Thrive while you change the world

Do more than survive — Thrive

Joybilee Farm is about helping you thrive not just survive, while you change the world.  Things are tough all around.  People who had homes and mortgages a few years ago are homeless.  There are university grads living in the streets or working at fast food joints because the world is struggling.  Nothing is done about government debt, corporate monopolies, institutional control and ineptitude, or environmental degradation.   Incomes are shrinking for the world’s 99% while inflation continues to rise.   The food supply is poisoned, drugged, and controlled by corporate monopolies supported by government.  Even water is controlled, drugged, and taxed.  It is going to get worse before it gets better.  There is a climate of fear world wide.  People are desperate and willing to die in order to make change.  I see people switching into a survival mindset.  STOP.

Take Back the Control

You can do better than survive, you can thrive.  Take back the control.  You can create a handmade life, cooking with food that you grow yourself, wearing clothes that you spun and created by knitting, felting or weaving, maybe from fiber and dyes that your grew yourself, or were grown locally.  You can take care of your own health with herbs and knowledge.  You can educate both yourself and your family by your own efforts and break free from institutional and corporate control over your well being.

Self-sufficient homesteading is location independent

Some call that “self sufficiency,” “personal sovereignty,” or “homesteading.” Its not location dependent. Its a lifestyle you can embrace in the city, or in the country. Its subversive, nonconformist, and counter culture. It takes control away from those that currently control your life and gives it back to you.  Its revolutionary because it demands a change in the status quo and its not waiting for permission from those in control.

Transitions

Some people have compared the recession of today with the Great Depression of the 1930s.  But there’s a big difference.  During the 30s people knew that things would eventually improve, the economy would rebound and there would be jobs, income and security.  Today we need permanent change.  The controlling monopolies of government, corporations, health and education  are broken.  The environment is broken, too.  Any improvement will be transitory without change in the structure.  You and I can change the structure by changing how we do business, how we meet our basic needs, how we build community, and how we nurture and teach the next generation.

Do you move to the wilderness, unplug from society, and join a hermitage or intentional community?  Some have.  Many more make their lives work within the current system, by making incremental changes right where they live — downsizing, simplifying, learning to be a producer rather than a consumer.

Thriving in Perilous Times

How do you thrive in these perilous times?  Grow a garden.  Spin wool into yarn.  Weave or knit your own clothes, by-passing the mall when you need something. Remake vintage. Cook from scratch.  Eat pastured meat, grown in your community.  Shop locally, supporting local artisans and local farmers.  Learn to barter and thrive without a salary.

Am I suggesting that you become completely self-sufficient meeting 100% of your own needs through individual effort?  Not at all.  I not suggesting an austerity package that would reduce your consumption to survival levels.  There will be things that you need to pay cash for that you can’t produce for yourself and you require to thrive.  But the list is probably shorter than you think.

What does thriving look like?

What does thriving look like? Its individual and creative.  30 years ago, you had to live in the country to make it work.  Life in the city was plugged into the institution and the gatekeepers decided who could play and who was sitting on the sidelines.  Those who rebelled were arrested or placed in institutions for the mentally ill.  That’s changed.  With the rise of the internet you can get the information you need to thrive in a new paradigm right now.  There are no gatekeepers to control who can have information, or who can give information.  Information is free online — through your library web connection or as close as your cell phone.  And information empowers.

The Revolution and Accountability

The internet, social media, like twitter and Facebook, and blogging will fuel the revolution, but the architect of change is you and your own hands, and feet.  If you’ve been reading about homesteading and the creative life for a while but you haven’t started on the journey, decide today to by-pass the mall, and hit the library or the book section of Amazon instead — learn a new skill before the end of the year, plan your garden for next summer, grow some sprouts on your kitchen counter, knit yourself a hat or a pair of mittens.  Pick an easy project that you can complete in the next 7 days and put your feet on the less travelled path.  To help spur you on your journey, post a link to this article on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and tell your friends what you intend to do.  Leave a comment on this post and let me know what you’re going to do this week to change the world, too.  Accountability is a motivator for change.

If this is your first time here, check out the Start Here page to see what this website is all about. And if you found this article helpful please share it with your friends, link to it on Facebook, tweet about it on twitter. Send me some link love and I’ll return the favour.

Your Turn:

What one thing are you going to do this week or between now and the end of the year to move you closer to thriving, and help you change your world?  Let me know in the comments section.  Accountability is a great motivator.