It's something I have been striving for since 2019. I started eating "healthy" before then. But I went all in when I realized my body and mind were rapidly deteriorating by my early thirties. If my anxiety is this severe, how much worse will it be in 10 years? If both my knees hurt this bad, how bad would they be in 20 years? Add eyesight, reproductive issues and asthma to my growing list of health concerns.
Enough was enough. I was a mother of two babies and a wife to a wonderful, hard-working man and this couldn't be the version of me they got. So, I invited Christ into my life again; while simultaneously diving head first into non-toxic living. The healing that happened was astonishing. I wanted to share my research and experience with everyone I loved. Surprisingly, I got push-back from just about every person in my life. Everyone had the same response, "We can't afford all those healthy foods".
This bugged me for the longest time. I thought to myself, "Well, if you didn't go on so many vacations, you could afford 'those healthy foods'. If you didn't go to the spa so often, you could afford 'those healthy foods'. If you didn't buy so many new designer shoes, you could most definitely afford 'those healthy foods'." While this was true, I then began to think about the folks who didn't spend their money on any of those things and still couldn't afford 'those healthy foods'.
I've noticed in the past year, it's gotten worse for folks who just want to give their families the healthiest lives possible in a country that makes us all pay extra for health and where living a toxic life is the cheaper option. So, naturally, this has my solution-oriented brain pondering what did our ancestors do when things were tough? When our families first settled in America? When they got us through The Great Depression? When they did pretty okay during the 1970's Recession?
Living costs were substantially higher in the 1970's. But the way Americans seemed to have thrived in spite of was something to reflect on. Suburban living was on the rise. Homes and cars were too expensive for the average American to afford. So people either built smaller homes they could afford or they stayed put. Folks kept their cars and just fixed them as needed. Groceries were expensive, but companies had started making cheap, prepackaged food. So no one was starving like The Depression Era. There were no gadgets or screens. Families didn't go on expensive, far-away vacations. Women still sewed their own clothes. Mending and fixing things, instead of replacing something was common. Folks just didn't need much. Our culture wouldn't turn materialistic until the 1980's when interest rates and cost of living fell greatly giving way to the Luxury Era. Mixed with the Tech Boom of the 1990's, we now have modern day America.
In the early 1900's, the US government gave families seeds to start what they called "victory gardens" (read the book from our shop https://www.therootedmarket.com/shop-4?Category=Books). This was the last time more Americans grew their own food than not. But not only did these victory gardens feed the family that grew them, it fed their neighbors, greater America and even parts of Europe; where war was keeping farmers from growing the food needed to sustain their own populations.
You can see why looking back on history, can help us come up with solutions to what we can do better today. We can take all the good parts of our past and incorporate them into our lives now. So as to make living in these times a little easier. More affordable. And still maintain our families health. It's doable, is what I'm getting at. There's hope. Tremendous hope. To not just get by. But to thrive. To live joyful lives. To live simpler. To take back our health. To break chains and stop being dependent on outside sources for our family's health and happiness. For a sovereign life is a rich life.
~Casey
Owner & Shopkeeper
*Read and share tips and advice on how to save, spend and live a more sovereign life under "Frugal Women" in A Rooted Village chat.
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