10 Simple Ways To Know You Were Meant To Live A Rustic Life

1. You’ve always been a back-to-basics kind of person.

Growing your own fruits and veggies or supporting the local farmer’s markets is extremely important to you. You prefer to make your own food, clothes, soap, or other things when you can and you like to take up little projects to learn how to become more self-sufficient in these areas. You like to put your extra time and energy to having a life filled with a little bit less of artificiality.

2. You take joy and fulfillment out old-fashioned activities.

You’ve probably been called an old soul before and this is because you get genuine enjoyment from simple moments in life that have been favorites of people for generations. You love exploring unknown landscapes, handwriting letters or little notes to people you care about, taking drives through old country roads. These are the types of things you get the most satisfaction from.

3. You’d rather make your own art than buy it.

You’re the kind of person who can take a canvas, a piece of wood, a photograph, or some other seemingly simple thing and turn it into something magnificent that truly reflects you and your style. This is how you love to decorate your home and give gifts – you just feel like it makes things more personal this way.

4. You feel disconnected with the way general society lives.

You don’t understand why people need multiple apps to find a suitable dating partner or why people spend 10 minutes trying to find the right filter for a picture of their latte or meal. You just can’t get into these modern habits and often get frustrated when it seems like you’re the only one at the table or at a social event who isn’t interested in spending half of the night on their phone.

5. You would rather live in a cabin or small house in a rural area than anywhere else.

You need to be surrounded by nature to feel truly fulfilled and happy in life. You have to be able to get lost from time to time in either the mountains, woods, or by the ocean. It’s the way you reconnect with the world and recharge. You can live in the city, sure, but being around so much noise and stimulation wears you out and leaves you feeling generally unsatisfied with life.

6. Cooking and hosting intimate events for people is how you show people you care.

Food = love to you. You’re always up for finding and learning new recipes you can experiment with so you can perfect them and later make them for friends and family. You enjoy making food from scratch when you have the time and this is one of your favorite ways to show people how much you love them.

7. You focus on trying to slow down the speed of life.

In a world of screens, instant gratification, and constant communication you try to limit the stimuli and slow things down a bit more. You’re attracted to growing your own plants or building a piece of artwork from scratch because you enjoy the process of watching something grow and come to fruition from a simple idea. It takes a greater deal of time to get to the end result and requires you to stay truly present in the moment, focusing on each detail and savoring every moment of the process.

8. You tend to distance yourself from moments of overstimulation.

You find yourself withdrawing when in large groups of people and you can’t enjoy loud, crowded places. A social setting that’s one-on-one in a small, intimate space is the best environment for you to open up to another person and connect on a deeper level.

9. You feel healthier when you get away from it all.

Getting away from it all meaning getting away from the buzz of the city, of people all around you, of being surrounded by screens and artificial displays of humanity. None of that seems quite real to you and you’re self-aware enough to know when it’s becoming detrimental to your mind, body, and soul. It’s when you find yourself alone amidst the trees, the remote countryside, or next to a body of water when you truly feel at peace with yourself and a sense of calm you can’t find anywhere else.

10. You’re more focused and productive in a rural setting.

There’s a reason writers and creative types retreat to rural areas to work on their art – it’s where they can focus and hone in on their craft. When you don’t have constant interruptions and that sense of urgency to respond to every little thing within a matter of moments your productivity increases. You realize the things in day-to-day life that are presented with a great deal of urgency aren’t actually that urgent at all and you’re better able to quiet the voice within you.