tipping point several months back and had decided that we needed to make a change!  It was clear-cut:  We would leave the society behind that we had grown to abhor and would move to another country to start a new life together.  Our good friends, Wyatt and Courtney, were in town at the time of our "awakening" so we called them over to discuss our potential plans.  They had a better idea:  Build an Earthship in the good 'ole U.S. of A!  And that’s how it all began…

We had spent the past several years making more mindful, environmentally-friendly choices and this life-shattering, monumental decision was the culmination of all of that effort.  It finally made sense!  Deciding to build this Earthship-inspired home has been the most important ‘light bulb’ moment we have had up unto this point.

We’re truly taken aback that so many people have come out of the woodwork in such a short period of time and have shown their support for us.  In responding to our ad for building materials, these families operated in-earnest and with genuine kindness and generosity not knowing who ​we really were.  We could have drugged them and sold their organs on the black market for all they knew and yet they still reached out to us, offered abounding encouragement as well as building materials for our dream home! 

This is just all too much.  We are bursting at the seams!  And to think, these people all live in our hometown, in our society; the society we had become so forlorn with!  We have learned a tremendous life lesson in just one short week into our journey:  The community you seek will be found once you begin living a genuine life, driven by passion.  We may not see our values on display in mainstream media and culture, but like-minded, thoughtful, responsible people encircle us in our quest for a better, more sustainable existence and this project is the cattle dog that is rounding up our kind of people.