The Greening of Gavin

My Current Dichotomy

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Have you ever been split between opposing realities?  A dichotomy so to speak.  A condition perceived as polar extremes or opposites?

Well, my life seems to be a constant tug of war between the two main parts of my day that both demand equal amounts of my attention, yet complete opposites.

Firstly, my job. I work with a multi-national in Information Technology in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. I need to travel from my semi-rural home to the city each day with a total round trip of 2 and a half hours, door to door which is 50 km one way. I drive my Hybrid car to the train station then catch a country train for 50 minutes, then a tram for 10 minutes,  and then work in a massive building, surrounded by workmates who probably do the same.

Whilst at work, I do the best I can to be sustainable as I possibly can within an office environment. I avoid printing, turn off lights in unused meeting rooms, shutdown my computer and monitor when I leave, and take the stairs when travelling between floors.

I also work very hard and am proud of my accomplishments at the end of the day. It is a complex and stressful part of my day, getting even more complex as time goes on. I often think about the diminishing returns of technology, and that increasing complexity creates larger and larger technology failures. It is this complexity that is one side of my dichotomy.

Alternatively, when I arrive home, my entire day changes. Simple tasks like checking on the chickens, enjoying good food from our garden, savouring time with loved ones, and just enjoying the little things like pottering around the garden at my own pace.

Life just slows right down. I don’t need to think too hard about being green and sustainable at home because that is just the way we have designed everything around us, the way we all behave, and what we like talking about. A very simple lifestyle and we continue to simplify it at every chance we get.

So, as you can see, I have opposing forces at play each Monday to Friday. One of complexity, hustle and bustle of city life during the day, and a slow, simple lifestyle during the non-job times. I often remember back to what my life was like when I only had one reality to deal with. It was unfulfilled, boring, and mind numbing.

Now that I have this yin and yang thing going on, I find that feel kind of in balance and certainly in tune with the things that really matter in my life being, family, the environment and sustainable living.

However, if the balance was tipped the other way towards a completely slow lifestyle, would I still strive so hard in my endeavour.  Would I continue to make my local community a better place to live by promoting and educating other about the joys of a simple and sustainable lifestyle?

I don’t really know the answer to that question because I haven’t reached that part of my journey yet, but I reckon that I would be busier than I am now.

However I can tell you that I know which one I prefer, which is the sustainable lifestyle that our family constantly strives for. I bet by now you are wondering why I don’t throw away the complexity and fully embrace the simple life I so enjoy and desire?

Well, there is this little thing called a mortgage that still needs to be paid off. We have been pulling together all of our resources together to pay it down as quickly as possible, and all being well, I predict that it will be paid off in 3 and a half years, just in time for my 52nd birthday!

When that happens I believe that my dichotomy will vanish, and all I will need is part time work to earn enough for the few simple needs we will have.

Do any of you have the same dilemma? City by day, and country or ‘burbs by night and weekend. What are your experiences and what plans do you have to embrace a simpler lifestyle?

If anyone has already made the switch, I would love to hear about your experience.

Wise Words Wednesday

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Today’s WWW question comes from Theanne in Florida, USA, who left a comment for me over on the Simple Green Frugal Co-op.  I feel that I did not respond adequately.  Here is the question;

Theanne said…
you talk the talk and walk the walk, I like that! Are there resources for people who want to do what they can to “save our planet” but they live in apartments…I’d love to find creative tips or “how to’s” to help those of us who rent and still care about our planet!

Now, I know that I do write a lot about sustainable living things for home owners (or mortgagor as most of us should be known as), because that is the situation I find myself in. I can only write about those things that I experience myself.

However sometimes I feel that I may be leaving behind part of my audience, which are people who choose to rent a home/apartment/townhouse and want to live sustainably as well. Heck, I was a renter all of my life until 12 years ago, when I bought this place!

I know that many renters read this blog and live as sustainable as they can, so lets share as many of your ideas as you can. I am sure Theanne would really appreciated the suggestions.

Over to you, educated reader!

Wise Words Wednesday – Homeschool

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Today’s question comes from Michelle who writes a blog at “A Vision Splendid“.  I believe that Michelle began to blog around a year earlier than I did.  Anyway, here is the email, with her permission.

“Hi Gavin and Kim,
Just wondering how the homeschooling is going ? We are seriously considering this option for our boys ( now almost 11 and 14). It seems like such a natural progression in the lifestyle path we have taken.

I have spent today talking to other homeschooling families, one in particular who now has two sons in uni and others still at home learning in a rich environment. These families started from the ‘beginning’ though so could not talk to me about the transition from school to home.

I was therefore hoping ( if you had the time) you could let me know of your thoughts on the transition and whether you have met any other homeschooling families around your area.

thanks in advance

Michelle” 

Now I did reply to Michelle, however if anyone else has had home schooling experience, I would love to hear how your transition went, for Kim and my benefit.  It would also help Michelle make up her mind as well.  So here is my answer.

Hi Michelle, 

The home schooling is going very well. We took Ben back a grade so he has consolidated for this month and will be starting year 7 work in a few weeks. The curriculum that we are using is from http://www.homeschooling.com.au/ which is set about two years ahead of mainstream ed so we started him off on what they call year 4. Our eldest daughter is a year 7 & 8 high school teacher so she knows where they are up to in mainstream education and we believe that year 4 in this curriculum is equivalent to year 6/7. We took the time to met Valerie at the homeschool place a few times now when we tested Ben and picked up the material. She wrote most of the books and we think they are quite good and easy to follow most of the time, and is quite the advocate for home schooling.  She also taught all of her children at home. With the books, at least the answers are in the back (which we ripped out and hid) for those of use who went to school a very long time ago. 😉 

Kim teaches Ben from 9am to 1.30pm on the 3R’s, spelling, social studies (history, geography), and languages. After lunch he does art/home subjects, like drawing, painting, modelling, cooking and baking. I get to teach him gardening, animal husbandry, and DIY on weekends, and every second Wednesday, I take him on an excursion that relates to one of his subjects for that week 

As for Ben adjusting, he was a bit of a loner at primary school with only a few friends so he has adjusted very well. He is racing ahead of where he should be with this one on one attention and we can add in subjects as we see fit and according to our values. He loves it, as does Kim, because even with her mild MS, when she has a bad day with fatigue, she can set him some work and explain anything he doesn’t understand. He also does school work when he is sick! Also I get to spend some great time with him during the excursions, and now I feel like I am part of his growing up and a larger contributor to his education instead of being just a bystander and an observer of the process. 

As for socialisation, he sees his friends more now after school than he did before, and has quality time with them. He also actively participates in workshops and events we hold for our sustainable living group, like the worm farm workshop I just wrote about. We haven’t met any other home school families in our area, however, one of our friends also enquired about the process regarding registration here in Victoria. Talk about influencing others in a short amount of time! 

Hope this helps, and I really could not recommend it highly enough, if you are disgruntled with mainstream education, and have the time, or want to enhance your boys education with lots of sustainable living topic that are unheard of in our schools today. 

Warm regards, 

Gav & Kim

So as I mentioned, does anyone else have any similar experiences that they can share?  Kim and I would love to here your story if you have chosen this type of schooling for your children as would Michelle!