Coping with Isolation...

Weird. I only browse the forum through the "New Posts" page and this was on page 1 of recent new posts, so I responded. It seems I was the one to bump it back up from 7 years ago. Must be a hiccup in the system/search system, since it was almost 7 years ago on today's date when the last post was made.

__________________
"For if you start dancing on tables, fanning yourself, feeling sleepy when you pick up a book... making love whenever you feel like it, then you know. The south has got you.”

What I find interesting in these resurrected threads is the number of people on them with "banned" under their names.

I would love to know the back story on those!

__________________
Whatever floats your goat!

Kitten season is here. Please spay and neuter. You'll save lives.

And to think, I almost responded to this thread. That was a close one.

__________________
My How To blog - Happy Homesteading!

I guess its not for every body, but Id love it . My wife on the other hand, well shes getting better, but still likes to get out some. Me, I dont have to.

__________________
" Do or do not, there is no try. " - Yoda

Take some care to stay aware of the signs of depression! Easy enough to, slip down when isolated, cold and in reduced light levels. Why do you think alcoholism is rampant in places like the Adirondacks and Catskills here in my state of NY? Being out there can get old when anything is a major excursion, and expensive in money and time. We are 30 miles from a moderate-sized city, there are 9 or 10 houses on our road, a hamlet 5 miles away. Rural indeed, but not "way out somwhere". DH sometimes talks that "move to land next to federal land and be a hermit" stuff, but he routinely grouses about how little he can find of local services and in the local all-purpose stores. He gave up hunting and fishing for the most part some years ago, and I'm the gardener/farmer.... Just saying. Sometimes it's right, sometimes it's not. It's not always easy to see the difference, and not bad to decide whole-hog is not for you or yours.

You have that backwards.....
Why start a new thread when the knowlege is already here?

A old thread gives you the advantage of input from those no longer here AND any new imput that might come up. More perspectives
PLUS you get the persepctive of time.... perhaps the OP could tell us how things worked?

Start farming and you'll be too busy to think such thoughts, too busy to be feeling isolated.

__________________
SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Did you ever wonder why country folks are so friendly? They wave at you just about as far as you can see them. They stop on the road to see if you are broke down or need help. They also stay to them self most of the time. If yo think about this you can come up with the correct answer. They are in the same situation you are in and like it.Once you have lived their for a while and caused no trouble you will be accepted as a good person and there isn't anything they wont do for you.

__________________
God must have loved stupid people because he made so many of them.

Cuz if'n you start a new thread someones likely to bark at ya and say something snarky like, "that's been covered here, why didn't you use search, blah, blah"

I actually like to go through these old threads, wondering what's become of the people involved.

You could just not read the bumped up threads?

We're making sure you know we know you're there...

__________________
SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

I had not noticed the thread was so old, but the material and perspectives are still relevant. There's always people here adjusting to a new way of life. I'd love to know the OP's thoughts on this now.

__________________
Wise enough to know I'll never be wise enough to know it all

a lot has changed since then, and now i live in a city of 100,000
its my MIL that is there and dealing with the isolation...she is thinking of
moving next spring unless we move back with her! we're thinking of it...
i think a lot of it depends on where you come from...you know the "you cant
take the City out of the boy" type thing. if your use to the constant buzz of
a city than its a little difficult to get use to little things like the lack of NOISE!
that said, it also helps to have things to keep you busy. when we first got there
we had no animals and not much going on. since then we have three "latch key
horses" (my MIL throws out hay every day, and we only get there on weekends)
a tiller to get the garden going, etc. if we do move back, this fact alone will help
deal with the situation. (in fact, the horses are about the only reason to move
back; they are a real joy to be around and we dont want to have to get rid of
them and run the chance of them being abused like in another post i recently put in the Equine section).
the last thing i will mention is the need for money. dont move to farm/homestead
unless you have the money to get all the things you need, since money is scarce
out in the country. its taken about seven years but we finally are getting the basic
things needed(like the tiller, plow truck, etc) but we still dont have a tractor and the place is
being overrun with weeds and burdock! (our neighbor said we are actually "worse than the Amish"
since we do everything by hand, and our horses arent even trained to pull a plow or anything
thanks for asking and good luck to
all thats thinking of making the move to the Homestead Life!
jim

__________________
"These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people..."
Abraham Lincoln, from his first speech as an Illinois state legislator, 1837

the dark is one thing i dont have a problem with. i have a telescope and i'm
really into astronomy your so right about the lack of restaurants tough...

__________________
"These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people..."
Abraham Lincoln, from his first speech as an Illinois state legislator, 1837

I was thinking the same.I actually spend more time on it and with my Dogs,only because they insist but more than my wife in the other room.

big rockpile

__________________
I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

looking at these old posts and i notice "Bresias" hasnt posted since 06...hope
it worked out for her?

__________________
"These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people..."
Abraham Lincoln, from his first speech as an Illinois state legislator, 1837

lol!!

I've done this...isolation thing and it didn't set well with me. I love solitude but isolation proved the death of me (and my marriage).

For me, I found that I have to engage with other people. Where I was I didn't see anyone other than family for a month at a time. I had no phone. No Internet.

Knowing that I armed myself so that years later when I moved to a semi-boonies local I was better able to cope.
1. Absolutely keep physically active and get lots of sunlight. I was in Northern BC Canada, ya know, 11 months of winter. Horrible.
2. Hobbies and crafts are great (but they can't substitute for a human conversation).
3. and probably most important--- FIND people to talk to! Daily. Or near that. For me that meant I had to pay through the Nose to get Internet that allowed me to do chats, forums, voice calls, webcam, etc. After a year I found that I only needed to be online for a bit every few days, given I could chat with people (not forums, but live chat). I took up gaming. There are card games, gaming guilds & groups, multi-player online games (mmo's) of a many genres, chat rooms, IRC even extists still. etc. etc. etc.

Hope that helps.

For anyone in MN that feels isolated, come join me downtown Minneapolis for lunch. That should cure you for a couple of months.

It is interesting reading this. People vary so much. I'm the exact opposite. I'm perfectly happy to stay on our side of the mountain for months on end, not going into town, not seeing neighbors, etc. I've got so much fulfilling activity here, family, dogs, livestock, gardens and construction. To me the cities (Pop. >5,000 or maybe less) are over stimulating. Visiting the city makes me want to go home to the mountain.

__________________
SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Ha- I asked the builders to take the light out the front doorbell button as it was so bright it was disturbing my sleep.

__________________
For we used to ask when we were little, thinking that the old men knew all things which are on earth: yet forsooth they did not know; but we do not contradict them, for neither do we know.