You may recall that awhile back I conducted a week-long media fast as part of a class I’m taking on The Artist’s Way.

For those of you who may not have read the original post, a media fast is a complete abstention from all forms of media. That means: no books, magazines, NPR, TV, movies, music with lyrics, email, frantic reading of the back of cereal boxes, etc.

Julia Cameron is not the first to suggest a media fast as a tool for personal development.  Many other self-help gurus (including my crush Tim Ferriss) recommend one ranging anywhere from a day to a month or more.   In it’s purest form it could resemble a Buddhist-style monastic retreat from the world.

Ideally someone participating in a media fast would keep their computer shut down for the length of the fast.  In my case, that was not possible based on the fact I telecommute for work and also had a minimal amount of non-work-related email and tasks to keep Coming Unmoored on track.  However, for a week I gave up all TV, radio, movies, books, and magazines.  I tried to only check more work email twice a day and limited my “blog support” time to no more than an hour a day.

I knew from my resistance to the exercise that the media fast was going to be a pretty radical departure from how I normally spent my time.  But, until I started the actual fast, I had no idea how deeply entrenched my reliance on media actual was.

I won’t lie to you.  My first 48 hours on the media fast were complete hell.  I actually ended up having to de-program all the radio stations on my car radio and hide the internet browser icon on my computer desktop because 5-10 minutes into any kind of silence, I would just automatically turn on the radio or pull up Firefox.  I didn’t even realize I was doing it.  It was just that habitual.

That week at the grocery store, I also ended up automatically throwing the latest issues of two magazines I enjoy into my cart.  The absurdity of buying magazines while I was on a media fast didn’t even hit me until I was home unpacking the groceries.

I also quickly realized just how little patience I have for waiting.  Sitting on hold for a customer service representative to answer on the phone suddenly because a torturous affair when I didn’t have the option to scroll through 100+ colorfully attractive ApartmentTherapy stories while I waited.

During this time, my mind also went completely wild.  It jabbered a loud, non-stop monologue about anything and everything desperately trying to fill the sudden silence.  Imagine Rowan Atkinson with a bad case of Turretts and you’ll have a pretty good idea what was going on inside my head.

In the first two days I ended up sleeping an insane number of hours.  This was in part due to the fact I simply couldn’t figure out what to do with my time.  But also, without the distraction of constant input, I finally got in touch with the fact that I had been going on overdrive for quite awhile was bone-weary tired.

Somewhere at about 48 hours into the media fast, something shifted.  My mind stopped frantically jabbering and fell into a profound sort of silence where it stayed for the remainder of the week.  Perhaps it had simply exhausted all its available material.  I’m really not sure.

I had thought I’d probably use much of my time during the week either writing or working on projects around the house.  But once the silence descended, all I really wanted to do is curl up in one of the chairs on my porch under a blanket and watch the river.  It’s hard to explain but it somehow became endlessly fascinating to me.

The rest of my week was spent rising with the sun, doing what I needed to get done for my job, sitting on my porch until sunset, and then sleeping deeper than I had in years.  Rumi quickly fell into the rhythm of the exercise and was happy to spend the evenings in my lap rather than insisting on exploring the marina.

I was aware that some sort of wheels were busy churning deep inside me during this time, but whatever was going on was at a level I couldn’t consciously follow or describe.  Something was just… happening.

Perhaps the most surprising revelation of all, however, was what happened when the media fast was over. Or rather, what didn’t happen.  I had thought when the fast ended, I would go on some sort of media-laden binge.  Instead, however, I seemed to have developed a profound aversion to “noise” which most of my previous media sources now felt like.  I barely thumbed through the magazines I’d purchased.  I ended up unsubscribing from roughly 2/3′s of the previous newsfeeds I had (and am still weeding through the remainder).  Instead of surfing the net constantly, I now may check it briefly in the morning and for a bit longer in the evening if there’s time. And I have next to no patience for email lists. The only thing I really returned to was books.  I’m still doing a significant amount of reading but I now seem to prefer focusing on one book at time.

It’s definitely been an interesting experience and I have a feeling I haven’t yet recognized the full impact.  I’ll tell you this, though–even if you don’t have the time to do a media fast for an entire week, I’d strongly encourage you to try at least 24 hours.  I can guarantee you’ll learn some interesting things about yourself and your habits.

Marina photo by Tammy at RowdyKittens

Amongst the many site changes going on right now, you will probably notice that Coming Unmoored has some advertising for the first time in its history.

Just so everyone knows where I’m coming from, it is not my goal to turn a profit from this site.  However, it would be really nice if I could get the site to the point that it was covering its own software and hosting costs (and that of the Small Living Journal, which will continue to have no advertising).

To that end, you will probably noticing me experimenting with different types of ad blocks over the next few months.

My goal is to figure out how to incorporate some advertising without it being too disruptive or visually jarring to readers of that site.  That that end, if any of the advertising is annoying the hell out of you, I’d ask you to please drop me a note or comment and I’ll see what I can adjust.

Moreover, if by some rare chance this site starts turning a profit, my intention is to sink those funds right back in to development (such as recruiting additional writers).  So, hopefully, it’s a reasonable trade-off.

If I’m off the mark on this one, let me know.

Around the globe there is a tremendous amount of prime real estate simply not being used for any real purpose whatsoever.  Many, if not most, property owners do not realize that if they have a large, flat roof there are some really fun and interesting options for what they can do with this space.  In fact, these options can even enhance their lives by giving them not just more space, but a different space than what they currently enjoy.  The Hut puts a spotlight on this idea quite nicely.

Hut is a rather clever idea developed by architect Scotty Batty and designer Morag Myerscogh.  Myerscough wanted a private space for her kitchen in London and decided that she would build a mini-space right on top of the third floor of her 1890′s home.  The end result was the hut.

The Hut is reached by climbing up a simple staircase and while it is only a few feet away from Myerscough’s existing home it feels literally like she is at a retreat home every time she uses it.  Due to the fact that the Hut has such a different design aesthetic, the Hut has become something of an escape.

Myerscough notes that the Hut gives her different light than in her 1890s home as well as a different feel.  Much of this “different light” comes from the fact that the Hut has a large skylight and doors that can be opened to create a very free and flowing space. The design of the Hut is such that it creates a great deal of quite and even privacy as the addition is not visible from street level.

The Hut is constructed entirely out of timber with an eye toward sustainability.  Solar panels also provide for much of the Hut’s power in keeping with this sustainable and green theme.

Part of the Hut’s considerable charm is that the design showcases how much existing space is currently not being properly utilized all over the world. No doubt it is rather sad that there is so much great rooftop space not being enjoyed in some fashion or another and the Hut, with its fresh design, truly underscores this fact.

This post is written by Leo Babauta.  I am re-posting it here in compliance with Leo’s Uncopyright policy.  Leo recently published the book The Power of Less and he is the creator of the Top 100 blog, ZenHabits.

We’re in love with stuff — with shopping, with acquiring, with owning, with collecting.

Let’s lust after life instead.

Our obsession with stuff has become unhealthy. When we have a void in our lives, we buy things. When we have problems, we buy things. And these things are becoming more and more expensive, bigger, shinier … more wasteful.

This obsession with stuff leads to owning a lot, having a lot of clutter … and yet this stuff doesn’t fill our lives with meaning.

It leads to deep debt, from buying so much, and needing bigger houses and storage spaces to contain everything. Financially, we’re worse off than ever, because of this obsession with stuff.

We buy things when we’re depressed, we buy things for others to show how much we love them … and in this way, stuff has separated us from actually dealing with our emotions, blocked us from truly connecting with others.

Let’s replace that lust for stuff with a lust for life.

Some ideas:

• Rediscover a passion for life. Get outside and feel nature, appreciate the beauty of the world around you. Get active, do some gardening or yardwork, play a sport, go for a walk, take a hike, go for a swim, ride a bike. Feel the life coursing through you. Breathe it in.
• Give experiences as gifts, not stuff. Instead of shopping for someone come birthdays or Christmas, think of an experience you can give them instead. A date with you, doing something fun, hanging out, cooking, playing, talking, exploring. A fun time at a park or beach. Something other than everyday. An experience is much more meaningful than an object.
• Connect with others. In real life. If you haven’t hung out with a friend recently, give him a call and go hang out. Get your kid away from the TV or video game player and take her outside to do something. Go on a date with your partner. Visit your mom or grandparents. And be present while you’re with them — really listen, really be there.
• Deal with your emotions. If you have a need to buy things, to shop when you are having emotional issues, be more aware of this. Then deal with the underlying emotions, rather than using shopping as a way to forget about them. If you’re depressed, or anxious, or lonely, deal with those. Find solutions, figure out what’s causing them. Good news: experiencing life, getting active, and connecting with others all help you deal with those emotional issues.
• Disconnect your attachment to stuff. Sometimes I find myself reluctant to give something up, even if I don’t really use it. And that’s when I ask myself, “Why?” What is holding me back from getting rid of this possession? Sometimes, the item has an emotional connection, but then I realize that it’s just an object, it’s not the emotion or the actual source of the emotion. Then I’ll take a picture of the item, upload it to my computer, and get rid of the object. I feel liberated, because I’ve broken an attachment to a physical object (but saved the memory). If you are attached to an object, figure out why — it’s not healthy in the long run.
• Realize that life, not stuff, is what matters. Objects are just objects — if you lose them, if they get stolen or destroyed … it’s not a big deal. They’re just objects — not your life. Your life is the series of moments that is steaming through your consciousness right now, and how you use those moments and what you fill them with is what truly matters, not what you fill your home with. At the end of this short journey, you’ll look back and remember your experiences, the people you loved and who loved you back, the things you did and didn’t do. Not the stuff you had.

The latest issue of the Small Living Journal has just been released.  This issue’s topic is food management and cooking in tiny spaces.

I have also been remiss in mention the past two issues.  If you haven’t already checked them out, I would encourage you to do so:

SLJ: Bureacracy/Regulations and Small Home Living

SLJ: Living with Other People

It’s been a little while since I originally posted on this topic, but I had to say I was pretty amazed at the chord it seemed to strike with Coming Unmoored readers.  One of the changes you will be seeing on this site in coming weeks is that you will see more of this kind of content.

Additionally, you will soon be seeing a modest discussion board area added to Coming Unmoored.  I’ve resisted adding one to this site because I didn’t want to compete with the couple of really good tiny house boards that are already out there like Tiny House Forum and Tiny House Village.  However, as Coming Unmoored starts to focus more on the why behind tiny homes rather than simply the what, I would like for there to be an area where readers can discuss ideas and connect with one another more than is currently possible in just the comments section of posts.

With that, I’d like to spend a little time discussing what some of my personal revelations were  when I considered the following questions:

What would happen if we started being honest with ourselves about what we really want?

What if we started being ruthlessly real?

What if we actually said the things that we think about, but are afraid to say?

Spending some time really thinking about these questions has had a pretty profound impact on my current life and where I hope to be headed.  At a high level I realized that I was really off-track with two key areas of my life: my romantic relationship and my career.

If you’ve been following the blog, you’ve already seen some of the fall-out in terms of my relationship with Charlie.  While I still love Charlie very much, remaining with him was taking me in a direction different from what is deeply important for me to go.  I very much want to have a family.  I also want to continue to explore a lifestyle of simple, independent living.  Neither of those things were going to happen with Charlie as my partner.  In order for us to remain together, the compromises on both sides would have been too dear.  So we ended up having to rebuild our relationship along different, platonic lines.

I have to say that letting go of Charlie was in no way an easy thing for me to do.  I’m still grieving pretty deeply at present.  That, no doubt, has contributed somewhat to the lack of personal entries you’ve seen online from me lately.  There’s just a lot going on internally on that front I’m not yet prepared to put into words.

The second “broken” area of my life is my career.  I’m not yet ready to discuss this one publicly in detail.  Suffice to say, I have a passionate love/hate relationship with my current position.  I have also been working insane hours for the last few months and that, along with some team issues, is sucking the life out of me.  I am still trying to fashion the solution for this one. And “speaking my truth” in this environment would pretty much guarantee I had my pink slip handed to me in 24 hours flat.  But for those of you who are close to me–it hasn’t escaped my notice that this area of my life is broken.  I have no intention of allowing it to remain so.  That’s probably enough to share for present.

With that, I’d like to ask: for those of you for whom the original piece resonated, how has it impact where you currently are?  Did it shake things up a bit?

I would love to hear your stories.

MetroShip isn’t just a pretty face that photographs well.  This cutting-edge house boat concept is hand-made in the United States and inspired by the open floor plans of New York City loft spaces.  Stating that a great deal of thought and care went into the MetroShip would be an understatement.  From concept and design to a finished product, the MetroShip took seven years.  What emerged from those seven years of development was a well-thought out and well-executed vision of how flexible and stylish a houseship could be.

Materials play a vital role in the concept of the MetroShip.  The hull is made out of either of aluminum, fiberglass or steel hull, with translucent aluminum grid panels.  There is a one piece fiberglass roof system as well.

Much of the MetroShip concept revolves around the fact that the designer wanted to the MetroShip to feel like a “updated Frank Lloyd Wright home but with an open New York Loft condo style.”  The materials selected for the concept thus went hand in hand with this design goal.

Interior design was of paramount importance with a major goal being to avoid the “RV at sea” look that is often found in floating homes.  With this goal in mind, tremendous attention was paid to the design of the kitchen and bathroom.  The look, feel and functionality of the kitchen was key as was the idea that the bathroom needed to be full-sized and not scaled down as found on most boats for example.  Another critical aspect of the interior design was light.  The interior space needed to be flooded in light.  Often houseboats are lacking in windows and thus lacking in light.  The MetroShip concept was one were light needed to flow freely.

The tagline for MetroShip is “The Original Modern Houseship.”  And this tagline certainly fits.  The MetroShip has a look and feel that is often missing from most houseships or floating homes.  Complete with engines, the MetroShip is capable of moving under its own power.  At 48 feet in length and 12 feet wide, the MetroShip has plenty of room to not only stretch out but do so from almost anywhere.

Well, looks like I just managed to double the square footage of my living space.

I was happily drinking my morning tea and tinkering with Coming Unmoored’s new template, when this enormous, yellow and blue, SuperFloat sofa went drifting by my front window.

At first I didn’t think too much of it because I could hear children playing in the distance.  I figured kids had been playing with it and just been momentarily distracted.  But then the thing started to turning he corner and head out toward the open river.

Those things aren’t cheap.  Especially not this one which seats five and comes equipped with drink holders, a wading pool at the bottom, and several Supersoaker water cannons.

So I did my good deed, went racing out in my pj’s, and managed to hook the thing before it reached the Columbia.  It’s now tethered outside my house until my neighbors, Tracy and Dan, come looking for it.  I’m not sure if it simply broke free from its line or if they’ve got child-age houseguests who simply forgot they were playing with it.

If it gets a little warmer today, I’m tempted to throw on my swimsuit and try blogging from it.  The thing is pretty much the same size as the living room in my house.

Well, if you made it this far it will probably be hard to miss the fact that Coming Unmoored is going through a site redesign.  I realize there’s currently several formatting issues.

You’re more than welcome to drop me a note and kvetch on any problems you’re experiencing, but just so you know, I’m working to clean things up as quickly as possible.  Hopefully things will be relatively stable by Monday.

The site redesign is just the first of a couple of things to come on the site, so stay tuned.

Each Friday Coming Unmoored runs a weekly roundup of tiny homes featured on the web and recent news stories that may be of interest to small home enthusiasts.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Tiny Houses Featured in the Past Week:

• MetroShip (by MetroShed)
• Two-Story Convertible Camper (Great interior shots!)
  
• ProtoHaus Project
• Weaver’s Nest
• Tiny Cob Structures
• Butterfly Bamboo Home
• Custom Teardrop Trailers
• Shelter House Rennovation
• Tubular Microlodge
• Rucksack House
• Cabin Nordmarka
• Stone Getaway Cabin
• TortoiseShell Camping Cube
• Tiny House in Idaho (Great story on builders)
• Tiny Houses on Tiny Islands
• TreeLife Exhibit
• Easy Domes Ltd

Recent News Stories and Essays on Tiny Homes and the Small Home Movement:

• Futuristic Tiny Homes (Aromix Blog)
• The Tiny House Movement (PRNewswire)
• How Tiny Isn’t Just Smart, it’s ethical (The Tiny Life)

Small Home / Simple Living Websites and Blogs to Check Out:

• ProtoHaus Project
• The Tiny Life