This week kicks off a new series here: Trust Tending Kindreds. Each Friday I’ll share an inspirational sketch that introduces a blogger whose work is kindred to my own and expands on the theme I explore on Monday and Wednesday.
Today, Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens is with us. Tammy is a writer and tiny house enthusiast who blogs about living simply and taking small, daily steps to live a happy, healthy life.
I love Tammy’s work, and even more so the icon her life has become for all of us. She and her husband live in a 150 square foot home, and got there not through some dramatic, over-night purge of possessions, but a years-long process of asking again and again, What makes us happy? How much [clothing, appliances, books, furniture, you-name-it] do we really need?
By asking their questions and acting, day by day, on their answers, their lives have become a larger-than-life…or, in the case of their home, smaller-than-life :)…demonstration of where happiness is and isn’t truly rooted. By their very presence, and the writing Tammy offers through her books and blog, they inspire our own question-asking, shake up our assumptions, and hold space for us to move incrementally in their direction. (Jen Lee has a great little video exploring this service that icons inherently offer.)
More often than not, trust is grown by means of small steps over time, and Tammy’s work is a wonderful reminder of that.
Recently Tammy joined Courtney Carver of Be More With Less to create a resource called Your Lovely Life – all about cultivating beauty and joy every day. Part of that venture is to offer 3-week mini-courses on a variety of related themes, the first of which is called Create Space, and starts March 19.
I hope you’ll check out Tammy’s (and Courtney’s!) work and find it as trust-nourishing as I have!
Everything Belongs
Seasons are universal. Treat yours uniquely.
[...] Earlier this week I received a sweet email from Kristin Noelle, along with a sketch of me and my tiny house! Kristin’s note and drawing made my day a whole lot brighter. Thank you [...]
Pingback by Inspiring Links: Sketches & Books — March 9, 2012 @ 10:18 amHey there Kristin. I want to take a second to say I love your sketches (and have for a while…secretly though, as I don’t comment that much) but also to just say that as you sketch so many inspirational thoughts and people it is truly your sketches that are the inspiration. They are so colorful and simple while stimulating rather complex topics and soul searching. For that, I thank you.
Tammy is a dear tiny house friend and Interweb friend of mine and together with Logan has been a huge supporter of my tiny house family here on the East Coast. My wife and I run http://www.tinyrevolution.us and we are a ‘party of 3′ who just enjoy sharing the message of “life is bigger when it’s smaller.”
May I ask if you sell copies of your sketches? I think it would be cool to have one of Tammy that when we meet face-to-face one day she could scribble a little message on for us. Or maybe you commission little sketches? Just curious.
Whatever the case, thank you so much for sharing your talent with the world. Bless you!
Comment by Andrew Odom — March 10, 2012 @ 3:07 amDelighted to meet you, Andrew, and thanks so much for your kindness!
I do put sketches in my shop as high-res pdf’s as people request them, and am happy to do so with this one. I’ll do so by day’s end.
Much warmth to you!
Comment by Kristin — March 10, 2012 @ 9:02 am