MoonShadow’s Musings

Where are you and where are you going?
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MoonShadow
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2020 7:27 am

MoonShadow’s Musings

Post by MoonShadow »

As somewhat of a newcomer to ERE, it has been a delight to read various journals on this forum. This has prompted me to begin a journal of my own, in the hope that it may help others as well as keep me motivated. To that end, I’ll begin with an incomplete overview of topics and ideas I may write about. This should help potential readers decide whether or not my so-called musings will be of interest.
  • I am in my late 40’s. I live in Australia, having arrived here from Holland at a young age. My parents inadvertently landed us in a religious cult.
  • I work as a RAN .... a remote area nurse .... mostly in Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) communities, often at single nurse clinics. This work pays very well and I find it immensely satisfying/engaging.
  • My work is set up so I can cherry-pick when/where/how many weeks I work for. This freedom enabled me to spend 6 weeks volunteering in a paediatric hospital in Laos last year - totally on a whim after seeing a post on Facebook.
  • Clinic hours are usually M-F 9am to 5.30pm, then on-call for the remainder. Nurses will note there are no rostered night shifts!
  • In between nursing contracts I live with my partner in New South Wales. I sometimes pick up a shift at the local hospital, but only if I feel like it. During the summer holidays he travels with me.
  • We currently rent a small straw bale home and are setting up a blended native/permaculture/food-producing garden on the property. Think worm farm, chickens, bee-keeping, guild planting etc.
  • I have previous experience in suburban permaculture and bartering via a LETS group I set up (many years ago).
  • Beyond having a year’s worth of FU money in a savings account, I steadily invest my savings in a little stock portfolio. This is very much a work in progress and I plan to start reading through Jacob’s recommenced curriculum asap.
For a while I was disheartened by the comparison of my expenditure vs 1JAFI but this completely changed when I realised that the numbers on the forum are in USD :idea: Converting to AUD has been a relief! Roughly speaking, I could shuffle my finances around to live on the equivalent of 1JAFI right now. However, this would mean uprooting my daughter who lives in my former PPOR (which I own outright). She and a friend are paying minimal board at about 50% market value, which completely covers my share of the rent with my partner but does nothing to contribute to council rates and Body Corp fees.

At present I would consider myself to be approaching semi-ERE. I only need to work 8-10 weeks per year to cover all my expenses as they stand. A little bit of juggling would reduce that to 5-6 weeks. While on contracts I live in free accommodation with free utilities and internet. My COL while in communities is reduced to food only, and the food options are very basic. I use the time away from home to research various future expense-reduction projects (eg. wine and soap making).

Most of the above has been set up in the years post-divorce. It has been a very positive, freeing time for me personally. Reading Jacob’s book is pushing me to a new level yet again. I am excited about the future possibilities and challenges that ERE (obviously not ‘Early’ in my case, but you get the drift) has opened up.

What is missing from the above are the tales of childhood poverty, a lengthy (unhappy) marriage, the raising of two amazing children (one with severe disabilities), and how African drumming led me to Love :lol: These may or may not make their way into future journal entries. I look forward to participating in other journal discussions now that I’ve introduced myself.

Zanka
Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:33 am

Re: MoonShadow’s Musings

Post by Zanka »

Nice intro, following!

Mostly interested in reading african Drumming stories for sure!

basuragomi
Posts: 419
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:13 pm

Re: MoonShadow’s Musings

Post by basuragomi »

I'd love to hear more about the straw bale home and what you've learned from the Indigenous communities. When I was working in extremely remote Indigenous communities the vast majority of imported nurses/teachers absolutely hated the work for various reasons so it's interesting to see the opposite be true for you.

AxelHeyst
Posts: 2118
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 4:55 pm
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Re: MoonShadow’s Musings

Post by AxelHeyst »

Looking forward to hearing more about all of the above really. Welcome!

Western Red Cedar
Posts: 1205
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2020 2:15 pm

Re: MoonShadow’s Musings

Post by Western Red Cedar »

This is such a fascinating introduction. I'm very interested to hear more about your journey. Are you a Cat Stevens fan or is there another story behind the name?

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