Happify
I
hesitated to make this post since I suspect most of you won't get
anything out of it. Chances are pretty good that 40% of you don't need
this information and another 50% of you will poo-poo it. That leaves
only 10% of our readership who might benefit from this post, so feel
free to look at the pretty picture inside our daughter hive and then move on if you're in the 90%.
Still here? Okay, I wanted to plug a website I've been using for the past month --- happify.
Mark has been training me to use positive thought to boost my
creativity and pleasure in daily life for years now, and this website's
activities are helping me build on that foundation and take my mental
hygiene to the next level.
I've worked my way through the track "Conquer your negative thoughts,"
finding some activities a bit basic but many others insightful and
thought-provoking. This weekend, I started studying the Mindfulness
track and I can tell it's going to continue to help me simplify and
focus my thoughts so they don't look so much like the image above.
In case you're curious, I haven't paid for any of the potential upgrades
they keep throwing at me (the one downside of the website), but I
thoroughly recommend the free version of happify. Just be sure to click
on the little "why it works" links to learn more about the science
behind the projects.
Homesteading is all about
choosing your own adventure, and that adventure can be terrible if your
brain isn't in the right spot. So, go on, happify!
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Thank you so much for going out on a limb to post about this. I have often wondered during your busy, busy summers if such a workload would suit me (read: my spouse). I have long wanted to live more with the land as you do. I appreciate your honesty that the magnitude of your endeavors is a bit much at times (physically or mentally) for even those with many streamlined processes. On a more general note, we have sticky issues in my family with depression in all living generations. And little tips and tricks for mental health adjustments are welcomed in our lives. Easy, self-paced mindfulness activities can be a good thing for homesteaders, busy parents, you name it.
On another note, our local Costco is selling beginner bee kits (seems kinda niche)! I wonder how many folks in our very urban area are looking to start beekeeping? They placed them right by the organic foods area.
jen and terry --- Thank you so much for your kind comments! It helps a lot when I go out on a limb to know that at least a few of our readers get something out of the information. I hope you enjoy the site!
About the bee kits --- that's fascinating! I wouldn't have thought that beekeeping was something enough grocery-store shoppers would want to get into to make it worthwhile to stock the items. But what do I know? I don't find it strange to see broccoli sets out front of a grocery store, so I guess beekeeping kits inside isn't so strange either.
Cordy --- Yeah, those negative thought spirals are terrible. That's one of the biggest things Mark has been training me out of. I rarely go there now, which improves my life dramatically.
Charity --- That's a great way of looking at it! I agree that all of the points you hit on are imperative if you're going to live a homesteading/self-employed life. Very nicely said!