How to Thrive Outside of Mainstream

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 76
How to Thrive Outside of Mainstream

Living sustainably is really truly nothing new. Yet because our modern culture has warped our way of thinking and sense of values, most people think of it as an “alternative lifestyle”. When the reality is that living sustainably should be considered mainstream.

But I have often said that when you find yourself in agreement with 90% of the people around you, pack your bags and run the other way as fast as you can. But, so says the guy that has lived off the grid for 25 years. Obviously I am not afraid to step outside the norm and live outside of mainstream

So if you want to hear the whole story then listen to this episode which is call. How to Thrive Outside of Mainstream.

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E76 which is called How to Thrive Outside of Mainstream.

Before we get started, I want to first remind everyone that if you have questions, comments, or suggestions on content for this podcast, you can contact me at [email protected].

I want to start this episode by sharing with you a story about William and Beth. Early in their years together they lived on a

small farm out in a very rural area. They had one son name Jacob. They had a large garden, raised some small livestock for food and lived in a relatively small house with no electricity. What they could not grow for themselves, they purchased from a local farmers market. They canned excess food to help get them through winter. They heated their house with a wood stove.

William had a workshop where he did small engine repair and did odd jobs and some construction work for extra money. They lived a few miles outside a small community that basically had everything they needed. Although the closest neighbors were a few miles away, someone was always around if they ever needed help with anything. Beyond that, they could ride the horse into town for additional things if something was required. They had a very peaceful and quiet life. It was nothing luxurious but they lived well within their means and were always happy.

Then one day a stranger showed up at their door. He was a kind and well spoken man and was a representative from a rural electric company. He was there to inform them that electric lines were going to be brought into the community and the company was willing to bring electricity up to their house free of charge. William declined the offer and stated they did just fine with what they had.

A few months later on a trip to town, Beth heard all about how many of their neighbors had electricity. The lights would turn on with a flip of a switch, they actually had electric refrigerators and did not have to use the icebox anymore. They even had an electric washing machine that saved a lot of time doing laundry. This was all so unbelievable to Beth. The following week, she rode the horse over to the neighbors to see all of this for herself.

Beth came back home to share her experience with William. She talked endlessly about having electricity because it seemed to make people’s lives so much easier. Over a couple of months, Beth spent more and more time with the neighbors because she enjoyed all the convenience that electricity seemed to bring. This of course meant she was spending less time with William and Jacob and spending less time doing what it took to keep the farm running.

She finally talked to William again about getting electricity because it would make their lives much easier. This time William agreed but first he wanted to see for himself. After a visit to the neighbors he contacted the representative from the rural electric association and set up a time to have electricity run to the house.

Once that was accomplished, William had to pay for someone to install all the wiring into the kitchen area because he was not an electrician. It didn’t matter though because he just did a little extra work in order to make up for the money he spent. After that was done, he knew he would have to purchase kitchen appliances. After all, what good was having electricity if you could not take advantage of what it offered.

He of course did not have the money to pay for the refrigerator and the kitchen stove. But that did not matter because the store was willing to give him credit. He just had to make monthly payments. As it turned out, this did not concern him too much, he would just have to work a little extra. Then there was of course the monthly payment for the electricity.

Eventually William was unable to find enough work in his shop to make the payments that he now had. Furthermore, with all the

work that he was doing, the fields had been somewhat unattended. The amount of work required was even too much for their son Jacob. As William became pressured more and more for money, he decided to try to get a job at the new factory that had been built in the next county over. When he did get a job, the only position available was the night shift.

Furthermore, the distance he had to travel was too far to ride the horse. Consequently, he had to purchase a truck. He of course did not have the money for this. But the dealership was more than willing to give him credit because he was a long standing member of the community and he had always managed to meet his other financial obligations. The additional payments did not matter though. All he had to do was work a little extra. Now with all this extra work, the farm was left unattended and William and Beth now had to purchase food from the supermarket.

A few months later, William was working at night, sleeping during the day, never tending the farm because he was always exhausted, and he rarely saw his family. But there was no easy solution because he had to make the payments. And there was the other thing of this occasional sudden pain in his chest that would blur his vision for a moment. But it did not matter because it went away after a couple of minutes.

One morning a few weeks later William was driving home from work. He was exhausted and barely able to keep his eyes open. He was deep in thought about just how much their lives had changed since they got electricity. He longed for the days when life was simple and uncomplicated. Although the farm and providing for the family was a lot of work at times, he spent a lot of time with Beth and Jacob and was rarely under the

pressure of time and money that now influenced every moment of his day.

Just ahead of him on the road was the bridge that crossed Walnut Creek, which was one of his favorite places to go when he was a kid. The creek was wide and deep and there was plenty of fish. As he was reminiscing about family and his childhood days of leisure, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a moment of panic. He had forgotten to deposit his paycheck and several payments were due tomorrow.

As he was reaching in his pocket to retrieve his paycheck, a gust of wind blew it to the floor. As he reached to keep it from blowing out the window, the sudden pain in his chest return with much greater vigor. William’s vision was blurred and he did not see the edge of the bridge until it was too late. He hit the brakes and swerved to miss the end of the bridge and plunged into Walnut Creek.

Several hours later Beth started to get worried. But sometimes William was late getting home because he had to go by the bank and do some other errands. By early afternoon, she decided to go to the neighbors to use the phone. As she was riding down the road, she crossed Walnut Creek bridge and saw William’s lunchbox on the side of the road. Next to it was his paycheck. Then she saw the skid marks and panicked. She went to the neighbors and called the factory where William worked. He had left early that morning after finishing his shift.

Beth then called the police who immediately began search efforts. By the next day William’s truck was found in the creek but he was not in it. Beth was told that most likely he had drowned. It was difficult to say if they would be able to find

William because the creek was almost over flowing due to recent heavy rains.

Considering the circumstances, the bank allowed Beth to deposit William’s check. This at least relieved a small bit of stress because at least she was able to make the payments.

The purpose of this story is simply to illustrate the self imposed pressures, timetables, and commitments of our modern culture that so often crush our dreams. It is so easy to unknowingly get caught up on the treadmill of our society in an attempt to accomplish our version of the good life. All the while our dreams are just out of reach on the distance horizon that we never seem to reach. This is because we are always reaching for more, and more , and more while never realizing that a simpler existence is not only more satisfying but is also more sustainable.

But it truly does not have to be that way. I too have been guilty of such things. But I also got off that treadmill over 10 years ago. But I do believe that many more people in our modern times are starting to think about his because of recent events in our world.

While most people would find it disconcerting that our world has been turned upside down twice in the last couple of years, I actually look at this as a fantastic opportunity. The result of all of this disruption to our everyday lives is that most people have lost their sense of what is considered normal. The upside to this is that people are truly starting to realize that your “new normal” so to speak can be anything you want. Consequently it is becoming increasingly acceptable for people to have a lifestyle that is outside of mainstream. What that should mean

to so many other people is that maybe it’s time to choose your own adventure.

When I started living off the grid 25 years ago I can tell you that every single person I knew, including everyone in my family, literally thought I had lost my mind. People thought I was weird, psychologically unstable or at a minimum I must have some sort of marginal aspect to my personality, some even called me crazy, and perhaps I might even be a little dangerous. But through all of that I have managed to thrive, have an active and rewarding professional career, I take vacations frequently and I even have a modern lifestyle despite living off the grid. Even now, on somewhat of a regular basis, I deal with people that just cannot wrap their head around the way I live.

But I also want to point out that here we are 25 years later and there are a whole lot of people that wish they had a similar lifestyle.

Now that is not to say that I’ve not had my fair share of challenges because I have. There are times I get discouraged with my lifestyle and leave the homestead for months at a time just to do something different. Be that as it may, my alternative is to go back to mainstream culture. But at the end of the day, that is unlikely unless something happens that forces me to do so.

About this time, many of you may be asking, “What the heck is wrong with me? There are so many advantages to our modern culture.”

For example: unlimited clean water, unlimited food supply, easy conveniences to fit anyone’s imagination, modern and fast global transportation, numerous advances in modern medicine,

fantastic global communication, unlimited access to literally thousands of years of information by simply using search engines, incredible technological advancement, and the list goes on.

All that being said, there are also numerous disadvantages to our modern culture. Most of us literally live on a work and spend treadmill. Because of modern technology, we are literally over stimulated and constant demands are placed on us 24 hours a day because everyone in our lives expects and demands instant communication. And not only that, social media gives us the ability to compare and despair over what other people have that we don’t. Our relationships are suffering because no one actually wants to communicate face-to-face any more. We are socially isolated, we have no sense of community, we eat more and more highly processed foods and we get very little exercise. And on top of that most of us have very little personal freedom.

So you want to know my solution to this? I would rather continue to live the life I have and not get sucked in by all of the disadvantages of modern culture. And I think it is time that we use all of our modern technology to our advantage and figure out a way to thrive outside of mainstream. Because, believe me when I say, it is entirely possible. I know this from personal experience because it has been 22 years since I’ve had a full time job and I am doing just fine.

It is still surprising to me that those of us that challenge the status quo, live within our means, live sustainably and frugally, grow our own food, make our own medicine to some degree, prepare for emergencies, store extra food, and live off the grid, are by and large considered to be nuts. The world just loves to label free thinkers as being crazy.

But I would first ask, what truly is considered normal anymore?? I would challenge each and every one of my listeners to turn off the TV and ditch social media for a month and start thinking for yourself. There are so many ways to ditch mainstream society, get rid of all the stress, slow down, and enjoy a much more pleasant and peaceful lifestyle. Granted it took me a few years of hard work to accomplish this but these days I have a lot less stress and enjoy far more personal freedom than most people I know.

Additionally, you will find that living outside of mainstream and being a bit more frugal about your lifestyle is a lot more environmentally friendly and far more sustainable.

Ignore Mainstream

One of the first and best things you can do for yourself is to ignore mainstream culture. Our culture and all the media and advertisements that we are constantly exposed to serves as nothing but a constant distraction from what is truly important. We are routinely convinced of things that are not true. We are encouraged to purchase things we do not need. We are constantly fed misinformation in order to promote someone’s political or corporate agenda which is often to the detriment of the environment. So, take a step back and start thinking for yourself.

The first step in doing so is to cut yourself off from television, social media, and your cell phone. This may seem drastic to most people but just stop and think about this for a minute. All you hear about with the media is bad news. What is mostly depicted through the news media is some variation of yet more violence in our society and the world at large. So tell me just how much value is actually added to your life because of

constant exposure to violence? How much value is added to your life by the “compare and despair” that a lot of us experience when we cruise through social media. How much value is added to your life by constantly being at someone else’s disposal because you never turn off your cell phone and people expect to be able to reach you 24 hours a day.

On a personal note, I have not watched network TV for over 20 years and I am not missing out on anything. I peruse though news media just enough to have a vague picture of what is going on in the world. The sound function on my phone is turned off 95% of the time. By doing all of these things, I get regular doses of peace and quiet whenever I want it and I consider my life to be all the better for it.

Be Confident in Who You Are

The next tip I have may seem a little off but it is truly valuable. Just simply be confident in who you are and what you believe in. When people try to discourage you or question why you live the way you do, you can stand up for yourself and know that what you are doing is actually better for you and your family. When you no longer seek the approval of the world and those around you, you can step away from the crowd and thrive.

Make Friends

My next simple tip is to make friends. You would think this would be obvious but so many times when you live in a suburban area, most people these days do not even know their neighbors. But if you live in a rural area and are making efforts to live frugal and save money and resources by doing many things yourself, there is going to come a time when you are going to need help with something.

Since we live in a very out of the way place in Colorado, and have lived there for 20 plus years, we have a small group of close friends that we’ve know for years. And these are the types of people that could show up at my cabin in the middle of the night if needed and I would never think of it as an inconvenience. There are many times that we all ask each other for help with one thing or another. And this is a fantastic and very useful resource.

My best advice is the take the time and put out the effort to make friends. As the old saying goes, the best time to make a friend is when you don’t need one. Just keep in mind that one of the best ways to thrive outside of mainstream is to have a small community of like minded people. When the time comes that you need help, then people are there at your side.

Grow Your Own Food

My next tip for thriving outside of mainstream is to produce as much of your own food as you can. There are a number of reasons for this. There are numerous studies that clearly reveal the adverse health affects of all the processed foods, sugar, and preservatives that we consume. Not to mention the so called “acceptable levels” of pesticides in commercially produced food that are outlined by the USDA.

You do not necessarily have to make a big project out of this. It can be as simple as having a small container garden, growing your own herbs, sprouting seeds to use in salads and sandwiches, making your own bread. But if you really want to go for it, then raise small farm animals as well.

Doing things such as this is a much more sustainable approach compared to commercial farming. Producing your own food is the ultimate way to go local and organic. It is the best way to know exactly what you are eating. Not only that, you will reduce your dependence on a supply chain over which you have absolutely no control.

Prepare for Emergencies

My next tip is to prepare for emergencies. This includes being prepared for when the electricity goes out, having at least an extra weeks worth of food stored away, learning basic first aid and CPR, keep a well stocked first aid kit, and a good survival kit.

These are all very normal things that people did when I was growing up in rural Georgia. If you do such things now, people tend to think you are paranoid or you are preparing for the end of the world. But I can tell you that when you live in a somewhat isolated place as we do, doing things such as this are very real, necessary, and down right practical. Besides that, if you ever happen to be in an area when a natural disaster occurs, you will be one less person that first responders, the Red Cross, or FEMA have to worry about.

But again, most people do not think about this because we are addicted to convenience. What if something happened tomorrow and you were not able to go to the supermarket for a month? Would you be prepared.

Eat Healthy and Exercise

The next tip is to eat healthy and exercise. Again this is one of those things that you would think would be self evident.

However, when there is an obesity rate in our culture of 34% and an additional 33% are considered over weight, it is obviously not self evident. Literally 75% of the health problems in our culture could be eliminated with diet change, weight loss, and regular exercise. That is significant.

My best recommendation is to make the outdoors an extension of how you live. Cancel your gym membership, save some money and spend time outside walking, running, cycling, meditating, doing yoga, or whatever it is you enjoy. Use all the time that you are no longer going to be in front of the television or focusing on social media and get healthy. Besides, one of the best ways to prevent health problems is to eat right and stay fit.

Additionally, the best foods to eat are the ones that are fresh, organic, locally grown, and pesticide free. It is long been proven that that a healthy diet is a sustainable diet.

Home School Your Kids

My next tip is that if you have children, consider home schooling. Internet access and the availability of numerous high quality online resources have made this possibility tremendously easier these days. It is truly one of the best ways to keep control of your children’s educational process.

Annette and I became completely frustrated with the public school system years ago and started home schooling Erik. Because of this, we have still been able to travel for weeks to months at a time and keep up with his schooling. With satellite internet we can live in the middle of no where and Erik can still be in school. In fact, there have been several times that we’ve given him the option to go into public school. Once we told him that his time would be a lot more restrictive and our travel and

vacations would be extremely limited, he decided not to. He enjoyed the freedom that he had and did not want to give it up.

From the perspective of sustainability, home schooling your children also means you will be using a heck of lot fewer resources by simply not having to transport them back and forth to school.

Be Your Own Boss

Now, one of the best tips I can give you in order to thrive outside of mainstream culture is to be your own boss. But, I have been in business for myself for over 22 years now and I would not have it any other way. I work as much or as little as I want.Within reason, I take as much time off as I want and do it when I want. If I want to work three days per week, that is what I do. If I need extra money I can work 7 days a week. Instead of having an employer that runs my life and decides how much I will and will not get paid, I simply make my own economy.

I will be the first to admit that being in business for yourself is not for everyone. It is however the best way to control your income and maximize your personal freedom. It does however carrying some extra responsibilities. For one thing, you cannot mindlessly drive to work, clock in and out and go home at the end of the day. You do have to be highly motivated, self directed, and be an independent thinker. As I said before, I would not do things any other way. If you have the chance to start a business of your own, I highly recommend it.

Read and Learn New Things on a Regular Basis

Now my last tip here is to be sure to read and learn new things on a regular basis. Similar to so many things in life, there is no definitive guide book on living an independent life outside of mainstream. But if you are going to free yourself from all the restraints and limitations that comes along with mainstream culture, you are going to have to start thinking for yourself.

There are numerous examples of projects on my homestead where I had to learn something new in order to accomplish my goal. Installing water lines, installing gas lines, building a log structure, building a storage shed and workshop, sharpening chains for the saw, designing and installing the solar are just some of the things I done from scratch.

Presently I have about 230 books in my iPad on a number of different topics. Over time, if I come across something that I don’t know how to do, I buy a book, talk to someone else, or even get help if I need it. My point being is that sooner or later you get to the point where your lack of knowledge on a topic is the least thing that holds you back from trying to accomplish something. So don’t be afraid to step up and learn something new.

Summary

Now you may be thinking at this point what the heck this has to do with sustainability. But if you think about it, mainstream culture encourages you to live a fast paced life, live in a cycle of work and spend, consume, consume, consume, and all of this forces you to never get any exercise and eat convenient processed foods that are bad for your health.

On the other end of the spectrum, living a slower paced life and living frugally means you consume far fewer resources. By being

confident in who you are, making friends, growing you own food, eating healthy and exercising, home schooling your children, being your own boss, and reading and learning as much as possible, you are taking control of your own life, managing many of your own resources, and living independently. And believe me I know from personal experience that when you manage many of your own resources, you are acutely aware of how much you consume. At times this may seem like a lot of responsibility, but if you make the effort to learn how to thrive outside of mainstream, if the world ever really does go wrong, you will be far more prepared than 95% of the people out there. Not only that, you will be living a life that is far more sustainable.

Despite all that is going on in the world, it is possible to live debt free, save money, become less dependent on society, live within your means, produce your own food, store food and supplied for emergencies, home school your children, and look forward to a sustainable future.

In closing, I would like to remind everyone that if you have comments or suggestions on content for the podcast, you can contact me at [email protected].

Steve Jobs once said, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

So, step outside of mainstream and thrive.

This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Patrick