Reclaiming Control
Giving up speed and convenience in exchange for a simpler life.
Something has happened over the years. It likely began as a slow change at first, but as the world becomes more and more dependent on new technology, it is happening at a lightning pace.
We’ve given up control over our homes.
If you think back to “the good-old days,” people had to do things themselves. Cook dinner from scratch. Grow a garden. Bake bread. Quilt a blanket. Sew clothes. Day to day living was work.
And then things started to become more convenient.
Bread came sliced and packaged in plastic with a longer shelf-life.
Microwaves would cook dinner in a fraction of the time and you could buy premade meals (that even included a dessert) to stick inside them.
Whatever fruits and vegetables you wanted could be purchased year round fresh, frozen, or in a can.
Stores were available everywhere selling everything from housewares, linens, clothing, tools and more and now what you want can be delivered right to your front door.
The internet has an answer to every question.
Life should be simple now, right? Lots of free time because we don’t have to work so hard. And with that comes the opportunity to relax, take it easy, find joy and happiness in what we do. We all should be living the good life.
Too bad it seems as though the opposite has happened.
We gave up control over our homes and haven’t received many benefits in return.
Food manufacturers have made it possible to buy what we want, when we want it. But it doesn’t taste as good as homemade and chemicals and preservatives are added to the ingredients list with unknown consequences. Have you questioned what “contains bioengineered ingredients” means as it pops up on more and more packaged goods? And have you asked how it is possible to buy fresh raspberries in January?
Social media influencers tell us on a daily basis what we need to be buying to make our homes beautiful. We accumulate more and more trying to keep up and have the next “in” thing, but never seem to reach a point where we are satisfied with what we have. We spend just as much time trying to “declutter” what we buy as we do shopping for it.
Things stopped being made in the United States because it was cheaper to ship the jobs overseas to countries that pay their workers a lot less oftentimes in poor working conditions. Quality and craftsmanship are gone, but we accept it so that we can pay a lower price for what we want.
Big corporations gain wealth while small locally owned businesses struggle to keep their doors open. What happens when the only thing left in your town is Walmart and Dollar General?
We buy vacuums that sweep for us, allow Siri to turn on our light switch and have a store employee shop for our groceries and load them into our cars. But what are we doing with all that free time?
Older generations stopped passing on the traditions and knowledge that they had learned from parents and grandparents because it was now “outdated” and unnecessary. But today we’ve got generations of younger people who don’t know how to cook from scratch, sew on a button, or properly set the table.
We have become dependent, complacent, lazy, and uninformed.
That’s being very blunt and certainly doesn’t describe everyone…But at some point, we have each traded some control over our homes for speed, convenience, and a low price. I know I have.
I don’t say any of this to make you angry or discouraged, but rather just want you to think for a moment.
Maybe you don’t care about the ingredients in your food or how your latest Target find was produced or that your pick-up order is never quite right. But perhaps you are growing tired of having to accept that this is the way life is now and are looking for a way to change.
We can’t do much about what happens in the world or change the people in it, but our homes should be the place where we’re in charge…..where we have a firm grasp on what goes on.
It has become very important to me to know what I’m feeding my body, consider the unseen costs of my purchases, and become educated on methods of the past. It isn’t always easy and I don’t always make good choices, but life feels a little better growing my own lettuce, finding alternatives to Amazon, and making do with what I have.
Each choice I make now has the aim of regaining a bit of the control I had given away. Yes, simplifying my life is actually more work. Yes, most of the time things cost more. Yes, sacrifices have to be made. But the rewards far outweigh what has been given up.
The more content I become with this new (old) way of living, the more deeply I feel about helping others along on the journey. I now view my blog as a place to share the how and why behind what used to come so naturally to homemakers….to inform not just my readers, but teach myself about making a home in the process. And to inspire you to day by day aim for getting some of that control back, even if it means life has to be a little slower and simpler moving forward.
More to come,
FOLLOW ALONG ON THE JOURNEY
Subscribe to this JOURNAL - New posts will be delivered right to your inbox.
Read the BLOG - Your online resource for all things related to modern day homemaking, including cooking and baking, decorating a timeless home, crafting your own decor, and more.
Curated Home SHOP - A collection of my favorite vintage, found, and handcrafted goods to help your house feel like home.