It’s weird to think of off-grid life with a smartphone, isn’t it? When we first moved to our land, in July of 2010 smartphones seemed like just another annoying fad. We drove to local cafes when we wanted to check something online. I wasn’t freelancing, Seth wasn’t selling his art, and only about 20% of…
Tag: technology
Learning Silence
I’ve been quieter online these past months. I’m learning about silence. Learning to step back and recognize limitations: both my own and other people’s. I’ve been thinking a lot about how much we invest in these screen-lives of ours. I went into the woods to live. Intensely, simply, wholly. When we first went off-grid we…
Changing Habits in July
This month, I said ‘good-bye’ to Facebook. Seth and I joined together (with a joint account) when we were married in 2008. Over the years, we’ve had a careless, shifting level of engagement there, but I’ve seen it creep up slowly in the last few years to become a real distraction. And I don’t want…
Monday Reflections: Technology Intrusion
We came to the woods to live intentionally with nature – to be awake and alive under the trees, to bury bare-feet in mud and leaves, feel the earth seep in, and grow. We came to live simply, but the world sneaks in. The world is so shiny and attractive, it distracts with promises of…
7 Quick Takes: Yurt-stead Studio
November is such a creative month! Despite all the winter-prep we’ve still to do (warm weather has lured us into leaving everything to the last month of autumn), we’re prioritizing artistic pursuits instead! The whole season is ideal for writing, painting, and redecorating, but November – all wrapped up in transient beauty and memento mori – is…
Hygge & Holiness on Instagram
My instagram feed is full of #hygge and #intentionalliving labels – many of them my own. I love an easy hashtag to tack at the bottom of photos: old church candles burning in black and white; bread and milk set out for the welcoming of night-time wanderers. Labels like these fit my life relatively well,…
Off-grid, Online
There are all sorts of off-grid homesteaders. Some have solar panels that can power a typical suburban lifestyle: television, desktop, washing machine, lights, all the trappings of modern, American living. Others cut down firewood with hand-saws, make their own beeswax candles, and long-ago abandoned phones, computers, and the online life that goes along with it….
Y is For Home! 