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Category: daily, inspiration

I have been getting into the spirit of the tiny house movement lately, and just spent an hour poring over this NYT article about
Sandra Foster, who turned an old hunting cabin in upstate New York into her dream studio. I would LOVE to create something like this for my photography business! All the light that comes in… the way everything is white and goes together perfectly. Her creative sourcing of upcycled salvage materials, the tiny bedroom area you have to climb into, the fact that it cost her less than $3,000 for the complete furnish and overhaul. I just love everything about her little studio retreat.

Here’a a link to the full story.

Here’s a link to Sandra’s personal blog.

Photo Credits: Trevor Tondro for The New York Times

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We now live in a tiny house in Portland, Oregon. I was initially excited to move in because the arrangement is a delightfully perfect situation for our temporary needs: month-to-month rent, a fully furnished space… this was only meant to be a temporary resting place while Ali finds his next workplace commitment. We moved in knowing that if the house didn’t work for us, it would be painless to leave after a month.

Well, our first month is at an end, and… I could stay here forever. The 364 foot space is enough. The large trees above help us maintain the inside temperature without using the ac/heating unit. The two burner range has been just right for our dinner needs. The small size fridge encourages us to buy only what we need, and we’ve wasted very little because we don’t gather too much. The lush and wild gardens surrounding the house give us a level of privacy I would never expect from a busy residential neighborhood, and we have just the right mixture of quiet and activity on our little street.

High ceilings make the house feel spacious, and the stained wood beams provide warmth and cozy. A large loft sleeps several guests (!!) and the small bathroom somehow manages to feel exotic enough to be in a European hotel. Everything we need is within arms’ reach but I don’t feel cluttered or closed in. Two distinct inside areas, plus the front porch swing mean that although I spend 78% of my time in one area, I still have the luxury of options. We are one block away from a trendy restaurant and shopping row which means four different coffee shops, a major music venue, and homemade ice cream is all a short walk away.

Since we moved here I have done a lot of thinking about smaller living. I am a person who finds comfort in the ability to purchase things I feel I need when I feel I need them. (I had to choose the words in the previous sentence carefully because I recognize these are all felt needs that have little to do with reality.) I have always lived with a scarcity mentality that tells me I never have enough, I will never be happy until I have the next greatest thing… which then ups the ante and takes me to tomorrow’s latest innovation. It’s a major problem and I wonder soberly whether this “never good enough” mentality is at the root of our human depravation — in other words, this is the junk puts a serious wedge between us, others, and God.

Oops, this is getting theological. I started this post in an effort to address how we got our possessions pared down to only a car-full, but now my thoughts have turned to heavier things.

This year I have been trying to integrate the yogic principle of being observant while withholding judgment. This has helped me get to the roots of my feelings, tendencies, and habits without pulling back in distaste or avoidance. So I have been able to think more deeply through the fears that hold me back from life freedom. Being poor is one of my deep-rooted fears; that whole scarcity mentality grips my heart and brain and causes me to hold onto things I don’t need or want because I think I might someday want them.

This year I’ve been watching with interest as minimalism becomes trendy among writers — a lifestyle intention that allows people in these difficult economic times to lighten their grip on stuff, live on less by harnessing the power of “the cloud,” and become location independent. These writers benefit greatly from gaining a refreshing perspective of someone who is choosing to step away from the constraints of owning too much. I want that perspective, because I have long felt the largeness of American consumption eating away at my soul.

I’ll write more about our journey into LESS in a subsequent post, but right now I’m exhausted from talking about something that has to do with depravation.

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Since we’ve been hosting visitors for the past week I did not have time to get this delicious fig-pear-lavender jam mailed yet but it’s on its way. Please note, it does not come with the handsome jam-maker. (Sorry, I tried!)

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This picture is from Boston.com — beautiful!! See more here.

Here’s some info about the history of Mt. St. Helens.

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Joshua Tree Under the Milky Way from Henry Jun Wah Lee on Vimeo.

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Category: inspiration, random

-Alan Keightley

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I’m about 50 pages in and could easily keep reading all evening. (Note: I’m enjoying the temperate weather with long sleeves on our front porch swing that was upcycled from an old Dairy Queen booth, while sipping some of the new tea I got for $0.24)

This book is written in an engaging, approachable tone. Schwarcz addresses common misinterpretations of scientific studies that deal with ANTIOXIDANTS and the like – the newspaper headlines that drive consumers to suddenly buy what they claim as miracle foods in bulk — and consumers then place hope in never having cancer because they took enough fish oil.

Let Them Eat Flax by Joe Schwarcz

So far I have learned that it’s probably good to consume the equivalent of two spoonfuls of ground flaxseed every day (though I have no idea how to make that palatable — replace flour in baking?) and that one gram of cinnamon daily is good for those with high cholesterol. I’m surprised to hear that high flavonol chocolate relaxes blood vessels and improves blood flow to the brain. And I am now interested to learn more about phenylketonurea (PKU) which is an inherited condition that prevents me from metabolizing phenylalanine (one of the byproducts of aspartame being broken down). I suspect this condition may explain why chocolate gives me huge headaches and makes my brain go into hyperspeed mode. Syann told me about this years ago in Boston (is the description above accurate, S?), and since she’s a Harvard researcher I took her word for it. She explained that it’s similar to the reason you’re not supposed to give dogs chocolate – their body can’t process theobromine quickly enough – and if a dog eats too much chocolate, apparently that dog can die of theobromine poisoning. At this point I don’t know if there’s any link between my reaction to chocolate and the possibility of phenylketonurea, or if this is all just a result of an oversensitivity to caffeine.

And there is the point of my post: I hope I don’t die from brain dysfunction caused by phenylketonurea, all because I are some chocolate my body couldn’t process.

Have you read this book? I’m very interested to talk to other people about it. I’d love to hear what my mom or grandma thinks about it, too.

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Category: daily