When you embark on a new adventure, you want to know that you at least have an idea of what you are doing. Sometimes though, we only think we know what we are doing and quickly realize how wrong we were. This is just humans in general I think. We can talk, and research, and prepare, and WHAM! It just doesn’t go as planned. So, how do we deal with it?
We handle it the same way we handle everything, if life were easy it would just be boring. As we grow up, we learn from our mistakes (hopefully, I know a few people that haven’t grasped that concept yet). We try, we fail, we try something else… and sometimes that fails. When you keep coming short, one of the best ways to overcome these obstacles, is to reach out to someone else. Maybe they have figured it out; Maybe they are having the exact same problems; Maybe they’re having a whole different set of problems. Regardless, reaching out to others can be extremely helpful.
Recently, I was contacted by a couple that, like us, has been homesteading for just a short time. They don’t have goats yet, but they are building out their home. Jeff and I haven’t purchased our new property yet to start our new home, but we know a bit about goats and other animals. Between us, the ability to reach out to one another for advice and insight is invaluable.
This couple, Charlie & Courtney from Tiny Swamp Life , started their YouTube channel a few months ago and I have to say… If you are interested in following along with a homesteading couple from early in their journey and as the progress – you should defiantly check them out (not to mention Courtney’s laugh – completely infectious – you can’t help but smile). When they contacted me, there was some discussion about where each of us are in our homesteading journey, and shared some pointers and ideas… and Ta-Da! we have another couple that we can reach out to for help and guidance – and hopefully, when they need a little direction we can be there for them.
This is what it is all about! Homesteading is not just how you live, but a community of people willing to reach out an help provide experience of those lessons learned and share the failures so others don’t make the same mistakes. Granted, there are plenty of people that haven’t yet made that first step into a homesteading lifestyle and think that when they do, they just want to shut themselves off from the world. Now, I’m not saying that it can’t be done… there are plenty of people that have done this. We will be one of the first to admit that it has crossed our minds (and still does every time we see an idiot on the news – which seems to be daily), but we don’t really want that. We want the seclusion for sure. Having a secluded piece of property to be able to stare at the stars without interference of big city lights. Hear the birds without the sounds of cars driving by, or sit by a fire without the sound of sirens in the air. This is secluded, but it is not being a hermit. We may want our property to be secluded, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be sociable to lend a hand when needed… you never know when you might need a hand yourself.