The Inspiration & the Dream
The inspiration and the dream
For the longest time I have had a dislike of the 9-5 grind. I know what you're thinking we all do, we are all tired and over it, that might be the case. I also know that when I was a kid, i struggled to wake up for school, and I actually liked school, I thought it was great, I loved the learning and I liked getting the questions correct, the other kids I wasn't so sure about and they didn’t seem to like me much and at the time I didn't know why.
The whole idea of waking up early to do the job, come home, rush about to get ready to be able to wake up for tomorrow, the whole rinse and repeat cycle with the only relief being almost a couple days off. But I feel like the first day of the weekend is just be trying to create some equilibrium, like I need to relax my brain from the insanity of everything that was the week. And I have truly always felt this way, its just never suited me. I would shake it up and sleep on the floor, the couch or just have restless nights with my headphones in and my walkman listing to the radio, in my teens I relentlessly watched late night programs on cable TV and sketched clothing. Maybe I had insomnia I can't be sure.
Adulthood didn't make it any easier, but I found a job that was shift work which suited me just fine, there was the uncertainty of what day it was and a sense of trying to find some time to fit something in, I work wildly up and down hours some days finishing at 5am and other shifts started at 7 am and the whole of everything in between. I enjoyed that aspect, I didn't like management but the hours were amazing and I enjoyed that aspect. I liked the people I met at night and the uncertainty of it all.
It's like when there is a certainty my mind doesn't work properly and everything that should be relaxing becomes stressful, I nitpick about the mundane and nothing ever seems to be peaceful and go “right”. My inner equilibrium is squashed and I just don't know what to do with myself, everything around me becomes annoying. I feel like the situation worsened again when I had children and I had to take them to school, make a lunch (I could write a whole post on my dissatisfaction with school lunches), pick them up at 3pm rinse repeat. Do I cook before I pick them up and do nothing else while they are away? Do I juggle the cooking, homework and washing them after school. Theres no right answer in this scenario, it all sucks. Theres no actual family time, there's no personal time, there's just no time. I feel like the school time is deliberately at the worst time of day. Imagine if they just went 8am and came home for lunch, how amazing would that be. But that can't work because everyone has to have a 9-5 job. I don't know anyone who loves the system but everyone seems to play in it and it just seems so silly.
I have decided I have always thrived best when left unencumbered by the societal and structural norms that exist and have planned accordingly. So here it is the big idea, and I have been feeling and daydreaming this idea for a while and i have decided it's time to jump onto it. I am going to or rather we as a family will travel with a caravan! That's my huge plan, a life away from the 9-5 grind, a life away form the small things like that become huge choices. I feel a sense of inner peace and freedom that comes with stepping into adventure, and to be honest I expected more pushback from the kids but they are so on board with the plan, maybe they are more like me than I thought?
We can expect to see more posts entailing the transition to being a nomadic person, and how to downsize life. And all the feelings that come along with dismantling of worldly possessions.
