Off-Grid Living: Part 3 - Creating a Healthier Life

Part of my experience in off-grid living has had nothing to do with the lack of community-provided utilities or alternative building designs, but with a change of diet – and I don’t mean a foolish deprivation of food or endless calorie counting or obsessive weighing on a scale. Instead, I’ve been more active and I'm eating much healthier foods. More to the point, I’ve also become more conscious of when I eat meals, what I eat, where my food comes from, how it’s processed, why it was grown or raised as it was, and who profited from the sale of it. These have become very important questions to ask whenever I’m at the grocery store, ordering at a restaurant, or preparing a meal at home.

Off-Grid Living: Part 2 - Ignoring Stereotypes

“So you’re one of those weirdos who lives in their van in a hippie commune, sits around smoking pot all day, and doesn’t believe in bathing, aren’t you?” That’s a question that I guess must cross the minds of most people when they think of someone living off-grid. Imagine if I mention that I’m living off-grid in an Earthship. Cue the blank looks of complete unawareness about this particular subject.

Off-Grid Living: Part I - Sustainable Living

How many times do we think about where our water comes from when we turn on the faucet in our kitchens or where it goes after we flush the toilet? How often do we think about what happens to the water when it leaves our homes? I never really gave our water supply much thought until recently. Since I’ve been living off-grid for the last two months, I’ve given water a lot of thought.

11-11-11: The Beginning of the End?

The day is finally upon us. This is the date that many believe will be the catalyst for a major shift in Earth consciousness, a day that marks the beginning of the end, the final segment of time between now and December 21, 2012 – a date many consider to signal the end of the world. Many have been counting down the days and hours with great anticipation, but does extraordinary phenomenon really occur simply because a date has all of the same numbers in sequence, like 10-10-10 or 11-11-11? Or is it just that some mystical property of the number eleven itself gives this particular day a rare significance?

’Twas A Foggy Mourn Long, Long Ago

Out of a deep slumber the ringing awakened me. My mother’s unusually calm voice spoke on the other end. “Your father is gone,” she said. As I hung up the phone, I looked at the clock. It was about 5:30am. I woke up my sister and, without uttering a word, we got dressed to leave for the hospital. It seemed to take forever to get ready, but once we were, we gathered our wits and opened the front door only to be stopped short in our tracks. Fog!

The Elusivity of Time

Time is elusive. Is it linear or not? Can one travel through it? We never seem to have enough of it. Once time is spent, is it gone forever? If not, how do we get it back? Whether or not you believe in the notion that events can be repeated through time loops or revisited through some sort of time travel device or ability, time remains indefinable. It just exists. However, if we were to treat time as an object, something tangible to hold in the palm of one’s hand, what would you do with it?

The Windrider Prophecy

The revisions to the second book in my series of fantasy novels are so great that I might decide to split that book into three separate books. So the third one is now the fifth book in the series, which is just about complete and will be released after the new Ghost Ships trilogy (books 2-4). I'm also in the process of re-designing the covers of all the books in the series so they will reflect a more Celtic flare. I'm really excited about this project. Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at the book, The Windrider Prophecy, the third novel in The Traveler's Saga sci-fi fantasy series. Enjoy. 

Fanning the Flames

As all of the 9/11 memorial programs start to air again on television, I’m reminded of those who have been lost and the brave souls who tried to save them, many of whom gave their own lives in the process. Whether or not you lost a loved one in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, on United Airlines Flight 93, or at the Pentagon on the morning of September 11, 2001, we were all directly affected by this heinous act of violence. The aftermath has influenced the policies of state and has enabled the war with the Middle East to continue, which has deeply impacted our economy and invaded the personal freedoms that so many of us take for granted.

Leap and the Net Will Appear

My heart races as I lay awake at night, suddenly tormented with anxiety about the direction my life is taking. Uncertainty is now my ally. Weakness also begs for my friendship. Doubt has moved in and wants to rule my life and take control. They feed me discouraging thoughts and make me second guess my decisions about moving into unknown territory. In a panic, I ask myself, “What am I thinking by giving stuff away and storing away the rest, packing up and moving someplace new with absolutely no guarantees, relying on the generosity of friends for a place to stay temporarily? What if it doesn’t work out? What if I don’t find a job? What if I can’t come back? What if . . .”