So, in an attempt to find out what my beloveds on Facebook found so interesting about me, I posed a question on Facebook:
"Okay, Loves ♥ If I were going to create the most perfect e-course for you, what would it be on?"
And then I mentioned a few things people often approach me about - one being that we live blissfully in our van. And I got the response from a dear old friend: "Wait, you live in your van?"
Oh, that laugh inside me is magical :))
So, I the world split open, and sparkles came pouring out.
Well, it was something like that :))
It got me to thinking...
More accurately, we live OUT of our van - we are usually out and about, so not IN there as often as most folks are in their houses.
The more interesting question is "How can we be in bliss, living out of our van?"
I have talked about it
here, but I wanted to dig deeper today on the "How to"s of the whole experience.
Let me start with a short prequil: 2 years ago this month, we bought an RV and 2 months later ditched our house with intentions to live a raw life of simple materials and abundant experiences. We planned to travel the open road with wild ideas of visiting my world-wide-tribe sisters.
Well, life unfolded in a way that seems to look more like a crash course on simple materials (oh, thank goodness for that blessing) and how to find bliss even when our big dreams of travel didn't manifest.
I love the story of the time I sold almost everything I owned and gave up our house, to live 30 minutes from where we started. LOL
Anyway, the RV was still too much, so we downsized to what we often opted for anyway: our van.
It's a bit converted.
The back seats are folded flat with about a foot and a half of foam matress and toppers and my favorite bedding -- ooh la la.
The middle seats fold flat, too, at night, and get padded - one for my long legs, and the other as my oldest's private bed.
We made curtains to fit the windows and give us privacy.
Under the back seats are a few of our most favorite clothing belongings, our simple bath and beauty regimen, swimwear, towels, laundry stuff, and the like.
In the front half of the van, we each of a bag of our favorite passtime stuff - the kids have toys and books and pens and such. Kass and I have the more adult version (books, laptops, journals/sketchpads, and such).
It's like packing for a vacation. Simple, light, ease.
Except, we have a small storage that we store stuff in, like our camping stuff for when we are ready for some stillness, my crafting stuff that I somehow manage to find time and space to use when my creative side demands satisfaction, a tub or 2 of stuff for a someday house, extra clothes and books and toys for when we are ready for variety, a double stroller - things like that.
When our income increases, we will have less need for a storage. I look forward to thrifting for new clothes and toys when we want some variety, and I may be able to part with my hard copies of books in exchange for kindle versions - like we gave up all of our movies in exchange for Netflix and Hulu.
And when we travel (yes, my fingers are still crossed), we will have even less need for those material things that provide us variety, since adventure will be providing us with variety. And I want one of those boxes that attaches to a tow package on the back of the van, to carry our camping stuff with us.
So, the point of the storage is to keep the van light, as empty as possible. And we have learned so clearly what we really use. We have streamlined our life into our favorites. The bulk of our time and energy is put into all the things we love most about life, and what we love most to do.
Which brings me to the other part: what we do.
Well, we have learned at the most basic levels what we need. I first felt the call toward the road because I couldn't stand living in a house anymore, being inside so much, the lack of adventure. I felt like I was missing out on being alive.
I wanted to get out, and we do. We spend most of our time in our community. We are usually the first to know about events happening in our area. We are familiar with so incredibly many smiling faces. We frequent parks, the beach, the library, and, honestly, a laundromat with free wifi - lol.
We are selective about where we do business, to be careful to support the incredible businesses that support us, by letting us use the bathroom or heat up food or plug our electronic equipment in.
It feels good to be such a conscious community member.
And we picked an incredible community to get cozy in. A community that is kind and loving, a community where I revel in my gratitude when I hear the kindness parents speak to their children with. A community that is highly artful and deeply spiritual. A wealthy community that I wanted to live in, raise my children in - and I am.
My unschooled kids spend their days playing in nature with people of all ages or cozied in comforting spaces with books or technology. They attend fairs of all kinds. They live in the present, in the raw. They eat well. The sleep comfortably. It's kinda the life for them, too.
So, where do we sleep?
Currently, the most nature-like space we have found is in a lightly used parking lot nestled against a green hill. With our curtains and the hotel's free wifi, I swear we are more incredibly blessed than I can even believe.
We shower at campground showers or at friend's houses when we visit. We had a YMCA memberhip, but we let it go when we thought we would be traveling by now- haha.
We have learned we need a balance between movement and stillness. So, we aim for less transitions and divide the day between, say, the park and the library, or a fair and the quiet cave of our van.
We are learning that we need more time at campgrounds. I specifically, am realizing I need to plan camping around the new moon and my woman's cycle.
Often, it is touch and go. When I start to feel the pressure rising in our little tribe, I know it is time for some camping.
Campgrounds are like magic. Even though we live nomadically, campgrounds have an energy that nourishes and rejuvinates us. I can stay in one spot for days at a time (provided I brought enough food, or invited the right friends to join us LOL).
Which reminds me, people often ask about food. We buy fresh as we go. I was never big on cooking, or cooked food. But, when we are feeling drawn toward a cooked meal, we visit a friend or family member with a kitchen and invite them to sit back while we make dinner :) Or Trader Joes has THE BEST pastas and other ready-made meals.
I will say I look forward to less packaging leaving our hands. I have plans to greenify that more, too.
Money. That is the other thing people ask about. I would love to share big wild money experiences, but the reality for us is that we make the most out of the little bit of child support we get and food stamps, with big wild dreams of online entrepreneurship. I also dream of arranging things so I can sell crafts at the farmers market.
Still, as a single mama of 3, we are living the life - all our money is used for the things that bring us peace and adventure. Rent always felt like a waste of money to me. All that money for something I don't get to keep in the end?
We prefer this.
It has taken us 2 years to really get the hang of our new lifestyle, and we are still learning as we go. But when it is bliss, it.is.BLISS. And when it is hard, it is such.incredible.learning. It has been a HUGE everflowing process of releasing the fake and embracing the authentic.
I have learned more about me and my needs and my dreams than I ever could imagine was possible.
Living in the raw is not for sissies. It takes some serious dedication. Dedication to living so simply, dedication to examining what is coming up emotionally, dedication to trust, dedication to holding out for change when you have NOTHING to fall back on, because this life is about living in the present, not stockpiling for a possible emergency.
What is interesting to me is that people who meet us would never imagine that we live out of a minivan boondocking in a parking lot. People who meet us rave about how incredibly interesting and funny and fun and sweet my kids are.
Like my friend, who probably has seen our bounty of colorful pictures posted on facebook and never would have imagined a family could be so well and happy given some outsiders perspectives on our circumstances.
I am a single mama living out of a van with 3 children. If I can be bliss, anyone can.
So, what are your barriers to being the embodiment of bliss?
And do you have any questions about things I may not have shared?
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