The other day Laura LaVoie and I were getting ready to record the latest episode of the r(E)vo Convo podcast. While we were talking I mentioned to her that I was sort of burned out on tiny house blogs. I mean, how many ways can you ask the question “how to heat and cool a tiny house?” How many times can you talk about sheeps wool insulation or pine T&G? She agreed though not as vehemently as I would have hoped for. I have to admit that I felt a little expose for a moment or two as if I had said something really inappropriate of *gasp* blasphemous (in the tiny house sense of the word).
But then I read this post of hers and I realized that she was a bit burned out too!
In the post she says, “Suddenly the idea of living in our 120 square foot house was no longer a novelty to share but rather just a fact of life. Living in this house is just like living in any other house. What more could I possibly say? I was suffering from some pretty intense blogger burnout. My story just wasn’t interesting to me any more.”
Just yesterday she had put on Facebook a status update linking to a blog post by Jason Spencer (a very popular TRIBE builder). In that post he says:
When you accept the lie that your voice is a broken record, guess what happens?
You shut up.
You stop speaking.
You repress your core message.
You keep your gifts, your strength, your spark inside.
You spit in the face of the needs in the world.
You rot in bitter selfishness.
You die.
Kind of harsh, right?
But, it’s the honest truth.
If you truly believe in purpose, that you were meant to serve a need in the world, who exactly are you to buy into a lie like this and shut down?
Man did I feel low. “I STOP speaking?” Did he really just say that? He goes on. “You keep your gifts, your strength, your spark inside.” How dare I? For years we have claimed Tiny r(E)volution to be just those two things: a revolution AND an evolution. And here I was allowing it to go silent as if the revolution was over and there was nothing left to evolve. Nothing could be further from the truth. We exist on this site to show other families how to gain control of finances, abandon convention, analyze need -vs- want, raise beautiful children, enjoy marriage, build a tiny house, etc. It is more than just a URL. It is our 2nd home. And hear I was letting it die and just chalking it up as boredom.
I cried…. So beautiful. Keep talking. Keep using your voice, even if you are bored.
Thank you so much Julia. I really appreciate your support!
Andrew and Crystal — and Laura! – you guys are awesome. I love what you are up to in the world. You are bringing a full on wholehearted revolution against the cultural norms of debt, living outside of our means, keeping up with the Joneses in a comparison society, and helping people to find freedom in their lifestyle choices. Because of what you are doing, more people will be free to live fully and authentically out of their gifts, strength and purpose, rather than donating their life to the machines comprised of mostly the Walking Dead. This community of tiny housers has inspired me in the past, and it meant the world to our process as a family when we needed it. Keep going. Keep speaking. Love your spark! 🙂
Thank you so much Jason for commenting. I truly appreciate your words of encouragement and you are welcome to hang with us ‘ol tiny house folk anytime! And thank you for all of your contributions; for your spark! Keep it up!
LOVE what you have to say, Jason. And Drew, high five for saying this OUT LOUD. I felt this way for a while with Treading Tiny, and have seriously decreased my time spent with my adventure there, and use to beat myself up about it HARD. I got burnt out, and it started to feel like work. But then I realized I’m still sharing my CORE message, just in a different way over at IKTJ. I’m evolving!
WORD! Here’s to evolving fo’ sho’
We all reach the boredom factor in whatever kind of life we’ve chosen. There will always be that moment when we are like, is this All there is??? For me those times are when I have used up my old vision and am about to remember that if life is about anything it is about changing me, my life, my depth of relationships of understanding… of living the rest of my life with passion. I’m just turning that corner in my own outlook so your post was in perfect time to turn my eyes forward again. Thanks so much. Love and Light, Patricia
Love and light to you as well Patricia. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. Let’s together, keep our eyes facing forward!
I can understand how those behind the articles/posts of a number of Tiny House websties & blogs may begin to feel like a broken record. But for newbies to this way of life we have so much to learn! Stumbling upon a site or blog and seeing your most recent article might leave us with a lot of questions that we are hungry to find the answers for. I’ve just become infatuated with becoming the owner of my own Tiny House/cabin/dwelling in the last couple of months… my son as well. So there is still so much that all of you could teach us. I mean… I don’t know (yet) the pros/cons of the types of toilet systems available – compositng vs. incinerator. And still want to learn how each works to make a valid decision if one of those is a better option over the typical plumbing setup in a Tiny House. Don’t lose heart… you writers are still wanted and needed!! 🙂
Thank you so much Diana. I truly appreciate your support.
I wish to chime in with this: All of you Tiny Home bloggers are vital to me and my own TH build. When this gas get tough – lack of funds, knowledge, or self-confidence, I stop, breath, and turn to you.
Without you, I would feel completely alone, and that head space on top of the afor-mentioned problems could be the death of my dreams and goals. Bad stuff!
So, thank you.
Parker
We aren’t going anywhere coffeewitholiver. You can believe that!