The Hoose

It’s Friday!

After experiencing the good vibes last night I’m really excited to get back out this evening! I had tons of fun interactions, with groups of people dancing, singing and filming. And no code enforcers in sight!

I have been realising a lot of different things recently. One is not to judge a town by its cover. Sometimes big cities or tourist hotspots are the hardest gigs, and smaller more chilled places are more enjoyable and sometimes even have a bigger pay out.

Another is to always be aware and present in this moment. We like to set goals, but sometimes ambition doesn’t go hand in hand with gratitude. Being present breeds gratitude for everything we currently have, be it a lot or a little. And sometimes, meeting goals gives a sense of accomplishment, but that feeling can make us forget to appreciate what’s really important, and turns our attention towards material things and successes. Then, when we fail to meet our expectations, we feel unsuccessful and resentful, and that we don’t have ‘enough’. It’s a balancing act to remain humble while at the same time moving forward.

There’s also the difference between meeting our needs and indulging ourselves. Human desires are what drive us through life, like when we are hungry we work for money to buy food, but when we are satiated we turn our attention to other things, until the hunger returns to move us again towards seeking out food. However, when all our needs are met, we are comfortable, and often we lose that driving force, having no need to go outwith our comfort zone. So we don’t experience as much growth.

Limitations can at first seem like a bad thing, but can actually allow you to flex your creativity. Living in a tiny home comes with many limitations, the most obvious one being a limitation of space. This can at times be frustrating, but also has allowed me to see how little humans really need. I like to do yoga, which isn’t really possible in my current home. So we’ve had the beautiful experience of doing yoga outside in public spaces. When this isn’t possible, I have came up with different stretches that can be done on my bed. It may not be the same but it has made me take opportunities I wouldn’t have taken if I lived in a typical house, like the opportunity to do yoga in the park. This has brought me closer to nature and also helped me overcome some shyness. (I am a complete novice so wouldn’t normally do it in public because I’m not good at it and I used to worry that people would think I wanted attention, but this has made me realise that most people don’t care what I’m doing, and I shouldn’t care what people might be thinking about me anyway!)

It’s difficult to be present when we are waking up with alarms to meet deadlines for someone else’s company, to pay bills due on certain dates and live in a building with restrictions written by others. It’s also difficult to be present when we are thinking that what others have or what we used to have is better than what we have now; or thinking about what we ‘should’ have. That’s why we must remember to own our decisions and always remember why we created our lives this way in this moment.

We wanted to have the freedom to live life on our terms and to do work that we find valuable. For me right now in my life, this means being a traveling street performer, with all that it entails.