The Salt Box

wldavidson YOGA & MINDFULNESS

MERSEACA
scale down to happiness

February 26, 2014

Some people call it the boob tube….well, I’ve come up with another name now that I’m a coastal property owner…. The Salt Box.  You are probably wondering why I’m talking about a television when I’m supposed to be discussing my tiny house build.  Let me explain.

Back in January there was a media request for a major network tv series seeking folks building tiny houses.  They would feature my house build and help turn my tiny place into an “amazing space”. The wheels started churning and I went through Skype interview after interview with various casting directors and the Vice President of the company in New York City.  I communicated with them day in and day out.  Over and over I sent pictures and stories.  I promoted myself, my new community, and friends to them.  Even my friends conducted Skype interviews.  The possibility of being on a tv show started to consume my life.  I started missing yoga class and hanging out with friends to fulfill the network’s requests and deadlines.  This went on for a month.  They loved my story and wanted to start filming in April.  A tight deadline to build an entire house….even if it is only 510 square feet.  That meant compromise; compromising my house’s character and the personalization I wanted to create with my friends and 30A/Seagrove Beach community.  I started to wonder if my desire to not house drama in my life would fit their “tv needs”.  It became a stressful situation.   I, along with Marc, my contractor and good friend, realized we had lost focus.  We had let the thought of television consume us.  Marc was able to help me peel away the layers and see this.  He supported whatever decision I was to make about the network featuring our tiny house build.

I decided against filming.  Why?  One of the reasons I want to downsize is to live more simply.  Simplifying = less stress in life.  It also allows more time to be spent out in your community and with friends.  I moved to a place the locals classify “paradise”.  Over the past year I’ve gotten to experience this paradise.  One of the things I noticed was how the locals were what I like to call “out of their way” nice.  They hug, they help, and they have hearts of gold.  I am thankful for each and every one of them and the role they have played in my life over the past year in an unfamiliar place away from my Tennessee home.  They have helped me create a new home.  I usually despise the term “proud”, but I must admit I am proud of my 30A village.

The Salt Box dilemma.  I could be featured on a national television show and have a film crew disrupt my new village or I could go out and YOLO board with my new found brothers and sisters in the salty water of the Gulf… you now understand why I chose the Salt over the Box.

I’ve turned the television off and my adventure is developing a 2nd beginning. It’s exciting and to make it feel more real, we cleared my little piece of coastal property today….just enough for my teeny-tiny house (no magnolias, live oaks or saw palmettos were harmed in the process)!