The Big Green $$ ?

Last week was "back to work week" for me. Back to the grind. 8hrs (+2 more in transit). 

When I get home from work, I'm suprised that even though I want to blog, I can't put my thoughts in order enough to form a creative sentence let alone tell a story.  (I find that I'm often like that.  I pour everything into whatever it is that I'm doing at the moment and then... when I'm finished, I'm wiped out.) 

I'm all or nothing.

I think that having a week (or more) away from your chosen occupation allows you to reflect on your "other life", that life when the only time that matters is if it's day time or night time.  Nap time, play time, (my time...)

Your time is your own and it has it's own unique currency...time slows. 

This day belongs to me.

I don't look at the clock, I don't watch TV (as much), I read more.  I stay home all day long, I don't go anywhere.  Here is where I want to be.

I'm just as busy but in different ways.  I'm giving back to us.  I'm creating for us.  I'm fixing for us.  I'm caring for us.  This is immensely rewarding of course.

I also find my work life extremely rewarding.  (I work with medical professionals who are like my extended family. We've all been together for 10 years and we enjoy each other.  We give great patient care and (try) to have fun doing it.)

But in the end, I work for the big green. $$ I work to buy food,$$ pay my mortgage, $$ feed my dogs....

It's a weird cycle.  I wonder... Can you ever truely break away from it?

Work allows me to be able to afford the things I need in order to make the changes that will (hopefully) enrich our lives.

I'm fascinated with alternative lifestyles.  These are people who have broken the cycle in their own way.

Example:  My mother is a fulltime RV'er.  She travels around the country meeting friends, experiencing nature and having a ball. Her home has 4 wheels.  She boondocks (dry camping) and in many ways lives "off the grid" with solar panels and even a wind turbine to collect energy.  (There is a huge community of people who live this lifestyle and blog about it.) 

When I started the 500 dollar tomato garden, I researched the wazoo out of gardening blogs. 

Then I turned to researching key words like simple, green, frugal lifestyles.  I found blogs on Urban Homesteading and learned terms like self sufficency, sustainability.  Again, there are people out there choosing a different path.  Hmmm.

Green living.  A different kind of green. 

I guess the point that I wanted to make with this post is that there is a TON of information out there to help anyone/(us?) as we go through our own process of self discovery. 

I may never RV.  I may never own chickens or goats or get solar panels on my roof.  I may not even have a successful garden.  But I hope too.

It's nice to know that there are choices out there for us so, when I do spend my $Big Green$ I'm spending it to enrich and improve our lives.  To "green" us to a better life.