Happy, Away From It All

Before moving up here, we often talked about getting away from it all. Get off the grid and live a simpler life. We have no plans to become hermits, or fall off the radar. If you’re friends with Lance on Facebook, you’ll know he’s reaching out to many from his past. We’re very thankful for the internet and being able to stay in touch.

One friend asked if I’ve seen the movie The Shining. It sounded great, from the beginning; a man and wife become the winter caretakers of an isolated hotel out west. That’s where the ‘sounding good’ ends. We’ve got some interesting neighbors, but nothing to base a horror flick on, yet ;-). A lot of people have expressed envy of our ‘adventures’. That tells me the desire for a simpler lifestyle is within many of you. Society doesn’t make it easy for us to want less. The commercials, movies, magazines, all try to convince us that having more STUFF is good.

The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things. 

Elise Boulding  

Our culture wants us to continue to shop, spend, buy, go into debt, rinse, repeat. The media have a way of hypnotizing its audience into wanting more STUFF. Maybe since we don’t have any type of broadcast TV we don’t feel compelled to go out and buy more stuff. It’s actually been a fun challenge to cook with our limited resources. I made Lance some chocolate ice cream from a can of coconut milk. A small ice cream maker is needed.  Or how ’bout mustard seed sprouts on a pastrami sandwich? In order to attain the simpler way of life, we need to make fewer trips to Wal-Mart and head to our pantry instead. Getting creative with the ingredients you do have on hand can be rewarding.

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors  

African Proverb