Taproot

 

I finally read an issue of Taproot.

I've wanted to for quite some time, but partly due to the price tag...and partly due to the fact that I live in Alaska and no one carries it, I just kept putting it aside.  Until...last Sunday I was dropping Laurel off at knitting class at the local knitting shop, and there was a small stack by the register for sale. 
At $9 a copy, it's not an easy yes for me...but I really wanted to experience a whole issue. So I indulged this time.  (sometimes a girl just thinks it's worth it)

I should back up, in case you aren't familiar with what Taproot is.  It is a magazine (though, I'm not sure that sums it up well), without the horrible ads, or superficial crap of a normal modern magazine. As much as I appreciate the beautiful and tempting pictures and headlines of Martha Stewart and Shape...and have at some point in my life been a subscriber to both...I am simply not in that stage of life anymore.  My living room doesn't have to look like a spread from Southern Living, my stomach doesn't have to rival Angelina Jolie's, and I truly don't care what celebrities are wearing or who they are dating.  Are there 200 ways to tone my thighs...sure.  Are there 800 family friendly crockpot recipes...yep. Can you organize your house in 7 minutes a day...probably.  But I don't care about it, and I'm not paying you to tell me. 

 Taproot is about what I am about...slow living, focusing on my family, becoming the person I want to be, simplifying, making stronger connections with people, the earth and myself.

I took it one story at a time.  That's what they are...stories...not articles.  They are someone's real thoughts and opinions and life...with a little crafting and cooking thrown in.  The issue I have talks about leek-kraut and patching up old clothes to make them new (and cute again)...but not in the keeping-up-with-the-jones new strange hobbies kind of way...but in a real and meaningful way to connect with what life should really be about. Love, happiness, kindness, being a better human...and teaching your kids all of those qualities. 

Granted, we have grown crunchier in our 30s...and as we approach 40...we are getting crunchier still.  We are trying to live slowly so that we enjoy as much of this stage of our lives as possible.  We homeschool, we live in a tiny house, we try to live very consciously...and as such I really enjoyed Taproot.  Amanda Blake Soule's hubby wrote a piece (sorry, I forget his name...maybe Steve?) and it touched a part of my soul and brain, and gave a voice to the same feelings and frustrations I have with our world.  There was another piece about a small farming family, who almost lost someone due to their farming life...but instead used it as a wake up call to cherish every moment. Ben Hewitt is also a regular contributor, and he's another spokesperson who gives my own opinions a run for their money and pushes me to think even harder about how to live this one life we have the right way.

I believe they only publish 4 times a year, but as I will be framing some of the artwork inside...it's kind of a steal.  Give it a try...if you're anything like me, I think you'll like it.