I once lived in a converted summer cottage on a small country farm in deep southern New Jersey. My entire house was smaller than the living room of your average McMansion, but we grew all our own food, enjoyed being knee-deep in nature (and goat manure), and were amazingly happy. Since then, I've had bigger houses and better paying jobs, but neither gave me the sense of the good life I had back then. I've since learned that money and things only create a small part of happiness; thanks to the Recession and a growing environmental awareness, more people are learning that for them, "the good life" has many different meanings.
One of these folks is Derek "Deek" Diedricksen, a self-styled author, illustrator, salvager, "anarchitect," and YouTube impresario. His concept of "the good life" has one primary component: creative freedom, which he has implemented in many forms and media throughout his life.
Deek's journey has included being a DJ at 104.1fm WBCN in Boston, voice actor, carpenter and Ebay "trash to cash" seller. His current job is as the creator, host, producer and director for the Relaxshacks.com blog and the YouTube series "Tiny Yellow House," which focuses on micro-architecture. He's also the author of "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts," which was recently picked up by Lyons Press for distribution by Amazon.com. Additionally, he conducts workshops and lectures (most recently at MIT) on sustainability and the small house movement. I asked him how he chose this lifestyle, and how he decided on those choices.
"Basically... all these things I found entertaining, or was already always doing...so what I'm immersed in career-wise, mostly 'found me'. I have around nine hobbies that combine to form one job that helps pay the bills between my wife and I. It's great to have that freedom and to be fully in control of what you do. I guess that would be one of the new facets of life that has become available to me because of my change in 'career' paths - the ability to do as I please - which HAS to be healthy in a mental-state kind of way...whatever the case, the end result is a 'happier me'...I decide my own hours, and I can pick and choose which gigs and projects I want to work on."
Diedricksen realized somewhere along his journey that traditional lines of work just did not work for him, and that was an integral part of "the good life" that he needed. Fortunately, his road has been paved with the love and support of his family and a "very understanding and supportive" wife. His parents are both educators and don't find his patchwork job description odd, although "describing what their son does to friends might not be something they can do in one simple sentence. The New York Times cover article I had certainly has helped them convince their friends that what I'm pursuing isn't a total waste of time."
Another key component to his happiness has been minimizing his consumer consumption and environmental footprint. By purchasing a home that " would have been a 'tear down' by almost anyone else's standards," Diedricksen and his wife invested their time and elbow grease, which allowed them to become homeowners with nominal mortgage debt at the tender age of 24. Their choice "also kept an entire house out of a landfill," a very important concern to them both with the added bonus of more financial freedom.
Diedricksen acknowledges that his lifestyle is not understood by the majority of people, although their curiosity sometimes gets the better of them. His lifestyle choices run counter to the American desires for "more and bigger," the mantra of consumerism.
"...most of them just politely listen after they ask me a few follow-up questions...a good deal of these people are ones who grew up in a rather wealthy setting, in huge houses, with every luxury and amenity available, and for them to take such a paradigm shift in views and values is going to be hard, so naturally they probably write me off as insane - harmless, but half insane."
Fortunately, what other folks think does not figure in Diedricksen's equation of happiness. He admits that if he had to do it all over again, he would not change much; being able to have those creative and financial freedoms are just too priceless, and that's the most important piece to his version of "the good life."
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