What fires me up?

Believe it or not, I actually spent time thinking about an answer for this question. And then it whacked me over the head with all the force of a home-run strike - the answer was in front of me the entire time!

My whole attitude in life centers around being excruciatingly stubborn and in living life my way and on my own terms. After all, this blog is all about that! By extension, I also feel that people should take responsibility for themselves. Any decision one makes is better than simply drifting along with the flow. (By that token, if one DECIDES to drift along, then one should be prepared to face the consequences of that decision, too!)

In the 2005 movie, Cinderella Man, there is a scene that would always stay in my memory. In it, James J. Braddock (portrayed excellently by Russell Crowe) stands in a queue at the welfare office to RETURN the money that he received as a welfare grant, saying that he never intended to keep it, but just borrow it until his life got better. That to me, is what life should be about - never to let yourself get totally dependent on handouts, whether it be from government, other social institutions or even from friends and family.

Free Range Hooligan will ultimately be about Permaculture here in South Africa and the way in which different systems in my life relate to each other in such a way that the end result is positive and beneficial to all involved. So, what should happen is that my own independent way of thinking and doing leads to a lifestyle where I can give back to society in a real and meaningful way, and teach others to do exactly the same. I commit myself to finding the information that is most relevant to my situation (long, hot summers, no snow, little rain, no quick, cheap mail-order websites) and to share it with readers in my country and region for their information and benefit.

My Background

I grew up in a small farming town as the daughter of two teachers. However, I had enough friends who lived on farms and who I could visit on a regular basis to get the feeling of both subsistence and commercial agriculture.

In such a small community, everyone knew each other (sometimes far too well!) and everybody joined everything everywhere. We all knew the dairy farmer and the egg farmer and the butcher and the banker and the man who owned the green-grocery that opened once a week with fresh fruit and vegetables from the market. I saw sheep getting slaughtered and helped with the birthing of a calf, I ate raw sugar cane and played on cotton bales. I know what it is to travel far to buy clothes and do bulk shopping. I also know that life was simple, without the Internet and Facebook and debt and lots of TV. We kids entertained ourselves and the grown-ups spent time visiting each other and socializing.

As a grown-up myself, I yearn to go back that simpler lifestyle, before technology changed the world into a place where people almost have no place any more. I want to rediscover my roots and start living the way my ancestors did, making do with what they had and innovating what they needed. I want to be on a first-name basis with my neighbors again, and supplying in as many of my own needs as I can without having to cripple myself with debt.

I have decided to slowly but surely wean myself from my current lifestyle, by learning and applying some cottage crafts from way back when and becoming increasingly self-sufficient, until - ultimately - I am ready to cut ties from where I am working now and work a small Permaculture farmstead full-time. I want to be able to live life on my own terms and not on terms dictated to me by society and the Jones'. Frankly, I have no ambition to "keep up!"

This writing challenge by LiveYourLegend is the kick in the pants that I need to set up a proper blog for documenting my journey towards that farming goal. You never know when a simple daily piece of writing could evolve into a whole different income stream. And Permaculture is all about creating income streams from everything one does - or at least letting nothing go to waste.

So...

Instead of letting the things I learn along the way go to waste, it would be an excellent idea to document them, and help someone else to make similar and better decisions than what I have.