Here is my personal summation of our WOAW reading for this morning...

What you hold to have the most value in your life is what your enemy can use to capture you. You are free when you truly hold everything, even your very existence, with an open hand. Ultimate freedom is to realize that everything in life is a gift and can be easily lost, even life.

Reading some Musonius Rufus this morning and the 100 mile diet and the Small Home movement were very prominent. These are two things that Mike and I feel are important to help with Affluenza and to lessen the environmental impact of our lives on our planet. We are contemplating purchasing an acre and building a small house that we will move to once we are alone rattling around in our house and all of the chicks have flown the nest. :) We would need to use a local sustainable building source though. Stack Cordwood building techniques can be used for an efficient local building method. We will need to continue to do research on the best techniques and resources to use.

The 100 mile diet is something we have meant to implement for awhile. There are some staples like oranges, orange juice, bananas, etc. that would not fall into this 100 mile requirement! Also Coffee is something that would need to go as there are no coffee growers in our area. ;) We do have a friend who lives close by who runs an organic tea business though! This diet is something that we could do immediately though and does not need to wait. Next groceries I will strive to be as 100 mile diet compliant as possible. :)

Both of these initiatives, small home and 100 mile diet, fit within my mandate for this blog, Voluntary Simplicity within a Stoic lifestyle. Little but steady progress will win the race towards this ultimate goal.