Amazing Tiny Homes...

Here is a link to some amazing tiny homes, living in one myself I have an overwhelming interest in them, some would call it an obsession!  Amazing Tiny Homes

Sustainable Living

What does sustainable living mean in the real world?  I have noticed many people talk about living sustainably and often pepper their conversations with the words 'eco friendly', yet seem to build huge homes with lots of rooms when there are only two, three or four people living in them.  When it comes down to to it these houses are monuments to how much money they have rather than the 'eco friendly' home they say they are and while some ecologically sound principles are used in the construction, how these people live in the long term is critical to how sustainable these houses truly are!  See Truly Green for the real story.

Money, the freedom to have very little...

Well yesterday I started on the toy making and it got me thinking, for the last twenty years I have worked in the computer industry earning huge amounts of money and accumulating many 'things'.  I no longer have those things or that money and have never been happier.  I will never earn anywhere near that type of money with my toys but I only need enough to eat, travel and pay the bills.  I am free.

A child is born ...

We arrived in Auckland yesterday to meet my new niece Avery, born after 68 hours of labour understandably Mum and Dad were both buggered and asked if we could come tomorrow so that they could get some rest, no worries was my reply.  It got me thinking how many of us do that, we rush to view the new child but what about the parents?  Anyway we got to see the baby on Sunday and instead of presents for the Baby I decided to give Mum & Dad a present instead, I'm thinking a night in a nice hotel just the two of them, in a few months maybe when they may just need a break!

The Tyranny of Things – by Robert Schuller

“Materialism does not satisfy because it is tyrannical, and the human being was born to be free! We all know about the tyranny of things. We find that we don’t own a house – the house owns us. We are married to a mortgage. We become slaves to gadgets and garments. After we have all our “things” purchased, delivered, and installed, and have enjoyed a fleeting sense of pleasure, we find that they are still dominating, dictating and demanding. “Press me, polish me, patch me, paint me, prune me, plaster me, repair me,” they shout.  So we spend the best years of our lives and the bulk of our money working for “things,” until discouraged and depressed, we discover that we have no time left to pursue life’s really enjoyable avocations: visiting friends, having fun, and, yes, even going to church regularly. Thus mastered by materialism, tyrannized by things, we have no time left to do the deeds, or see the places, or visit the people, that would really give us great inner joy.”

What do you think?  When is enough enough!