Heartfarm

Rather than go into detail as to why I felt this past weekend was so lost, I want to make a point about the type of blogs I like to read. They're about homesteading. My favorite blog is this one. I have just started following this other one, at the advice of Holy Scrap. I have barely been reading the Field Lab, but already I enjoy its consistency, clarity and simplicity. The subject matter of both inspires me in my life, but the Field Lab has given me a lot of ideas about what blogging is all about.

It's not that Holy Scrap Hot Springs is bad in anyway; in fact, I enjoy reading it tremendously, and it is still my favorite blog. But it is a little haphazard, and I realize now that it, and all blogs, could benefit from focus. That is, blogging works best when it is concise and focussed. There is something as simple as Tumblr, for example, but I think Tumblr is often too concise to be really personal; it's mainly a link-sharing device with a little personal things thrown in here and there.

I want this blog to be part of the magic of my day. That is how it started; I would write an entry and then write a haiku. I couldn't keep it up, but I like that.

So what I'm thinking now is that I'd like to turn Plum Beads into a document of the homestead that is my own life. I don't own a piece of property out in the desert, but that does not mean I can't homestead like the heroes I follow.

I have a room in a condo in downtown Santa Fe. I work in an office in a homeless shelter. I have a body and feelings and a family and friends and a girlfriend. I have a car and a bank account and two computers and an accordion and a violin and a few things in a storage locker in the basement of my building. This is my homestead. If I want to expand it, I can, but wouldn't it be best to be a good housekeeper right here, right where I am? Start in the only place I can: where I am.

As part of this, I'd also like to take photos. It will take me at least fifteen minutes to get that set up, which I did not have this morning. I need to see how my tired old camera interacts with this computer; I haven't had them interface quite yet. We'll see. It will come.

A big difference between starting where you are and setting out to colonize a new space is that I have to directly face all the problems and short comings that exist now. I need to figure out what I need to accept and what I can and will change.

To truly start where I am; to homestead from the inside out; this also means I will be farming my heart; figuring out how to live with myself and my feelings. I wonder, will looking at myself like a farmer be a kind of unfeeling conquest; an imposition of an agenda where I ought to be spontaneous? Or is that view too reactionary, too abstract, too worried? Could it be possible that there is no difference between helping sprouts grow and helping myself observe my feelings?

It could be. I can only try, see what comes up.

The more I plan, the more structure I apply at this point, the better. So, I will be adding at least one photo to every post, once I have that set up.

I'm also going to change the name of the blog. Plum Beads is a noun and sounds a little awkward. I'm going to change it to Plumbeading. It's a gerund, which is essentially a verb - denoting ACTION!. I'm also going to drop the Star Control II Reference, as my focus has shifted. Rebranding ftw!

I would also like to adopt a little, simple, observational tag, like what is at the bottom of every post of the Field Lab. At the end of every post, he writes the temperature at 8:30pm; the days' high; the day's low; the amount of rainfall; and the current wind conditions. I want to come up with something like that. But make it inner weather; emotional weather. Is it all that different from Livejournal's "Current Mood?" I hope I can at least make it look that way. I'll come up with something.

That's all for now. Have a great day, all.