Wellness Wednesday - 7 Tips on Improving the Home Life

The most obvious haven is your home.  But for many people it can also lack life and inspiration and even peace.  What are we going to do about that?  How can we reinforce that 'haven' aspect?​

1. invite some nature

There are many ways to invite some nature into your world.  That will be the subject of a blog post in and of itself!  For now it will be nice just to think 'how can i bring a little more nature into my world?'

There are just as many reasons.  Whole books have been written on the topic.  You can read them if you like, especially the works of Richard Louv will carry weight.  You can also watch videos.

Nature Deficit Disorder: what is it?

Or you can just take my fuckin word for it - nature is great.  We need it.  Its easy on the eyes, nose .. so many reasons.  Perhaps the biggest being for the sake of our children.  If you don't know what its good for children to spend a ton of time in nature, you can learn about that from Richard Louv as well.

Richard Louv | Children and Nature [English]

The Abundant Childhood: Nature, Creativity & Health: An Evening with Richard Louv

Simple ways to start inviting a little nature include buying a bag of bird seed and just throwing a cup of it out in a certain quiet part of the yard every few days.  The birds coming will warm your fucking heart guaranteed.  Beyond that you can easily convert a garden bed to native plants even if you're not ready to convert the whole yard.
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How to create a mini wildflower meadow in your garden
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How To: Attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden

Butterfly Gardening 101 - Tips on How to Attract Butterflies

Bringing a bit of nature home will stimulate mind body and soul, generate great diversions and activities for kids and much more.  For more on that dig this interview with Douglas Tallamy:

​https://www.ecobeneficial.com/videos/interview-dr-doug-tallamy/

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2. improve limberness

If you look at a map of a permaculture homestead it looks great.

Everything is connected, happy neighbors, peace on earth and woop de doo!

But whats missing from this picture is the humans needed to make it happen.  None of this is going to happen without humans to manage the systems.  And for that, the humans need to be physically limber and active.  It sounds like a lot to ask nowadays but there's ALWAYS hope to improve your limberness.

Depending on what your concerns are, just look up some videos.  Don't take mainstream or any doctors' word for it being difficult or impossible to remedy.  Stay tuned, we'll do a post soon on more info on improving limberness with videos to watch for those who are interested!

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3. clear the mind

My dad always said that if you give clean work to a dirty machine, well guess what the work will come out dirty! This saying operates on a lot of levels but for cultivating a haven its going to be very difficult if you're uneasy and stressed.  Imagine working in a restaurant with a stressed out boss who's there all the time.  Its madness!  But its even more noticable in a home situation.

So we need to clear our mind and then we will be able to start to perceive the growth opportunities around the property.  I am always amazed how different things look after I get back from a long walk or a long meditation session.  For people who don't do those things?  Yall have no idea what yall are missing.

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4. set up creative spaces

creative spaces are places that you can make a mess in!  places not crowded with a bunch of shit. depending on your situation y0ur space might be limited but if you can keep some space clear and set up and area for storing supplies and whatnot your future self will thank you for it.

also a lot of people are like 'i don't have space for a creativity room' but meanwhile they have a massive fucking room in the house with nothing but a god damn sofa and television!!  you got no room for creativity but you got room for a fucking sofa that is destroying your back, hips, digestion, posture, and overall energy?

​spare me!

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5. collect tools and learn to use them

A lot of people nowadays don't know shit about even basic tools.  I grew up middle class and basically never used a tool in the context of the home.  It just wasnt something that my parents prioritized teaching me.

if you're a parent, prioritize teaching your kids how to use fucking tools.

its not rocket science but it takes practice.  and a box of nails is insanely cheap.  have the little fuckers hammer nails for a while until they can hit them straight in with two or three pops.

and obviously that's just the beginning.  Things like fez tools, grinders, sawzalls, radial saws, table saws, drills and screwdrivers are also pretty fucking useful.

obviously theres more tools than just woodworking - there are tools for knitting, tools for sewing, tools for gardening, tools for plumbing, tools for making art.  There's pretty much no reason not to learn to use them all.  And dont say 'my kids' because your kids will respect you a lot more if you demonstrate skillful tool use, they'll be inspired, and they'll end up learning to do shit that you otherwise might have had to pay someone for - like growing your damn food!

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6. use the fucking tools to make and do stuff!

examples of shit to make and do include any kind of play structure.  people get really confused about woodworking that it needs to be like higher math and shit.  No it doesn't.  You're not rendering the sisteen chapel, you're building a damn garden cart or a dart board or a stool to tie your shoes on.

its all so cheap and so satisfying and so much better than buying shit at walmart.

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7. share the stuff you make and do!

make a damn croquet set and invite the neighbors over for mocktails and taboulleh or whatever.

make the mocktails!

and the taboouleh!

we all know that gift giving isn't always so simple and there can be complicated energies involved.  but the point still stands that relationships that are based on meaningful things like the exchange of goods and services will always be more meaningful that relationships just based on chit chat and 'i like their vibe.'

In general though if you can find those neighbors that are decent and get along with them you'll tend to feel much more at home in your space.  There are lots of great ways to go about that but I'll save that for another blog post.