Homestead forum diaspora

I don't make New Year resolutions, but that doesn't mean I don't have dreams or goals.  I just don't feel the need to do it at the beginning of the year and put arbitrary and meaningless time constraints on myself.  To me, that way lies craziness.  I set my goals with my own timeline in mind. 

This thread is giving me pause and food for thought. It has been a rough couple of years (interspersed with some of the greatest moments of my life) and I am in a re-evaluation mode. It is definitely a hard place to be but I turned 40 and it's time. The one thing about me is a I can get very deep and extremely REAL with my own bullshit so I can make necessary and affirming changes. That is where I am now.

My grandfather had a favorite saying. "Where ever you go there you are".......  If you can't be happy where you are you won't be happy wherever you go.  Many a child has tried to "fix" their lives through relocation.  It doesn't work.

Rob at January 3, 2014 at 12:58 PM

My grandfather had a favorite saying. "Where ever you go there you are".......  If you can't be happy where you are you won't be happy wherever you go.  Many a child has tried to "fix" their lives through relocation.  It doesn't work.

Yet last year you were encouraging me to relocate.

I still think you should relocate because it's what you want. Just don't think relocating is going to FIX anything. You have to do that from inside out.

Rob at January 3, 2014 at 1:02 PM

I still think you should relocate because it's what you want. Just don't think relocating is going to FIX anything. You have to do that from inside out.

Well, I do know being in the woods by myself does make me happier compared to spending time in the city.  Sure, it will not fix underlying, personality traits, but if I can get myself away from the mass of people, idiots on the road, etc., I will be more content in my day to day life.

You will be much busier that's for sure.

Rob at January 3, 2014 at 12:38 PM

If you believe the Consumerism lie you will never be happy or fullfilled. I'm living proof that money only breeds depression.

My wish for all of humanity is that every one have just enough.

At some point in our evolution as a species we will look back at Billionares with shame and disgust. Kinda like the way I look at them now.  ;-)  

Be happy right where you are for right now is all you are ever going to have.

 

This site won't let you edit what you want to quote? Lame.

Right now is all I'm guaranteed, but where I'm at better not be all I'll ever have!

Annie in MN at January 3, 2014 at 12:56 PM

I don't make New Year resolutions, but that doesn't mean I don't have dreams or goals.  I just don't feel the need to do it at the beginning of the year and put arbitrary and meaningless time constraints on myself.  To me, that way lies craziness.  I set my goals with my own timeline in mind. 

It's good to reach for things however you feel works best for you. I'm just baffled that so many people are living lives they don't enjoy, and have chosen to actively participate in doing nothing about it.

And I love your new avatar!

Rob at January 3, 2014 at 12:58 PM

My grandfather had a favorite saying. "Where ever you go there you are".......  If you can't be happy where you are you won't be happy wherever you go.  Many a child has tried to "fix" their lives through relocation.  It doesn't work.

I hear this quote all the time. I believe that it is partially true, but not completely. Although I could find things to enjoy about any place I was, that doesn't mean I would be truly happy. Can you see yourself being happy to live in NYC, Rob?

I feel if you relocate to run from your troubles, you will find "Where ever you go there you are"

however if you relocate to fulfill your personality, lifestyle desires, etc. Then you will be happier if you suceed in that fulfillment

SilverFlame819 at January 1, 2014 at 4:29 PM

Thread resurrection!!

Anyone make any resolutions this year? What are you hoping this new years brings? Anything you're going to be working to accomplish this year?

Good seing you Angela. I was wondering how things went with you and the redhead...

Resolutions? Made the resolution to no longer make resulutions several years ago. That's one I've been managing to keep.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to walk normally again so I can show/work with my dogs and work on the next phase on the stead.

Chicken coup and run. Maybe not adding the birds yet but be ready for when I can manage more livestock. Get sheep to get the puppies started in herding without anyone in the area noticing

I think that for some people life gets in the way of their dreams. It's only now in my early 50s that I dare dream again because it's doable. I only have to support myself and the pack, the stead and everything is paid for, great job, new hips, new knees coming soon... Before now I had to make my daughter my priority, when she was old enough my health took a dive and then my joints deteriorated rapidly to the point I could hardly move let alone work on the stead or train a dog. Things are looking up.

SilverFlame819 at January 3, 2014 at 3:34 PM

Rob at January 3, 2014 at 12:58 PM

My grandfather had a favorite saying. "Where ever you go there you are".......  If you can't be happy where you are you won't be happy wherever you go.  Many a child has tried to "fix" their lives through relocation.  It doesn't work.

I hear this quote all the time. I believe that it is partially true, but not completely. Although I could find things to enjoy about any place I was, that doesn't mean I would be truly happy. Can you see yourself being happy to live in NYC, Rob?

Happy is a choice. It doesn't mean you have to settle for a pile of crap. You can change your life, but relocating isn't going to make you happy. Relocating isn't going to make you stop drinking, drugging sleeping around, eating to much, smoking, whatever. Relocating isn't going to fix what's f*cked up in your head. Relocating is just that.

I live in the harshest environment in the Northern Hemisphere. I could bitch about it and let it get me down, but why? You have a choice, except for those with a chemical imbalance in their bodies or something. You only have Right Now, life is a series of Right Now. What the hell is everybody waiting for?  If I had to live in New York I would be happy, yes. I may want to live someplace else, but I wouldn't let that fact steal all my Right Nows.

I just try and be happy in the moment. I'm not always happy, but I try to be.

I agree about relocation. The move is for practical purposes (we need more space). The re-alignment is more personal and that needs to happens regardless of where I am.

With below zero temps for much of Dec...and continuing into mid January, relocation has crossed my mind...

Where ever I go, there I am...on a beach, or at least in the warmth...

Took a female friend of the family out to dinner tonight because she's been having a rough time with her kids and grandkids, she really hasn't done anything for herself in awhile.  She has always wanted to move to Alaska but that is unlikely.  However, it is very likely she may join me on my land in the Ozarks.  Not sure if there is any romance here or what, she has a bit of a butter-face, but we have many things in common and she is one person I could live in the woods with.

What is a butter-face?

a rude, misogynistic comment.

If she found out you said that about her, I seriously doubt she would be wanting to move anywhere with you. For shame, Tob.

Sac, it means everything on her looks good... but her face. 

K, the redhead is a work in progress. We train every day, but I need to buckle down and get more serious about the intensity of our training. Kind of hard with the inversion as bad as it is, and temps as cold as they are. Neither of us really wants to be out in the back yard working on obedience... She hasn't tried to bite anyone lately (knock on wood), and ignores most strangers, or shows interest in them as they're passing... but gets scared when people reach out to pet her, unless she has decided she likes them and wants to be their friend. Then she still shies away the first time they touch her, and then looks delighted and turns into a wiggly nutjob. She does better with people who ignore her when they first meet, and she has a bigger problem when there is more than one stranger. She is just a pile of issues, but we're working on them. She has discovered fetch (that is her catching an orange ball in my avatar) and would easily turn obsessive about it if I let her. I am just hoping that as we keep on keepin' on that she will turn out as normal as possible. I am hoping to be moved into my RV by April (or as soon as the temps get to around the 50's), and I think that it will be good for her. No longer have enough space to play fetch in the bedroom, but not living with cats anymore (which she is insane over), or having strangers coming in and out of the house all the time (roommate's friends). Plus, since there will be no back yard, I will be forced to go outside with her EVERY TIME, which means that she won't have the chance to bark at strangers or act a fool because I'm not around, which she does occasionally here. As soon as the RV is registered, I'm going to start taking her to classes as well. Training alone is great, but we'll need some tests... and that includes being able to keep her head on straight around a bunch of other dogs. It will be good to have the challenge.

At this point, there is little I wouldn't give to already be on a piece of land. Even if just a rental. I feel like it would make training the dog easier, and she would progress so much faster than she is right now. Plus, I'd just like to relax. To be able to let my guard down, and let her run around in the yard, without having to worry about strangers entering the yard and being bitten, or letting her loose, or worrying about her barking at people (practicing bad behavior) and driving the neighbors nuts... Just all the bullshit that raises stress levels when you're living with a reactive, unsocialized dog in an apartment, with cats and strangers in the house, with a chainlink fenced yard that the dog can clearly see strangers through, in a city... It's exhausting. The training is exhausting, the walking is exhausting. I cannot even let her out of my bedroom off leash... I would kill for some relaxation. A nice, fenced yard in the country. It sounds like HEAVEN. Sheer, beautiful, relaxing, peaceful heaven.

That's how things are going with the dog. *lol*