Who's Homestead Are You Living On?

Oscar Wilde is credited with the famous saying, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” There is no doubt that we should follow in the footsteps of those who have successfully navigated difficult endeavors.

However, is there a fine line between imitation in an attempt to recreate and imitation to the point to where you are basically copying someone’s life or processes?

I strongly believe that mentors matter. As we have stated before, mentors can help you avoid making the same mistakes they have, some of them potentially costly. But in following in the footsteps of a mentor too closely, do we risk not living our own lives, but trying to live theirs?

In homesteading, there are a great many successful homesteaders and farmers that have spent decade perfecting their craft. In this sense, I think new homesteaders have a duty to learn from the masters and avoid the unnecessary pain of failure. We admittedly have a high degree of respect for people like Joel Salatin and homesteaders like Simple Living Alaska, The Hollar Homestead, and Appalachian Homestead with Patara. However, we also understand that their homestead is their homestead. Or goal on our homestead, as we think should also be yours, is not to recreate their homestead on your property.

This adage is known to date back to Ancient Kemet (Egypt). In it’s fuller form is was, “Man, know thyself” to highlight the importance of self-awareness.

To me, there is a danger in romanticizing an experience or what you think an experience is. We have all seen it with other things in life. Be it women who have dreams of experiencing their own Cinderella romance story or a man who wants to become his favorite action star. The problem is those things are not real and secondly, we lack insight into a lot of the process that led to the end result that we all love.

For Joel Salatin, he discusses his journey to becoming the Permaculture Master that he is today. I’ll be completely honest here, I respect him for taking the hard road he did but I have no interest in reliving his experiences that got him there. We are, however, interested in adapting his successful permaculture operations for our homestead.

Imagine walking into someone’s home and having the unmistakable feeling that you have seen it before. You look around scratching your head wondering where you have seen it. Then you ask the question, “Your home looks familiar, what did you model it after.” With a massive smile on their face, they exclaim, “Its a recreation of the house from Full House!” They take you on a tour, stopping to point out parts of the home with excitement, “So…do you remember this part from the episode where the twins….” If you are anything like me, you would start looking for the closest exit.

This is strange. That home is not theirs. They just live in it. Its more a museum than a home. It’s a temple to someone else’s vision, life, or experience.

How is it possible to make your own memories in something that is intentionally your best recreation of someone else’s life?

If you spend your life trying to impersonate your favorite idol, when do you ever develop into yourself?

The thing that makes us amazing and unique is that we are the result of our own experiences. Depending on the type of person you are will determine your response to the following question. Pick someone you idolize, for whatever reason (we are not judging). You “love” him or her. You are out running some errands and as you get out of your car someone runs up to you screaming, “Oh My Gosh!!!! Its [insert idol’s name here]. Can I take a picture with you?” Are you flattered or confused?

Some people would love to be confused with someone famous. Others, however, may pull back in confusion. “What!?” you may exclaim. “I’m not [insert idol’s name here].”

The point is, be yourself. Be you. Make your homestead your homestead.

Should you have a homestead visit your set up, would you be flattered if they said, “…this looks exactly like [named Youtuber]’s homestead]? Or if you tell people your homestead story and they look at you funny and say, “Wow…that sounds almost identical to [named YouTuber]’s story.”

Or would you rather them marvel, if they must, at the uniqueness of your story and how you were able to take aspects of several accomplished homesteaders and adapted it to your property and lifestyle?

We are CampFIRE Homesteading, the beneficiaries of those who have come before us and paved the way to establish a prosperous homestead, and the result of our own trials and experiences. We pay homage to the homesteading greats and understand that our success is because we are able to stand on their shoulders. We imitate to the extent that it is suitable for our homestead and our goals. But we are us…and are very proud to be us.

Be proud of your homestead!