Community

Com-mu*ni*ty  : a unified body of individuals: asa : state, commonwealthb : the people with common interests living in a particular area; broadly : the area itself <the problems of a largecommunity>c : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location

part of the definition from www.merriam-webster.com

I would like to add one more.

A group of people working together for the benefit of each individual and the Group as a Whole.

Why am I writing this do you ask?  I have witnessed a community, though small, of neighbors coming together - again.

We have wonderful couple two houses down whom we have known and loved for almost 6 years.  They moved away last year, he went to Iraq in the National Guard, she went to their vacation home in North Carolina to wait for her man and discover a little more about herself.  We kept in touch though very sporadic, hey lets face it, it was a rough year for them.

Now they are home.  They have grown a lot and learned a lot but there is one thing that has not changed, our friendship and their huge hearts.  
Jim and I are the kind of people who help out.  We just do, if we can do something for someone - we do it.  

We take care of ourselves and those whom we care about and sometimes even those we don't know.  

This is how we came to know Rick and Dawn. 

They are the same.  

Yesterday I watched Rick come to our house and weld a piece of metal onto our garage door, to fix it.  He and Jim worked together, had a couple of beers and good conversation and got the job done.  Rick then went to another neighbors house to trim up their coconut tree. All before dinner, AND after working all day.  

Tonight Jim will go to their house to wire and hang a light over their pool table, not an easy task but one he is looking forward to doing.

This is our little community, a very small part of it as things like this happen on a weekly basis.

We help each other, we look out for one another, we love one another, we work and play hard.  

We don't take score.  

Somehow in the midst of a crazy busy life, and a crazier world we have a sane little community right here on our corner.

Life is Good. 

So very, very good!

Feeling good is the ONLY Option!

Originally the title was "A Bump in the Road" but in the typing of that it didn't feel good, and then as I went on the words appearing on the screen were "I am going to be REAL and tell you everything along the way."

Hmmm that didn't feel so good either.  

I have learned in the past few years; telling a story about something that you don't want to happen again in your life is not a smart thing to do - UNLESS - you really want to repeat what happened in the story.  So as I don't want to repeat what happened and really you don't want to read it either, I am moving forward.

So where am I going?      I don't know right now.  

BUT I do know how I want to feel.

The feeling I want is LOVE, EASE, FLOW, HAPPINESS, PROSPERITY.

I love the feeling of handmade things.

I love the feeling of a home cooked meal made with love.

I love the feeling of being present in where I am in the moment.

I love knowing no matter where I am I can get to where ever I want to be.  And sometimes along the way I find that where I want to be is right there, and then the 'destination' doesn't feel like it's all that important.

Life is funny and we humans are a fickle bunch.  We think we want something and we head like a bull with blinders on and miss all the good stuff in between.  As I still have my dream of living on an Island in the middle of the Ocean and growing my own food and living closer to the Pachamama, I am realizing I am missing what is right in front of me.  I have appreciated it for a while now, but maybe I need to find a bit more to appreciate right were I am.

Until next time,

I am still heading toward Freedom Thru Simplicity.

I have given up using:

the microwave

aluminum pans

overly processed food

red meat

white sugar, flour, salt.

I have found I am more present in the cooking of meals and look at it as a time to share more love with my husband and kids, and I am seeing a difference in them as they eat the food I am preparing.  

Life is good, Really, Really GOOD!
Once you let it BE.

Heading toward a Simpler Life

I have noticed I have too many moving parts in my life. I realize I have spent most of my life accumulating all these 'parts' and spent a lot of money to get these 'parts'. But in the end I am really not happy having them, maintaining them, having to clean them or worse yet listening to my husband complain about cleaning them, storing them or buying them!

So what to do now?

Downsizing seems to be the only option that gives me a sense of PEACE.
Lucky for me my husband is fully on board and so are our kids!!

But to get to that Peace I have to sell or give away all the 'stuff' and though I have already started in some small ways I am revving this up and getting this 'Simpler Life' train moving along the Peace Journey.

Along the way I am going to look for ways to save money, be more present in what I am doing on a daily basis and feel better, emotionally and physically in the entire process.

So.... if you want to read how I move toward this vision, I would love to hear your comments!