0:00

Hello! Friends are welcome to the Old

0:02

Fashioned on Purpose Podcast is the show

0:04

where we explore what we have a

0:06

left behind as we have raced towards

0:08

progress. But more importantly we talk about

0:10

how we can get the good stuff

0:12

back and I'm your host showing her

0:14

I have been living this homestead lifestyle

0:16

of that's what you wanna call it.

0:19

Since about two thousand and eight so

0:22

I've been doing it before. It was

0:24

cool. I live out here on the

0:26

wide open Wyoming prairies ak a Arctic

0:28

with my family and a bunch of

0:30

farm animals and when my biggest biggest

0:32

passions and life has been to teach

0:34

these skills to a new generations. I've

0:37

written, books, have his podcast and I'm

0:39

really glad you are here. Today.

0:41

So I actually was gonna record

0:43

on a different topic today. and

0:45

then I ended up having some

0:48

really interesting discussions on social media.

0:50

That happens to me, a Watts

0:52

arm and I thought it was.

0:54

Good. To bunk that other topic

0:56

for a future date and talk

0:59

about this instead. So we're going

1:01

to talk about community today. Which.

1:03

I consider to be one of

1:05

the. Or. Pillars of what

1:08

I call an old fashioned on

1:10

purpose lifestyle. So if you have

1:12

my book old Fashioned on Purpose

1:14

I'm It's in there. We talk

1:16

about the importance of community. Why

1:18

it is such an old fashioned

1:21

idea, you know? Obviously we have

1:23

people everywhere and how modern culture

1:25

where more connected than ever before.

1:27

But we're also lonely statistically than

1:29

we've ever been. And so I

1:31

believe that, as were planting gardens,

1:33

looking at first personal food production,

1:36

trying to. Get back to the

1:38

good stuff. I think one of

1:40

the best ways to do that

1:42

is by intentionally building community around

1:44

us. Now this is actually been

1:46

a really popular topic, as I've

1:48

begun to discuss it online over

1:50

the last and twelve to eighteen

1:52

months maybe a little bit. Longer.

1:54

Than that. I. Have been creating

1:57

in As Homestead space for well over

1:59

a decade. And it's been interesting to see

2:01

it. Gain. More traction is

2:03

he will. When. We

2:05

first started crying homestead Cons and back in two thousand

2:08

and ten it I mean me and all the other

2:10

homes, the bloggers, it was all about. Your. The

2:12

canning in the food, in the bread and all that.

2:14

And then I see a huge shifts in the awareness

2:16

of like, oh, We. You know

2:18

we were pushing towards self sufficiency, but

2:20

hey wait! We also need to have

2:22

this community aspect as well. I think

2:24

it's super healthy. Extremely important.

2:27

And. I said before. I'm self sufficiency,

2:30

The little bit of a mess

2:32

we need to have other people.

2:34

If you look at. Other.

2:36

Cultures whether it's the Amish or

2:38

I'm the way that the original

2:40

homesteaders operated back in the day.

2:43

They weren't loan rangers, they had a

2:45

community they were extremely and pensionable about

2:47

intentional about gathering and making time for

2:50

that and so I think as were

2:52

working on building or homestead that's a

2:54

really important aspect that we shouldn't omit.

2:57

Okay, so let's get into the

2:59

juicy parts am. I.

3:02

Think a lot of the times when

3:04

people hear me talk about community, especially

3:06

our little community. Whose. I talked about

3:08

before so I'm not gonna. Give. The

3:10

whole story here today had just give you

3:13

up not Silvers and I'm. I. Think

3:15

they romanticize. It a little bit. And is

3:17

easy to do. You're not here in the day to day right?

3:19

You to see what I have to say and it's easy to

3:21

think it's something that maybe it's not. Nobody. Thought

3:23

that is how up how it works when you're creating

3:25

content. And we live. In.

3:27

Southeast Wyoming is a tiny little town near

3:29

our homes that about nine miles away the

3:32

closest population center if you can call it

3:34

that but one hundred and seventy five people.

3:36

it's been here. Since

3:38

the mid eighteen hundreds as when they started

3:40

to settle this area and it's hanging on

3:42

by a shoestring. So. We have

3:44

become involved in recent years in

3:47

hope hopefully hoping that community to

3:49

grow a little that bring some

3:51

fresh lace and some excitement in

3:53

some offering Sat community. And

3:55

as a talked about it online I get

3:57

a lot of people going. Oh so cool.

3:59

I wish I could do that. I'm so

4:01

jealous. I wish my community had those same

4:04

things right as a really common response. I'm.

4:07

A. Lot of people also asked me you

4:09

know how can I create community like

4:11

you're doing What? What's the first step

4:14

in finding on what you have are

4:16

creating what you have and then another

4:18

piece of that was often comes up

4:20

in the conversation Next in this is

4:22

the kicker. This is the part that

4:24

inspired today's episode is when people ask.

4:28

How do you find that group of like

4:30

minded people who are just like me and

4:32

they have my worldview and they share my

4:34

beliefs? How do you find that And. And.

4:37

My answer to that question? The Arts. Another: don't answer it

4:40

some kind of and or it's But I got to thinking

4:42

about it. And at the end of

4:44

the day my answer to that question is. You.

4:46

Don't find that if you really want

4:48

to build community. I think it's a

4:51

mistake actually. To only seek

4:53

out those who are exactly like

4:55

you. As it as well

4:57

as episode started I I tweeted that out to

4:59

the world's I'm in. This is the original tweet

5:01

to see you have the context. I'm reading it

5:03

here. it says how do you find a community

5:05

that fully matches your beliefs and values. You.

5:08

Don't you learn how to proof

5:10

be friend people from all walks

5:12

of life and prioritize relationships over

5:14

opinions? All. You have otherwise

5:16

is an echo chamber. Supposed. To

5:19

put out a got some the tracks on twitter then I

5:21

posted on Instagram. And. Then something

5:23

interesting happens. I'm. Not.

5:25

Always approach these social media discussions

5:27

with a very. Serious

5:30

mind. I think it's really interesting

5:32

to see which things creates i'm

5:34

trigger points in people and which

5:36

groups of people are triggered by

5:38

throwing things. It's. Not something

5:40

that offends me. It's not something that makes me

5:42

upset. I take it in stride as someone who

5:44

create content for the public is just something that

5:47

comes with the territory. But I find it very

5:49

very interesting and it it often inspires. Future.

5:51

Episodes of The Podcast and Future Social

5:53

Media. thing. So anyway, There.

5:56

Are people who had issue with that posts

5:59

and honestly. Have a pretty good

6:01

heartbeat of what's controversy over my audience.

6:04

Can. A Know. How you

6:06

phrase things are what things you might say

6:08

that are there cause an explosion and I.

6:10

I didn't think this would be one of

6:12

those because I kind of thought it was

6:14

one of those happy go lucky to buy

6:17

all warm and fuzzy hosts right? Oh communities,

6:19

important, embracing differences, Are burdened The end. Moving

6:21

on, Sheriff and off Ago. But

6:23

there was actually a number of people who disagreed

6:25

and a let me know they disagree about that.

6:28

It was interesting. I'm there was some seems in

6:30

the people who disagreed. I'm not trying to throw

6:32

rocks in this episode but I do want to

6:34

address it. does. I know? I haven't a number

6:36

of these people in my audience and I think

6:38

this is an important discussion. Some an invite you

6:41

to listen today with an open minds. And.

6:44

Be willing to sit with ideas that

6:46

maybe make you uncomfortable at first and

6:49

may be. Are. Not what you

6:51

typically repeat or typically listen to or or

6:53

believe, but just you don't have to accept

6:55

those ideas Edison by you to sit with

6:57

them with open hands. Came as we get

6:59

into the i'm not throwing rocks at anybody

7:01

in particular, but I think this is really

7:03

important because I see this. I'm. Really

7:06

increasing in homestead circles. I got

7:08

a lot of people private messaging

7:10

me after reading our discussions on

7:12

this post, saying they have felt

7:14

this as well in home setting

7:16

circles and so as a home

7:18

studying. Percent. Podcast or I I

7:20

want to talk about it. So

7:22

I noticed that. A. Lot of

7:25

the people who had issue with my original tweet

7:27

the one about. Not. Creating echo

7:29

chambers were of the brit

7:31

of religious or a christian

7:33

or an evangelical orientation. And.

7:36

I think that's interesting because you that's my background.

7:38

I was raised and and I'm very familiar with

7:40

our culture. And. The.

7:42

Bible and the Vs and all that. Am.

7:45

I. Think there's a lot in the bible if you want

7:47

to use that as your foundation, which is people do.

7:49

That. Actually, Would. Speak to

7:52

the idea of. Cultivating!

7:55

a diverse community cultivating community with people not

7:57

like you reaching out to those who are

7:59

not carbon copy cookie

8:02

cutter versions of you. But

8:04

it seems to me there's a little bit of a missing piece there. So

8:09

here's what I want you to understand about my

8:11

community that I think maybe is romanticized a little

8:13

bit online by accident. I

8:15

don't live in a homesteading

8:17

commune. I don't live

8:19

in any sort of commune actually. We

8:23

have very very few what

8:26

I would call super duper like-minded

8:29

people in our community. There's

8:33

not a lot of people who homestead. There's

8:35

not a lot of people into entrepreneurship. There's

8:37

not a lot of people who look at life the

8:39

way Christian and I look at life or move through

8:41

life that way. There's just not.

8:43

My community is not like

8:46

me. I think

8:48

that when people will see all

8:50

the cool things that are happening here, they assume that I

8:52

have found this mecca of cookie

8:55

cutter gills and I have not. And

8:58

I want folks to understand that because

9:00

I think hopefully that will take away

9:02

a huge barrier if you

9:04

would like to create community in your own circles.

9:08

Honestly, I was one of those people for many

9:10

years of living here that looked

9:13

at the people around me and I'm like there's

9:15

not a match. So I'm just not

9:17

gonna dig in. I'm just gonna mind my own business.

9:20

Do my own thing. Keep my head in the sand. And

9:23

then I was convicted.

9:26

If you want to use a churchy word. I was

9:29

convicted in recent years. But that really wasn't the way

9:31

to be. You know, we had created a really

9:34

cool life here. We had cultivated a lot of skills

9:36

and I'm like it and what's the point of having

9:38

those if I'm not sharing them with those around me

9:40

if I'm just keeping them to myself. Like that just

9:42

didn't feel right to me. And

9:44

that's when we started to branch out into

9:46

our community. So I guess

9:49

to start off to answer the question of you know,

9:51

how do you find like-minded people? True

9:54

Community I Don't think is a homogenous collection of

9:56

people who are just like you. I Think it's

9:58

about. Digging. Into

10:00

where you are right now, wherever that may

10:02

be is imperfect as it is and just

10:04

finding common ground in the tiniest of ways.

10:07

And what I do find is that you

10:09

know I don't have a lot in common

10:11

with a lot of the people in my

10:13

community, but I can find little bits of

10:15

common ground like needed. A don't understand home

10:17

sitting entrepreneurship. Or. The weird way that

10:19

Christian I live our life. but. We.

10:22

Have a shared love for the history of to. Water

10:24

or tiny town or. We have a

10:26

shared love for the history of the soda fountain,

10:28

or we can appreciate that. We both want the

10:30

town to grow, maybe in different ways, but we

10:33

can come together on that, right? That's what I'm

10:35

talking about. When I

10:37

talk about community, Less

10:39

the first piece, second piece came up

10:41

a lot in private messages and on

10:43

the comments and I I promise Siebel

10:46

I would discuss it here in long

10:48

form because it's. It's. One of those

10:50

things when I'm posting a tweet tweet the really sorts he

10:52

take it all the nuance into a single tweet. So.

10:54

One of the biggest objections that folks had.

10:57

Come. To. This

10:59

tweet was they said it's really important that you

11:01

don't hang out with people who are different from

11:03

you because they can influence you and then like

11:05

you have to make sure that your inner circle

11:08

of people just like you. That's important in a

11:10

put some bible verses and this is the only

11:12

time he says hang out with people different than

11:14

you is if you're trying to convert them or

11:17

change them or save. Them or whatever it

11:19

was a different races that they phrase that

11:21

so hear the differentiation. I.

11:23

Think that Yes, you know I love

11:25

the clothes. Whoever said of I don't

11:28

know who said at first you are

11:30

these some or the average of the

11:32

five people you hang around the most,

11:34

right? So if you're hanging out with

11:36

Debbie Downers and negative people and people

11:38

that you have any time you tried

11:40

to do something different or stuff out,

11:42

everyone drives the back down says that

11:44

dumb, don't try so hard, go back

11:46

to Save Lives and or Netflix like

11:48

yeah, those people will influence you one

11:50

thousand percent and you need to guard

11:52

against that, right? So. I think. What?

11:55

I'm talking about in this episode is a difference

11:57

between community which I defined as like the broader.

12:00

Around you. And your

12:02

inner circle. See, your inner circle may be

12:04

a part of that community, but I see

12:06

those is two different groups of people Now

12:08

my inner circle. Very small. And

12:10

it's comprise. It's just a

12:13

handful of people who. How.

12:15

I think the best way to say it is

12:17

a seal like home when you're around them. Hopeful

12:19

you guys have experienced that in some way in

12:22

your life as well. Just those people. You've.

12:24

You've had shared experiences. You have enough

12:26

history. You. Can just be yourself.

12:28

You have enough seared beliefs and different

12:30

topics that you get each other. You're

12:32

on the same taste. It just feels

12:34

good to be around them. That.

12:37

Is. Awesome to have. I know not everybody has I'd There's

12:40

been many years I didn't have that but I have a

12:42

few people like that in my life and I I love

12:44

them. And. When I need my pups,

12:46

the old. I go and hang out with

12:48

them right? That's. Important. But.

12:51

I think that's. What?

12:53

Happens too often as those inner. Circle

12:55

people. The. People who feel like

12:58

home can also feel really comfortable

13:00

in easy and it's so tempting.

13:02

And it's such human nature for

13:04

us to only gravitate towards those

13:06

people and forget about our ability

13:09

or are calling to influence those

13:11

around us or to serve. Those.

13:13

Around us or to help those around

13:15

us. And you guys are not a

13:18

church he person and you Some of

13:20

you know my past with that but

13:22

I still feel like it's really important

13:24

that I am actively. Engaging

13:27

in those around me who maybe aren't in

13:29

my inner circle. And. I know that

13:31

I am supposed to have some sort of influence. On.

13:34

At the people around me however small that

13:36

may be baby assist you know being around them,

13:38

working side by side with him and showing

13:40

them like paid. More. If possible

13:42

and my sitting, think or you know you

13:44

don't have to stay somewhere you don't like.

13:46

You can take acts, You can do something

13:49

different. You can think about life in a

13:51

different way. isolate. That is where that influences

13:53

really powerful and you can't do that. In

13:55

my experience, Unless. You're down

13:57

in the trenches elbow to elbow

13:59

will those in your community right?

14:02

You can't sit in your happy

14:04

at comfortable inner circle and hope

14:06

that seems happens be and dry

14:08

by and wave that's not how

14:10

it works and digging in to.

14:12

Sub. Water. Has taught me

14:14

that in a really big way out and

14:16

I've been in a lot of uncomfortable situations

14:19

with people who do not share my same

14:21

values. We did not grow up the same.

14:23

They do not see like the same way

14:25

as I do. I'm. And.

14:27

Getting to know them? Nothing that I had

14:30

taken everything they believe and it has become

14:32

my own. Of course, I'm not saying that

14:34

that. Getting to know these people who are

14:36

vastly different than me. And.

14:39

says. Been one of the best

14:41

things I can't even imagine for

14:43

helping me have more empathy for

14:46

helping me to understand people better.

14:48

To. keep me grounded like. It

14:51

the habit you gotta have and

14:53

is uncomfortable sometimes. Some.

14:55

Of the people that we have had

14:57

come into our employment as we have

14:59

on the soda fountain fall into this

15:02

category right? And. They're very different than

15:04

the had different stories. They look difference,

15:06

right? You wouldn't expect us to be business

15:08

as if you saw both walking down the

15:10

street and again. So.

15:12

The become inner circle We have different paradigms.

15:15

But. It's. Been so humbling

15:17

and so beautiful to get to know

15:19

them. On a human level, not

15:21

of the charity case, not as out. Let

15:23

me see if you. Let

15:25

me throw you. The know some bones

15:28

that as an actual human to human interaction

15:30

that I think everybody needs I want I'm

15:32

talking about. Having

15:34

a community that's diverse in backgrounds

15:36

and Billy's I think that's really

15:38

what I'm getting a. So.

15:41

Inner. Circle Yes Go to people that

15:44

you trust that you are aligned

15:46

with for council and wisdom. But.

15:48

Then don't to stay there. Get out.

15:51

And. Start making connections elsewhere. I'm.

15:55

Another thought I'd really interesting thought that

15:57

came up. This. Mess up on

15:59

some toast. But I'm going to say it, I'm getting

16:01

a little braver as I mature

16:04

into my content creation. A

16:06

big argument that came up, especially among those

16:08

in the religious circles.

16:11

They said, I, okay, cool, but I

16:13

cannot be friends with someone who has

16:15

a different foundational belief

16:17

system than I do. That

16:19

is like unbiblical. It's not allowed.

16:21

It makes me uncomfortable. Like whatever it's dangerous.

16:23

It's kind of like the, the

16:27

underlying steam there. So

16:29

let me challenge you a little bit on that.

16:32

On one hand, I totally get what you're, what

16:34

those people are saying, right? There are some non-negotiables.

16:37

Like I'm trying to think of an example that's not

16:39

politically charged. So I'm just going to kind of say a

16:41

silly one. I'm probably

16:43

not going to be BFFs or seek

16:45

out an in-depth relationship with a serial

16:48

killer. It's just not going to work,

16:50

right? We're not going to have a lot of

16:52

confidence. We're going to have vastly different belief

16:55

systems of what is important in life, what matters.

16:57

So like that's someone that I'm going to probably,

16:59

you know, I might

17:01

serve them a milkshake at the soda fountain and be

17:03

like, ah, like this isn't going to

17:05

work for any sort of like actual relationship, right?

17:07

That's a, that's a hard line. It's okay to

17:10

have some hard lines. Here's

17:13

the part that I see that concerns me. We

17:15

live in such a polarized

17:18

time in history where

17:20

we have siloed ourselves to

17:22

death into these extreme, um,

17:25

binaries. Most of this is along either religious

17:27

lines or political lines is what I see

17:29

the most right now that we have turned

17:31

a ton of issues into

17:34

those hard black and white serial killer

17:36

lines. Right. And I want to challenge

17:38

you. This is, this is going to

17:40

be uncomfortable. Y'all might step

17:42

on some toes. I'm going to challenge you that maybe not

17:44

every single thing you think is a hard, hard, hard line

17:47

actually is a hard line. Okay.

17:50

Um, what

17:53

I see with politics right now and

17:55

a lot, a lot of the comments that came into

17:57

my posts that we're discussing like, oh, I can't be

18:00

friends with. someone who believes this or I can't be

18:02

friends with someone who believes that. Right. Um, it's

18:05

two sides of the same coin. It's like, it's

18:08

the same bird and it's two different

18:10

wings because we have one political party,

18:13

uh, who believes that if you, anyone

18:15

who votes this certain way makes

18:18

you a whole laundry list of, of

18:20

evil things, right? You're racist. You believe this.

18:22

You're a horrible person. Um, you're

18:24

the devil, right? We have one political party that

18:26

just automatically puts anyone who falls

18:28

into that, um, group into

18:30

this bucket of just basically your

18:33

Hitler, no exceptions. But

18:36

don't worry, I'm going to get to everybody. I wouldn't equally offend

18:38

the whole crowd. We have

18:40

another political party that has become

18:42

so polarized and so siloed that

18:45

we believe that everyone who votes

18:47

this other way is automatically evil.

18:50

And they automatically want all children to die

18:52

and kill all the babies, right? And we've,

18:54

we've just siloed and pigeonholed everybody. We've created

18:56

these extreme false dichotomies. And so that's what

18:58

I see. They're like, okay, I'll, they sit

19:00

on the post, Jill, I'll do community, but

19:03

I'm not going to do community with this

19:05

type of person, or I'm not going to

19:07

do community with that type of person. I'm

19:09

like, okay, I respect your boundaries. I respect

19:12

what you feel is important, but maybe what

19:14

if just consider the fact that maybe you're

19:16

operating a little bit out of, um,

19:19

a false dichotomy there. Like are there people

19:21

in either side of the political extremes that

19:23

are both on either side, either side, hear

19:26

me say that they're kind of miserable,

19:29

crummy human beings. Yeah, absolutely.

19:31

But I'm going to challenge you that the majority who

19:34

vote differently than you probably

19:36

aren't as extreme in their beliefs as you think.

19:39

We have social media to think for making

19:41

us think that anyone different than

19:43

us, anyone who votes different than us automatically

19:46

is just basically the devil incarnate.

19:48

And if you want to push back against

19:51

a uniquely modern phenomenon

19:53

that is so dangerous

19:56

and insidious and how it is

19:58

hurting humans and hurting our

20:00

culture, push back against that. Push

20:02

back against this idea that if someone's

20:04

different than you or votes differently than

20:07

you or believes differently than you, then

20:09

they're automatically just their soul

20:11

is as black as Satan. Like push

20:13

back against that. So no, you

20:16

don't have to be best friends with everyone. And there

20:18

are people that even in our little community,

20:20

I just don't jive with, you know, I can be cordial,

20:22

we can have conversations, but we just don't,

20:25

we're not on the same wavelength. We don't get

20:27

a whole lot out of being with

20:29

each other. That's okay. You don't have

20:31

to be everybody's best buddy. But

20:35

just, I would encourage you to stop

20:38

with the siloing, stop with the grouping.

20:41

See, see how much you can push

20:43

yourself to be

20:45

uncomfortable around

20:47

people who aren't like you just see what

20:49

happens. You don't have to believe like they

20:51

believe necessarily, but just put yourself in those

20:53

situations. I know you guys are really good

20:55

at doing hard things. And those are always

20:57

some of my most popular episodes here is

20:59

when we talk about, you know, glitching against

21:01

our comfort zones and putting ourselves in those

21:03

situations that are creating just enough discomfort that

21:05

we grow. Try that with your

21:07

communities as well. A

21:10

really great example of this was

21:13

a conversation I had, it was New Year's Eve.

21:15

We invited some friends over. We don't

21:18

hang out with them a lot, but they're friends. Christian has known this

21:20

gentleman for a very long time. They grew up together.

21:22

And so we had supper and we were sitting at

21:25

the table and we got

21:27

into the coolest

21:29

conversation. Now he, it

21:32

does not think or believe the same

21:34

way that Christian and I do on many issues.

21:38

He has a lot of different opinions on

21:40

things. But what I do

21:42

appreciate about him is that he's really well

21:44

read. He listens to both sides

21:46

and he's willing to be diplomatic. And so we

21:48

were able to have a very engaging

21:51

conversation for, I don't know, two or three

21:53

hours. The time went really fast about

21:57

a bunch of political issues. And a couple of them

21:59

are. are political issues that tend

22:01

to kind of make my hackles stand up. Like,

22:03

um, socialism is

22:05

something that I am not a fan of. I'll just say

22:07

it. Uh, I don't think it's

22:10

great system and what I've seen with

22:12

historical instances of socialism and how it

22:14

works in economies. It doesn't really work.

22:16

It's a nice idea on paper. It

22:18

doesn't work in practice. It doesn't jive

22:20

with human nature and how humans are

22:22

intrinsically motivated. And it leads to

22:24

some Mickey stuff. So I don't really like that. When people start

22:26

to talk about socialism, I just get a little bit like my

22:28

hackles go up. Um, I wouldn't say this

22:31

gentleman is a socialist, but he has some ideas

22:33

that dip into that world that I don't really

22:35

hold. And so he started to bring those up. And so I

22:37

was able to ask him questions and he was able to ask

22:39

me questions. And it was a

22:41

blast. It was a blast.

22:43

Nobody got upset. Nobody yelled. Nobody was

22:45

offended, but we sat there with these

22:47

two competing ideas. Um, and

22:50

we're able to discuss them and question them. And he

22:52

brought things to the table and I brought things to

22:54

the table. And when

22:56

we got done that evening, it was well after

22:58

midnight, we both felt invigorated. I mean,

23:01

I'm, he said he enjoyed it. So I'm, I

23:03

don't think I'm putting words into his mouth. We

23:05

felt invigorated. It was exhilarating. It was enjoyable. I

23:08

left with things to chew on that I hadn't thought of

23:10

before. I thought I kind of was set in stone, um,

23:13

on certain things. And then the way he

23:15

presented his thoughts and like, Oh, that's a

23:17

good point. I understand why you think that

23:19

maybe I don't agree with you, but I

23:21

understand how you came to that conclusion. So

23:23

it was awesome. And I am just telling

23:25

you that story is an example of, I

23:29

think it's so important that we can sit with two

23:31

competing ideas at once. Right? We don't have to adopt

23:33

those ideas, but just sit with them and, and, and

23:35

just, um, be able to

23:37

do that without feeling triggered, without running away

23:40

screaming, without feeling like we have to run

23:42

back to our comfort zone of people who

23:44

are just like us. And I think when

23:46

we can do that, we can grow and

23:48

we can expand and we can just become

23:50

more well rounded people. So

23:53

as we wrap this up, um,

23:56

it'll be interesting to see the feedback on this one. I

24:00

just want to encourage you, you want to push back against

24:02

modern culture? You want to do things the

24:04

old fashioned way? Push back against the polarization.

24:09

No. People being super polarized

24:12

is not a new phenomenon. It

24:14

has happened throughout history. I always

24:16

love looking at patterns. I think

24:18

patterns are fascinating. And you can see this

24:21

happening before. This is the first time a country

24:23

has been as divided as America

24:25

is right now. And

24:29

when countries get to this point of division,

24:31

what happens next isn't great. So that's

24:33

a whole other topic. But

24:36

this is a part of human nature. Humans

24:38

are tribal. Humans are cliquish. Humans

24:41

find safety in groups. Safety

24:43

in numbers where basically herd animals, like a

24:46

bunch of cattle. So this isn't new. But

24:48

it is a modern phenomenon in

24:51

that it has been exacerbated by social media, like

24:53

crazy. So if you want to push back, if

24:55

you want to be old fashioned, find

24:57

some common ground. Draw a

24:59

bigger circle. You cannot

25:01

influence for good, however you want to influence,

25:03

whether it's what you

25:05

believe or how you move through life or what

25:08

you believe about food or

25:10

homesteading or whatever. You can't influence

25:12

unless you're out with people.

25:15

You can't do it hiding in your little island or

25:17

hiding in your little house on the hill. You have

25:19

to get out there and do the messy part. Make

25:23

no mistake, community is messy

25:25

sometimes, friends. There are days when

25:29

I'm not having a good time being

25:31

involved in community. I'm

25:33

going to be really honest. There are days it's

25:35

not fun. There are days it's frustrating and annoying

25:38

and aggravating. And then there

25:40

are other days where you

25:42

see people make strides or you see things come

25:44

together and you're like, yeah, this

25:46

is what it's all about. And it's not supposed to

25:48

be easy because the good things

25:51

in life rarely are. So

25:55

Continue to be curious, ask questions. Like

25:57

I Said, you don't have to just...

26:00

I want to. He says your own just because you're hanging out

26:02

with them. You can sit

26:04

and you can ask good questions and you can be

26:06

open and you can be friendly. And

26:09

push yourself in situations. When.

26:11

You are actively around people who aren't like

26:13

You can make you a little bit uncomfortable,

26:16

perhaps in the way they think and how

26:18

different they are. As a good. Thing: it'll

26:20

stretch you and grow you. See.

26:23

There. You have it. I hope that was helpful

26:25

Help that Chauncey. I hope that I'm. Broaden.

26:28

Your horizons a little bit and node

26:30

I'm doing this imperfectly. There are days

26:32

where I. Am. Super engaged

26:35

and I'm loving this. Community

26:37

driven length or other days where I'm like i'm

26:39

just gonna go hide on the homestead and made

26:41

it a com a hermit. Ah that does feel

26:43

attractive sometimes so it's ups and downs. It's. Roller

26:45

coasters. It's messy attack. But. It's a

26:47

really good thing. So. Thanks for listening

26:49

friends harm and we'll talk again on

26:52

the next episode of Old Fashioned. On

26:54

purpose.