Good morning. Happy Sunday.
Living simply gives me appreciation for the simple things...like water and shelter.
Here we are, in this beautiful, natural setting, struggling with day to day living, and it gives me a chance to remember all of the things we as Americans take for granted--like running water.
So many people around the globe do not have the luxury of turning on a faucet and having both hot and cold water at their fingertips. Many people still have to haul their water from some distance away, as we are doing now, as a result of our current well snafu. I am thankful we have a vehicle that will carry the water for us, and thankful for buckets and containers to haul it in. I can't imagine having to carry that water on my back the three miles to our homestead. Some people do just that, carrying water for miles to their homes every single day, so they can have water to drink, to cook, and to wash themselves with.
The simple things.
We are a nation of spoiled people. We have electricity we take for granted, not caring how much coal is burning and pushing contaminants into our atmosphere. We have shelter--huge houses, by world standards, to house ourselves and our precious stuff. We have food--so much in fact that we can afford to throw away our leftovers as many restaurants and grocery stores do, as well as people in private homes. In fact, we have so much food, we are killing ourselves with it--the obesity rate in the US of A is astronomical. We have cars to cart ourselves and our stuff around, not considering our commuter lifestyle is driving the greed and competition behind the Big Oil Industry, and also emitting loads of life killing carbon dioxide into the air. Thankfully we still have air to breathe, which we also take for granted, not realizing how close we are to ruining that too. We have precious water, taking our daily showers, flushing drinking water down the toilet, never caring or thinking about how the Southwest US is drying up and people are bickering and fighting over who gets the little bit of water they can still pull out of the ground and divert from the rivers. Everyone "needs" that water to irrigate their alfalfa fields to feed the cows that make us fat. Everyone "needs" that water to dump into the sewer for showers and toilets and dishwashers....
When you do without for any length of time, you begin to realize the stupidity of our culture of convenience. We are depleting the planet's resources at rates we can't begin to understand. Our resources are precious. Water is precious. I know this as I haul it every single day--enough for my family to drink, for cooking, for our livestock to drink, and for me to wash the few dishes we use.
We met a man at the artesian well where we get water. He's pretty proud of the fact that he has enough electricity to run his coffee maker and microwave. He only has to run his generator for two hours each morning and two hours each evening to get these conveniences. He, like us, is living in a camper on his land. Our camper didn't come with a microwave (we got rid of our household microwave years ago because of the contamination of microwaves on our food) and we don't have an electric coffee maker (we also got rid of our coffee maker years ago because of the electrical load). When we want coffee, we boil water in a teapot on the stove. It's really simple. We cook all of our food on the stove too (our oven doesn't work).
It's great that people are living off grid and their carbon footprint is greatly reduced, in comparison to most Americans, but it baffles me why they would still want the luxuries that are killing our planet. Oh, I know they are not intentionally living off grid, at least not for an ecological reason, so when they can wire their off grid situation to accommodate all of their toys they will feel like they are living well.
We must change our thinking if we want to turn this desperate environmental situation around.
Living off grid always gives me the opportunity to really think about my own needs and how I can reduce my carbon footprint even more. Living simply does that for you, without much choice really. The important things, like water and shelter take precedence over the trivial things like how to get enough electricity to turn on a TV. Living simply allows a person to simply be, without the pretense of anything else, There is no one to impress, and when your biggest want for the day is enough water to take care of your homestead, there is no energy left worrying about all those materialistic wants that really just don't matter.
I'm not saying everyone needs to live in a tent to fully experience and appreciate the simple and basic things a human being requires, but it certainly helps. In my experience there has been no bigger eye opener than having to live day to day in the simplest fashion. I would suggest everyone try it at least once, if they can, and just allow yourself to be one with nature, as you were born to be.
The simple life. It's hard work. I have a lot of compassion and understanding for people who do this all of their lives. They are noble people. Stronger than me for sure.
I am lucky to have been given this space and time to meditate on all of this. Living simple allows this. It brings one closer to what is important and gives a person a chance to seriously consider what is necessary in their own life. Bring it back to the basics. Simplify. Get to know yourself in the space of nature.
Love to all.
~Rev. Kerry
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