Living Simply Isn’t Simple
Posted on 31. Aug, 2010 by Laura-Jane - Whimfield in Outdoors, Prince Edward Island
Living simply isn’t simple. How did I ever think living simply was going to be simple??!! What world was I living in? Oh, right… Now I remember, I was living in the city-come-country world, where everything must be better and sweeter in the country! (Well, everything is better and sweeter in the country–that part is true. But everything is also a little more complicated in the country!)
Now that we’re here, we realize that living simply isn’t simple. It’s getting up early and working late. It’s clearing snow and then clearing it again and again. We are constantly taken aback at the number of tasks to be done around here. (And that’s with no animals or children, and with the modern conveniences of power tools and technology.)
Take our snowblower attachment for the tractor, for example. At the end of last Winter–a mere four months ago–we parked it in our yard somewhere.
Now the snowblower attachment is ensconced and entangled in four months worth of greenery and growth:
In case you can’t make sense of the above, here’s my artist’s bisection of what the tractor attachment looks like underneath the greenery after just four months.
But maybe “simple” living is over-rated, because the harder we work the sweeter the rewards. That much I know to be true.
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Aug 31st, 2010
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Micheline
Sep 1st, 2010
I agree with you 100%. With all of it. Every word.
Olivia
Sep 1st, 2010
Back in the 70’s, when the back-to-the-land movement was in full swing, we saw many CFA’s take up country residence here – building domes, log cabins or buying old farmhouses, also in search of the simple life. Most had no electricity or running water or central heat. Woodstoves, gas lamps and running streams were the order of the day. Some stayed but most left or moved into town. They found it fun for awhile but eventually the long hours and sheer drudgery proved too much for them. I do admire the ones who stuck it out but the older one gets, the more difficult this lifestyle becomes. True simplicity, I believe, is an interior state in which one is satisfied with having only what one requires and being content with that.
N&M
Sep 1st, 2010
I love your artwork!! hehe….I can’t believe how fast things grow around there. You guys are doing incredible things and living your dream!
Amanda
Sep 1st, 2010
I really like what Olivia said. Admiring the ones who stuck it out and about true simplicity coming from within.
We are moving onto a sailboat and we are hoping for a simpler life but I wonder if some things will be more complicated like laundry. But purging 90% of our stuff, having just a few plates so that we have to wash less dishes, this feels like simplicity and freedom. It may be just an illusion!
So what is simplicity then? Escaping from the system? Not worrying about little things? Reducing the amount of bills you have to pay?
Brianne W
Sep 2nd, 2010
Maybe you could borrow some sheep, they would certainly help keep things from overgrowing. 60 acres require a lot of work for two people to try and keep up with, animals serve a great purpose for keeping the wilderness tamed. You just need some good fencing.
Cheers,
Kim
Sep 3rd, 2010
So true, Laura-Jane!
A whole new variety of challenges face us newbie homesteaders, but it keeps life interesting.
Love youe snowblower pic. Our isn’t quite so overgrown but we haven’t started the tractor since last winter, so …
… we’ll be all shocked if it doesn’t start, on the day of the first big snowstorm, and we’ll be wishing we’d checked on it sooner …
Just one of many chores that needed to be done!
Johanna
Sep 3rd, 2010
I agree with you and also what Olivia and Amanda said. I wonder if living simply is more a state of mind. Of not being over scheduled with appointments here there and everywhere.
Maybe living simply can be accomplished in any lifestyle if we are willing to set the limits and say no to somethings in our work and home. To take some time to sit and smell the flowers as it were.
Rod
Sep 4th, 2010
Laura-Jane, you are awesome! Simplicity, imho, is understanding the difference between wants and needs; loving your wants from a distance and embracing your needs every day.
I also find that wanting things is much better than actually owning them. You get to idealize them, anticipate what it would be like to have them … and never have to deal with maintenance, cost and expense. This is the most fun when you can actually afford the thing you want and then get more joy out of anticipating having it than actually having it.
I really want a motorcycle. Actually owning one would be expensive and not very practical, but I get really excited when I see the exact bike I dream of owning. I imagine the colors and accessories and about riding across Sudan with Ewan McGregor. I tell myself I could own one if I really wanted to … but not yet. Why?
The anticipation, the dream, is far better than the actual ownership (as anyone who has ever owned a boat will tell you) so my goal is to draw the anticipation out for another 10 years or so, relishing every moment.
If I live to be 90, I will have had 50 years of joy from my perfect, ideal, pre-purchase motorcycle never having spent a dime :)
Laurie
Sep 4th, 2010
Simplicity is enjoying every moment and finding the humour………..
down periscope!
Vicki Lerch
Sep 22nd, 2010
Are you still getting blueberries? Our local blueberry farm (organic) is ready to pick!
Val
Sep 25th, 2010
Laura and Cameron: Where are you at these days? I come here a lot, but lately there is nothing.
I’m going to make some assumptions. I’m assuming that you two have come to a crossroads in your life. Some difficult and heart wrenching decisions may be the order of the day.
But please don’t desert your wonderful blog. It means a lot to so many people, including me. Your readers have become part of your life. Perhaps uncomfortably so. We’ve never met you yet we care deeply about both of you. You have given your readers so much – so much more, in fact, than you will ever know.
But do go ahead and ‘Take the next step. The bridge will be there.
(That’s the title of a book published by Grace Sirocco: Take the Step, the Bridge Will be There. http://www.gracecirocco.com/ )
God bless!
Arenda
Sep 30th, 2010
Hey you! We need a new blogpost ;)
Jane
Sep 30th, 2010
We miss you!