Thrift Store Jems And Back Alley Shopping

Thrift store specials!  I love buying things second hand.  I will buy things from regular stores (beds, shoes, etc) but for most things, thrifty or free is the way to go.  Recently I became aware of how strongly some people feel against buying second hand.  I want to share some of my fave finds to inspire you to buy greener, look for free goods and use your creativity to make your home more unique and save major $$$!  :))))

Little Japanese pottery bowls.  Using them for bathroom treasures.
And a steal for .75 cents each. 

Locally made pottery honey pot.  Still had the card attached and this hand made spoon.

Hudson's Bay Tin turned flour bin.

I would rather BE who I am than DO what I should.

Another day off when I was supposed to work, but was let know the day before that there was not enough work to do.  YES!  I have a million things going through my mind about what to do with today.  Recently I watched a fun documentary which went around the world and observed 80 religions, for better or for worse.  One faith practice that took me quite far was from a remote Korean community who started the day with their entire family standing together outside and proclaiming to God that they would do something with that day.  WOW!  How many of us start our day with positive words or thoughts?   Or with people who love us and witness our commitments?!?  Very powerful.

For the most part I am very happy with my life.  It is a good one.  I have good people, family, purpose, and hope.  However, I have had so many thoughts in the last 6 years about the life I am living and how it is not really what I want.  I have allowed other people's ideas and cultural influence direct my path.  I am in the process of breaking those forms of conditioning.  The hardest part of changing is replacing what you do not like with something that you really do!  I have a beautiful home which is spacious, comfortable, warm, dry, some garden space, and good neighbours.  I am so fortunate for what I do have...but...this is not really what I want or rather where I want it.  Growing up I lived in the country.  No grocery stores or shops.  There was a swing-set for all of us kids in the town and not too much else.  My family had an small farm for several years where we had animals.  I did not get to or really want to participate with the farm.  I regret that my parents did not have the understanding of how to engage a young person and give them purpose on a farm.  My mother taught me to work, getting me jobs from the age of 11 to learn self reliance.  I know she wanted to help me but it actually took me far in the other direction!  Had I learned skills where I could be passionate about something or a life skill I think it would have taken me a lot further as a person.  One year of my life stands  out the most.  From age 3-4 I lived on a shared farm in Ontario.  We lived alongside my uncle who had a hobby/self reliant farm.  My job was to collect the eggs.  I would carry one home to give to my mother for my breakfast.  Eggs come warm, not cold right?  I learned that.  I also learned how to keep track of the birds after they were decapitated and how to pull out the inside and clean them.  These are real skills.  In a quickly changing world I know with all my heart that my Mom wanted what was best for me so that I would not be in a dependant situation as an adult woman.  Ironically though, this work a day life is the ultimate in dependence!  I do wonder now about if I had stayed living in Ontario on family land.  How would my life be different?   Would I care about the things I do now?  Would I be so anxious to get back to a farming life if I grew up that way?

So here I am well immersed in my modern life.  Working, material objects, convenience food, a moment here and there with my husband.  The problem is, overall it does nothing to satisfy me.  There is a real emptiness in modern life.  I find that when I get up I am off to another person's idea of what I need to do so that I may afford things that nobody really needs but we take for granted are worth our life.  I have the day off and have a million things I want to do!  I feel very tired so I think maybe the best thing to do would be to take a nap.  However, I have a person with a plum tree who will let me pick it for free. If I was not so tired I would be there in a minute to pick all day long and then can, can, can.  I also have some odd jobs that need doing.  I have several people I should see or respond to email.  Yada, yada, yada....Working a job takes all my energy away from my own wishes.  I think this is common for a lot of people.  They would love to spend REAL time with their family doing something that satisfies the soul.  BUT we are tired so we rent another movie and lay about not talking, connecting, or making real memories.  It is tiring for most of us to even THINK of things we could do with our SPARE time.  This makes me very sad.

I know a lot of Moms.  I am at the age where most of my friends have kids.  I have a friend with eight children, I have a friend with 1 child, and several inbetween.  All are exhausted!  However I do often find that they do not want more rest or time alone.  Most just wish they could give their kids more time.  Real time at home in comfy clothes, eating nice food and watching their kids play and grow.  However many parents I know barely have time to give their kids a cereal bar to eat in the car on the way to whatever activity.  Quick bath when you get home and hit the sack only to get back on the wheel the next day.  I feel so sorry for the way kids are raised now.  I think time with family, people who really love you, accept you, and teach you is more important than anything.  Current demands on parents are overwhelming!  No wonder so many of them are a minute away from a nervous breakdown most days.

So, back to my original thoughts......what to do do do....

Simple Pleasures Served With Complex Thoughts

                Sunflowers from my backyard.

  The highest plant grew to nearly 20 feet tall.

       This week Scott is leaving to go and visit his family for several days without me.  I am sad to be separated from him.  To make up for the lost time together we have tried enjoying one another more this week.  Some of that has been talking over tea or hot chocolate in the cool night air, walking our two dogs, but frankly we for the most part we are tired so we lay on the bed and watch a movie or nod off while still wearing our clothes.  We watched two movies (yes only two but that is a lot of time to devote to a screen).  They actually impacted my thoughts on a deeper level than I planned as my daily thoughts "clicked" with some aspect of the movies.  First we watched The Village, for those of you who have not seen it before, a group of people who reject society become self reliant and ultimately happy...other than some monsters who terrorise them that is.  The second movie  was called Safe and was based on a woman in the 1980's who suddenly rejected her posh and comfortable life (due to chemical reactions to her environment) and found a greater sense of joy living totally out of modern society in a one room pod with not much more than a bed.

Simple meal with some garden items.

      Although these movies are extreme they brought up some good points.  What is real joy and fulfilment and does our current lifestyle as North Americans trying to "live the dream" actually fulfil us?  For myself, I would have to say NO!  The more stuff I have the more claustrophobic I feel.  I do like having basic comforts, however most of the things I own, I do not need.  I use less than 1/2 my home on a daily basis.  I use the same plates, towels, blankets, etc.  The rest of my things are for the company that I am lucky to get one time a year.  SO why do I have so much crap?  Why does anyone have so much crap?

Hazelnuts picked from a friend's yard.

     As far as I can tell over the last 100 years we have jumped on some kind of bandwagon of progress that has given us so little, it is no wonder why more people are starting to question it.  We went very quickly from making our clothes, growing our own food, raising our own animals, living tightly with family, and having a community to be accountable to, to being what we are now.  Working day in day out to give our family what is considered the best of everything but living a lonely depressing existence.  We are seldom afforded the luxury of raising our own children let alone an animal?!?  It is very hard to get out of this lifestyle as it is meant to keep you on the wheel of working to buy and not to live.  If we only bought what we needed then people would probably only work 2 days a week.  However we need bigger houses, vacations, and 20 pairs of shoes per person and so beat goes on...

My "breakfast" picked fresh each morning.

     Basically, the more I do for myself, the more I hear others complain about their self made traps, the more experience I have with self reliance, I FEEL what is the right thing for me and I want out of the dream that has been sold to me since childhood.  

I WANT MORE and I am working towards that.  I do have to say that it is hard to start from scratch when you know nothing about growing your own food or making things for yourself.  In my free time out of the system I try to liberate myself in small ways that allow me to feel the joy of independence while teaching me just enough for that subject.  I am lucky enough to have spent some of my childhood on farms and around simple people.  Not stupid, JUST SIMPLE.  There is a difference.  As an adult, I am trying to surround myself with other healthy people who want the same things so that I may learn from them while being inspired.

     
This week has given me some small but wonderful joys.  All came with lessons.  I am grateful for whatever I can use or consume that I did not acquire by spending money (and therefore my soul) and also for the knowledge that presented itself along with the bounty.

  Fresh from my neighbour's vines. 

       I hope you enjoyed the pictures of my simple but wonderful things.