3 Things I've Learnt in the First 3 Weeks of Living Out of My Element
Well, we're 3 weeks in and I'm still alive (yes, I know, I am shocked as well).
I've now officially cut down 12 trees, stacked countless stacks of wood, moved 1 outhouse (more on that pleasant task later), and driven/not crashed 3 separate boats.
I'm feeling lumberjack as all hell and, compared to my life 5 months ago, this all feels completely unrecognisable. Despite a few minor meltdowns, this whole 'living out of my element' experiment has made me so incredibly happy.
Have I sold you on it yet? Ready to drink the kool-aid? Well, as a wise and weathered 'life-changer' with a whopping 3 weeks of experience, I'm here to tell you what to expect when you change your life to be completely unexpected. Here are the 3 big lessons I've learned so far:
1.) You are so much more capable than you thought you were.
I have a confession: in my life 'pre-bush' I was a big fan of delegating everyday tasks to other people.
My dad loves to tell this story of when my older sister and I were learning to tie our shoes. When my dad taught my older sister to 'help the rabbit through the hole', she could not wait to try it for herself. After this lesson, every time he tried to tie her shoes for her, she'd scream in protest, "daddy me do, me do!" and frantically kick her feet until he conceded and watched her struggle with her laces.
3 years later, my dad taught me the same lesson and, expecting the same results, he ritually began to 'pretend' to tie my shoes for me, awaiting screams of protest. But alas, no screams, not even a resistant kick, just me just sitting happily, letting my peasant father continue to do my bidding.
To be honest, if it was more socially acceptable, this would still be the arrangement.
My life has followed a similar trend since then: jar too tight? Daddyyyyyy. Car needs fixing? Boyfriendddddd.
The funny thing about moving out to the middle of the woods is that delegating tasks becomes much more of a challenge since there isn't anyone to delegate to.
Pile of wood to split? *Looks desperately in all directions to find no one to delegate to*
Well, it's time to get my big girl pants on: let's tie some laces.
2.) You are both good (and utterly hopeless) at things that you haven't even considered yet.
When you're living in your nice, predictable, and comfortable day-to-day routine, there is a tendency to think that you've got a pretty good grasp on how this 'life' thing works. Yes, there may be some small bumps in the road during your lifetime, but for the most part, you think you've got a pretty good idea of everything: your passions, dislikes, strengths, core beliefs and your future.
Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble but, the world outside this bubble has some unexpected surprises for you.
And, how the heck are you suppose to know that you have a knack predicting how trees will fall when you've never even held an axe?
When we arrived at our cabin to find that the water system was down, I looked around at the three unshowered and sweaty males who I was with and it was obvious that they knew just about as much about water systems as I did.
Well, you'll be amazed at what a girl can do when faced with the prospect of spending a week with 3 men who smell like bush and b.o.
And what do you know? 45 minutes later, we had water!
3.) Your definition of 'you' will change (and that's not a bad thing).
If you've been living in the same situation for a while now, with the same friends, job, city, you'd be safe to assume that the core of who you are in this moment is who you will always be.
If taking this massive leap outside of my comfort zone has taught me one thing, it's that 'who we are' is constantly changing, responding to lessons, experiences, and people. And yes, this includes the core things, the values that I held onto so tightly that, through this experience, are being challenged.
When your core values can't stand up to these challenges, then it's natural that we change, like the evolution of self, a quasi 'survival of the fittest' for your beliefs. Whether it's your opinion on a certain northern city (and again, I am sorry that I thought you were so crap Prince George) to your own beliefs on what makes you happy, this is where you discover what you're really made of.