Being :: At Home ? Rhythm of the Home Blog

Being: Conscious, mortal existence; life.

Every month we welcome two families, two people, two voices to share their stories in whatever way they chose. We hope that you find joy in their daily lives, and their simple habit of just being.

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We live on sailboat. It?s a catamaran to be exact, a lovely 44-footer with sleek performance lines. She was built in South Africa and sailed on her own keel half way around the world before we took possession of her and moved off our smaller boat on to this one just 10 days before my son was born.

At that time, the boat was empty and clean and full of possibility. With a new baby and a new-to-us boat we spent a couple of years of just figuring stuff out.

One thing became fairly clear to my husband and I at that time. We knew we wanted to be close to our son and we wanted to give him everything, but we decided the best way to do that was by giving him very little. Of course our space dictates that we can?t be hoarders or collectors of any kind, whether it?s loads of plastic noisy toys or collections of ?heirloom? expensive ones. We realized that as a family we could do so much more with less.

All told we have 325 square feet. That?s fairly large for a production sailboat, but awfully small for a typical family of four. Honestly, while I do wish we could use our space better and I often wish that I lived with little organizing elves, we rarely ever wish we had more space. Our lives are so outdoor oriented, but more than that our indoor life has evolved into little cozy corners making the most of what we have.

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We think long and hard before we invite a thing into our home, be it a toy or something to decorate with or holiday knick knack. And we are always, always rethinking the space, unloading things that are not being actively used, and trying to slim down the stuff, even though all of our possessions could neatly fit into an average family dining room. Can we use this all the time? Where will it go when we?re not using it? How fast will the kids outgrow it? What else can we do with it besides what it?s intended for?

Even in our wee space, we have thought hard about ways we can creatively think outside the sailboat box and make this place our own. Chalkboard paint, remote control lights, handmades, and artwork are all part of our floating interior. Rotating little things through the seasons so that everything old is new again, and again.

Small, intentional, thrifty, and handmade are the themes around here. And then suddenly our small space doesn?t feel so small anymore, it just feels like home.

This month we welcome Cindy Wallach to the Being series here at Rhythm of the Home.? A writer, adventurer, and mama to two, Cindy lives with her family aboard a sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay.? You can read about their lives as a family afloat on Cindy?s blog, Zach Aboard.

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Rhythm of the Home is an?online magazine?for families that focuses on creating with children, nature explorations, seasonal celebrations, conscious parenting, and mindfulness in all that we do. ? To learn more about us, please visit us on?Facebook,Pinterest, and?Twitter.

We welcome new submissions for our upcoming seasons. To learn more about submitting, please visit our?magazine.

Source: http://rhythmofthehomeblog.com/11/being-at-home/

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