Off Grid Fight!
Our plans are shifting… again. If you’re new here, we have recently moved from our home in Southern Utah and are temporarily house sitting in Southern Missouri for the winter. (read our story here) We will be moving onto our own off grid property in May. We purchased raw land more than a year ago. It had no home, no water, no electricity. We even had to build an access road! We had plans for a temporary shelter while we built a home, but those plans got shattered. We shifted and found the opportunity to live in the home we are in now. It has been a blessing! A gnarly car crash during our move made us shift gears again. Recently, storm system moved through the East/Midwest and Missouri had several tornadoes touch down and cause significant damage. We were safely out of the path, but it was too close for comfort. This was honestly one of our fears before moving hear but we looked at the data and it appeared that while there are plenty of tornado warnings, actual damage causing tornadoes were not super common in the Ozark region. This storm system is supposedly a 100 year event. However, in Southern Utah we had a 100 year flood. It caused lots of damage. Then it happened again several years later, then again not too long after that! Natural disasters seem to be increasing all over. Our long term home plans include plans for this, but not our temporary shelter. So, here we are. Shifting our plans again. I am not going to tell you what we are planning exactly, because nothing has solidified yet, and honestly, it might change again! This whole process reminds me of what it feels like to fight. Let me explain:
This is a tornado (right) and a spout (smaller and to the left) that was not very far from our property. This picture was taken by a deputy heading toward the storm.
One of the businesses we had in Utah was a movement gym. We taught parkour, aerial silks, and martial arts. I had always been interested in martial arts but had never really had the opportunity to take any classes. When we brought in an instructor to teach classes, I figured that I might as well take that opportunity and learn! We didn’t focus in on one particular method but was more of a mixed martial arts class and we learned a wide variety of things. It was such a fun class and I loved the amount of stress relief and self reflection I got from taking it. I would come home tired, bruised, and sometimes bleeding but I felt so good! If you’ve never experienced it, you may not fully understand but there is something very fulfilling in a friendly fight.
I loved just free sparring. We would get paired up and communicate with each other about what our expectation and boundaries were for the fight, then we’d start out slow and light. It was more about moving while making contact, and at times looked more like a dance than a fight. Slowly, contact would get more intense, movement would increase, and gentle taps would turn into light blows. Depending on partners, size, experience, self-control, etc., the instructor would give us the green light to go harder on each other and we would basically turn it into a friendly sparring/wrestling match. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses so you make a strategy based on that. You go into it with a certain plan but your opponent has other plans and you have to shift again and again and again. You have to plan, but you also have to learn how to be flexible and think on your feet. Sometimes you get hit hard enough that you see stars for a moment and have to take a step back and give yourself some space. Luckily, in training, your opponent is also your friend and doesn’t actually want to seriously hurt you!
The same principle seems to apply to our off grid journey. We have to make plans, and we have to move forward with them. But it seems like every time we move forward with a plan, we are met by some kind of unexpected opposition. In these cases we have no choice but to adjust our plans and keep moving forward. There is a certain skill of learning how to let go of your plan, think on your feet and try again.
The challenge for me sometimes is to keep the same mindset in our life plans as I did in martial arts. Sometimes I see these changes as a real threat and I get grumpy about it. In reality, I can shift my focus and learn to enjoy the thrill and challenge of facing shifting plans. Yes, it’s painful sometimes and occasionally you have to have the humility to know when to tap out. You stand up, a little bruised and sore but nothing serious. You analyze what went wrong, how to do better, and you get back into the ring with a little more wisdom and humility and you try again.
I’m excited for our new shift of direction. It’s a bit intimidating. I’m nervous about the budget and timeline restraints, but I’m also feeling ready to fight!
