Could you live without your microwave? How about your washer, dryer or dishwasher? Could you live without your hairdryer? Is a t.v. in every room normal for your house? If you had to flick a match to a candle instead of flicking a light switch, do you think you could survive?
In the year that we have lived in our home, we have come to realize that many of the modern day conveniences can most certainly be lived without. It has been our plan to show people that having an iPod stuck in your ear does not make or break your life. You won't find us standing in lines for hours and hours for a Nintendo Wii. All our gifts are handmade especially for the person who we are giving it to. This makes them more special than any game or gift you can buy from any store.
I am sure many people could not live the way we do. We make our own clothes, bake our own bread, and pour our own candles. We don't rely on the outside world and it's "toys"to make us happy.
In season, we grow our own food, and then we can it for winter. We eat seasonally or locally. This means we mostly eat food that is available in our area that season, and what we canned. No fresh tomatoes in the winter for us. They aren't fresh when they are shipped from Mexico, or California. They are sprayed or waxed to preserve shelf life. Yuck! We have canned tomatoes that were canned the day they were picked, and taste delicious. If you think about it, years ago, they would not have had tomatoes in December. Not in this part of the country anyway. They would have salted, pickled and dried their meals for the winter.
If more people did this, it would actually cut down on the "footprint" of everyone. Trucks, planes and whatever is carrying these "fresh" tomatoes from the west coast to the east coast would not be running. Vegetables and fruits coming from half way around the world would be out of the question. It would cut down on fuel consumption and air pollution.
We do have hot running water and electricity, but choose to use other options when we can. In the dark hours of winter we use candles and oil lamps a good part of the time. We keep a pot of water on the wood stove so when we need hot water it is already heated. No need for the furnace to kick on.
Although we do have a phone, I am not sure why. We hardly ever use it.
It is quieter and calmer because we don't have the outside world ringing in at us at every turn. No cell phones ringing, no blackberry to answer. People who say they couldn't live without their blackberries or iPods should possibly seek help for an addiction. They are stressed out because they have chosen that lifestyle.
Our life is simple because we make it that way.
Maybe it is not a life for everyone, but maybe it should be.
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