 |
The New Independent Home
by Michael Potts
from chapter 12 :
Work-at-Homers |
Income is one grid that most of us cannot disconnect, and one common question of those contemplating the move to the country from a well-paid specialist's job in the city is "What can I do for a living." As soon as the telephone is connected, many homesteaders are able to conduct business as well or better from the edge of the grid than in an office cubicle miles from home. The telephone and its partners fax and modem enables independent homesteaders to "move electrons instead of protoplasm," as Amory Lovins says. Vacationers often wryly remark that they can perform their jobs from the beach or poolside as well as from behind a desk, and work-at-homers merely carry this idea to its logical conclusion. Homemade electrons run sophisticated tools more reliably than those supplied by the grid. If our work requires a lab or workshop, we build them; we love to build. If work calls for collaborators, we expand our workspaces and sense of family to accommodate co-workers, or employ a new breed of teamwork tools developed to allow groups of workers to manage shared projects. Modern commerce demands more knowledge workers than ever before, and the internet enables us to tele-commute and collaborate without regard to distance. In a twinkling we can refer to resources halfway around the globe and exchange works-in-progress instantaneously with others in our work-group, and so the computer and telephone join to become an essential tool for many who thrive under their own power.
Conventional houses are designed to tolerate neglect, to provide automatic comfort without the intelligent participation or even the presence of the inhabitants : barracks for an army of dispossessed workers who are gone half the time and exhausted the rest. Homes powered self-sufficiently reward our attentive presence: We open and close doors and windows to take advantage of changing breezes, adjust the photovoltaic array to catch the best sun, and work our gardens, and are rewarded with a more comfortable and efficient place to live. Our homely tasks fit seamlessly among our money-making chores, and the texture of living is richer. Instead of mall-crawling for lunch, I forage in the garden then walk behind my battery-powered lawnmower for a few minutes before starting the dinner soup. Independent homesteads perform optimally when attended, and I find myself leaving home reluctantly. Homes left alone while we commute to work almost seem to pine for us, like abandoned pets. My yen for independence from civilization and for rootedness to a place endows my home with a creative, familiar, and supportive atmosphere that I now find inextricably woven into my ability to create. Yet living independently runs so much at right angles to conventional patterns of employment that work-at-homers are forcefully encouraged to undertake innovative forms of work.
For an increasing number of workers, staying home simplifies lives and reduces economic needs. Time is one of the biggest gains: during the time it takes to dress for work and travel to the office, commuters must often employ others to perform tasks they might prefer to do themselves -- child care, food gathering and preparation, as well as energy management. Commuters are subjected to the constant siren call of consumerism, and frequently compensate themselves for the indignities of commuting and working in a corporate environment, and for their time estranged from family, home, and hearth by indulging in costly and wasteful "retail therapy." Work-at-homers avoid these and other inefficiencies because their homes provide entertainment and pleasure as well as gainful productivity. By investing ourselves, our time, and our savings in a home place and improved energy equipment, work tools, and work places that serve us better, we liberate more time and energy for ourselves, our families, and our community.
Shifting the workplace from the conventional office cubicle to a desk at home requires a dramatic change in direction: Bosses must be educated, tools improved, policies formulated, and we must each find our own best balance between homework and time in the presence of our office colleagues. Even as bosses and forward-looking companies encourage workers to "call it in," thereby saving on overhead costs at the office, most of us who work at home feel a need to spend some time face-to-face with our colleagues. Video-conferencing and other tele-presence techniques can only partially substitute for "face time." Fortunately, we can approach a home-centered livelihood gradually as we make the home-place more self-sufficient and fulfilling. Successful work-at-homers told me that their transitions began when they detected a faint but insistent urge to stay home, which led them to a long, fascinating inquiry into their lives, habits, talents, needs, and ambitions. Most started with the realization that too little of their time was their own, and that their accomplishments at work did little to enhance their world. Many off-the-gridders begin their quest when sickness, an accident, or a personal crisis forces them to recognize that no salary can compensate for the anxiety they feel about their unwitting contribution to the global despoliation resulting from a century of profligate energy mismanagement and corporate greed. For some, the response began with a few compact fluorescent bulbs, a recycling bin, a compost bucket, a course in sustainable living shared with a spouse, and rededication to love and family. For one friend, a single take-home project allowing her to "call in well" liberated enough time to launch a little kitchen garden and a long-postponed do-it-yourself solar experiment. At some point, the cumulative small changes combine, escape velocity is attained, and the independent adventure is launched.
A few discover that the sometimes solitary and intensely familiar way of the work-at-homer is not as productive as the commuting life. Even in this extreme case, the dedicated commuter usually discovers that the focus once reserved for career and office broadens to include home and family, responsible practices become enjoyable habits, and consumptive patterns come under control.
|
|
