The Simple Life – Our Vision (at least as of now)

“The Simple Life” means different things to different people.

Paradoxically, for us it means doing away with many of life’s “conveniences” and outside experiences in favor of a more hands-on and routine way of living (routine by way of the seasons anyway). For us it also means making do with less; as much less as we possibly can. Using what we have; not having a gadget for every effort. Right sizing our solutions and keeping them simple.

No competing with the “Joneses”; just getting back to the basics and getting back to the land. Getting back to a more basic purpose, a more sustainable way of life, and a smaller footprint.

Opting for physical exhaustion (versus mental exhaustion) after a hard day’s work. Taking time amidst it all to watch the sunsets and smell the flowers; to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and sore muscles at the end of a hard worked and physical hands-on day.

Respecting what we do and what we have. Continually fine tuning the processes, methods, and yearly calendar; pushing ourselves to be our best in our work. Continually striving to provide more of what we need ourselves; to move closer and closer towards a goal of independence from the things we’ve absent-mindedly co-opted out up until now.

The property’s house is not too big. It is really just right for us two empty nesters. Our living area on the main level including master bedroom and bathroom is about 900 square feet. That’s plenty. We have two second story bedrooms; one for an office and one for guests. We’ll have our walk-out basement for seasonal storage and for Ed’s workshop (we may also set it up for a live-in family member should a family member need a place to live; it will be small and basic but it will also provide for a sense of privacy if and when it is needed).

We will be grateful for the space we have and will keep it simple and uncluttered. No “decorations”, just function. This means that we will need to continue with our decluttering and downsizing efforts at our city house before we make the final move to our country farmhouse. We’ve come a long way but have a long way to go as well. Sometimes it’s hard to let go because “we never know when we’ll need something” or because we like all those “sets of dishes” that are only used but once or twice a year.

We keep reminding ourselves that our excess things have often come at a non-monetary cost in terms of cluttered space and cluttered spirit.