Tiny...

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The Big Tiny by Dee Williams

The Small House Book by Jay Shafer

"I've found that even when you have your freedom-- when you've liberated yourself from your debit, and are happy enough living like a polar bear in winter-- even then you are still stuck with who you are.' Dee Williams. The Big Tiny.

 

You can live quite happily on far less than you own. Most of our stuff is not needed.

A movement is forming behind these thoughts. People building and living in tiny houses, shedding their possessions.

I sympathize with this.

Everynow and then I'll look around for a small, but high quality house. This is very hard to find. Small square feet most always equates with low quality-- poor neighborhoods, poor building quality. Big square feet equates with quality good neighborhoods, good build quality. Why is it so hard to find a small home, well built in a good neighborhood?

More space equates with more stuff, more maintenance, more debt, but not more happiness.

The environment is very high up on the list of concerns in the tiny house movement. Of course someone who lives in a 100 square foot house and who pays 20 dollars a month in utilities has an environmental impact that a tiny fraction of someone who lives in a 2000 square foot house. But what is the overall impact? I'm not a big fan of plans that depend on the moral high ground and declare "I'm doing my part to solve the problem. If everyone did like I'm doing then everything will be great." Unless that tiny house movement becomes broad, it's overall impact will be negligible. It risks becoming another niche with no broad impact.

I do like that they push the limits though. Maybe that's good enough. With enough pressure, then one day I could live in a high quality house, in a good neighborhood that's not 3000 square feet big.

Every now and then I'll run into someone who takes on the world, who proves they are tough, by adopting needlessly harsh goals. Want to prove have what it takes to survive in the wild? Build a cabin in the wild and subsistence farm there. It'll be tough. But it will give you comfort that you are tough enough.

Plus you don't have to deal with society. Engaging with society, with other people is hard work. For some it's very anxiety provoking. If society makes you anxious, why not rebel and leave?

That current is in the tiny house movement. Don't depend on society, it's bad. Do it all yourself. Society won't come face to face with its problems if more than a few people think that way.

People with tiny houses obsess over their house plans. A tiny house must be well planned and laid out or there will be trouble. I like this obsession. I only really use 600 square feet of my 2000 square foot house-- the bedroom, the bath room, the kitchen and living room. With a smarter layout I could easily get by on 400 or 500 without impacting the quality of my life. If I put effort into cutting back, how low could I go? 100 square feet? 200?

Where do families exist in this movement? The tiny house people all seem to be single. What does a family of 4 need?

Tiny houses let's you occupy your time with the minutia of how you live, rather than deal with your real problems. I worry this and Dee Williams. Dee has heart problems. Rather than dealing with these problems, she puts all of her energy into her friends and her tiny house. Anything that doesn't fit within those priorities is left out. Of course It simplifies her thoughts about her life, which helps with anxiety. But she still has big health issues. I think a world with Dee Williams in it, is better than a world without. I wish she would be more forward looking.

Of course the tiny house movement isn't a utopia that solves all our problems. But maybe it points to a better way to live.