Blog?

I started this blog a while back, but only had two things nailed down: 1. I was going to write a blog and 2. It had something to do with a simple lifestyle, kind of a back-to-the-basics feel. Well, I didn't start anything right away because I wanted to really figure out what I was going to be writing about first. Plus, we got super busy planning and preparing for our family vacation, going on our family vacation and recovering from our family vacation. The blog was put on hold. Well, now I'm back and I have a much better idea of what this will look like! :) Yay! During our traveling we listen to some audio books and podcasts that transformed this idea into something a little more specific, so I'm going to lay it out a little better now.

What does the Simple Life look like?
We, by we I mean my family, are on a journey to explore and learn about that idea. By simple I do not mean easy. I think that the American culture has already done a great job of finding the easiest, most convenient and quickest ways to do just about everything, so that's not what we are learning and discovering. What I'm referring to is a lot more complex than that. It's trying to do things more simply in a whole new meaning of the word. Here are some specifics:
1. Finding ways to do things that are better for the environment--simpler in their ingredients, processes, chemical-free, home-grown, cleaner, safer.
2. Simpler financial life--living debt free, avoiding getting caught up in the "rat race", passing on a financially sound heritage to our children, living within our means, enjoying pleasures without guilt or burden of finances.
3. Learning trades and processes that have been lost. This would include things like gardening, canning, crafting, building, DIY projects, cleaning without chemicals, sewing, etc. All kinds of things that our grandparents and great grandparents did and did well because it was their means of survival and life style. Now those arts have been lost in the "convenience" of our modern day. So, we want to explore those again and wonder, would our life feel more "simple" if we didn't depend on others to do these things for us?
4. Living in community. Remember the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child". Well, when that saying began, a village really was raising the children. Now, we rely on the knowledge of usually two people--a mother and father. It's a really limited idea and our children & parents alike are missing out on the benefits & wisdom of an extended group of adults working together. Would life feel more simple if we were raising our children together, supporting each other, helping each other? What about those around us that hit a rough spot in life? What if we had resources, food, shelter, abilities that we could share with them? Would life be more simple if we were looking out for each other rather then judging each others circumstances?
This is not an exhaustive list, I'm sure others could add more ideas and I welcome them. These are the things that have been coming to mind recently and we've been exploring how our life could look if we tried to simplify some things. That brings me back to the blog, we're going to be sharing our journey with you--our readers. Not because we have all the answers, but to share some of the lessons we've learned with you and hopefully you'll share your ideas with us. Maybe a few more people will join us on this idea and effort to explore a new way of living--a little bit of the "old school" way some may say! ;)

So, if you like this idea, follow along! We're looking forward to the journey.