Developing A Clear Focus, Find Your Passion

Watch, read, read some more and watch some more. Repeat.

You Tube is a sensational tool. Flicking on a video from a You-tuber that I like and just letting the playlist run has been instrumental in introducing me to new but related ideas.

For example, I have an addiction to Starry Hilder's videos. Her enthusiasm for her off-grid homestead, and just her life in general, is inspiring and always makes me feel happy. One of these videos led on to a video from Mat and Danielle (Exploring Alternatives). Now I can't get enough of their videos either! I was impressed with their take on minimilism and in awe of their nomadic lifestyle. One of their videos put me onto the notion of zero waste lifestyles and onto Gittemary Johansen's channel. She is so sweet and very cool and now...guess what...I'm obsessed with her too!

I love reading and regularly borrow books from the library. It's interesting that when you get hooked on a subject the whole thing sort of snowballs. One book leads to another recommended book, to another and may even opens up a whole other library section which you thought was irrelevant to your interests to begin with. All of a sudden an interest in homemaking, becomes homesteading, becomes organic gardening, becomes anti-chemicals, becomes anti-corporation, becomes politically observant/skeptic, becomes off- grid activist minimilist homesteading organic gardening farmer who aims for zero waste! Whew!

Then usually I will turn to blogs. I love the fact that blogs are often short, to the point (except possibly my own! ;) ) and specific. Nice nibble sized pieces of information accessible just about anywhere. Yes! The information age is wondrous!

So let's break it down now, the process to gain clarity which has worked for me is:

1. Watch your favourite You-tuber on a topic which fascinates you and let You Tube run its course.

2. Hopefully a whole lot of relevant videos have popped up and lead you in a direction within the spectrum of your original interest. Watch and keep watching until something jumps.

3. That thing that jumped out at you... watch some more videos and find a book or three (let's be honest, I never walk out of the library with one book!) in your local library which goes further in depth. If your hooked on the book, you've got a winner! If you weren't kept up all night flicking pages then go onto another, then another until you narrow it down.

4. Take any further questions/intrigues to the Google-meister. Find a few blog posts and boom! You should have that idea more focused than before.

I hope this helps you find your passion and a direction towards finding a focus.

Please share with me how you have found your focus/passion and how you continue to develop it. I think this is a never ending path and there is certainly more than one way to go about it. One tiny action/reaction to an experience might be all it took for you to find your path. I would love to read your stories. Please leave a comment below :)

Xx SheeForce

Remembering 'Why We're Doing What We're Doing'...

Bear with me, the below is a random rant about whether our plan is good or not. I very quickly realise we are on the right path!!! Woohoo!

If you have any advice re: trying to sell our business (please no salesmen!!) I would love love love to hear it! Or if you have any other advice, comments, info I would be so greatful to receive it!

So here goes,

I am so desperate to leave our town and business behind yet am afraid that we’re making a move to do the exact same thing in a different environment.

The plan is,

·         Sell the business

·         Sell the house

·         Buy a campervan to travel the country in

·         Travel the country looking for a town we would like to live and bring our babies up in

·         Stay in preferred places for decent period of time to properly gauge the community

·         Purchase property in perfect place

·         Start small online salami business (likely to need more income than this to support us)

·         Enjoy the good life

o   The good life =

§  Less stressful environment

§  Time to enjoy our babies

§  Leisure time to pursue interests

§  Ability to rear some animals and grow crops to largely feed our family

§  Beautiful surrounds

It sounds amazing.

After writing this it is very clearly obvious to me that Auckland just cannot give us these things. The main trouble is the cost of living here is too high.

The only way to get the extra time that will provide the first 4 points is to significantly reduce outgoings. The biggest expense is the mortgage. Being locked into debt for so many years, we simply aren’t comfortable with this notion anymore.

Servicing a very small mortgage for a short period of time plus being as self sufficient in food as possible we should be able to live very cheaply. Though the self sufficiency thing will take up quite a bit of free time, it’s seasonal. We can also do it as much or as little as we like so it can bend with us. The best thing, most of the stuff – moving cattle from one pen to another, feeding chickens, watering plants, harvesting orchards can be done by the whole family. So in a way, the fourth point ties directly into the second point.

Beautiful surrounds is a personal point which I doubt Adam would care much for. While creating a beautiful home and garden takes time and a bit of money here and there, I mean more in terms of the local area. I am so inspired and awestruck by beauty that I feel I must be near to it. I think this is why I am so drawn towards the ocean. While the country side is often pleasant, the ocean is like a jewel. It has so many colours. It changes often. Of course sometimes it’s a snarling beast but even that holds some appeal!

Luckily, New Zealand (and really everywhere on our planet) has beauty readily available. I guess I’m after a particular beauty that I need to see before I know exactly what it is.

So I know what I want to do, I know how I’m going to do it, why don’t I just do it?

Well, the business is on the market. The house we’re fairly confident will be snapped up. But the issue is the selling of our business.

Waiting for someone to buy it, let alone show any interest in it has so far been a horrendous and drawn out process. Feeling as though there’s no one that thinks your business is worth having a go at is disappointing. It might not be making a killing but it works. We make ends meet. We get paid.

So, what the hell do we do about this problem? The problem being that we are desperate to sell our business...

Try to work on and improve the business’ profit seems the best and only option at the moment. Adam is working hard to keep up with the amount of work coming through while I try to access a whole new customer pool – online shoppers...a huge learning curve for me and taking up the majority of my waking, baby-free hours.

I feel as though an online shop would provide the boosted income we require to push us over the break-even level and into profits.

I actually feel really guilty taking time out to write this but I’ve had so many jumbled thoughts in my head, I was desperate to get them down on a piece of (digital) paper. Questioning myself about why we want to sell up and move on. Contemplating the possibility of getting what we want where we want. Thank fully it only took a quarter of a page to remember exactly the reasons for our decision. We must be doing the right thing.

SheeForce

Living Self Sufficiently - Purchasing Land Checklist - Water

Probably the most important thing to think about, before you move off grid towards your self sufficient lifestyle, is the land you will be living off.

From my research so far, the following points are vital (but not exhaustive) to giving you the best start on your new journey. As I learn more and get closer to the end goal I will update this list.

Other topics will follow ☺

1. Water Source.
We all know that fresh, drinkable water is the number one necessity for life. Think about the amount of water you will need for you and your family in terms of drinking, cooking, cleaning, showers/baths, toilets...as some examples.
Think also of your garden. Most of your crops are going to be maturing over summer requiring daily watering.
If you are keeping animals for eggs, milk and meat, all of which require a constant water source.
In New Zealand we face drought every summer in most regions. Where is your water coming from when there is no significant rain fall for a couple of months? On the flip side, during periods of heavy rainfall, how is your plot of land going to handle it. Will some areas become boggy or flooded? Is there a stream or river on or near your land that might overflow?
Something one of the ladies I follow on You Tube (Starry Hilder) says, which I think is great and will be keeping in mind is "two is one and one is none". Two water sources is the goal.
Rain water collection is easy. With some financial outlay you can purchase water tanks, guttering and piping to connect to your house. You can set it up yourself. Use common sense, think about gravity and use the Internet to get inspired and find out about the finer details these set ups.
The second water source will depend on the location of the property. Look out for streams, creeks, springs and if there are any bore or well opportunities. Again, use the Internet to figure out how to utilise these sources.
As an aside, it is probably a good idea to have any natural water sources tested so you can be certain they will be fine for consumption. If it's a stream or river that flows through the property, find out from neighbours, Google maps etc to see if there is anything untoward that could potentially harm your source. I'm thinking commercial pesticides and fertilizers which might contain some nasties.
With rain water and other water sources, even after having confirmation that they're potable, I would recommend boiling the water as a minimum requirement.

That's all I have to say on water at this stage :) I hope it helps!

Please leave comments and questions!

SheeForce