Trials & Tribulations of Our New Lifestyle

I like to mostly blog on here about the things we are doing to live a more simple, present, low impact life. I try to project a very positive outlook on our future and try to fill you in on our projects and plans as we take things step by step until we obtain the lifestyle we dream of. If it were a perfect world, every plan would pan out, and everyone we come in contact with would love what we are doing and would want to do it also. But that is not reality. Converting to this lifestyle is hard work, and you have to be prepared to do what you believe in, because you may be going at it alone.

In most cases, the majority of people we know think we are bat shit crazy. Or they think that we have these dreams now, but someday (when we have kids) or when we magically come to our senses, we will put all of this nonsense behind us. When we first started down this road, I myself thought that this would be a fad. I figured we would try it for a while, but it would just lose its luster and we would go back to the way we were. But that did not happen, once I started downsizing, making, growing, researching, and prioritizing, I wanted to take it further. Jake and I were hooked, not because of the stigma of what we were doing, but because we were happier, we were wealthier (not in the monetary sense), and we were healthier!

We get a lot of flack from friends and family. Not all of it is mean-spirited or even said directly to our faces, but we know there is talk about our lifestyle. Not that our friends and family love us any less, but our current interests tend to alienate us a bit (I mean you can't just open up a conversation about how your compost needs more nitrogen or how you need to get your tension right when your spinning). We've been referred to as Hippies, Amish, or Wannabe Farmers. I say we are all of the above. Some have learned to accept our lifestyle, others ignore it, others make fun of it, and once in a Blue Moon, we "convert" someone.

I figure that even if we can get anyone to talk about what we are doing (positive or negative), that may ignite a spark into someone else, or perhaps give one person a bit more tolerance and understanding. I don't expect everyone to do what we are doing, or to even want to do what we are doing.

What we are doing is NOT easy, it takes a lot of time, energy, dedication, self discipline, risk taking and sacrifice. Our Egos are on the line every day. Sure, we sometimes look at ourselves and think -  "Man, we are REALLY living the life, everyone else doesn't know what they are missing." But we have no right to judge what is right for you, only you can decide that. We only know what works for us, and we have decided that we love what we are getting ourselves into.

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