LIVING OFF OF THE RAT RACE HAMSTER WHEEL

I want to thank @melanieswolfe for a recent post she shared.

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Originally, I was just going to type up a reply to her post, but it seemed to be a lengthy one and worthwhile to share with everyone else too. For the long-time steemians or earlier followers of @papa-pepper, some of this will sound familiar. For the rest of you, a lot of this is part of the whole purpose and vision of my life and lifestyle. Also, by sharing this as a post, it'll get some "publicity" for @melanieswolfe, so that'll hopefully help. To read here post which inspired this one, click here.

THE WALKING DEAD WORLD IS EASIER THAN REAL LIFE?

The post that @melaniwswolfe shared is called Why The Walking Dead World is Easier Than Real Life and she makes quite a few excellent observations in her comparison. A lot of it resonated with me because I've had many similar ideas, although not in comparison to The Walking Dead, since I don't watch television and have never scene an episode of the show. Yes I know, poor sheltered @papa-pepper...

It was so simple. So easy to get their basic needs.

One of the first thoughts that stuck out to me was that concept above. Even though The Walking Dead is supposed to be a version of "hell on earth," @melanieswolfe makes the comment that she'd rather have to just deal with the basics of life and watch out for some zombies rather than deal with a lot of what the rat race of our modern societies and existence have to offer. While some may scoff at this conclusion, to me it made sense.

And that's what appealed to me; the simplicity of it all; find food, shelter and protect yourself. Period.

When we reduce life to necessities, we really do not have much to consider. I like to say that as long as we eat something and drink something today or maybe tomorrow and as long as nothing kills us, we will live to see another day. Yeah, not very complicated, is it? How in the world did get into the mess that we are in, and how then do we get out? That is that question that I wrestled with for a while before coming up with my "exit strategy."

In TWD world there are no bills, no debtors calling, no mortgage to worry about. You want shelter, go find it. Effort = reward. No middle man needed.

This section of the post touched on some of my conclusions too. The consumer needs to pay for everything and the debtor must pay his debt, with interest. Interestingly enough, being a consumer and being a debtor are both choices that many people choose to become...

We don't have to just brave the basic elements, we have to play by ridiculous societal rules, be at the mercy of people we have never met and if we don't bow and kiss the feet of the establishment, we don't eat.

Yes, the societies and the world in which we exist have many peculiar scenarios in which we exist that have been stacked against us for a very long time now. I believe that we can overcome, but it takes a lot of effort and work. So much so, that many will never put forth the effort or the thought necessary, and will instead continue for generations to come. As for me and my house, we chose to opt out.

I've just shared a few short sections from the post by @melanieswolfe, but please read the whole thing, as it is well worth it and provides more context for this post and response. Post linked here.

EXIT STRATEGY

Personally, I am done being the peasant in the valley working to feed the king on the hill... But how do we do that? Where do we start?

That is the question, and one that I believe we should all at least consider. For me, I've spent years contemplating that very question and issue. I'll share what I've come to believe and what we are in the process of implementing.

Money is a tricky thing, and many of us will never have a lot of it. That said, "getting rich" may not be the best goal. I chose to head the opposite direction, and do things that would help us not need a lot of money. If I don't need much money, then it may be easier to earn "enough."

It sounds easy simple, but things are always more complex. Also, some sacrifice is often involved, which can prevent many from even trying. The biggest step towards not needing as much money is avoiding debt. Personally, we do not have any debt at all. No credit card debt, no student loans, no mortgage, no car payments, nothing. Many people waste a lot of years worth of their life just working to pay interest. Personally, I have no interest in that at all. It means shifting out of the common "fast food - get things quick and easy and pay extra for it the end" mentality, but I think that was a necessary step.

Since food is one of the necessities in life, finding a way to get free but healthy food is also a key component. That is why I garden. I've been told before that I must really like gardening. Honestly, I never had any interest in it until I realized how crucial it was to the type of lifestyle that I wanted to live. With some effort, I can grow my own healthy food at home for free. It's as simple as that.

Growing food, or raising animals for meat, eggs, or milk, requires space on this earth. That means we needed some land to exist and grow on. For us, we chose to move 750 miles away from our previous home in order to purchase land that we thought was reasonably "affordable," because debt was not an option. Now, we own land that we purchased out of pocket, and are striving to produce much of our own food. I recently stumbled across this man, "Farmer G" on YouTube, and his channel trailer resonated with me as well, so I'll share it here since it is fitting.

Every bill that we can cross of our list is a huge step forward. When you combine low bills with no debt, I think you've got a great recipe for success, at least for living out more of my version of freedom. Not everyone would even want to live a homesteading, debt-free, gardening lifestyle, but for us, it just makes sense.

There are many more pieces to this puzzle, but for me, this is where I start. It is a drastic change, but a move in the right direction as far as I'm concern. I don't just want to "make a living," I want to live a life... and I think that there is a distinct difference. I'm not of the belief that things will ever change on a major level, but I know that things can on an individual level, and if even individuals begin to think and live differently, maybe things will shift.

I've got a ton of work to do right now, so I'll wrap this post up and get back to my chores and tasks, but I'll leave you with two short quotes from some songs that I was listening to and thinking about yesterday. Give them a listen if you want and consider. Thanks for the excellent and thought-provoking post @melanieswolfe!

Joseph Israel - Jericho Walls

I said your system, is of no use for me. It's been a curse, I want blessing.

Those words have a lot of weight to them. If we find ourselves in a situation which we find to be a curse, we may want to do what it takes to opt out of that situation.

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Jimmy Cliff - You Can Get it if You Really Want it

Rome was not built in a day. Opposition will come your way. But the hotter the battle you see, it's the sweeter the victory.

Life is a lot of work anyway. However, having goals and working hard to achieve them can be rewarding. If the goal is really tough and hard to achieve, it'll just be that much sweeter when you reach it. Don't give up!

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BONUS VIDEO SERIES

If you are really interested in hearing some more, I've got a 10 part video series called "Why We Homestead" that you might enjoy. The playlist should start with that video above. Otherwise, you can click here. Enjoy!

Until next time…

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GIF provided by @anzirpasai

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