A new chapter in my life

Updated: Yes, this was an April Fool's prank! It has to be at least slightly believable to fool you, right? Also, I wanted to make sure Jeff at WP Tavern had a really hard time figuring out what was real and fake news today. :)

I’ve been taking steps over the past few years to move closer and closer to running a full-time homestead. As many of my readers know, I enjoy gardening, raising animals, and being as self-sufficient as possible.

If you would’ve asked me if this is where my life would be 10 years ago, I would’ve laughed in your face. I figured I’d be living in a big city, maybe as a broke journalist who was trying to make ends meet and catch my next big story. Life has a funny way of taking some unexpected turns. Just when you think you’ve got it figured all out, it throws you for a loop.

What some of you don’t know is that I’ve been slowly making plans for something of an intentional community. I don’t actually believe individual people are meant to be self-sufficient. That’s a fool’s goal. However, a community of people with similar goals can do a lot better.

What’s an intentional community?

It’s a group of people living in a community who share similar goals and work together as a team to accomplish those goals.

The idea behind my community is to allow people to take care of most of their food needs from the land. I’m not sure if 100% food security is possible, particularly when you throw in items that are not easily produced in Alabama. Fortunately, we do have a great climate here. I believe a 70% goal is well within reason.

The next step is to get people off the grid as much as possible. We’re living in a golden age where technology and education are available to the average person that allows them to break ties with the electrical grid and water companies.

I’m not one to pass up on some of the comforts that we enjoy today like electricity. I love technological advancements. The idea isn’t to create an Amish-like community. That’s not for me. It’s about finding a balance between learning how to provide for one’s self and having to work a 60-hour week at a job you don’t enjoy just to make ends meet.

I’ll soon start the search for like-minded people who want to join this community.

What does this mean for my WordPress work?

I’ll be scaling back, definitely. I can’t just drop everything. Having some consistent cash flowing in will still be important.

I probably won’t have time for silly things like the WordPress.org theme review team where they don’t pay me anything. I’ll probably be selling Theme Hybrid, my theme and plugin site, to someone who will be able to carry on the work that I’ve started. Ultimately, I think my new venture with ThemeReview.co will be more lucrative while affording me the time I need to be away from the computer.

Eventually, I plan to mostly stop all my current WordPress work and write the occasional e-book to bring in extra money when needed.

Of course, I’ll still be using WordPress and be an advocate for the platform. I never intended to become a developer in the first place. It just kind of happened. I originally started blogging to share my ideas with the world. I’ll continue to do so, and WordPress will help make that happen.

Stay tuned for more. Also, let me know in the comments if living in an intentional community in southern Alabama might be something you’re interested in.