Making a home off the grid..

Living off the grid doesn't just mean living with solar power it means a whole lot more to most of us who do it. It's a mindset or a philosophy that we aim to achieve in our everyday lives. We off gridders usually have the same sort of idea in our heads and that is to live a more simple life.

To wake up on a lovely summers morning and listen to the roosters crow and to watch the kangaroos hopping through the bush and birds singing in the trees is such a joy. To use electrical appliances without worrying about an electic bill coming. To walk out to the vege garden and get some lovely stuff to eat for dinner. To have the time to appreciate these things without the push to get yourself ready to jump in the car and drive to a job that you don't want to do is the ultimate goal.

The journey is everything. Living a simple lifestyle on a property that you have created to meet all your needs is an ongoing but very rewarding challenge. Every day there are things to do. But these things are for yourself and your family.

Every chore brings you closer to happiness. This may sound strange, I mean really, how can chores make you happy? Well if a chore is cleaning the house the end result means you have somewhere more pleasant to hang out. If a chore is feeding and watering the chooks then the end result is food. If a chore is emptying the toilet bucket into the compost, then the end result is a better garden. So everytime a chore is completed it brings you closer to happiness.

'Making a home' seems to be an old fashioned idea, but one that is well worth revisiting. Making a home, really means reverting back to thinking more simply. People these days are coerced into thinking that they need everything that is advertised on television. But really you don't. By living up to everyone elses expectations of what is needed to be a successful home maker, means you are probably running around so much that you don't have time to relax, and more than likely going into debt at the same time.

Living simply as a voluntary choice is so freeing to the mind. Working everday to achieve this can be very rewarding. It is all a matter of mindfulness and enjoying each and every thing you do during the journey. Becoming satisfied, happy and content is the best way to make a home, in my opinion.

Kerri.