I've definitely had some time to cool off.
After my awful day on Friday, B and I pulled ourselves together to attend an event at the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre on
'Presentation and storytelling: Nature, culture and resilient communities'.
More about it:
"A three hour event with Mark Morey and the Ontario Art of Mentoring Team, providing inspired examples of nature connection, and stories of cultural tools and skill sets used to connect people with nature. Mark will be sharing insights on how these are proving highly successful in connecting people with nature in an international movement. You’ll also learn more about what Mark refers to as “Cultural Mentoring” and how it can be used to create healthier environments, relationships, and communities."
It was exactly what I needed. I have been feeling totally disconnected from nature for quite some time now; ever since I moved to Peterborough. And I've just been dying to move to the TS (Temporary Shelter) to get back into nature and mend our relationship. The first thing we did was sing together as a group. I've never done that before - sing with a group of people, but I LOVE old tyme gospel music and it's no wonder why cultures sing together. It was amazing. It felt incredible. There was about 50+ people that attended the presentation and we all sang. It really loosened us up. We also went around the room saying what we were thankful for. This is something that B and I are going to adopt into our daily lives. Today I am thankful for such a wonderful group of family and friends.
Mark Morey talked about community resilience and building ropes with people. These ropes (people) become support systems for you. Just like they would in a community or village. We are losing culture by society's way of life. The way in which houses and sub divisions are being built is not to encourage community, but to encourage individualism. Children are spending too much time indoors and with screens. By having that total disconnect from nature, we don't care for it and therefore continue with the way of life in which we consume, consume, consume and pollute and live in unhealthy environments.
The other thing he talked about which I related with immensely at this moment in my life is the 2 paths or options that we have. One path is this one that involves today's society and how we live. Living life in a controlled environment. Having comforts like running water, heated living spaces, grocery stores, etc. Every thing on this path is convenient to us. No matter if it's costing the Earth or not. Or the other path is one which involves risk. This path is doing the opposite of the first. It's going against the grain. Not having the comforts or convenience. It's taking risks.
I related to this portion of the presentation because some people in our lives think we're crazy for moving to the TS and building a mortgage-free home. We're crazy to them, because they are uncomfortable with the challenge of leaving all of the convenience and comforts behind. B and I are choosing the risky path. With that comes excitement, challenge, satisfaction, stronger ropes and accomplishment. We are giving up the comforts of a washroom. We have no controlled running water (other than a rain barrel outside), we don't have a flush-able toilet. We have an outhouse. We don't have controlled by thermostat heat, we have a woodstove. We don't have satellite or cable. No TV. The list goes on.
Anyway, it was very inspiring and life changing at the same time. We are social beings, and we need social contact. I want to work very hard in building ropes and creating community around us.
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I should mention that I had blown the whole job thing out of proportion as one would have right after receiving the notice. I was given 2 options. I could work 4 days a week in our environmental store making just over minimum wage, or I could work 2 days in the store and collect employment insurance for the other 3 days. Taking the employment insurance and working 2 days would actually give B and I more income, than working 4 days in the store! But, who wants the hassle of "looking for work" when this is supposed to be only temporary. Also, it's a huge hassle to leave the country for 4 weeks while on our honeymoon, because I should be "looking for a job".
Anyway, it was a real damper because now we are making significantly less money. But hey, at least I have a job. I am thankful for that. I am going to remain positive about the election and that our country will vote in a minority government (that means not voting Conservative), and a new program will roll out hopefully very shortly in the next few months. Not only is this benefiting me and our organization, it's also benefiting homeowners by giving them financial incentives to make their homes more energy efficient and saving them money, but ultimately it's helping Mother Earth.
In the meantime, B and I really have to watch our money and spend more time doing activities that don't involve money. I bought him a wonderful book for Christmas. It's hiking and canoe routes in the Canadian shield. Time to put our packs on. There's 2 benefits to that. We get to hike, canoe and backcountry camp, and get used to carrying around a heavy pack so that when we're backpacking across Europe, I'll be able to handle the heavy load. B already has a back of steel!
We've decided to WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) for 3 weeks of our honeymoon instead of 2, and we'll holiday for a week in Holland. I'm very pleased with our decision. It will make our trip significantly cheaper, and would bring us more satisfaction to be able to work on a farm, learn some skills and really immerse ourselves into the culture. Initially, we had decided to WWOOF in the UK, holiday in France, holiday in Italy, WWOOF in Germany and holiday in Holland. But since I can't eat much of anything anymore (NO wheat, eggs, beef, chicken, cow's milk, coffee, chocolate, refined sugar) then there's no point in going to Italy because it was going to be all about the food. We're now going to WWOOF in the UK for a week, WWOOF in France for a week and in Germany for a week, and as I said we'll holiday and have fun in Holland.
Having this uncertainty of my job has made me think hard over the course of the weekend. I want more out of life than to sit around in front of a computer and hope that the funding doesn't run dry. I'm not satisfied. I want to learn a skill and be self employed. Everything happens for a reason, and I just needed a push in life to make some of my thoughts materialize into something more. With the option of working 4 days, I have 1 day to myself, to either work with my hands and be creative, give myself a little time, learn how to make preserves, plant a successful garden (attempts in the past haven't been so successful) or hopefully learn some building skills so that when it comes time to build our love nest, I'll be confident with using tools, and getting my hands dirty AND actually making this life choice possible.
Happy life changes.
