Nostalgia No More: Embracing 2014
Here are some general updates about our progress toward our Earthship build in April 2014:
Since childhood, I've found myself feeling as though I were born in the wrong time period. I've always felt as though I've had more in common with older generations and would feel a sad tugging hearing my Grandma Wilma talk about her life growing up in the 1930's and 1940's. This feeling has walked with me throughout the years up until recently. In making this shift to build our Earthship home, I feel that we are creating a bubble of our own, one removed from time, that allows us to be more in touch with where everything comes from.
I could never pinpoint exactly what I felt was missing from my life until this point; I just knew that life felt unnecessarily complicated. Here were Zac and I, working day in and day out to "support ourselves" only we weren't actually "supporting" our selves in any real, direct way. No, we were a small cog in a much bigger machine that keeps on moving at a fast pace regardless of what we do. We were (and still are, by the way... baby steps!) paying other people and big businesses to keep us alive and well. We had no real idea how the food we purchased at Trader Joe's and Kroger's ended up on our plate, where the clothes on our body were made, what series of chemicals were used in creating the materials for the home renovation projects we were undertaking... we had no tangible control over anything! No wonder so many people in today's society struggle with feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness and a feeling as though they have no control over their lives. We can, however, take small steps toward living a more honest life. For us, I feel it started with asking questions about where different items came from, how they were made and treated in the process and being open to hearing the answers.
It can feel all too overwhelming when you begin to scratch at the surface of the modern food system, for example, but what has given me a sense of calm is that we can begin to create our own reality. Since we aren't happy with how removed we feel from our food, our utilities, nature, other people, etc., we can do something to bridge that gap and reconcile the disparity that has been created in unearthing the seedy underbelly of the modern world. In the past several years, we have started a garden, made our own cleaning products, started buying most everything secondhand, begun doing as many household and mechanical repairs as we can on our own (this is Zac's realm), etc. and in the process, something magical has happened... we feel so much more connected to our surroundings and enjoy a greater sense of happiness overall! One of the most gratifying feelings is being able to to walk outside to your own garden and grab some dinner off the plants you grew from seed with compost from your kitchen waste. Success has never tasted sweeter!
Something as small as starting to compost and beginning a garden has led us to the decision we are making now to trade our life in for a simpler one where we are a much larger piece of the puzzle. As I've mentioned in previous posts, our goal for our future as a family is to raise much of our own food, create our own energy, capture our own water and eventually be able to make our living off the land and be able to choose whether or not we want to work in the modern sense. That being said, it has been very stressful for us to find balance and straddle the two opposing worlds of modern day society and "off-the-grid" farm life because every step you make toward a "simpler" life ends up seeming to make life more complicated!
When Zac and I were both working full-time and I was a full-time graduate student, it was hard to come home at the end of a long day and take enjoyment in tending to our garden much less find the energy to put a meal together with the produce we had grown. The same can be said for tackling household and mechanical repairs on our own as this seemed to detract from our ultimate goal of having more time for one another! Cue the reason we have chosen to take the plunge and choose a different life for ourselves. We have been finding it much too difficult to straddle these worlds so the decision is in... we have chosen you, off-the-grid farm life! I'd be lying in saying I wasn't scared, though I think my motto here on out is "if you aren't scared, you aren't doing it right." By it, I mean life as I have never felt more alive than I have since we've decided to make the move to building our Earthship home!
I feel as though we are on to something as I am no longer feeling that familiar tug to past time periods. While 2014 is certainly an incredibly complex, oftentimes scary and sad place, we can make use of the technology of today to make living life in a simpler way more feasible overall for normal, everyday people like Zac, Elliot and I. The internet has been our avenue for reaching out to find other like-minded people in our community and has led to us saving so many items from the dump for use in our future home... not to mention we feel we have made connections with others already that will continue throughout our lives! We can locate secondhand books on various homesteading topics and have them delivered to our home within a week and can watch YouTube videos on how to build various aspects of an Earthship to satisfy our eager energy. The world is at our disposal, we just need to be more mindful about how we tap into the resources of today as I believe it all can be used for good if we are thoughtful. In closing, while I do find myself fearing for our collective future, I am hopeful that because of the ease of connecting to the world through avenues like the internet, we will become more tuned into how our actions are affecting others on a very real level and will begin to make more sustainable, responsible choices as a result.
I'd like to end this post with an excerpt from a memoir I'm reading right now called Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life. This particular part of the intro really grabbed me and for reasons stated above, I could relate...
- We have firmed up the first workshop date of April 12-13, 2014 and will be beginning to take reservations for it through Blue Rock Station's website in the coming week or so (until then, just send me a message letting me know you are interested so I can get your contact info and let you know when you are able to sign up formally through the site). Each 2-day workshop is $35 and covers the cost of breakfast and lunch on each workshop day. Scholarships are available as necessary. Attendees are more than welcome to bring camping gear and extra food and spend the night at the Earthship build site the weekend of each workshop (simply contact me to secure camping details). It is recommended that you bring some additional light snacks to munch on throughout (though breakfast and lunch will be provided) as this workshop will be labor-intensive. This Tire Foundation workshop will cover the following topics:
- Site selection and preparation
- Tire selection and basic Earthship construction concepts
- The art and science of pounding tires
- Water issues and "French" drains
- Concrete "half-tires"
- Installing the sill plates
- Various foundation options
- Our rental property is now under contract and we are set to close on it nearing the end of February... hooray!!! Thus, we will be tethered to one less thing as we move toward the build which equals less stress overall... what a delight!
Now that I have provided some general updates, I'm feeling a bit reflective and will try to organize my swirling thoughts...
I could never pinpoint exactly what I felt was missing from my life until this point; I just knew that life felt unnecessarily complicated. Here were Zac and I, working day in and day out to "support ourselves" only we weren't actually "supporting" our selves in any real, direct way. No, we were a small cog in a much bigger machine that keeps on moving at a fast pace regardless of what we do. We were (and still are, by the way... baby steps!) paying other people and big businesses to keep us alive and well. We had no real idea how the food we purchased at Trader Joe's and Kroger's ended up on our plate, where the clothes on our body were made, what series of chemicals were used in creating the materials for the home renovation projects we were undertaking... we had no tangible control over anything! No wonder so many people in today's society struggle with feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness and a feeling as though they have no control over their lives. We can, however, take small steps toward living a more honest life. For us, I feel it started with asking questions about where different items came from, how they were made and treated in the process and being open to hearing the answers.
It can feel all too overwhelming when you begin to scratch at the surface of the modern food system, for example, but what has given me a sense of calm is that we can begin to create our own reality. Since we aren't happy with how removed we feel from our food, our utilities, nature, other people, etc., we can do something to bridge that gap and reconcile the disparity that has been created in unearthing the seedy underbelly of the modern world. In the past several years, we have started a garden, made our own cleaning products, started buying most everything secondhand, begun doing as many household and mechanical repairs as we can on our own (this is Zac's realm), etc. and in the process, something magical has happened... we feel so much more connected to our surroundings and enjoy a greater sense of happiness overall! One of the most gratifying feelings is being able to to walk outside to your own garden and grab some dinner off the plants you grew from seed with compost from your kitchen waste. Success has never tasted sweeter!
Something as small as starting to compost and beginning a garden has led us to the decision we are making now to trade our life in for a simpler one where we are a much larger piece of the puzzle. As I've mentioned in previous posts, our goal for our future as a family is to raise much of our own food, create our own energy, capture our own water and eventually be able to make our living off the land and be able to choose whether or not we want to work in the modern sense. That being said, it has been very stressful for us to find balance and straddle the two opposing worlds of modern day society and "off-the-grid" farm life because every step you make toward a "simpler" life ends up seeming to make life more complicated!
When Zac and I were both working full-time and I was a full-time graduate student, it was hard to come home at the end of a long day and take enjoyment in tending to our garden much less find the energy to put a meal together with the produce we had grown. The same can be said for tackling household and mechanical repairs on our own as this seemed to detract from our ultimate goal of having more time for one another! Cue the reason we have chosen to take the plunge and choose a different life for ourselves. We have been finding it much too difficult to straddle these worlds so the decision is in... we have chosen you, off-the-grid farm life! I'd be lying in saying I wasn't scared, though I think my motto here on out is "if you aren't scared, you aren't doing it right." By it, I mean life as I have never felt more alive than I have since we've decided to make the move to building our Earthship home!
I feel as though we are on to something as I am no longer feeling that familiar tug to past time periods. While 2014 is certainly an incredibly complex, oftentimes scary and sad place, we can make use of the technology of today to make living life in a simpler way more feasible overall for normal, everyday people like Zac, Elliot and I. The internet has been our avenue for reaching out to find other like-minded people in our community and has led to us saving so many items from the dump for use in our future home... not to mention we feel we have made connections with others already that will continue throughout our lives! We can locate secondhand books on various homesteading topics and have them delivered to our home within a week and can watch YouTube videos on how to build various aspects of an Earthship to satisfy our eager energy. The world is at our disposal, we just need to be more mindful about how we tap into the resources of today as I believe it all can be used for good if we are thoughtful. In closing, while I do find myself fearing for our collective future, I am hopeful that because of the ease of connecting to the world through avenues like the internet, we will become more tuned into how our actions are affecting others on a very real level and will begin to make more sustainable, responsible choices as a result.
I'd like to end this post with an excerpt from a memoir I'm reading right now called Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life. This particular part of the intro really grabbed me and for reasons stated above, I could relate...
A hundred tiny efforts and decisions had converged right there on the countertop. The radio was crank powered, and the coffee grinder was an old hand-turner I got at an antique store. I was standing in the glow of my solar-powered lamp with the aid of some beeswax candles. Suddenly I realized that nothing I was doing required any outside electricity. I was seeing in the dark, grinding local beans, and listening to renewable energy- driven entertainment- and as mundane as the situation was, it felt perfect in its order. Outside the kitchen, my trio of hens were cooing in their hutch, and snap-pea pods, hanging heavy on the vine, were climbing up my windowsill. The dogs sighed and stretched on the kitchen floor and the smell of just-crushed coffee beans wafted through the air, giving me a sense of profound comfort. I felt that if the world shut down, we'd just go on grinding and stretching and sighing till we retired to a warm bed. Maybe it was the candlelight or maybe it was the promise of fresh coffee in the morning, but in that moment I felt I'd accomplished more than anything I had ever achieved in my professional career.
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
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