Call it urban homesteading, simple frugality, traditional skills... I like to call it radical homemaking. I am creating home, wherever it may be, with conscious intention.
My version of homemaking often doesn't look like others' - mine is a bit more ragged, opportunistic, and environmentally focused. My homestead is less fleshed out than others' - my home is rented and shared, and my gardening and fermentation projects are tucked away into corners and windowsills. My motivations are my own, too - though I'm sure many of you share them:
~ Consume less, produce more (from less) = positive net impact
~ Honor seasonal changes, especially through local food and native plants
~ Seek alternatives to the mainstream's harmful habits
Sense of Competency & Self-Sufficiency
~ Gain survival skills
~ Learn herbal medicine & first aid
~ Food production & preservation = Security
~ Make material goods I would otherwise have to buy
~ Frugality leads to a sense of both financial freedom & security
~ Empowerment!
Creativity & Life-long Learning
~ Practice positive action through creative outlets
~ Engage in fulfilling and rewarding projects
~ Find the rabbit holes of knowledge - jump in!
Economic & Social Justice
~ Reclaim power of production from corporations with harmful business practices
~ Be a positive participant in society, not an extractive consumer of resources
Foster a Deep Connection to Home & Place
~ Connect with the Earth's seasonal cycles
~ Connect to community through barter, trade, and skill-shares
~ Craft home in accordance with these deeply-held values
All these motivations directly lead to my radical homemaking mission statement:
What are your motivations for the path you're on?
You might like:
~ What Makes Homemaking Radical, Again?
~ 10 Commandments of Radical DIY
~ Back to Basics - How This All Began
~ Forget 'All or Nothing' - Do Something!
Petite Hermine, Natural Mothers Network, Butter Believer, Homemaker on a Dime, Healthy Home Economist, Prairie Homestead, Real Food Forager, Little Farm in the Big City, Frugally Sustainable, White Wolf Summit Farmgirl, GNOWFGLINS, and Food Renegade!