There is no price you can put on peace of mind, but up until 2021, we lived well under the poverty line and had to learn how to do all of these things as very, very poor people.  So, despite what you may think, living sustainably and becoming deeply in tune with the rhythms of our lives is not just a rich man's game.  It's for poor families, single parents, married people with no kids, single people, old people, young people, teenagers, children, middle-aged people, every single ethnicity of people, people with dogs, people with parrots, people who hate animals (just kidding, if you hate animals, I really doubt if you'd want to be sustainable or spiritual or really anything other than an animal hater), people who jog or climb mountains, people who binge Netflix (like me!) or read lots of books (like me!), gay people, straight people, and all sexualities in-between and otherwise.  So, what I am really saying here is that it's for everyone.

But mostly, it's for people who want a deep spiritual connection to themselves, their homes, their communities, the land and the animals and people who inhabit it, and the universe around them.  It's for people who are looking for purpose, connection, and answers.  It's about being intentional with our choices as consumers, as spiritual beings, as community members, as family members, and as individuals.  It's about rekindling our love for ourselves, what we own, and our lives.  It's about finding out who you really are, and not just what the world wants you to be or told you that you are.  And it's not about preaching and changing the world, it's about changing ourselves so we can model the change we wish to see in the world.  It's about letting go of the need to control the world around us and instead, learning to control the world within us.  It's about finding peace, calm, and serenity, just by living our day to day lives, whether we work at a job, work from home, are a stay-at-home parent, or are someone living the #van(orsomeotherthing)life.  Through this lifestyle we can learn to "bust our ass" a little less and instead bust our guts with laughter a little more.  It's about simplicity, in its most purest form.  

It's about me.  It's about you.  It's about all of us, together, riding this wave of life, trying to find our place in it before the wave breaks.  And it's about enjoying it in every way we can.  

That's what this blog is about.  And that's who this blog is for.  

Now, a little more about me, your host on this journey.  

I am in my middle forties, and am a wife to an amazing man (as of 2022 we've been together for almost seventeen years).  Together, we have two kids, who are in their twenties.  Both kids were born with my ex-husband, who they are not close to, but are friends with, which makes me very happy, because I never thought that they would ever get any kind of relationship with him.  My husband adopted the kids in March of 2011 (we were poor, so our city's low-income legal services covered it, which was so wonderful!).  

I grew up in an abusive household, with two alcoholic and abusive parents.  Also, I was a born messy person, totally disorganized, mostly due to my undiagnosed ADHD and anxiety as a child.  So, everywhere I looked, I was surrounded by chaos.  So, as I got older, the chaos followed me into my relationships, my homes, my cars, and my life.  It wasn't until I divorced my ex and found my current husband that I even saw one iota of peace on the horizon.  My old therapist said to me when I found my now husband "I bet it's hard for you, to not have someone want to argue with you all the time or create chaos for you.  I bet you try to create a little yourself."  And he was right.  I was a naturally irritable person, so I was always trying to pick fights for no reason.  But my husband refused to take the bait and just waited me to get used to the calm.  He has his own quirks and issues, too, which I have helped him to also change.  It's like we were made for each other.  But as an atheist who doesn't believe in "soulmates" (though I am not saying it's not possible, I just don't say it's 100% true), I just know that we are both humans with adaptable personalities and who we supposedly "were", was actually implanted in us by our narcissistic and abusive parents.  And our personalities just naturally turned into what our parents told us we were.  But were never those people.  We are so much better than we were told we were.  And now, together, we've learned to shape and create and become the people we were always meant to be, had we had good role models in life.  You can do the same, too.  You just need to give yourself the space and the time, just like we did, to be able to find safe people who are able to give you the space to change (and you for them, as well).  We can change without the help of other people, but I will say, it's damn hard if you're surrounded by those who don't want you to change.  Those who bring you down or abandon you when you do change.  But if that happens, know that that person wasn't right in your life to begin with.  True friendship and true love means wanting the best for the other person.  And if we are surrounding by people who do not want the best for us, then finding peace will be almost impossible (though not entirely impossible--I live with my mother and I still find ways to be better all the time, she just makes it harder LOL).  

I found Buddhism in 2018.  I've been trying to flirt with mindfulness for many years prior, but it never took, because I just didn't "get it".  But then in 2018, two things happened:

And then I started learning more and living more sustainably in 2020, and have continued, little by little, to add more and more sustainable practices to our daily lives.  And part of this is learning how to be less of a consumer, and bring less stuff into my home, which helps with clutter.  Clutter is something I've battled since childhood, but now I know the right organizational style that suits me, and I've been working on owning less and less and less, which leads to being able to organize what I do have, which is great.  You can read about our decluttering journey here.  Along with that, the things I do purchase anymore are either for sustainability purposes (like our new bidets) or are sustainable in themselves, as much as possible (right now, I am seeing where I can buy bulk food that don't have packaging, but in our town, I am not sure that's entirely possible).  And what's not sustainable, I practice proper disposing practices as much as I can.  All of which I will write about on here.  

Then, in 2022, while I had lost around thirty pounds from my heaviest, which was 275lbs, I wasn't doing it safely.  As a teenager, I was anorexic, and sometimes I still revert to not eating when I want to lose weight.  I knew there was a better way, even though I felt like I had tried everything, and nothing else worked.  But I was at a plateau at 240-245.  I knew I wanted to try whole foods, but I had no idea where to start.  But then I found the book "How Not to Die" by Michael Greger, MD, and found exactly what I wanted to do.  So I switched to a plant-based whole-foods diet and voila!  I lost 8 pounds the first week!  But I didn't even actually start this diet to lose weight.  I actually started it because I felt like crap most days.  And I wanted to lower my blood pressure and cholesterol, which were both high.  And the beauty of this diet is that even if you cheat with a little cheese, extra oil, or meat, you can gain the health benefits right back just by immediately going back to eating it again.  It's science-based and proves that your body can heal pretty quickly, if just given the chance.  I think that eating simple fits into the idea of living with simplicity, which is what this blog is about.  

In the future, I am planning on incorporating slow-living ideas as well.  

Again, it's not about being perfect, it's about making progress and learning more as we go and choosing to do the best with what that knowledge.  Which is why this blog will be ever evolving and changing as I learn new things to include in it. 

My other blog, Mindful Path Home, is another similar blog to this one, but centers more on mental wealth and healing, in case you want to check that out.