Cottage in the Sky
Cottage in the Sky is about architecting a life that leaves the freedom to create—on both broad and micro-focused levels. An exposé of beliefs and choices that unwittingly indenture us (and our significant others) into stressful workforce slavery leaving no time for creation.
Freedom of Living in a Small Home
Sometime after the extinction of dinosaurs, yet long before the invention of vacuum cleaners, man first appeared on earth. The indisputable truth, humans need shelter. But, for the majority of our existence, humans managed nicely with a one room dwelling whether cave, teepee or stick house, needing only to store and prepare food, eat, sleep, and chill out.
Today, the detached house (preferably big and new) is the ideal lifetime dream of those influenced by consumerism. It requires working unspeakable hours and often long commutes to/from suburbia, or rural areas outside the city. Not only does this put unmanageable stress on the whole family, it leaves little time for life, leisure, and creative pursuits.
You can always live for the weekend, right? Nope. The barely-affordable, large investment needs maintenance. Even unused rooms collect dust. And the yard needs manicuring.
Repeat slave-like lifestyle, the same each year, until retirement. No wonder people think life starts when they retire.
Let’s visit the tremendous lifestyle benefits of living in a small home.
Rousseau, an ardent advocate of the state of nature, maintained, “Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains.”
A Small Home Means Less Chores
If there’s only one bathroom, then there’s only one bathroom to clean. Smaller floor space means less to vacuum or mop. With an absence of lawn, hedges, or eavestroughs there’s no mowing, clipping, or scooping autumn leaves. No need to buy a lawnmower, hedge clippers, or even a ladder.
Lots of money saved. More time for life, leisure, and to create!
A Small Home Means Working Less
Do you dream of ditching your soul-sucking job? Or maybe you love your job, but want to work less so you have more time to create, or to spend with your children, or to care for a loved one. Needing less money makes this possible. Here’s how a smaller home helps …
- Smaller mortgage. Less interest on that smaller mortgage. Less time paying for that smaller mortgage.
- Less space to heat or cool. Only a few lights needed to brighten the space. Less energy costs.
- Mansion or condo, shelter requires maintenance. Less maintenance costs.
- Of course there’s so little storage space, a consumer lifestyle is out of the question. That saves money!
A Small Home is Healthier
Smack that canned soup back on the grocery store shelf. Pop that frozen dinner back in the grocery store freezer. Back away from that fast food chain.
All that time off of work and chores allows the time to cook healthy meals from scratch using whole food ingredients (which saves money). 80% of fat loss comes from proper nutrition.
Small homes are usually located in urban areas where driving a car is more of a hassle than a help. Walking from errand to errand not only becomes possible, but preferable. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Feel the blood pumping through your veins? No one gets hurt increasing their daily steps.
Nutrition + Exercise = Fabulous, Healthy Body + Sharp, Creative Mind
A Small Home is Like Living on Vacation
Ever considered why so many people escape to the cottage year after year? Whether RV, hotel room, or cabin on the lake: the freedom of a vacation comes from living small.
Have you ever considered living like you’re on vacation?
- Semi-retired with only a few chores to complete, leaving time for writing or art.
- Lounging in your super-cool urban neighbourhood and taking advantage of the hip social scene while sporting your healthy body.
- Alternate that with regular bouts of cycling, walking, hiking, exploring the city, or partaking in the latest novels and movies.
Your life’s become a living vacation!
A Small Home is Happier
Smaller homes are cozy and warm. Family relationships have to become cozy and warm as well … or they’ll end. Either way, dysfunctional relationships will be difficult to maintain, and you’ll be happier in the long run.
You no longer have to maintain an image. No one is going to consider you a high status individual. Not only is your home not big enough, you have no room to store the toys that scream, “Look at me! I’m wealthy!” Nope. You’ll have to let go of that basic human desire for approval. Presenting the real you feels better anyway.
People go on about: house goals, furniture goals, wardrobe goals, vehicle goals. Corporations brainwash us to buy-buy-buy, shoving their advertising down our throats. It’s a huge part of our culture. People live that way. I see it every single day.
But it seems to me, inanimate objects never really make anyone happy for longer than five minutes. But creating something from nothing? That’s where the real joy lies.
A Small Home is Environmental
Obviously, living in a smaller footprint is considered more environmental.
- Whether your small home uses electricity or gas, your utility bill will be lower.
- Renovations, appliances, furnishings, art, dishware … With less space you can afford a higher quality of everything (which lasts longer). For example, if only dealing with 30 square feet of countertop, sexy granite becomes an option.
- Because you purchase less stuff, you contribute — to a lesser degree — to the raping and pillaging of the Earth’s resources. This also means you send less to the landfill.
- All are a kindness to the environment.
A Small Home Undermines the One Percent
Who are the one percent? They’re the dudes at the top. The folks who own the corporations, that own the corporations, that in turn, own the corporations. The shareholders. The catalysts. The change makers.
It never ceases to amaze me how people complain about the one percent, and then turn around and support them through buying from their corporations.
Everything we buy comes from a corporation (including bank loans). The profits float up to the one percent. That’s how they thrive.
Your power lies in voting with your dollar. Before you spend, think very carefully of who and what you’re supporting. There are no absolutes — each of us will vote somewhat differently.
Just know that corporations enslave us, profiting from our addiction to:
- Convenience
- Entitlement
- Immediate gratification
- Greed
- Ignorance
- Laziness
Corporations only survive if we buy. The power for change lies within each of us!
Buy Your Small Home
In many countries, real estate unaffordability is at crisis levels, and steadily climbing. Rent’s higher than ever. To make matters worse, the world population is growing exponentially.
Since 1970, the world population has doubled. Scary!
Should you buy? Yes, definitely! Rent always increases. When you buy real estate, the price is fixed. Eventually, the price is paid and then … breathtaking freedom.
But size is important! But not in the way you think.
Buying space you rarely use (unless you rent it out) is environmentally wasteful and financially unwise. A large home requiring time and energy to maintain can severely impose constraints on our time for life, leisure, and to create. Purchase only the square footage you really need, embrace it, organize it, and make it your own.
THRIFTY ♥ ENVIRONMENTAL ♥ HEALTHY