Day 26: When Homesteading, It’s Okay to Fail

As I am closing in on the final posts of my 31 days of living homegrown, I wanted to mention something important.

I recently had a discussion with a group of writers about perfection in our writing. When we write magazine articles, blogs or even TV shows, we usually only showcase the best (most perfect) parts. As writers, we write about many of the things we have been doing for many years. But we didn’t become good at it overnight. And usually when we showcase it, we are sharing our secrets or tips on how we figured it out.

Apple Crop #Fail

I think sometimes when we are sharing our information with perfect photos, it can look like we never have failures. But we do! Lots of them. It can take a lot of trial and error to get to the point of sharing.

So there are failures.

I don’t know anyone who does this sort of thing who doesn’t occasionally fail.

Listen…I’ve had beloved chickens die, corn that never got to “knee high by the 4th of July”, failed batches of jelly (I just called it syrup!), disastrous videos and complete crop failures in my homestead (many times actually!).

Of course we don’t want to fail because it can be expensive, but don’t let yourself think that failures are a complete waste of time.

When we fail, we learn. We can all learn by sharing our mistakes with each other too – sometimes more than sharing the successes. Don’t you think?

What happens when you rush.

It’s a Journey

Just remember that perfection is NOT the goal in homesteading, gardening or even life. This whole process is a journey. And as the old saying goes, it is the journey that is the important part – Not the destination.

Besides, the destination changes.

You might start off thinking you want to just be “organic” and soon you find yourself striving toward “sustainability”. And later “self-sufficiency” and before you know it, you are going “off the grid”!

Baby steps…baby steps…

That’s the beauty of it. We can change our mind and change our goals at any time. That’s what makes this journey so great.

So, don’t ever feel that you have to be perfect. I don’t. I just want to be on the next step on the path. Thanks for letting me share my journey here with you.

Tell me…What sort of failures have YOU had???

This post is part of the 31 Days of Living Homegrown. Sign up for my newsletter (weekly or monthly) so you don’t miss any of the inspiration and resources I will be sharing for living local, fresh and homegrown!