It’s always about how you live your life. What works for some won’t work for others but the goal should always be to live as sustainably as possible. If sometimes that includes wild and crazy adventure, so be it. For those who’d rather read about than go on an adventure, plenty of opportunities there too. If living a routine and quiet life is satisfying there’s no need to feel inadequate. The key is to find what works for you and the people whose opinions matter to you.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
It's okay to be okay with your life
Interesting comment from the Tiny House Blog post "It's not the size of your house"
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
The Problems of a Constant Dreamer
You know how it is... you follow a bajillion travel & adventure blogs, decorating blogs, minimalist blogs, favorite or future (of COURSE I'll become a trail runner... one day) hobby blogs, yet nothing changes about your OWN existence.
There's no beautifully decorated house with it's beautiful yard.
No perfectly sewn, perfectly fitted dress to wear to that funky cultural fest in a nearby town.
The belly is still all-too-soft above ratty sweatpants.
There's no great adventure shared with others via amazing photos...
lol. I'm getting depressed just writing this.
The problem is the "doing". You can dream and "want to" all day long, but if you don't get up and actually DO things, nothing will happen.
Even if you don't deal with chronic health issues that sideline you randomly (which I do), getting your butt up out of your comfy spot on the sofa is the biggest hurdle you face.
What's even worse, in my opinion, is that dreamers tend to "embiggen" the IDEA of experiences. We see these photos of other people having the time of their life in some exotic location (or even rural or urban nearby locations) and we expect our local podunk-nowhere to provide an instant omgbrbbesttimeevar.
So, how to get our ideals more down-to-earth. How to create less disappointment in our lives?
Beats the hell outta me. I'm still working on this part.
Here's some things I've figured out, feel free to add your own:
1. It's jealousy (and that's ok). You want the experience (or life as-seen-in-pictures) that someone else already had. Nah, don't beat yourself up over it (I know you already have been.); instead use this as a tool to figure out what it is you desire from their experience. Is it that they are surrounded by happy people? SEEM to have no responsibilities (more on this later)? Are they fit? Is the sunlight just perfect for the beautiful scenery? Is it just that they are somewhere new and you're damn tired of seeing the same stretch of blight on Main St. everyday? Defining what it is you desire can help make it into a manageable goal.
2. You already know your own weaknesses. Too lazy to run? Impossible to find something the entire family wants to do? Lack of disposable income. Clutter... clutter everywhere... In general, stuff is just too overwhelming to take on. This actually ties into number 3.
3. Habit is key. Yay! You got up and walked around the block! But you hated it. The temperature was awful. Too many bugs. Too much traffic. Whatever the reasons, you don't take another walk until you read yet another inspiring blog post that gets you outside again. Once in a while isn't habit. Habit happens after you do something a bunch of times, regularly. And it will become progressively easier for you to do (aka practice makes perfect). Which brings us to 4...
4. Motivation is another key. Are you self-motivated and stubborn? Most of the fight is done for you then. Are you completely reliant on motivation from outside sources? Okay, you have a bit of a hill to get past first. Some folks are wired to be socially motivated even if they themselves struggle socially (I'm in this boat, so I know all too well how difficult it is).
So, tying in numbers 2-4, acknowledge your weaknesses and try to work with or around them while also acknowledging your strengths (they are there) and developing those.
I've lost my motivation to continue this post. More later.
There's no beautifully decorated house with it's beautiful yard.
No perfectly sewn, perfectly fitted dress to wear to that funky cultural fest in a nearby town.
The belly is still all-too-soft above ratty sweatpants.
There's no great adventure shared with others via amazing photos...
lol. I'm getting depressed just writing this.
The problem is the "doing". You can dream and "want to" all day long, but if you don't get up and actually DO things, nothing will happen.
Even if you don't deal with chronic health issues that sideline you randomly (which I do), getting your butt up out of your comfy spot on the sofa is the biggest hurdle you face.
What's even worse, in my opinion, is that dreamers tend to "embiggen" the IDEA of experiences. We see these photos of other people having the time of their life in some exotic location (or even rural or urban nearby locations) and we expect our local podunk-nowhere to provide an instant omgbrbbesttimeevar.
So, how to get our ideals more down-to-earth. How to create less disappointment in our lives?
Beats the hell outta me. I'm still working on this part.
Here's some things I've figured out, feel free to add your own:
1. It's jealousy (and that's ok). You want the experience (or life as-seen-in-pictures) that someone else already had. Nah, don't beat yourself up over it (I know you already have been.); instead use this as a tool to figure out what it is you desire from their experience. Is it that they are surrounded by happy people? SEEM to have no responsibilities (more on this later)? Are they fit? Is the sunlight just perfect for the beautiful scenery? Is it just that they are somewhere new and you're damn tired of seeing the same stretch of blight on Main St. everyday? Defining what it is you desire can help make it into a manageable goal.
2. You already know your own weaknesses. Too lazy to run? Impossible to find something the entire family wants to do? Lack of disposable income. Clutter... clutter everywhere... In general, stuff is just too overwhelming to take on. This actually ties into number 3.
3. Habit is key. Yay! You got up and walked around the block! But you hated it. The temperature was awful. Too many bugs. Too much traffic. Whatever the reasons, you don't take another walk until you read yet another inspiring blog post that gets you outside again. Once in a while isn't habit. Habit happens after you do something a bunch of times, regularly. And it will become progressively easier for you to do (aka practice makes perfect). Which brings us to 4...
4. Motivation is another key. Are you self-motivated and stubborn? Most of the fight is done for you then. Are you completely reliant on motivation from outside sources? Okay, you have a bit of a hill to get past first. Some folks are wired to be socially motivated even if they themselves struggle socially (I'm in this boat, so I know all too well how difficult it is).
So, tying in numbers 2-4, acknowledge your weaknesses and try to work with or around them while also acknowledging your strengths (they are there) and developing those.
I've lost my motivation to continue this post. More later.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Off to a... start
I love and hate blogging, just as I love and hate everything I do. It's a weirdness. Anyone else live a dichotomy of existence?
I've explored WHY many times. Never came to any conclusion or answer... or even a hint. Definitely never achieved that elusive zen status of 'accepting'.
Anyways... I'm not here to navel-gaze (I'm ALWAYS navel-gazing, much to the dismay of my facebook friends.)
Here's a list of what I hope to accomplish: (I love lists, but I never follow them.)
1. Talk about striving for minimalism while having a low income. I have yet to see another blog do this. (I'm sure they are out there, just haven't seen one myself.) I got all excited recently cause I saw a post about some family living on less than $25k per year (and doing cool stuff). I followed it and just found that their income was over $80k, they just LIVED on $25k. They owned a house and stuff. = = Yay... go them. This is NOT about living frugally. Tons of those. More power to em; I'm not interested in living that way. Sounds incredibly stressful and over-controlled to me. What I have is a problem with STUFF. But every blog about minimalism really stresses me out. Been trying to figure out WHY exactly. Still not sure... but all of them seem to assume a healthy income of sorts. "Buy quality over quantity." Ok, I get that... but nearly every piece of furniture I own was given to me as hand-me-downs. I did buy the tv stand my old crt sits on. $40 bucks new I think. It wobbles a bit. My bedroom furniture was gotten from a yard sale when I was 14. Same mattress.
I'm 40.
Anyways, I've spent my entire life being addicted to getting stuff. And I've changed what fascinates me soooo many times over the years. Different crafts, antiques, books, you name it. STUFF, STUFF EVERYWHERE.
I gather stuff cause it makes me feel better, right?
Hmm.
All I can think about is the money I've spent or others' money spent. ><; That guilt upon even THINKING of tossing stuff (much isn't good enough to resell, trust me.) "Can I get rid of this? How much did it cost? Is it even mine?"
yeah. :/
2. I need to get rid of stuff and reduce bills (cost for rent of a bigger place to hold all this stuff, for example) cause I may be homeless* at any time.
Seems weird, huh?
Yeah, me too.
I have a good, solid job. I work remotely. I work for the state (which means low pay, great benefits, much job security, wow.) But I'm also very sick. Chronically sick with all those pain-ridden modes of existence that just means my life sucks. I was often sick as a kid. I started having symptoms of chronic illness when i was 14 or so, got much worse around 18. Didn't matter though, my parents didn't have enough money to trot me out to the doctor all the time, not that they believed me anyways. Over the years it's gotten worse. Some days I am too sick to function. I can't even check email for my job.
can't
even
check
email
(much less feed my kid. Thankfully, she's a teenager and can fend for herself in the kitchen.)
To me, that's pretty damn bad.
My boss has asked if I can go on disability. From what I've heard though, it's DAMN hard to get and I would be earning half or less what I do now. I can barely find a place to live that I can afford as it is...
Anyways, we get by right now. It's like this great waiting period though. Waiting for the shit to hit the fan. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting to catch a break. Waiting on a miracle. I dunno. Waiting...
My goal right now is 2 years. 2 years of getting through this. Why then? It's a bit of a double milestone. I'll hit 10 years at work (I think that means something to HR, not sure.) and my kid turns 18. What happens in 2 years? What's the goal?
Beats the hell outta me.
I just have a goal of getting through the next 2 years. Planning stuff.
Planning what?
3. See theworld. the US. my state at least?
I love going places. I LOVE driving! (Anyone hiring a driver of non- semis or buses?) Couple years back, I upgraded my life with a 1997 Toyota 4Runner. It looks a bit rough here and there. I got it cheap, knowing I'd have to put some repair money into it, but overall it's in pretty good shape. I had a mini party (just me in the car grinning like an idiot and taking photos of the rollover) when the odometer rolled over to 200k miles.
Says something that I took the effort to hunt down pics of my car to post here.
Right now, I have a goal of visiting every state park in Georgia. Only recently have I started collecting patches from each park as 'proof'. It's fun. ^^ Unfortunately, I've just been day tripping these places due to having not much money, a kid that isn't keen on the travel part of traveling or 'roughing it', and having to 'plan' around severe health issues (you don't).
We'll see how this goes, but I actually have high hopes. :)
4. The big wrench in the works (besides being poor) is that I'm afraid of people.
Yep, that's a problem.
A big one.
Every blogger out there loves being around people and meeting new ones. I'm terrified of it. Terrified of being questioned. Making phone calls. Dealing with professionals or locals. I recognize it, but I can't seem to get past it. (I was raised to be afraid of people for religious reasons and too sensitive to be brave anyways and grow beyond it.)
So, my answer to this is to go see nature. haha.
That... and/or find a travel buddy that can put up with me. :/
(I'll just go see trees... )
(As I've been told before) This stuff may come across as damn depressive. I'm not! There are manymanymany things I love (see #1 for the after effect >.>; )and I love sharing what I love with others (makes #4 really ironic). Sure, there are some difficulties, but I think it makes me appreciate things some people may glance over. But that's okay too. Different things are gonna appeal to different people!
So yeah, this blog may be over-ambitious a bit. ^^;; But I just wanted a place to spew out my goals and stuff.
That being said, I might not come back.
* Oh right... forgot. The homeless bit is due to not being sure I can keep my job and living in an area that ain't cheap (though I AM in a cheap area. :/ ). My love for travel and seeing new places has made me consider living in a RV. But I can't afford a RV either... Dilemma. ><
I've explored WHY many times. Never came to any conclusion or answer... or even a hint. Definitely never achieved that elusive zen status of 'accepting'.
Anyways... I'm not here to navel-gaze (I'm ALWAYS navel-gazing, much to the dismay of my facebook friends.)
Here's a list of what I hope to accomplish: (I love lists, but I never follow them.)
1. Talk about striving for minimalism while having a low income. I have yet to see another blog do this. (I'm sure they are out there, just haven't seen one myself.) I got all excited recently cause I saw a post about some family living on less than $25k per year (and doing cool stuff). I followed it and just found that their income was over $80k, they just LIVED on $25k. They owned a house and stuff. = = Yay... go them. This is NOT about living frugally. Tons of those. More power to em; I'm not interested in living that way. Sounds incredibly stressful and over-controlled to me. What I have is a problem with STUFF. But every blog about minimalism really stresses me out. Been trying to figure out WHY exactly. Still not sure... but all of them seem to assume a healthy income of sorts. "Buy quality over quantity." Ok, I get that... but nearly every piece of furniture I own was given to me as hand-me-downs. I did buy the tv stand my old crt sits on. $40 bucks new I think. It wobbles a bit. My bedroom furniture was gotten from a yard sale when I was 14. Same mattress.
I'm 40.
Anyways, I've spent my entire life being addicted to getting stuff. And I've changed what fascinates me soooo many times over the years. Different crafts, antiques, books, you name it. STUFF, STUFF EVERYWHERE.
I gather stuff cause it makes me feel better, right?
Hmm.
All I can think about is the money I've spent or others' money spent. ><; That guilt upon even THINKING of tossing stuff (much isn't good enough to resell, trust me.) "Can I get rid of this? How much did it cost? Is it even mine?"
yeah. :/
2. I need to get rid of stuff and reduce bills (cost for rent of a bigger place to hold all this stuff, for example) cause I may be homeless* at any time.
Seems weird, huh?
Yeah, me too.
I have a good, solid job. I work remotely. I work for the state (which means low pay, great benefits, much job security, wow.) But I'm also very sick. Chronically sick with all those pain-ridden modes of existence that just means my life sucks. I was often sick as a kid. I started having symptoms of chronic illness when i was 14 or so, got much worse around 18. Didn't matter though, my parents didn't have enough money to trot me out to the doctor all the time, not that they believed me anyways. Over the years it's gotten worse. Some days I am too sick to function. I can't even check email for my job.
can't
even
check
(much less feed my kid. Thankfully, she's a teenager and can fend for herself in the kitchen.)
To me, that's pretty damn bad.
My boss has asked if I can go on disability. From what I've heard though, it's DAMN hard to get and I would be earning half or less what I do now. I can barely find a place to live that I can afford as it is...
Anyways, we get by right now. It's like this great waiting period though. Waiting for the shit to hit the fan. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting to catch a break. Waiting on a miracle. I dunno. Waiting...
My goal right now is 2 years. 2 years of getting through this. Why then? It's a bit of a double milestone. I'll hit 10 years at work (I think that means something to HR, not sure.) and my kid turns 18. What happens in 2 years? What's the goal?
Beats the hell outta me.
I just have a goal of getting through the next 2 years. Planning stuff.
Planning what?
3. See the
I love going places. I LOVE driving! (Anyone hiring a driver of non- semis or buses?) Couple years back, I upgraded my life with a 1997 Toyota 4Runner. It looks a bit rough here and there. I got it cheap, knowing I'd have to put some repair money into it, but overall it's in pretty good shape. I had a mini party (just me in the car grinning like an idiot and taking photos of the rollover) when the odometer rolled over to 200k miles.
Says something that I took the effort to hunt down pics of my car to post here.
Right now, I have a goal of visiting every state park in Georgia. Only recently have I started collecting patches from each park as 'proof'. It's fun. ^^ Unfortunately, I've just been day tripping these places due to having not much money, a kid that isn't keen on the travel part of traveling or 'roughing it', and having to 'plan' around severe health issues (you don't).
We'll see how this goes, but I actually have high hopes. :)
4. The big wrench in the works (besides being poor) is that I'm afraid of people.
Yep, that's a problem.
A big one.
Every blogger out there loves being around people and meeting new ones. I'm terrified of it. Terrified of being questioned. Making phone calls. Dealing with professionals or locals. I recognize it, but I can't seem to get past it. (I was raised to be afraid of people for religious reasons and too sensitive to be brave anyways and grow beyond it.)
So, my answer to this is to go see nature. haha.
That... and/or find a travel buddy that can put up with me. :/
(I'll just go see trees... )
(As I've been told before) This stuff may come across as damn depressive. I'm not! There are manymanymany things I love (see #1 for the after effect >.>; )and I love sharing what I love with others (makes #4 really ironic). Sure, there are some difficulties, but I think it makes me appreciate things some people may glance over. But that's okay too. Different things are gonna appeal to different people!
So yeah, this blog may be over-ambitious a bit. ^^;; But I just wanted a place to spew out my goals and stuff.
That being said, I might not come back.
* Oh right... forgot. The homeless bit is due to not being sure I can keep my job and living in an area that ain't cheap (though I AM in a cheap area. :/ ). My love for travel and seeing new places has made me consider living in a RV. But I can't afford a RV either... Dilemma. ><
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