Scratching the Itch

Zac and I capped off our weekend last night, lying in bed, re-hashing all the fun that we had together as a threesome (Zac, Ellie & I).  We met two new, lovely families in Yellow Springs who provided us with even more materials for our Earthship build and as happened last week, we left the weekend with even more energy than we began it with.  We also made a second stop at an incredibly charming couple's house in Kettering who, in cleaning out their garage, found still more items that we will put to good use in our build!   

As I had mentioned in my previous post, giving birth to Elliot was an enormous turning point in our lives and his presence solidified the fact that life is (as cliché as it may be) far too short.  While I am unsure as to what is awaiting me when I pass, I am certain that I want to live a life that I am ridiculously proud of and feel that the building of our future home will allow us to live our life with our values at the forefront of our every move. 

Our best days have been those that we have spent as a family working on various creative/household projects as well as getting out and spending some time outdoors together.  I feel more alive during these moments than I do at any other time and find myself asking the question: "Why do we, as a society, spend more time at our jobs than we do in these magical moments as a family?"

Many people may see my question as naive and say that this is simply the reality of our existence and that I need to work to enjoy every moment along the way or more bluntly put, that I need to put my "big girl" pants on and face the music but there is an itch within myself that needs to be scratched.  While I love my job and can't imagine doing anything else as a career, I don't feel that "work" in the traditional sense should be the center of my universe.  I don't see why we, as a family, should have to spend more time apart from one another than together as a unit just to make ends meet financially.

This very issue is at the heart of why we are deciding to make the move towards living more sustainably and are building the earthship.  Don't get me wrong, we care about the environment and want to leave it in better shape for our son and future generations, but we we also want to live a more fulfilled life right now!  We want to spend less time in traditional "work" roles and more time engaging in tasks that truly support our existence and provide us with food, shelter, water, heat, etc. on a very direct, honest level. 

Both Zac and I have come to realize just how disconnected we have become from the source of all of  the things that are sustaining our lives on a daily basis and are sick of the complacency we have fallen into.  It has been eye opening to ask the question "Where did this come from?" throughout my day when using an object or a public utility.  The answer, far too often is, "Who knows!"  I so look forward to living a more honest existence and have been having so much fun taking each step towards that life. 

I'm battling the ever-present, swelling urge to make this drastic change right now since we're still under contract with the land and am trying to channel my energy into anything and everything that will make this transition easier in the meantime (in between taking care of my wild man Elliot of course...hehe). 

Due to this itching we're experiencing (nope, not fleas), we're wondering just how quickly we may be able to move to the small cabin (temporary housing till we build the earthship) on the land once we close as we had originally planned on waiting till spring.  However, if we can pull it off, perhaps we will make the move earlier...