Editor’s Note: This is a post in the series, Simplicity in Action.
Cheryl
Seven years in May – will be our anniversary without running water. Educated idiots? Dirty hippies? Our sanity is perhaps questioned by many, yet we have never been happier or healthier in our lives.
We left our apartment one cloudy day in Seattle with the hopes of rediscovering a new and more fulfilling life in southeastern Hungary, against the wishes of some and with the bewilderment of others. With our backpacks stuffed to the gills and a couple of duffle bags in hand we said our goodbyes and flew away. Two months later we were surprised by our twenty file boxes containing mostly books, two trunks filled with clothes and kitchen apparel, a small selection of fine art that we were proud of at the time. By surprised I mean that we never really missed those things, if our “luggage” sank we wouldn’t have cried. I wasn’t fully aware of the concepts of minimalism or simplicity at the time, it seemed they were out to find us.
Lucky for us, my husband inherited a house in a large village in Romania. Luckier still, we found a five hectare property with deep green lush grass up to our waists, ears of corn the length of our lower arms and a cob house – the place we call home. As new homeowners we thought we had bought our dream, in reality we bought ourselves a lot of work. The first year on our property we cleaned up our land, garbage pile after garbage pile, broken fences serving as the perfect locations for mini dump sites – all hiding underneath that luscious grass. We picked up rotting (not decomposing) shoe after sandal after plastic after rusty nail.
In seven years this inherited waste has turned into forty cubic meters of properly placed garbage in a landfill and more than fifteen cubic meters of scrap metal. The land is now about as pristine as we can leave it.
Throwing away the garbage produced by others really made us stop and think.
- How much is enough?
- Do things really make one happy?
- Why do people not live in better terms with their natural environment?
Waking up with the sun, going to bed with the stars, we started to live in a way that neither of us had before. Simple didn’t happen overnight, it was a progression from this thought to that. We began to put heart and soul into each home-cooked meal, we took a curious delight in picking peas from the garden and pleasure in raising sourdough, goats and now our daughter.
The happiness on her face as she runs outside barefoot into the wind is priceless. When she finds a mud puddle she conquers it like a duck. Her handmade clothes and handcrafted toys are shaping her life and every fiber of her being. Simplicity is all around us.
Will we ever enter the realm of running water again? Perhaps, when the time is right. One of our clay buildings is crumbling down under the pressures of age and rain from the north, but it will surely make an excellent natural pond liner. Our dug well serves its purpose of water for washing up and for very minimal irrigation during the long dry summers. On our one speed bicycles we are exercising our lungs, going back and forth at least once a week, two kilometers each way for artesian drinking water to nourish and care for our bodies.
A sense of being is explored, made increasingly conscious each and every day. Tonight we are watching our two and a half year old dance with such energy and emotion to classical music on the radio, I wouldn’t change this moment for the world.
Find simple inspirations from Cheryl at Handcraftedtravellers, on Twitter and in pictures on Facebook.
Few people dance to the beat of their own drum. Many think that those few are insane. But some other just wonder how they did it and salute their grit and determination. I belong to the third category. Thanks for sharing your story.
Cheryl, I love this line: Simple didn’t happen overnight, it was a progression from this thought to that.
Good for you for finding what works for you and your family. Simplifying is a process, and a beautiful one indeed.
I might even add that it is a “hard” process to simplify your life when society/industry wants to make it so much more complex. It takes work to believe in yourself and discover just how much is enough for you. Ultimately once you are on the path to less, you naturally embrace experiences, conversations and positive thoughts – also known as creating a meaningful life.
From My perspective, it was a way to go, Your way, so it is good (though I am very certain that the likes of Us “be more with less” humans are disdained by the Oligarchy that the constant-consumption driven system that They have instituted over the millennia). Detaching–unprogramming–Oneself from what “They” want Us to do is not so easy. Knowing that most people are alone in Their crowds filled with too-much-stuff makes being alone (apart from the abnormal-norm) way-easier to live.
I’m curious of Your mindset at the time You decided to do as You did, and back then, what did it take to do so… mentally, materially, and financially? What do You think it would take today for One to pick up and leave as You had to settle in a less cluttered place (without a bazillion dollars to do so?
Sometimes one has to take a leap of faith and let winds blow over them, then take cover until the storm settles. There is no way of knowing what is going to happen once you set foot on the minimalist side, we can only take an educated guess and deal with what comes after.
It doesn’t take a lot of money to change lifestyles – to pick up and leave – it takes an open mind to the possibilities of the world. If you are truly looking for change and partners in it, consider taking a look at intentional communities to find like-minded people with similar experiences, they are likely to have a not so different paradigm shift underway.
TY for Your response. Thinking more now. TY.
I can’t help but be impressed and edified by Cheryl’s dramatic shift to country living. I’m perplexed, however, that a couple so devoted to living off the land might drink bottled water. Please tell me I’ve misunderstood the reference to biking to get artisian drinking water. Maybe I’m mistaken to assume that this is bottled water.
Ah yes, the water… here in Hungary there are public wells, usually located in the center of the village and on the outskirts where people go to fill their own bottles, if there is a trough – then people take their cows to drink as well, sometimes one may even find ducks flapping their wings nearby. Search wiki for an ‘artesian aquifer’ and hopefully you will find a better picture 🙂
What a wonderful blog! Thank you Cheryl to point me to this direction. I am so full of emotions and thoughts right now that I find it difficult to put them into words… Just a few pointers: for me simplicity is not the ‘opposite’ to complexity but to complications. I find simple things often extremely complex yet simple yet complex… which is a paradox and that is the beauty of it:) Another one is that thoughts (and attached feelings) can get quite complicated, too, and that is when I get lost. Once I sit with myself (in meditation, contemplation, prayer, yoga, whatever), my thoughts simplify and clarity appears. Magical!
We have a place in New Zealand, in the Far North, remote and clear, simple yet complex, where we are making babysteps towards pure living. Challenging, challenging, satisfying, challenging, satisfying…
Knowing that there are more pockets of sanity – like Cheryl’s – in the insanely rushing world, even if they are halfway over the globe, is hopeful and comforting. Thank you.
Quiet contemplation is just one of the silver linings of a simple life, it is yours for the taking. Sending lots of simplicity vibes your way!
What an inspirational story. Thank you for sharing it!
Cheryl! A lovely story and thanks for sharing it! No, simple takes just as long as, and perhaps longer, complex and cluttered to achieve. But, we can have fun with the process of simplifying as well.
It may take me a month to process wool, spin and knit my own sweater (in-between life of course), but the end result is something that I can cherish for decades. So, yes, simple does take time!
This is what real happiness is. Being happy with few simple things. Enjoying every day of life with less possessions and more quality time with your loved ones. I am glad you found it. Sometimes it’s a lot of work but it’s worth it.