Well, we made it. It is the end of the season and what a season it was. So I'm going to be taking a little bit of a break after today's episode and just trying to unplug and enjoy Christmas with the family and do normal human things that doesn't involve a ton of content creation.

But then I'll be back with a fresh set of episodes in January. So just kind of wanted to give you an idea of what to expect. But in today's episode, I wanted to wrap up this season with a bit of a bang. So I had a few pieces of criticism and feedback that I have received over the last month or two as we've been recording these episodes. And so I thought it would be fun to discuss some of that today.

Because there are some really good points made. And I think it opened up some very interesting conversation around this topic of opting out of systems and kind of going against the status quo, which is what we really focused on the season. So should be a good one. Let's get started.

You're listening to the old-fashioned on-purpose podcast where ambitious people master the art of returning to their roots. Have you found yourself disenchanted with society or wishing you could opt out of the rat race? Perhaps you're craving a life that's meaningful and tangible. A life where you can create and produce instead of merely consumed.

I am Jill Winger, best-selling author and long-time home center. Over the last 10 years, I've helped thousands of families create more connection, grow amazing organic food, and find the ultimate fulfillment with old-fashioned lifestyle. And I can do the same for you. Now on to our episode.

Okay, so as it works with most content creation projects, the vast majority of the feedback I got from the season was very positive. And I wanted to thank you so much to everyone who sent emails and Instagram messages and Facebook messages saying, you know, this is what I needed and you were sharing your stories and your ideas and what you've been questioning and it was so much fun to have this conversation with so many of you.

Thank you, thank you for all of the support and all of the conversations that we had.

And within those conversations, there's been a few interesting pieces of feedback that have come through.

And I'm open to that when it's respectful and it's intelligent and it's not just, you know, name calling, but there's been a couple points that people had or disagreements they had with this topic that I've been sharing over the last whatever 13, 12, I guess, episodes.

So the first one that I wanted to address, and this is a really quick and easy one, there was a couple people saying, oh man, all you're talking about is this current event system opting out status, close stuff, I don't want to listen to that.

You need to talk about something else. So just a reminder, for those of you who are maybe new to the podcast or maybe new to what I do online, I have a ginormous library of homesteading content.

So this is kind of a new thing for me to talk about opting out and making different choices and questioning things like that's a new strain of content and we'll be continuing that on in the new year, not every episode will be about this sort of thing, but it'll be mixed in.

So if you're not into it, we have over 250 episodes of this podcast like for real 250 of every homesteading topic under the sun, we've got cows and chickens and cooking and bread baking and canning and preserving and gardening, how to buy land, how do maintain your mindset, how to deal with failure, like we've got it all.

So if you're not into this, I would highly suggest going back into the archives, I also have the blog with a ton of blog posts on recipes and tutorials and all the action items and really, you know, I've been creating homestead content for over 10 years online and so

A lot of these topics are kind of been there done that for me and that's kind of why I'm interested in broadening my horizons a bit, which is what I've done in the season, which felt like a little bit of a risk is a content creator, because it was off the beaten path, but ultimately it's been a really good thing. So just wanted to give those of you who are new kind of a lay of the land, what to expect.

The second bit of feedback that I wanted to address, this is a really interesting one. So I had a couple people who were criticizing some of the choices I made that I was explaining over the last few episodes, namely, when I talked about how we drove home from Washington DC instead of flying home, people were saying things like, you know, that was it's kind of hypocritical to say you were opting on a systems because

you're still using systems in other parts of your life. And so I had to sit with that and think about it. And yeah, I think it's a valid point. So I wanted to bring some more clarity to this idea, because I feel like many of you who are also questioning things like me, maybe you're kind of wondering this as well, like what does it look like to blaze my own trail in one aspect of my life, but maybe I can't blaze it the same way in another area. So here's what I've been thinking about.

Along these lines. So I think this is a little bit related to the risk that comes with putting yourself out there when you create content, right, especially when you are creating in the format of something like a podcast because, you know, when I'm doing written word content creation, I can write that blog post I can write that book manuscript and I can edit it to death and make sure it makes sense and make sure it is using the words I want to use and it is it's in flow.

And I can refine those concepts, but when I put myself out there on a podcast or sometimes even a video, it's just a little trickier. So sometimes as I'm sharing ideas, you heard me say this before, oh, well, you know, this podcast is kind of me verbally processing this thought.

And that's what I do sometimes. So I run the risk when I'm verbally processing with you guys that I don't use the perfect descriptive words.

Sometimes what comes to me in the this per the moment is a half baked thought or a thought that isn't fully developed or refined, but one thing I've learned to get better at over the years in creating is sometimes you just have to put it out there to the universe before it's 100% ready because waiting for a thought or an idea or a product or whatever to be 100% perfect like that doesn't ever happen nothing is ever 100% perfect.

And so when I came into this topic for the season of opting out of systems, I had this choice of, you know, this is something I'm feeling strongly about there's something here. I know other people are resonating with it and I was like, do I like the idea of system.

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