Life is a Journey not a Destination
If you haven’t seen this great little movie (goes for 20mins) then do yourself a favour and watch it. Amy came in towards the end so I started it again and she watched it too. It’s stuff (no pun intended) that we all probably know but it’s put together in an informative, fun way. And it definitely makes you think…..
Hmm… that’s a hard question to answer isn’t it. And EVERYONE is going to have a different one. Busy Women at A Vision Spendid recently got me thinking about this. I’m sure I’m a long way off what most people would consider to be living simply but to me it’s not just a way of life but a goal to strive towards. It’s also always changing. We’ve only been in our new home for just over 2 years but already we know we wouldn’t have built here now – we would have got more land for our animals and veggies. But we love the location (can ride our bikes to school) and we will stay here for at least another 10-15 years while the kids finish school. A big part of simple living to me is being kind to the environment. We are lucky enough we can afford to do this by having hybrid cars and just today we have a bore being put it so we can have all the water we desire for our garden.
According to wikipedia simple living (voluntary simplicity) is a lifestyle in which individuals consciously choose to minimize the ‘more-is-better’ pursuit of wealth and consumption. Adherents choose simple living for a variety of reasons, including spirituality, health, increase in ‘quality time‘ for family and friends, stress reduction, conservation, social justice or anti-consumerism, while others choose to live more simply for reasons of personal taste or personal economy.
Another definition that I really love is from The Simple Living Network : Simple living — aka voluntary simplicity — has just about as many definitions as there are individuals who practice it. Simple living is not about living in poverty or self-inflicted deprivation. Rather, it is about living an examined life — one in which you have determined what is important, or “enough,” for you, discarding the rest.
Okay, so here’s a list of how I think we live simply.
* Have our own chooks
* Have a veggie garden
* Walk or ride to school when possible
* Try to do more rather than buy
* Menu plan and cook at home
* Limit packaging/bags/etc.
* Recycle where possible
* Don’t buy brand names just because they are brand names (though sometimes do for quality)
* Watching only TV shows I love – mainly lifestyle and discovery health (show that enhance my life)
* Don’t watch the news (too depressing)
* Donate all unwanted/unloved items on a regular basis (reduces clutter and blesses someone else)
* Have a rain water tank, and soon, a bore.
* Buy carbon credits to reduce our carbon footprint
* Staying home in a clean, tidy house thatI love rather than going out all the time (something I did when dd8 was first born)
This last year I have really settled into a comfortable routine and am pleased with how my life is developing. Shopping would still be my biggest hurdle to overcome, but I know I’ve eliminated the need to shop to escape my home and nearly all the purchases I make are useful/needed.
Just like life, simple living is a journey with it’s twist and turns, up and downs.
I can’t believe I had managed to lose 5.8kg (12.7lbs) in the last week. Well, it’s not suprising when you see what little I can eat. But after years of struggling to lose weight it’s mind blowing to be dropping kilos so quickly. I’m feeling much more like myself but find I don’t feel great in the mornings but get better as the day goes on. Had my first meal out yesterday when we took the girls to see “Fred Claus”. I got a baked potato with melted cheese. It was very yummy and I would have been lucky to eat a quarter of it (bought the rest of home for the chickens). I’ve add a little weight ticker to the home page so I can see my progress. Clothes are a lot looser and I’ve already worn a few things I hadn’t worn in years.
Last night Kevin and I watched a show on Speed Eating – talk about horrifying (on so many levels). Firstly, I just can’t understand why someone would eat copious quantities of food without enjoying it (to the point of being sick), secondly, it’s pure gluttony (can’t help but think about the many starving people in the world and the animals killed for food in the name of “sport”), thirdly I can’t believe when obesity is such a big problem that eating lots of food fast is being glorified. It was an interesting show though – most suprising the best speed eaters are normal sized – but have special physical abilities that enable them to eat fast and have stretched out their stomachs so more food can be stored. The one thing unsure is the long term affects on health – these people were consuming hundreds of grams of fat in 10mins. As I said fascinating and horrifying.
Okay, a warning that this video is very shocking and disturbing – I’m sitting here in tears, shaking and feeling sick to my stomach. There is no blood or gore but just the terrible treatment of living animals. Please watch so you know what happens to animals in the Middle East. Please support Animals Australia to end this suffering.
Yes, I’ve been saying it for years. Even went to one lesson (but then Kevin could never make it home from work on time). But if I could sew I could make these wonderful lunch bags on Sew, Mama, Sew. How brilliant are they?
Now that the girls are both at school I must find out about any sewing classes offered during the day. Otherwise I’m going to make it a priority to teach myself – and I don’t think that’s the best idea since I’ve always been sewing challenged. I mean, I can’t even get a button to stay on – they ALWAYS fall off.
I’m an only child and most of my childhood memories involve my friends. I always had friends over – sometimes they even came on vacation with us. Even though I have 2 children I love it when their friends over – makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that their friends like to be here so much. We had Amy’s friend on Friday afternoon, the neighbours on Sat and family friends today – one of them staying for a sleep over tonight. I also love when my kids play together and I just hope when they are grown they have such wonderful memories of their childhood as I do. I don’t feel like I’m the best Mum in the world but I really do try and I think I do a pretty good job of being a fun Mum (though I’m sure they disagree when I’m making them tidy up the mess they’ve made).
Well, I cannot believe I had never heard of William Wilberforce whom the movie Amazing Grace is all about. I finally went to see this movie with my Mum yesterday and we both learnt a lot. Firstly I hadn’t realized how involved with slavery Great Britain was (guess it’s not something they brag about), secondly I did not know about William Wilberforce (who not only led the fight to abolish slavery but was instrumental about reforms for animal welfare and educations and many other important facets of life), thirdly I did not know that it was a ex slave ship captain turned Preacher who wrote Amazing Grace (I song near and dear to me with having Scottish blood and a Grandmother called Grace). It’s definitely a movie anyone interested in history should see. And although it tells some of details of slavery nothing graphic is shown and even the reports on it are pretty mild – the movie is rated PG. Oh, and to make things even better there is a little romance and a happy ending. This is one movie I’ll be thinking of for a number of days.
I’ve been feeling a bit unappreciated around here lately. On Monday I had to tidy up everyone’s stuff before I could start on the cleaning – this always puts me in a bad mood – not the cleaning, the picking up of other peoples stuff. By late afternoon (when I’d gone to the trouble to make a family favourite dinner) I was feeling very tired and feet were very sore, then I hurt my back, and the house looked the same as before I’d started in the morning. No-one said much about dinner (and after the cleaning it was an effort to make it). I went to bed that night feeling rather sorry for myself. Kevin and I haven’t spent any quality time together since probably April – we were on holidays, then my Mum & Dad (ie the babysitters) were away for over 3 months. Lack of time together has made us a little short with one another and he’s been making little comments that make me feel unappreciated – this morning it was that I should get a job. Hello?? What am I doing? I know I have an easy life but I do work hard as well and having problems with my feet makes things a lot harder for me. I reakon I have on average 1-2 hours free a day – not too much I think. I guess in theory I could work one day a week. But as all Mum’s know we don’t really get the weekends off. On top of all this the kids haven’t been very helpful doing their routines plus Christy’s been rather rude and naughty.
Now, having said all this, Kevin’s comment this morning got me thinking and it dawned on me that I’m probably not the only one feeling unappreciated. Kevin works 6 days a week leaving home around 7am and normally home around 6pm. His wage gets paid straight into our bank account and promptly spent by myself. Now, while most is spent on our kids I sure it must annoy him sometimes that he never even sees the money he earns. While we both are very happy in our “traditional” family roles it’s become apparent that I really need to show my own appreciation more . I know he gets very stressed to come home from work to find a grumpy wife yelling at the kids – which is what he got on Monday. Maybe if I show my appreciation both for him and the kids I might get some appreciation back.
Okay, I had to return some library CDs (they got missed going back a few weeks ago) and right beside it was the mobile blood bank. I’d always wanted to give blood but never knew where to go, plus I wasn’t sure if I could with the Factor 5 gene that I have (makes you more likely to have blood clots). Anyway, turns out the gene would be okay but since I’ve had a blood clot they say it’s too risky for me to donate. But they did tell me to tell all my family and friends – so here I am asking all my cyber (and real-life) friends to please donate blood if you’re able. I’m sure you can look them up the telephone book if you don’t know where your local place is.
Had a good weekend. On Saturday Amy had singing and drama. Christy and I baked a chocolate cake and I just pottered around getting a few things done. Then I had my bookgroup in the afternoon. Had so much fun – we all must have had an extra good time as didn’t finish up until nearly 5pm. Normally I’m home around 4pm so Kevin wasn’t too happy when I got back (and I’d forgotten my mobile phone). We had a BBQ for dinner. Then on Sunday morning I cleaned out the garage (so good to get that done), we then went to Bunnings Hardware (girls did craft while we shopped), then lunch at Hogsbreath. Christy needed a new bike helmet so we went to the bike shop and three bikes and 1.5 hours later we left. Both Kevin and I have got new bikes – the one I was riding is over 10 years old and Amy got a new one the next size up for her. In the morning I had put Christy onto the next size bike so in effect we all got new bikes. They didn’t have mine in stock though so we won’t get it until later in the week. Came home had a spa, Amy made us Nachos for dinner. We finished watching Micheal Moore’s documentary Sicko (so grateful for our medical system – when Amy had her appendix out in the States it cost over $20,000 and they wouldn’t even look at her in emergency until we’d paid $1,500 – lucky we had travel insurance – pretty scary stuff). After Sicko we watched Dora the Explorer with Christy, then Sliders (we’ve just started rewatching those), then to bed.
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