Today we have a special treat from Bonnie at Hungry Chicken Homestead. I first met Bonnie at a local community swap, and she’s a vivacious urban homesteader with an infinite amount of homesteading wisdom behind her. Here’s an insightful introduction into how she made the choices (and chose the chickens) she did. If you have any questions for Bonnie about how she manages her chickens and her little homestead, be sure to ask her in the comments! She’s super nice, and she will not bite. (The chickens, on the other hand …)
“Are you happy with what you’ve given up?” Living a Crunchy lifestyle means revising your priorities. We have to make space in our lives if we are inviting something new.
When I gained my flock of chickens, I gave up a corporate job and salary to make space for them. I no longer wanted to work hard at a job I did not enjoy so that I could buy things I didn’t have time to make myself. I could see this confirmed in the choices I made when the birds and the job were not compatible.
“I know you want us to be in the office,” I told my boss one winter day, “but it’s -10 degrees outside and the chickens are in the garage because my coop isn’t warm enough. I can’t leave the house.”
Chickens weren’t the only reason I quit. After I was widowed at age 39, I wanted a quieter, more creative life. Like many people, I had operated for years with the belief that “productive work” meant work for somebody else, but it no longer made sense after my husband’s death drove home how uncertain our lives are. I was selling my time to buy the things I didn’t have time to make. I was always too busy to grow my own food or make my own toothpaste, and yet all that time I dreamt of the simplicity of a self-sufficient life.
It hardly seems like a dream at all and yet it changed everything.
I had hardly known what I was missing! After I quit, I started sleeping much more. In fact, I napped for two hours every day for the first month, no doubt to catch up on the sleep I had been skipping all that time.
I became healthier in many ways, in fact. The food at home is much better. And I spent more time outside. Even with the demands of my new business, I made new friends and spent many more hours of my day in activities I enjoy. It was still “work”, but it was spread over many tasks and I was finally able to give in to my jack-of-all-trades personality.
I remember the day I found myself in the backyard, digging out a garden. At first I thought I should go inside and “do productive work”. Then I realized that gardening IS productive work! It would feed my household.
The fact that digging in the sun made me happy did not mean it was unproductive. I had to learn the difference.
Am I happy with the
choices I’ve made? You bet! No matter how much toothpaste or elderberry syrup I make, I know I won’t live forever. Time marches on and we march with it, like it or not. It means making do with less money, but I would rather spend my finite number of days discovering a life I love.
Even if it means sometimes sharing my house with chickens.
Bonnie Simon writes for small businesses and teaches home economics classes in Colorado Springs. Read about her hilarious chickens at www.HungryChickenHomestead.com.
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This is such a sweet story. We love chickens! If I’m at a cocktail party the conversation always turns to my chickens and ducks. They are the best thing EvER!
Haha! I LOVE how I always have something to talk about, no matter where I am. As soon as I say, “my chickens”, the conversation perks up!
Beautiful Post! God gave us a beautiful place to live. He gave each of us talents and gifts to use. I do think some people are happy in a corporate office daily. I really do. But, Lord knows I wouldn’t. The hubs and I chose to have a home where I, Mommy, stayed at home to take care of the kiddos, house and such. It actually worked out well with my chosen career as a Massage Therapist. It means less (stuff) but equals more family time, more days spent with happy kiddos, means more happy Momma and Daddy days. More joy. Thanks for sharing!
I’m completely out of routine at the moment but I tagged this post to make sure I came back to it. So glad I did!
I completely hear you Bonnie, about the tugging feeling. I’m going through some very big changes of my own at the moment. Your words have given me the inspiration to try and break out of the 9-5, 5 days straight routine. I’m going to ask my boss if I can trial working from home just one day a week. The time and energy I save can be put into reducing my dependence on ‘the system’ – gardening, fixing my home, nurturing my self, learning. These are just the first few steps but you’ve gotta start somewhere, right?
Thanks for your inspiration 🙂
Thank you Bonnie for a very inspiring post. You put into words many things that I often feel about the choices I’ve made (and why). Your chickens are lovely… I hope to have some one day. In the meantime, I’m off to check out your blog!
Please note: not everyone needs to quit corporate life in order to have chickens!
CB: Thanks so much for this post, it resonated with me in every single way. I too recently started my own small flock of chickens with my husband and we have learned so much about ourselves through the experience, thanks so much for sharing her story.
I share weekly photos of my chickens’ antics here: http://www.justawhimsicalworld.blogspot.com
Your pictures are wonderful! I love the dustbathing shots!
To be honest, when I read the title of this entry all I thought was “cute chickens”. I figure it would be quirky and cute and I was intrigued. I didn’t expect it to reach down into my deep longings and speak to me like it has.
For the last few years I’ve felt a deep tug for a simple life. I want chickens, livestock and a garden. I want to build my own home and make my own clothes, beauty products, household items. I want land and I want the government out of my business. At first I thought it would pass, but it’s grown. It’s a pretty unusual dream for someone my age. I graduated college a few years ago and just started out in the working world two years ago. But something about a simple life really appeals to me, despite the knowledge that it will be more work. I want to earn my keep on this Earth.
I haven’t figured out how to do it yet, but your post just adds more fuel to my fire. Especially knowing that you left the corporate world. I still need to wrap my head around not earning a steady paycheck to buy unnecessary stuff, but I believe that God gives us desires for a reason and in time mine will be lived out.
Thank you for such a lovely post!
Wow, thank you!
You describe the idea really well. I’ve never been able to really articulate why I wanted to do this and yet I’m so much happier than I was. I know you’ll find a way to live the way you want. At some level, I always wanted to do this, but I was afraid and it took me a long time.
I’d love to hear how things work out for you! What a great story it will be! Leave a comment on my website (www.HungryChickenHomestead.com) and I’ll send you my email address.
Not unusual for someone “your age”. You maybe young but seems like you know what you want out of life. Keep on working on it. Your comment made me smile deep down. I remember having that feeling before I ever left high school. The fast pace of the world does sometimes derail our desires. But, sound like your heart is leading your exactally where you want to be. God bless!
A perfectly beautiful post by a wonderful woman. I am so glad to know Bonnie and share with her that cuddling lambs, and talking with the chickens is not unproductive. I find it VERY productive as they are the employees that provide us with food and fiber for the other sides of our lives. So glad I get to share them with like minded people.
Thanks, M! It was great to see you and the lambs this morning at Easter Egg Acres. I swear I’ve never seen anything so cute!
Thanks for such an inspiring post! This is what I want to do soooo badly and I love to hear about other’s journeys into homesteading! And chickens are just delightfully adorable! Who wouldn’t want some!!
I’m sure you could get chickens if your neighborhood allows them. I grew up in the suburbs and didn’t know the first thing about chickens when I started. Thank goodness for http://www.backyardchickens.com! I made the coop, which I call Chicken Shantytown, from hardware mesh and plywood.
As for quitting, just make sure you know why you’re quitting before you start. I wrote this post for another site … http://www.allthesinglegirlfriends.com/2011/11/10/finding-your-path-in-the-business-world/ about what I would do differently if I was quitting the corporate world today.
Thanks Bonnie!
I love this! Getting back to nature is a wonderful thing. I have chickens too. 🙂
How Wonderful! It’s refreshing to hear that there are people out there doing what they love, not just surviving day to day in a job they don’t like.
{(^o^)}
I quit my job as a nurse to stay at home with my daughter…. now i’m finding wonderful ways to “work” here… like gardening, making my own products…and not to mention raising my daughter. i never thought I would be this person…or that it would be so rewarding. This is a great post!!!
Isn’t it amazing what we can become? If someone had told me five years ago that I would be living out west with chickens in the backyard, I would have laughed. And then I would have gotten lost in a wistful daydream. 🙂
Thank you for such a beautiful post. I think that God intends us all to spend our lives doing work we enjoy, that fulfills us…it’s our job to figure out what that is and how to make it work.
Yes! I completely agree! When I really thought about it, I found it difficult to believe God wouldn’t want me to use the talents I have to do something I find meaningful. We’re much happier working with our own personalities instead of against them!