The power of perspective

I find that my happiness has much more to do with my perspective than what is actually happening around me.  Since I have had a hard time expressing this to people, I thought I would just go through a day in our lives right now in two ways.  First, I’m going to think of everything from the perspective that most people seem to project when we talk about camping full time.  Then, I will go through the same day’s events from the perspective that we have come to.  You judge for yourself.

4:00AM – Wake up.  Have to go to the bathroom.  Curse the fact that the bathroom is 75 feet away in a shed.  Find cap light, put on shoes and stumble out.  Stumble back.  Put up cap light.  Go back to sleep.

6:15AM – Alarm goes off.  It’s daylight already, so no need to get the headlamp.  Curse the lack of running water that makes me take my toothbrush and toothpaste outside to brush my teeth.  Get ready for work.  Wake up the kids.

6:45AM Go to work.

6:00PM Get home from work.  Stop at the end of the drive to get the mail.  Reminisce about having a 50 foot paved walk to the mailbox and back instead of an eighth mile long dusty driveway.

6:30PM – Eat dinner from the camp stove.  Have to lug the stove out of the shed, fill it up and pack it away again to make room on the table.  Try to swish flies off of the food while we eat. 

7:00PM – Wash dishes in the dishtubs on the ground because there’s no running water for a tap.  Water jug has to be refilled halfway through.  Water is heavy.  And it splashes.  Dream of having a real kitchen sink again.  Did I mention the flies?

8:00PM – Round kids up for bed.  Have to turn the RV couch and table into beds requiring much parental officiating of the transformation. 

9:00PM – Kids in bed but still talking to each other.  I long for the time when they had walls between them at bedtime.  Firmly and repeatedly tell the kids to go to sleep.

9:30PM – Repeat firm order to the kids to go to sleep.

10:00PM – kids finally asleep.  Talk to Jeremy for a bit.  Using headlamp, change into PJ’s, make another trip to the shed bathroom (curse the lack of indoor plumbing), brush teeth outside again, and go to bed.  It’s hot.  Roll around trying to find a cool spot and finally fade off to sleep with vague lists of things to do floating around in my mind.

Now for the alternate telling of the same day.

4:00AM – Wake up.  Have to go to the bathroom.  Realize that it has cooled off a lot and is really pretty pleasant.  Slip on shoes, grab headlamp and go outside.  The east horizon is slightly grey – the dawn is coming and the birds are already singing.  The stars are still visible though.  I see Caseopea and remember finding it with the kids last week.  I smile and wander on to the shed.  When I walk out to go back to the RV, I see the whole sky open in front of me with the stars and the beginning of dawn coming.  I breath deep and smile.  I climb back in bed and go back to sleep.

6:15AM – Alarm goes off.  It’s light outside now – that hazy light grey that lets you see but isn’t bright yet.  The birds are singing.  I grab the toothbrushes and step into a new day.  I notice as I brush that there are clouds in the sky this morning.  They’re lit by the new sun and make interesting wispy patterns in the sky.  How did I not notice them when we lived in town?  Get dressed and wake the kids up. 

6:45AM Go to work.  I wave to Jacob and Daisy on my way down the driveway.  Its good to see him enjoying the walks and the time to explore outside on his own.

6:00PM Get home from work.  Stop at the end of the drive to get the mail.  Remember having to do the same growing up.  Think of the view of the pond from the front porch back then and smile.  Get the mail and drive up the driveway.  Get out of the car and hear only nature sounds and the kids.  No cars, no alarms, no sirens.  Just birds, the wind and the crickets.  Home again.

6:30PM – Eat dinner from the camp stove.  It’s mostly from the garden and is delicious.  Mastering the camp stove took a couple of tries but now we can cook on it as well as the old stove.  The table makes a convenient kitchen until its time to eat.  We talk while dinner cooks and enjoy the peace.  The sky is blue and the breeze is nice.  Did you know we made over 9kwH of power today?  Laugh at the kids as they swat flies after dinner.  They’re having a blast.

7:00PM –Wash dishes.  There’s a trick to it, but its not bad.  I do miss a real sink, but there aren’t many dishes and it goes quickly.  While I wash, I think about all the plans we have for the farm and how beautiful it will be one day.

8:00PM – Round kids up for bed.  They play and fuss as they convert their beds.  I listen for the signs of a real fight but mostly let them have fun with it.  These are memories they will share for the rest of their lives (“Do you remember when I had to sleep on the table in the RV? Yeah, wasn’t that crazy?”). 

9:00PM – Kids in bed but still talking to each other.  I long for the time when they had walls between them at bedtime.  Remind myself that these will be good memories for them.  Firmly and repeatedly tell the kids to go to sleep.

9:30PM – Repeat firm order to the kids to go to sleep while sitting in the dark outside.  The stars are out and the moon.   It is a serene ending to the day to sit under the enormous Kansas sky and just be.  We dream of what we’ll do tomorrow and the next day and mostly just enjoy the time.  The crickets are so loud its almost deafening but after a while it becomes a wonderful background music to the evening.  The coyotes start calling.  There are more of them this evening but they never come very close.  We laugh as Daisy barks at them from the RV.  Yeah, you get ‘em girl. 

10:00PM – kids finally asleep.  We stay up and talk for a bit.  Using my headlamp, I change into PJ’s.  The last trip to the shed for the evening reminds me of the one in the dark this morning.  It is less quiet – the evening animals are still calling – but the sky is just as large and the stars just as bright.  Its hot.  I say a quick thank you that we have power in the RV and the fan moves the air around well.  It makes it reasonable.  I listen to the crickets and fall asleep dreaming of what the farm is going to be one day.

Maybe this will help those who don’t understand why we would do something like this.  Maybe it won’t.  I hope you enjoyed this little look at how your perspective can really change your life, or at least how it has changed mine.