The world is more connected than ever, yet more and more of us feel out of touch with what’s truly important.
In an age where life is a perpetual orbit around convenience and immediacy, people are pushing back and saying, “Enough! This isn’t working for me.” They want a new trajectory for their lives. They want to be more intentional. They want to be more authentic.
They want to live differently.
From large cities to suburbs, people are tearing up their lawns to plant vegetables and organic food, getting backyard chickens, raising small livestock and even using homemade cleaning and beauty products.
Homesteading is a movement that continues to gain traction and regardless of where you live, there’s much you can do to adopt a new mentality and find a deeper sense of meaning in your daily life.
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Toward Self-Sufficiency
When the Homesteading Act was founded in 1862, it allowed American citizens to claim 160 acres of land if they agreed to live on it for at least five years. While the government no longer gives farmland away (and most homesteaders have far less than 160 acres!), the spirit of homesteading lives on.
Today, it’s about finding ways to be self-sufficient, no matter where you live. A 5-year study by The National Gardening Association reveals that one in three Americans households grows some of their own food.
Within the next few years, the USDA expects a 400% increase in the number of people that keep chickens for eggs, meat and pure pleasure.
Modern homesteaders are maintaining a garden, making their own cheese and even cultivating mushroom logs behind the garage.
High-Rise Homesteading
You don’t need acreage to be a homesteader; just an openness to experimentation, simpler living and a closer connection to the earth.
For instance, if you live in a high-rise apartment, you can grow herbs in a window planter or grow tomatoes and other vegetables on your balcony. You make your own laundry soap and cleaners, can fruits and vegetables and make dehydrated, healthy snacks.
Talk to your landlord or property manager. Perhaps you can get permission to have a rooftop garden. Get other tenants to join you and make it a community project!
How Can You Begin Homesteading?
Homesteading lets you push back against the pressure to make life bigger, faster and more connected. By slowing down, you can start to reclaim the peace that comes from intentional living.
Just start. Don’t be intimidated by all of the awesome homesteads you see on the Internet. Resist comparing yourself to others. Pick one thing and give it a try. You’ll be inspired to do another and then another.
And, if you’re looking for suggestions on how to take small steps toward a more intentional life, we have some great ideas for you.
