It’s month two of the whole blogging adventure and I have to admit, I had a major moment of faltering last week. At a dinner party I was asked by a friend why I would want to blog in quite a negative way. I didn’t have a fabulous answer other than that it is the first semi-creative venture I’ve attempted really since med school. But for some reason it got my mind spinning and second-guessing and I was soon casting off the whole thing.

The blog had gotten me excited about our house again and we’ve been delving back into finishing all the projects that had been collecting cobwebs (literally). When we first started on the house, I don’t think we really had a name for where we were headed or the style we were going for. We just knew we wanted to make it “nicer”. We didn’t see this as a forever house, but it was a good first home with good bones.

But then, “FARMHOUSE” swept the nation.

I loved it just as much as the next Chip and Joanna fan, but I felt like it was deeper than just falling into another trending fad. It finally put a name on what was really, for many of us, a lifestyle choice, and a shift in attitudes and values.

Now close your eyes, and imagine you are looking at a farmhouse. It’s likely a simple, sturdy structure, unconcerned with the hustle and bustle of city life. There might be a few trees in the distance. Maybe some soft grasses lightly frame the sides of your house. The house itself is probably a simple, unpretentious, unassuming structure. Now go ahead and step inside.

It’s most likely quiet, understated and serene.

Only the necessities, beautiful in their functionality are often the only decorative items in such a house. The materials are pure and raw and practical but again, this adds to its beauty and comfort. This is a house that’s been built to withstand the test of a hundred years and it’s probably weathered some storms. It’s a home built for folks who work hard and who earn their brief holidays.

I can’t speak for the whole nation, as my perspective is uniquely Californian, and even more skewed; that of a Silicon Valley Dweller. But personally, part of the reason “farmhouse” is so appealing is it stubbornly rejects so much of what is the every day reality of the fast-paced life we’ve somehow gotten ourselves sucked into.

This “bigger and better” mentality and the consumerism that drives it. The “now, now, now” attitude that has become the norm. It is not what I was made for.

“Farmhouse” takes us back to simpler times. Slower times. Less plastic, no commute, and family members not illuminated by the screens of some gadget. In a way it takes us back to the original American Dream. Now the reality is, most of us will not get to experience living in a true farmhouse on land with our faithful steed and Bess the cow. I realize this is a somewhat idealistic version of the truth of actual farmhouse life. But I believe that no matter the size and circumstance of our home, by embracing the farmhouse lifestyle, you can tie yourself back just a bit to those simpler roots.

And maybe the only thing that will ever come of this blog is I will have gotten a chance to take a step back in my own life and look at the contrast between the attitudes that seem to be driving America, and the more quiet life that we are trying to carve out for ourselves.

So the blog marches on. In it, I’ll keep sharing my adventure with you; my journey to simplicity and some of the avenues that have gotten me here. We’ll go through my closet, do some projects, work on the “farm” and make some food.

In sharing these little things, in some small way I hope I can encourage others to take a step back too. To slow down and breathe. To appreciate the simpler things and re-examine their own lifestyle. Because I think there’s a little “farmhouse” in all of us, we just have to take the time to look.