Wandering Thoughts of a Writer: #self-discovery

Showing posts with label #self-discovery. Show all posts

We’re all about simplicity and being as self-sufficient as we can.

When the concept to be digital nomads and travel the U.S. came into fruition in our minds, I discovered the composting toilet. I mentioned it to Kevin, but he wasn’t onboard with the idea right away.

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During the months of watching Youtube videos of other full-time RVers living the lifestyle we were working towards adopting, Kevin warmed up to the idea.

At first, he thought about building one for us.

Thankfully, I talked him into getting the Nature’s Head composting toilet. https://amzn.to/2PIxC4v

It’s all about embracing the minimalist’s mindset.

With a regular toilet in an RV, we’d have to deal with the black water tank, putting chemicals in it, attaching a hose to dump, and finding a dumping station. Not to mention, the possibility of having something go wrong while dumping our waste and having it spill all over us.

Nasty.

That happened to a fellow Rver, and he was not a happy camper. No pun intended.

With the composting toilet there are no chemicals, and it’s good for the environment.

Here's what ours look like and an explanation of the simple mechanics behind it.

We're still in the process of renovating our RV (Aesop), and we haven't worked on the bathroom yet, except for tearing out the carpet.

We bought this CoCo Coir to put in our composting toilet.

It’s all-natural.

Your poo turns to compost, and instead of your toilet smelling like shit, it smells like damp earth.

-So, with a composting toilet, we won't be reliant on the sewer system, and it's good for the environment.

It is costly, but worth it in the long run. If down the road (again, no pun intended) we decide to get a new rig, van, or a cabin, we can take the composting toilet with us.

The next thing we had to think about was our refrigerator.

I briefly talked about it before in another post I wrote:

-It's not a 3-way fridge

-3-way refrigerators are expensive. They cost between $1,500-$2,000.00.

We pondered over this situation for a while, and then one day it hit us.

We were thinking from a sticks and bricks mindset, not a minimalist one.

We don't need a big fridge.

All we need is a week's worth of food.

. . . Let's be real here. Most people buy too much food and waste it.

I'm guilty of that, and I hate wasting food.

-So, yeah, at the beginning we weren't thinking correctly. Our thoughts weren't aligned with the minimalist lifestyle we were embracing.

One night, Kevin came across this little badass refrigerator.

The Dobinsons 4X4

https://amzn.to/2odoJmQ

When it arrived at our house, at first I was like: I don't know about this. It's small.

. . . But, after examining it and putting some food in it, I realized it's perfect for our needs.

It'll totally hold a weeks worth of food.

No problem.

-And it runs on solar power as well as 110, and it's portable.

Here's what Kevin did with the space that the original refrigerator was in. He's not done yet, but this is what it looks like at the present moment.

He made shelves for our books or for whatever.

I have to say, the more we embrace this alternative lifestyle, the more liberated we feel.

#allnatural, #alternative, #compostingtoilet, #liberate, #lifestyle, #minimalist, #nature, #nomadiclifestyle #insecure, #refrigerator, #renovation, #RV, #self-discovery, #solar, #travel, 2 Comments

She stepped into the unknown, unaware of what to expect. Excitement vibrated throughout her entire being, even though she wasn't familiar with this new way of life. But it spoke of freedom, living close to nature, discovering self, what it was like to be truly human, to inspire others and to truly live instead of just existing. She knew that if she remained where she was, living the same monotonous life every day, it would result in a slow, boring death, a waste of life, stunted by the opinion of others and their group mentality that served no purpose but to appease their artificial ideals and games to avoid internal growth and to truly exist. She wouldn't have none of that and decided to be like a wolf instead of a sheep. She lived life to her full potential, being present in each moment in the awakened self. When death came for her, she smiled at her and took her hand because she didn't waste her life and fall prey to the opinions of others, their conformities, and the fear of stepping out of her own comfort zone. She could now move on with her head held high and a smile on her face while death leads her to her next journey through eternity.
#daretolive #ownyourlife

#daretolive, #death, #human, #nature, #ownyourlife, #self-discovery, #unknown, 0 Comments

I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book. The first chapter gripped me in a whirlwind of feelings: interest, suspense, disgust, and anger. I have zero tolerance for someone forcing their will on others unless the other party gives her permission to do so. However, the main character in Girl Trade is surprised and a bit horrified to discover how sexually responsive her body is to the abuse of a heavy-handed Arab.

At the beginning of the tale, the main character has a great job in London and loads of friends. Now single she decides to go on holiday to figure out what she wants out of life. While on the beach, sunning in the nude, on an impulse she swims to another island where she’s captured and forced by Arabs to do degrading things right there. What the Arab does to her is appalling, but the brilliance of Chloe’s writing and her crafty way of allowing us as readers to be inside the main character’s head dulled the hatred I felt toward this man.

Girl Trade is about self-discovery in a horrid situation. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone because of the obscene, sadomasochistic scenes that play out in the story. However, the deep psychology that bleeds through each page is raw and unyielding, only a person with a deep insight into humanity can write such a tale. The story is well-written, poetic, and stitched together by a rare artist of our time, who not only knows how to weave a compelling story but is insightful—a thinker, like Ralph Waldo Emerson. Her books should be mandatory to read in college—especially if you’re majoring in psychology or something along those lines. Students should have to write a report on it and group discussions should follow. Chloe is that good. If you’re not a bubble-head, you’ll appreciate her style. You’ll get the metaphors, the underlining meanings, and the unapologetic truths regarding our human nature, to where you’ll be driven to read her other books and become a fan for life.