Friday, August 29, 2014

I Went to the Woods

For me, one of the treasures of small living is that it forces me to go outdoors.

Not everyone likes being outside. But anyone who knows me knows that I love it! If I could live outside, I would.

Because I find my self in the woods. It's the one place where I always feel like I am home. It's hard to put words to these feelings that arise in my heart when I go for a walk in the woods. It's like I know everything is right, even if just for that moment, and that I have a place - right here, right now, in the forest. Nothing else matters except the smell of the leaves, the chirping of the crickets, the sounds of my feet crunching on the trail. My stress floats away and my mind is free to think, to explore, to be creative. I think this is the true meaning of recreation.

I've also realized that having an outdoor space is a huge benefit to living in a small or a tiny house. We have a 900 square foot house and a 500 square foot deck

on 0.4 acres of our "own" within 6 million acres of state park.

When the weather is clear, I can do some of my work outside on the deck. My daughter can run around and enjoy the sunshine. (It also makes going inside for a nap not so bad when you've been outside all morning!) No matter how much time or money we spend renovating our house, no one wants to be inside when the sun rays glisten through the railing!

No matter what size house you choose to live in, don't forget to take advantage of the vast expanses of space we have in our forests and our parks. There are so many places you can go to enjoy the outdoors, and it doesn't have to be a big planned event or make you spend a lot of money. Even if you just go for a walk down your street in the morning, revel in whatever bit of nature you find.

This is what it's all about.