Moving to Woodlands in 2017. Personal story. Part 3.

The main principles of our countryside life. Or life in general, no matter where.

Living surrounded by the fields of buckwheat. 
This is June. 

Part 1 here: Planning, Motivation & Obstacles around (opens in new window)

Part 2 here: Worries for the 2 Months Alone (opens in new window)

Moving to countryside at the age of a young adult is a pretty... giddy experience. You find a little wonder to be excited about every single day. After living 10 years in the walls of city apartment, totally dependent on money and directly affected by what others around are doing, countryside life for me feels like freedom. My home isn’t just indoors. My home is the whole old house, the frontyard, backyard, garden, fields around and forests. The sense of home has grately expanded together with the sense of responsibility. So, we had to define the main principles of our life here, we had to give ourselves the guidelines of building this life based on our values, on what feels right to us, on what we want and hope for. There are dozens of ways of doing the same thing while producing different side-effects. And those side-effects are what we care about because they define our health and happiness. After 9 months of life here we are still defining those rules, it’s not that everything is clearly understandable for us since we are here. Some days there are more questions than answers. Fortunately, the sense of life doesn’t disturb me anymore. I’ve got it.

So, the main rules of our countryside life, or just living in general.  I’m pretty sure more will clear out over time, but it will be easier for you later to follow and understand my story if you know our basic principles. Now we are trying our best to stick to these rules. You know, when the habit is settled in, sticking to it becomes effortless. What matters is the direction and healthy ways of getting there, with more or less of success  we are on this road (not necessarily in the exact order):

1) Proper healthcare is the basis of healthy, active life.

Oh boy, majority of what we do is for the sake of a good health, and for us it doesn’t mean limitless doctor appointments, tests, vitamin pills and amazingly rewarding healthcare plans. Since nobody is paying us for sick days and we have a lot to do here, we can’t afford the luxury of being sick and too weak. We really need to stay strong and capable of working productively.  

For us good healthcare means:

The pumpkin king grown in our garden this summer.

+ Eating good food. Organically grown, local, homegrown, foraged, homemade, fresh – food that is rich in vitamins & minerals, valuable for the whole body. First remedies for health issues have to come on a plate or in a cup. Of course, with exceptions of those issues we haven’t dealt with before and can’t take the pain :D . In all other cases – first, search for natural remedies, no, problem with that. Been on the track for quite some time, five years? Maybe more. I don’t know for sure.  

+ Moving. Staying active every day. If not in any other way than at least by hiking in forests around on lazy days. Usually, this isn’t a problem as countryside doesn’t let you sit on your ass for too long. Gardening and renovating keeps us moving every single day, and I'm really happy for that. 

+Boosting immunity. Getting stronger. Food, of course, is one of the greatest helpers, but hardening ourselves helps too. Getting used to climate contrasts indoors and outdoors, regularly heating up  in traditional steam-bath & cooling down outdoors, getting used to colder water and so on. Traditional steam-bath, by the way, is one of the greatest treasures of our countryside life, and every soul working for themselves in the coutryside deserves a good steam-bath. It’s therapeutic and healing on all levels of human being I can possibly imagine. I’m serious about this.

+ Slowing down. Having a good rest. If you feel the need to rest, do it. Quality healthcare includes as much of rest as needed. Resting and being lazy isn’t the same. For now, while we don’t have jobs outside of our home, we don’t have kids and work for ourselves, we have the luxury of being the bosses of ourselves and owning our own time. A really precious time in our lives.  So, if we want to enjoy it and use productively, we have to stay active and strong, and without proper rest we can’t do it.

+ Keeping balance. In everything mentioned above. Don’t eat too much, don’t underrate the doctor’s advice, don’t put all of your eggs in the same basket, don’t celebrate for too long, don’t jump twice your limits, enjoy beer for enjoying it not for getting drunk, don’t get overly negative, positive, attached, carelees or whatever else from the same page. I mean, trying things that are out of order is grately appreciated here, but coming back home to senses and realistic world-view is quitely celebrated as well.

2)    Caring for the health of the environment around is caring for ourselves in the long term.

It includes recycling, reducing waste and trash, choosing natural, degradable materials, taking care of the forest, planting & companion planting, natural fertilizers in the garden, natural cleaning detergents indoors (including those for personal hygiene and health & beauty care), long-lasting but human & environment health friendly building materials and methods. We are on a bit of a difficult mission with this, but on the way. While we are not millionaires and love researching and experimenting, we get to make many things on our own. It takes time, a lot of time and patience, but minimal financial resources. Sometimes the lack of easily available (or searchable) info slows us down with this.  

3)   Renovating with the respect to the past is keeping the cultural heritage, honoring those before us and keeping developing the work people did here before us.

Not living in the house that looks like in thirties, fourties or nineties (we have some renewable furniture pieces from these times), but respecting the heritage of the house indoors and outside, and in the garden around. One of the things here, we want to do it using our own hands – it’s a part of the heritage. Investing our time in the house and piece of land we are responsible for is the heritage of this place. And our choice as well. We are crafters. We can do this. We can learn.

The beauty of seasons you can observe and feel in all possible ways. 

4)  Limiting our dependence of commercial products and services is building a firm foundation for personal freedom.

For the sake of happiness. For the sake of healthy nervous system. For the sake of staying out of the run for money. It means we have to learn providing for ourselves a lot. It’s also a good way to sort out what isn’t that necesarry to feel comfortable and satisfied. We can’t go totally shopping-free at least not until the main parts of the house are renovated. For example, I can’t imagine how I could make a proper indoor’s toilet without spending money, as we are starting here with the toilet only outdoors. I will also keep buying a few things other things, for example, culinary oil – making it just for ourselves would cost more time and other resources than we are ready to invest in it. I could simply exclude it from the menu, but I kinda like it there. It suits our kitchen. And we are still willing to pay for the communications. I mean, c’mon, internet is an amazing place if we use it in amazing ways, and phone is pretty handy.

We are not that extreme, right? We are not craving for the most super-modern things, gadgets, services and so on, but we are not also denying their usability in our home. If something brings great value to help us move on with the rest in our lives, our door is open. The main thing is keeping it cool. Keeping the head cool evaluating what we need and don’t need. Breeding the greed is not acceptable, but I doesn't mean we are sitting here denying any kind of money - earning journeys. 

The little wonders from walks in the woods.

 5) If we don’t allow ourselves to enjoy ourselves and what we do, the life is not worth living.

We have seen many people in both sides of the ship – in city and at the countryside stuck in the run, unhappy, physically & mentally broken. There is never enough, never good enough, they breathe and breed greed that kills them in ugly ways. We are pretty aware of the fact that our time on this Earth is limited. We owe it to the evolution: we have to allow oursevles to enjoy all of this. It’s probably only the matter of attitude that we want to keep in the long run. Read books for enjoyment. Watch movies. Listen music – not keeping it as a background noise, but really listening to it. Laugh, experiment, learn, achieve, sleep, go for walks, stop and feel the world around with all of the senses you have. Don’t deny yourself pleasures. Don’t delay pleasures. In the name of love for sleeping I tend to delay alarm clock on mornings, and sometimes I don’t feel guilty about it. I just enjoy sleeping. Especially on mornings.

6)  Never stop learning.

For the sake of brain development, gaining new skills and improving our own lives that cross many roads of others around us. Read books, watch movies, listen music, experiment, try, train, discipline yourself & feel. Never stop learning, it will only expand and improve our knowledge, abilities, skills and ways of living the lives we want.

Our most valuable currency now is time, and, no, time, isn’t money. It’s a lot more than that. 

The part about unwanted & unplanned house guests & inhabitants is coming next. You know, even countryside life isn't just flowers and butterflies. :) 

Part 1 here: Planning, Motivation & Obstacles around (opens in new window)

Part 2 here: Worries for the 2 Months Alone (opens in new window)