Flat Broke - 20/02/2013

Resistance is futile.

Try as I may have done to resuscitate what once was. To resurrect and continue the set of circumstances I once enjoyed. I have accepted the past as having passed. To fight what is, to resist and linger in the shadows of memory, to dwell in the realm of what is now dead would serve only to sabotage and pollute the present with needless suffering.

The period for grief and mourning is over. Now is a time of acceptance and excitement at the prospect of engaging in what will be my next experiment.
I lived in a caravan in the woods, I existed on my own terms and provided what basic human needs I could for myself and my family. In the non-physical aspects, it was the ideal way of life. Practically, it had its challenges, take floor space as an example!
So now I have the mirror opposite.

Following the advice of relatives of friends and family, and facing scant alternatives we put our plight to the local council. They deemed us entitled to a property and a few weeks of bidding culminated in the offer of a potential shelter and site of permitted existance.
Make no mistake, a price has to be paid, the invasion of privacy that comes with the numerous questions asked. One must submit time and again in return for the 'benefits' and 'privileges' desired. For this reason I rebut the widespread belief perpetuated by propaganda that authorities provide services for free. This grates and grinds my fibre purely due to the fact I am capable of housing and providing for myself as I have demonstrated. To beg another to grant me the right to live in their creation has been bitter and hard to swallow.

Despite succeeding in securing a place, I was hit by a tide of sorrow and pain. I did not feel that here was where I could be who I am.
This of course was a fiction created by my pride and ego. I have come to embrace my circumstances as a blessing and canvas upon which I can attempt to demonstrate how one can reconcile the two ideals. Mainstream outsourcing of needs at financial cost vs Self reliance.

Here is what I have to work with (photos taken Friday 15th whilst herding my youngest around);

Living Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Second Bedroom

Bathroom

Generous Garden

I have spent each day and night since, decorating, collecting furniture, carpets and beds destined to landfill from local businesses, utilising freecycle, and generally attempting to outfit the place without much money. Through the sale of my air rifles, I have purchased a secondhand cooker which I will fit myself.

In conclusion, I am supremely excited to get cracking. I would like to demonstrate how one can exist this way in a manner that is in balance with my core. Measures that have come to mind;

Growing veg of course!
12v solar powered lighting?

Re-opening the fireplace,
Converting the attic space to a rifle range,
Securing shooting permissions in the local area.

Whilst a vehicle may not be in keeping with what most would expect, living so removed from resources make it indispensable presently justifying the compromise and expense.

I hope that those who dismissed my work on the grounds that not all can up sticks and move to the woods in a caravan, will now be better able to relate to my endeavours and find hope and encouragement.