theKELword

All too many of us are ever-eager to upgrade to the latest and greatest whatever. Whether they be computers, washing machines, or clothes, if something goes wrong or next next arrives, we’re on to the next purchase. Part of it, too, is that we don’t actually know how to repair our stuff. And our world …

As Greece continues to search for solutions to its national economic crisis, the port town of Volos has adopted an old-school barter system to help its citizens muddle through. Five years into their recession with 21 percent unemployment, some Volos residents who were short on Euros but long on other resources created a local currency …

From Whidbey Island, Washington, to Winnsboro, Texas, pocket neighborhoods are taking root in communities in search of a simpler, more shareable way of life. In a pocket neighborhood, houses with a smaller-than-normal footprint surround a shared green space. The more public areas of the homes — living room, dining room, and kitchen — face the …

These days, a number of factors must be considered when choosing a place to live. Chief among them, efficiency and affordability often drive the decision-making. Adventurous types may dare to think – and live – outside the box, as it were, when it comes to finding a home.

Tomorrow marks three weeks of living in the motorhome on a farm in Ojai, California. Feels like much longer, as every day is filled with challenges. The shrinking pains of fitting myself, my dog, and my stuff into such a small space would be enough of an adjustment, but that was only the beginning.

Asking for help, especially in the form of financial assistance, is not something that comes easy to a lot of people – myself included. Having a self-sufficient streak serves you well when you don’t really have a family to lean on or any other solid net to fall into.

Today marks the end of an era for me, and the eve of a new one. In early 2010, when I returned to Southern California after a big circling of North America, I landed in a little homesteading compound in Ventura.

There’s a fantastic tune by singer/songwriter Kim Richey that I was reminded of today. It’s “A Place Called Home” from her album Rise — one of my all-time favorites — and it’s particularly astute in both its meaning and timing.

This little journey’s pace is quickening. It’s almost as if, by me letting go of the search for a job and focusing on the living of a life, the universe has risen up to meet me, to support me, to hurtle me forward along my way. So I’m just going with the flow.

The ever-insightful Douglas Rushkoff published a piece on CNN.com the other day that absolutely validated this new pursuit I’m engaged in of shucking off the shackles of looking for a job in order to focus on helping people. Using the title — “Are Jobs Obsolete?” — as a premise from which to launch, Rushkoff examines the American obsession with employment and posits an interesting counter-point.