Homemaking - Unique. Remarkable. Joyful. Satisfying.

I was listening to the radio the other day and tuned in just in time to hear a young woman talk about how bored she was staying at home with her twin girls after being in an exciting job in fashion. I thought I'd like to move in with that family for a while and show them how exciting it can be to take control of a home and to introduce the family to sustainability via housekeeping. I'd like to show them the remarkable possibilities and how those possibilities open up life rather than make it boring. Nowadays, many homes are run on the notion that you buy as much as you can to help you save time so you have the time and energy to earn money to pay for all of it. I know that because I used to do it. It was only when I became worn out and sad that I realised what a sorry way it was to live. It wasn't life as I wanted it to be, it was just survival.

In my mind's eye I had this ever-evolving idea of being a successful and happy woman working in her home on a number of projects. While I was still working, I didn't fully understand the complexity of my home's potential but now I do, I wish I'd made my change much sooner. Being at home gives you so many choices, so much power in your hands to have the home that is right for you and your family. Something that fits you like a glove, not a one size fits all. You are aiming for Unique. Remarkable. Joyful. Satisfying. Forget all those stories you read in magazines about boredom, you can reinvent your home life, take the bull by the horns and make your day to day work whatever you want it to be. And it is the homemaker who makes those changes - female or male, married or unmarried, straight or gay, working in the home full time or part time. It's possible for all of us in a variety of ways.

When I came home for good, I threw out all those old fashioned ideas about being stuck at home, buying everything we needed, having a different chemical for each job and food cooked by some unseen person or machine.  I wanted to simplify my life as much as I could by making my home productive and when I got into it, I was shocked and ashamed at how much of my independence I'd given away for the sake of convenience. I wanted to create a new, for me, way of being a homemaker  - one that embraced work at home rather than resent it. I saw it as an opportunity to turn housework on its head and to make my day an exercise in sustainable living that was filled with interest, learning and contentment. As the months rolled by, I could see that I was making myself much more self reliant and our home resilient and strong and capable of nurturing us during the good times and the bad. Our family life improved, and we became healthier and happier.

This is one thing I'm sure of - you make these significant changes to your life by doing one thing, by deciding to change yourself. You start with one thing and as that unfolds, it brings in new possibilities, which lead to something else and eventually the joy of it unfolds before your eyes. It is a small steps proposition where you work at it every day in tiny ways that add up and make life worthwhile and enriching. And you can't buy that anywhere. There is no product that will give you the feeling of satisfaction you get when you create this kind of life for your family. When you finally "get it" and work on making it better every day, that's exactly what happens - life gets better.  So, don't tell me that life at home is boring. It will be what you make it. There are possibilities there that are open to all of us - we'll all choose our own unique mix of what works for us. All we have to do is decide to change, then step up to the work.

In the past few months there were a few people, women and men, who were leaving work to start life as homemakers. If you're still here please let us all know how you're going. What is difficult and what is easy? And, is it what you thought it would be?