Finding my Joy, Simplifying my Life

Micro Action Happiness Brain Storm

For the last  several years I have put extra emphasis on my health,  and for the last year I have  had  the goal in  mind that I would  be more independent and self  sustaining. One way in which I have been doing this is learning to cook healthy foods, and more recently to garden. I'm getting pretty good with my composting and recently moved into Aquaponics and now worm farming. Also, I taught myself to knit on looms, and started making all sorts of knit Peace Full Creations along with my paintings, tiny sculptures, and the like. My art brings me joy.

In recent reading I took a couple micro actions proposed by Tammy Strobel in her book "You Can Buy Happiness and it's Cheaper than You Think."

Detail of Happiness Brain Storm/Rough Sketches

First she asked how I define happiness and that resulted in a brain storming session and some rough sketching of tiny home plans. as  you can see above and to the right.  During my brain storm session I broke it down into several main areas that bring me joy:
- Being as Healthy As Possible (Eating Healthy, Exercise, DeStress)
- Being Creative (Photography, Painting, Sculpture, Knitting, Cooking, Gardening, Trying New Things)
- Community (Friends, Family, Knitting it Forward, Animals/Fur Family, Workshops)
- Living Within My Means (Sustainability, Not over committing, not creating debt, learning useful skills)
- Time For Myself (Hammock Time, Reading, Meditation, Manifestation Journaling)
- Travel (Getting Out of the House, Seeing New Places/ Things, Meeting People)

Side and Top View Sketches

In some ways I am already doing these things such as focusing on my health, family, and becoming self sustaining, and then there are others I have been neglecting such as travel. All in all, the brain storm session was very empowering and I recommend anyone try it. I also noticed that every time I sketch a tiny home, my vision of my Tiny Home/Gallery/Art Studio/Community Center/Camera Obscura aka ObscurAbode becomes more clear and I feel that much closer to my dream.

Another micro action I completed recently was to write down how I can simplify my life. At first  it seemed a lot like my previous  brain storm, and  things I'm already working on like be healthy, spend time with loved ones, but then I started getting down to some specifics and things started falling into place:

ObscurAbode Sketch 03 Layout Plans

- Organize my stuff (Bedroom, Loom Knitting Supplies, Art, Books)
- Get my Peace Full Creations in order
- Clarify/Organize my Calendar (Simplify Schedule for Knitting Groups, Specific work days/times, One day off with Patch, one day off with Carlie, Specific morning routine)
- Plan trip to CA
- Make a specific tiny home plan (Finances, Supplies, Time Frame, IndieGogo or Kickstart Plan, etc.)

I got started on each of these to some extent. The loom and knitting supplies are better organized, Carlie and I decided that the profit from Peace Full Creations will go to the Tiny Home Fund, I decided which days/times will be work and which aren't, worked on my calendar, and worked on another more specific floor plan for ObscurAbode (Sketch 03, above left) so it already feels like I am heading towards my goals. More work is needed, but things are really coming together!