BECOME A SOURCE OF SUSTENANCE FOR OTHERS, by Hardscrabble Farmer

The road to happiness is the road less traveled. From Hardscrabble Farmer at theburningplatform.com:

I had my great awakening in 2003 and began to prepare for our departure from mainstream American society which came several years later. And while the transition took years to accomplish and the skills required twice as long to master, here we are having enjoyed decades of real independence, making deep connections to friends and community, spending our time with each other, doing things that gave our life meaning and purpose without ever considering our net worth or place in the economic order.

There are some things that have far greater value in life than all the money in the world. Those are the things I chose to focus on and am grateful every single day that we committed to that lifestyle rather than to continue our former life of consumption and acquisition. We’ve suffered injury, lost loved ones, endured hardship and experienced loss and failure, but we did those things together and never once did any obstacle prevent us from living our lives on our terms.

I tried for years to encourage others to do the same- not in the same way or in the same place- but to follow your inner drives to do for oneself and for those you love, to develop new skills, to share those things you’ve mastered with novices, to allow others to lean on you and to be willing to depend on others. We not only fed ourselves, we became a source of sustenance for others, We have the kind of relationships with our children most people only dream of not because we’re any smarter or better, but simply because we put in the time by always being there, always participating and sharing our time with them before anything else.

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