I made a few more changes in my online presence that I wanted to be sure you knew about. I changed my Twitter handle to @OrganicHSL. I feel it fits me better with where I am at in my life now. If you already followed me before, no need to re-follow. We’re still connected. More below..
Some might be wondering what I mean by ‘organic’ and I have mentioned it a bit from time to time, but for those who are new I’ll give a recap. I use the term for ‘organic’ for a few areas of our lives.
In our education: After we made some changes in how we home educate, we weren’t sure how to describe our homeschooling approach. We aren’t traditional homeschoolers, yet we aren’t unschoolers either. We have some books that we teach from, but in other topics we go for the more natural approach. We don’t like to test, but see the need for it in Math and Spelling. I found that if I don’t schedule Math and Spelling it won’t get done and I have yet to find a way to be organic with those two subjects.
We have our serious subjects in the morning then taper off into the natural methods of education toward the end of the day. I love the inquisitive minds of children and how their own interest leads them to learn without them thinking about it being ‘school’. We utilize documentaries, Barnes and Noble, the Library, field trips, and meeting with people in specific fields our children show interest in. We do everything we can to allow them to have exposure with a variety of things in life and then watch their interest level. We don’t want to force them into a box, instead we nudge them and then see where they gravitate to.
In our spirituality: We believe in organic church, not so much the ‘movement’ called organic church, but rather the flowing of the organic nature of the Church herself as she walks this earth in Christ. We have open house fellowship once a month where we cook together and discuss life, offer support, and have question/answer time about spiritual living. We aim to keep it as organic as possible so it doesn’t become repetitive or boxy. We do attend a regularly scheduled time of music and inspirational speaking in a town near us that we adore, but it’s not a traditional ‘church’. It’s a great group of people who are developing a community together and we love what they’re doing.
What is a Spiritual Gypsy? My daughter came up with this term and we discussed what it meant for both of us. We have different views about a few things, yet even in those differences we have so much in common. I decided I liked the term for myself as well. For me, a spiritual gypsy means I have my own soul liberty. I have chosen to believe in Christ, but I follow the leading of the Spirit in a way that more resembles the organic life Jesus lived when he was in his skin. He traveled home to home and sometimes to temples to love people. He spent time with doctors and various religious leaders, while also making ample time for regular townspeople from gluttons and drunkards, to tax collectors. I’m a lot like Paul too. He knew the culture of his day, the various religions, and the customs of the people. He knew how to blend in, respect those traditions, and even participated in some of them so he could have a chance to share the good news with them.
I’m an avid theological student and I find enjoyment in learning about how other people believe and appreciate how each of them choose to worship. I look beyond the initial appearance of their practices and look for their heart. Sometimes I see people who see a ‘blurry image’ of God that has been misrepresented to the world by imperfect humans and yet their hearts still ring true to the melody and rhythm of his divine love. I don’t worry about their blurry image, I just love them where they are. I may not write a whole lot of theological point by point type of articles, but I know theology very well. I just choose to live out my love for God organically.
Living Organically: All of this combined is our organic living. I’m not a crunchy-granola type of person, although I do buy from the Farmer’s Market and Natural Food Stores. My daughter is studying to be a Holistic Practitioner so we practice herbal remedies to ailments as much as possible. We enjoy being outdoors and since we live by the beach we get to walk on the sand barefoot and soak up the sea moisture. Love it!
Organic Spiritual Practices: I believe in earthing (some call it grounding). It’s when I connect with God through his creation by meditating on his goodness and love through nature. I do a lot of visualization such as imagining the sea breeze is his breath, my feet are soothed in the sand, and the sun is his warmth. There is so much positive energy that comes from God and I can feel it in this gorgeous earth he gave to us. Some charismatic types of Christians like to seek the sense of his presence in a different way in their church services, I like to sense him in the nature he created. Here’s an example from Psalms.
In my Photography: I love my camera and the images I can capture are all about my love for God. I love to see the world from all different angles, whether I zoom in to see a close up of his tiniest work or I pan out to get a view of a majestic landscape. I experience organic spirituality through my photography. Here are some examples:
In my business: I am a co-owner and the founder of our photo community for families, Pix-O-Sphere. It’s where families can host their photos in a safe environment. We also allow for photo sharing so bloggers can not only see your work, but use what you share in their blog articles. Not everyone is confident in putting their own images online and with the rising prices of stock photos and the unstable economy, we wanted to provide an alternative to the other popular sites. If you are confident in your work, you can choose to sell your images there as well. In addition to the main portion of the site we also have a blog (which is being redesigned this week). On the blog I am coordinating a lot of fun for the families of the blogosphere. I’ll update you more on that as the days go by. I follow an organic approach to this business in that I listen to the bloggers to see what they would like to have in the community. We’re building the site for YOU! So we want to know what your desires for the blogosphere are.
In my Home: The Home is my castle..my cabana..my place of solitude. It’s where I spin my life and nurture my family’s lives. After being out in the craziness of So Cal traffic and high paced community, it’s where we rest. This is the reason for the name of my blog, The HomeSpun Life. I make my home as comfortable as possible for my family so they can feel at ease here. A place where they can kick off their shoes and be themselves. It’s where they can be nurtured and healed from any chaos that comes their way in this life.
Bringing my home to my blog is my way of welcoming you into our lives. I want you to feel welcomed here…as if we’re sitting down for coffee together. Pull up a chair and introduce yourself. Feel free to leave a link to your ‘about me’ page in the comment section so I can come visit your ‘home’ on the net.
I loved this. I relate to so many of your points here.
Thank you, Pam. It’s comforting to know others have a similar path.
beautiful photos, last one is my favourite, I love waves..
Thank you, Mila.
This is beautifully written. I follow many of those same attributes, although I have never thought of the term organic. I like how your phrased this.
It’s always a joy to see you here, Courtney. I have a free ebook coming soon for subscribers that tells a bit more about my approach to organic living. I also added a community forum right here in my blog. http://thehomespunlife.com/organic-community