Minimalism vs. productivity – I want less stuff, but I want all the stuff I need to do the things I want to do! Ack! Where’s the balance? Some thoughts on this common struggle.
Perfectionism
Embracing Less In 2016
My son came bounding into my room this morning and gave me his customary giant good morning hug. He’s typically extra adorable right after he wakes me up by jumping on my bed 4 inches from my face. “Happy New Years!” I said, “It’s a brand new year!” After sufficient snuggling, my son resumed his…
How To Simplify Your Life With A Single Word
It’s 5:30 PM as a write this, and so far today I have received 17 different fully formed “opportunities” for me to give my time, influence or social capital away (for free, naturally). Throw in a looming mountain of laundry and an inconveniently timed dead car battery and it all adds up to the feeling my husband and…
5 Ways To Save Time In The Garden
Ah the simple life. Sounds so placid, doesn’t it? All those simple pleasures: home-grown food, warm earth between our toes, the cluck and baa and buzz of backyard animals, the happy smells of a kitchen much used. So why does this simple life seem so freaking complex sometimes, huh? That’s the part no one talks…
Habits, Not Resolutions. Here, Not There
It is January 1st, 2014 and I have no resolutions. Looking back at the past several years – what they were, not what I resolved them to be – 2012 was The Year That Knocked Me On My Ass, and 2013 was The Year of Recovery from 2012. And so here we are on the…
All Or Nothing Is All Wrong
I admit it. I tend to have a “go big or go home” thought process. So perhaps I’ve given the wrong impression when it comes to backyard veggie gardening. Here’s a paraphrase of a conversation I had recently: Well, I’d like to have a garden but I live in the city. I have one-tenth of…
Dear Busy Person: An Open Letter To You
Dear Busy Person, I love you and I’m worried about you. I have noticed that you are spending a lot of time trying to keep up with things. It looks like you are working very hard all the time just to keep everything afloat. I can tell from all the way over here that you…
I'm Like A Pirate, Sorta (What I've Learned From Surgery)
As regular readers know, on Monday I had eye surgery. I had hoped to be back up and ready to talk applesauce and last minute fall crop options but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen for a while. Here’s what’s up: I was put under general anesthesia and my surgeon cut some of…
Mother’s Day: A Radical Act of Defiance
Secretly, creeping through the brain and heart and blood of every mama there is a deep, dark fear that we are Not Mom Enough. We snap at our kids, or grab the sharpie out of their little hand a bit too roughly before they can decorate another piece of furniture, or are the last to…
Side-Dressing: A Feeding Strategy For Plants and Kids
For a year-and-a-half I felt terrible guilt that I was ignoring my daughter. Reasonable observers would assure me that I was not neglecting her, but in my heart I knew that the attention lavished on her had diminished markedly since the birth of our son. You see, our daughter was a home-schooled only-child for six-and-a-half years. She got…
The Homesteading Hypocrite
The moment I launched this website I started down a path towards raw hypocrisy. I had no idea at the time that this was what I was doing, and it certainly wasn’t my intention. Nonetheless, looking back over the past year+ of posting, it is clear that hypocrisy was inevitable. I have these ideals, you…
Escaping The Cult of Busy
Note to Self: Life on Garden Time does not mean Life on Frantic Time. “Oh, I’ve just been so busy.” “With all the kid’s activities, I’ve just been so busy!” “With the new job, I’ve just been so busy!” “I don’t know what it is, it’s just crazy busy right now.” “Wow, I wish I…