Small steps to big changes.

I promised myself when I started this blog that it would just be for some of the wierd, random observations I have about my life and life in general. But I think I need a place to chronicle the changes I want to make in my life. So following is a big, long post about some thoughts I've been having lately. Feel free to skip it. I'm sure I'll have some silly rant or weird observation to put on top in the next few days. :)

Over the last couple weeks I’ve been reading a book called “Radical Homemakers”. It’s been a fascinating read and it’s rattling around in my brain. Of course, I picked the book because I felt it would be interesting, but I didn’t realize how many buttons it would hit for me.

I’m seriously considering asking my husband to read it.

All my life, I have known that a regular 9 to 5 kind of gig or a high-powered career was not for me. It’s just not. I don’t want it. I’m not afraid of work, but I want the work I do to be in support of my life, not someone else’s interest. I want my work to be of value to me, rather than being valued by someone else by the dollar. I don’t hate my job, but I do hate losing the time, which I value much more highly than the money.

So this book starts by talking about the changes in society of the last 200 or so years that have made us into a 2-income household nation, and made us think we need all this money. The author calls it an extractive economy. The second half is drawn from her interviews with 20 households (couples, singles, families) who have decided to live their lives for themselves. These are not people who are not working, they are just not working for someone else. They are working to support themselves in such a way that money is NOT the thing they need most. And I love this idea.

I don’t want to be as independent as some of these people have become, but I do want to invest more of my time in myself, my husband, my daughter, my marriage and my home.

There are some steps I need to take before I can move into this kind of lifestyle. Of course, according to many of the people interviewed for the book, the first step you take is a step into the lifestyle.

First, I need more energy. I never have any, and it’s because I take very bad care of myself. My weight is out of control and I have no endurance. Convincing myself I need to lose weight has never helped me. I’ve known that for a long time and done nothing. But the pursuit of energy, with no worry about whether I lose weight or not, that I can do. Exercise for energy, not weight loss, that I can do.

One step at a time, I’d like to get myself into a position where I can work only part-time. I may look into doing something like medical transcription, which I could do from home. Ideally, I wouldn’t work at all, but I’m not certain I’m willing to go to full growing food and raising animals mode. I have to figure out how I could contribute to the home so we need less money while I work on the energy getting. I want to learn to properly garden, and learn to can and store my food. I want to learn to live with less plastic (although I don’t think I’ll convince anybody not to give our daughter plastic toys, and I’m not sure I want to; but at least those can be donated and used again).

I think I may be completely insane at this point, but if a major lifestyle change is what’s needed to take better care of myself, my husband, and my little girl, then that’s what it’ll have to be. I want to be here a long time, and not regret lost time when it’s time to go.