As the topics of this newsletter wander, you might ask, what’s the theme here? I mean, if you know me personally it’ll feel on brand, but for a lot of folks the question will arise as the subjects bounce from obvious (tools!) to less obvious (friendship!)
If I had to distill the theme down to a few key elements it would be capability, growth, and community.
Community? Yeah, community. It’s an important topic for me, and given that 42 million Americans have no close friends and more than 300 million people globally have zero friends, period, hopefully it’s one that’s important to you, too. (Those numbers are growing every year, by the way, making a strong case for an epidemic of loneliness.)
I’m here to share my perspective and experience. For most folks who came here by admiring pictures of our cabin (et al), that translates to “Here’s how to build stuff.” But to me building a cabin in the woods has meant a lot more than just the practical nuts and bolts. It’s represented a trajectory of personal growth and all the ancillary lessons learned have made me a better, happier, more connected, more confident human. That’s a greater achievement than knowing how to use a drill, but one that’s surprisingly interconnected.
Within the swirl of tool tips, personal habits, backyard engineering, backwoods self-reliance, and how to build things, is a core of how to build community and how to build a more capable human who feels grounded by their value to their community. I hope you’ll come to appreciate the connection as much as I have.
Thanks for reading.