Photo credit: Deamstime.com

My ideal me is the me I always dreamed I would be.  It’s a picture perfect of what my life would look like if I had unlimited resources, like money, time, energy, etc.  What is ideal to me most likely isn’t what you would dream of as ideal, and vice versa.  That’s the beauty of having a dream; we each are entitled to one (or more), even if that’s all they are: dreams.

In a perfect world, my family and I would live on 5-10 (or more) acres in a house that we designed and built.  It would have a little guest house for the expected (or unexpected) visitor, a cute barn and an unattached garage.  We would have 2-3 cows for milk and meat, a dozen or more chickens for eggs and meat, and maybe a pig, a goat and a horse.  The garden would be large enough to supply us with ample fresh produce throughout the growing season, plus plenty to can or ferment (culture) to last us until the next growing season. 
Other than a garden, the backyard would include a great play area for the kids with playground equipment and a sandbox…maybe even a cute little play house big enough for sleep-over’s and tea parties.  A pool would be a great addition to the backyard, as well as a fire pit and spectacular outdoor/summer kitchen.
Inside the house, I would be making all sorts of ferments like water and milk kefirs, sauerkraut, and yogurt, to name a few.  The smell of fresh, homemade sourdough bread would waft from the kitchen while yummy cookies baked in the 2nd oven.  Raw milk, cream, and handcrafted cheeses would fill our fridge.  Our family would enjoy the best that traditional foods can offer and everything would be homemade, including our condiments, like ketchup and mayonnaise.
My pantry would be full and completely organized.  If we were stuck at home for an emergency, like being snowed in or if there was a power outage, our solar or wind power would allow us to still have lights and would keep the refrigerator running.  The wood cook stove would keep us warm and let us continue to have hot-cooked meals.
If I were really ambitious, I would find time to knit and blog in the evenings, learn woodworking on the weekends, and home school during the day.  My house would always be clean and there would never be any clutter.  Bills would be paid and filed, and I would know where every receipt was.  The laundry would be done daily, washed, dried, folded and put away.  We would even replace our paper towels with cloth napkins from the second-hand store, to help reduce waste and be more eco-wise. 
Now, I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right.  It’s all very idealistic and probably a lot harder and more work than I could possibly know right now.  But, here’s the kicker…there are people already living very similarly to my ideal, my dream.  They may even have the summer kitchen and the pool.  They know the reality of what it takes to pull it off.  And maybe, just maybe, if I make little changes as I am able, I can come just a little bit closer to living that dream.
In the posts ahead, I will be comparing my life as it currently is, to my ideal me.  I’ll be making those little changes and letting you know how it is coming along.  It certainly won’t happen overnight, but if I can make the effort, things will change…for the better!
Tell me, what is your ideal YOU?  It can be anything.  You can separate the possible and the not-quite-so possible, later!