Scandinavia: Everyone's Dream Land

There's nothing original about a liberal claiming that Scandinavia is the promised land of happiness, productivity and a harmonious society, so I'm well aware that I'm not exactly cracking new territory here. But just for kicks, let's take a quick little journey through some of the best aspects.

Food For Thought: Embracing Lent

Don't panic! We're not going to talk about fasting because that is probably my worst nightmare, and I'm also not coming at Lent in this segment from a true Christian perspective. Instead, I'd like to talk about how I used the Lent season to start changing bad habits and and exploring my weak spots. Lent is normally referred to as the 40 Days, but in reality the period from Ash Wednesday to Easter is 46 days or 6.5 weeks. 

Food for Thought: Maine's Year Round Island Communities

Vinalhaven by Martha Baum

Isolation is interesting. At its best it inspires hardiness, and neighborliness, and a strong sense of ownership for ourselves and our fates. And its worst, it leads to a social breakdown with festering loneliness and the sense that the world is passing by without our involvement. 

We're constantly hearing that Millenials are obsessed with city living and urban centers, but I think that really disregards the reach that homesteading and tiny home movements have had on people from all walks of life in the past 10 years. There's an equally strong drive to slow down after the modern rat race of childhood and adolescence. 

Why do we assume that we have to hit middle age or later before we can take a step back and find balance between work, play and family? I'm not saying that we need to go all hardcore Golden Pond here, but all of these themes have led me to think that rural living certainly has it's temptations.