After years of caregiving for my Grandmother before she passed, then my Father before his passing and most recently my Mother, life had taken many unexpected turns which mostly involved loss. I needed to reconnect with my roots and my spirit again. By embracing the simple things that had been handed down by generations before and intentionally bringing nature’s rhythms back into play, I soon began to heal with the "real me" stepping forward into life again. Mission service and interpreting were my chosen fields, but caregiving changed all of that. I quickly found myself on the path of a family tradition of entrepreneurship, art and homesteading along with a new found love of metalsmithing.
Mother Earth News defines 21st century homesteading as "Self sufficiency — wherever you live. It’s about using less energy, eating wholesome local food, involving your family in the life of the community and making wiser choices that will improve the quality of life for your family, your community and the environment around you."
For me homesteading is about embracing a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency and being a good steward of the world that God has given. For years I dreamed of building a quaint cottage and studio off-grid on a 5-10 acre piece of land...a magical oasis filled with fruit and nut trees, vegetable and herbs gardens, chickens and goats, where we would make most of the things we used while enjoying the peacefulness of reconnecting with nature. Ah, simplicity at its best. Turns out we were already embracing a good portion of those things while living in a small city apartment!
As connections were made with others who were also on their own quest of simple abundance, I encountered many who felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information. They were intimidated by the process of change and found themselves stuck in a rut of shame because they thought they weren't doing enough. I wanted to provide a place where simplicity reigned...a spot where others could learn how to embrace their own journey. There's no set path...if you find what ignites your spirit, then it's right for you.
Whether it's reclaiming your cluttered spaces, designing a home to fit your spirit, repurposing discarded items into artful creations, giving your recipes a healthy makeover, building furniture out of pallets, composting and recycling or using your own DIY natural cleaning products for the first time, there's no guilt here because doing one thing is enough. If you want to add more, then yay for you (;
I'll be sharing the Natural esSCENTials™ we use to get back to basics, tips on how to embrace the homesteading lifestyle no matter where you live, ideas on creating a home haven that reflects your true spirit, ways to celebrate the everyday to make it special and information about the products we’ve developed along the way to keep our home functioning at its best. So until that dream of becoming a full time homesteader occurs, our little Homesteading Cottage in the city will have to do. As we travel this journey of simplicity in the city, we hope you join us for the ride (:
