It's easier at home

I've had many opportunities to think about my simple life over the past six months and to meet and talk with others who are living this way, or who want to. I guess what has come from that is the feeling that our decision, all those years ago, to change from our high spending life to something more modest and productive, was the right one for us. I have had no regrets about our change, I think I have grown in spirit and I am certainly happier, more skilled and capable of looking after myself. 

We've spent quite some time these past months away form home and I missed it. I missed the flexibility of living in our own home, the custom-made comfort that has been built in here and the familiarity of it all that not even the swankiest hotel we stayed at could match.

Being surrounded by rainforest, productive vegetable gardens, wild birds and chickens everyday tends to lift spirits. Who cannot see the joy of life when there is an abundance of life thriving around us?  Watching the antics of the chooks, hearing the whip birds call and collecting fresh eggs in my scooped up apron always makes me happy. You can find the goodness of life in your own home and when things go bad or when times are tough, that goodness has the potential to save you.

What is the most important element of simple life for you? Is it the work, paying off debt, slowing down, becoming your true self, reskilling, opting out of the spending spree or any of the many other things? For me, it's the change of attitude needed to live like this. I've gone from an attitude of expectation that a ready-made life will be provided for me, to one where I want and need to custom-make my own life. I see the sense now in working to make what I need instead of working to pay for what I need.

Fine tuning a recipe so that it is perfect for us, placing that last stitch in exactly the right place, matching colours and choosing fabrics that suit us, harvesting vegetables, making cordial and jam from our fruit and slowly moving through the day with meaningful work to do is what I want my life to provide me. It enriches me.

The simple life attitude remains an ever-changing constant that is with me when I'm spending time in my home or when I'm out, doing all those things that I've done these past few months. The focus changes, the tasks change too, but the inclination towards sustainable options and remaining true to my values on the road kept me on track and lead me, eventually, back to home. I guess the easiest time to live by our simple values is when we're at home, it's when we're out that it's difficult. We're bombarded with advertising messages on the sides of buses and buildings, we see people just like us shopping with the plastic. If we can hold on to our values then, if we can think about the big picture and not just that hour or day, if we get on with our business so we can return home, it gets easier. It is always easier at home.