Deeply Nourished From Afar
Our family just returned from a beautiful homestead wedding. For several days leading up to the wedding we camped on a rural property a long day’s drive from our home. Our good friends chose to get hitched on the land where they currently homestead.
I am feeling especially grateful for the people that came to support this wedding. For the better part of a week I found myself camping, cooking and helping prepare for a wedding with fellow homesteaders, gardeners, herbalists, permaculturalists, cooks, hippies and a generous sprinkling of folks that appreciate aspects of natural living.
These are exactly the type of people I love to hang out with, so I immediately felt right at home with my friends’ friends.
It felt natural to immediately dive into deep conversations with people I just met. I found myself sharing conversations around homesteading, alternative parenting, nourishing food, connecting with nature, permaculture plants, emotional and spiritual development.
We shared words of love and support for each other, even though I had only just met most of these new friends.
These beautiful people made the wedding more special because they brought their natural passions and talents to support the honored couple…
Friends cooked the majority of the food that was served on site. Many of the drinks available were homemade. A variety show of performances by friends and family entertained us all. The wedding was decorated by a good friend that volunteered to offer creativity. The wedding itself was officiated by a friend. Flowers were harvested from homestead gardens and also repurposed from other recent weddings.
A wedding completely put together by a community is rare today—with consumerism as a cultural norm, it is easy to assume that most aspects of a wedding needs to be purchased or rented.
I am reminded that when we generously share our passions and practical skills as a community we have less need for consumerism to celebrate life and love.
They say many hands make light work. In this case—Many hearts nourish each other.
This week was a solid reminder for me why I chose the homesteading lifestyle. Together a group of people celebrated love by giving generously and then we each received generously in return. We were nourished physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually simply by showing up and participating in community.
I enjoyed having a peek into a past way of life when communities supported themselves and produced for their own needs. While we cannot return to the past, some of us are coming together and actively choosing to follow our hearts into the future.
When I listen to my heart, I cannot ignore the strong call to pursue a natural, authentic and sustainable future so that my heart, my child and my family can thrive.
Homesteading is not the only way or even the best way forward. Homesteading is the path our family is choosing to walk because it is offering us deep nourishment. This week I was reminded that we are not alone in choosing love and deep nourishment.
How has homesteading been nourishing you lately?
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