My response is: "We go inside". I imagine that other people have as much trouble getting their head around outdoor living as I once did. My 'outdoor' lifestyle came out of necessity rather than desire but I now love it and am so grateful for the lessons it has brought me, particularly in humility, letting go, creativity and joy. In my past I would have never dared to believe that I could be happy living the way that I am now, but I am.
My partner and I were offered a small piece of community owned land to build our own house on with the proviso that it was completely removable in case we decided to leave one day. This way, it would leave no damage if we wanted to take our home with us. We discussed it at great length for weeks, made lists of pros and cons, researched options, mulled it over and asked more questions before finally deciding to give it a go. We have not been big on minimalism in the past and might have paused if we had contacted the bank first but during our month of decision making we missed that. Perhaps we would have made a different choice then so I'm glad myself that we didn't because when we did contact the bank, they would not give us a home loan because it was not our own land. We were offered a personal loan instead and had the utterly incomprehensible challenge of building a home with a budget of 27 thousand dollars - yep, that's all we could get. At first I kept saying "how can we do that?" I said it out loud, over and over and then the ideas began to flow.
As smokers we were spending probably 95% of our time at home outside then anyway so we decided to let go of needing anything really amazing for the living areas (I have quit smoking since we got here). We really wanted a big bedroom and bathroom and somewhere undercover to sit outside. We bought a tent and pitched it on the land as I wanted to wake up to the view each day and ignite my imagination. I also wanted to connect with the energy of the land and get a feel for how the land 'felt' about us being there. I felt very strongly that I did not want to barge in and take over the space uninvited. We lived in the tent for 40 days and in that time we had huge storms fly over, great laughs and lots of ideas. We ordered a recycled site cabin (6m x 3m) off eBay and decided to move in from the tent the following weekend but the universe seemed to have other ideas. The very same night the cabin arrived there was a tremendous storm blowing things around everywhere. At 3am I awoke to my partner telling me to wake up because the tent was tearing apart all around us and he needed my help to move our things. So at 3am in the middle of a ferocious storm we were throwing clothes and furniture into a cabin high off the ground that we could not yet climb into ourselves and we did it all by torch light!
From that day we began to think outside the square more and eventually we created what we have now, an outdoor home. Our bedroom is indoors with a commode, walk-in wardrobes and plasma tv, although we have no tv reception. Our bathroom/laundry/toilet is an aluminum shed (4.5m x 3m). The shower runs from a garden hose connected to a portable lpg gas hot water system and the washing machine runs off the generator as we have no mains electricity at all. The electric company want between $30-$80k for that and we don't have it. Eventually we plan to go solar. With no plumbing and not having $5-&10k for plumbing, we designed our very own composting toilets and have one each. They are incredible.
Our kitchen, lounge and dining room is all outside on a timber deck with a roof overhead and no walls at all!!! We have running water to the sink tap but have to boil a pot on the bbq for hot water to do dishes. The bbq is our only stove and I have since adopted an almost entirely sugar-free vegan diet. For the first 15 months we had no fridge and, within 6 months of building, my pay was cut in half. I then had to resign from my job there so at first it was hard trying to think of things to eat with no regular income to buy anything. Now we have gourmet home cooked meals which taste so delicious and once the garden matures we will eat our own produce too. My partner and I have gotten married since we built our home and my husband still volunteers here, taking care of the community property while I am having to focus on my health fully. We are fortunate enough to be able to earn money 1-2 days each month but sometimes wonder how we are living off $200 p/wk. it's hard and I feel afraid sometimes that I will have to give up my studies and go to work before my health allows but then I breathe and remember to just have faith. That $200 buys our food and fuel and I need to really devote myself to healing right now so I am. The results of my last medical were the best ever.
If anyone had told me I would ever be living like this, I would have either laughed till I cried or told them it would never happen and yet here we are. We have one room and none of the 'trappings' and yet, we have fun, connection, laughter, love, joy and each other. We have breakfast with kangaroos and birds, countless rainbows without the rain, deer regularly grazing nearby, a huge garden on the way and the total silence of nature for miles around. What more could we possibly want or need?
At+Onement
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