"How Buying a House Radicalized Me"

This post at Hipster Housewife is a must read for anyone who owns or is thinking about owning a home. Maybe it won't resonate with everyone like it does me, but I wanted to share because of how many times I thought "Exactly!" as I was reading it. Especially this part:

We took on a new tax and we staked a very public claim that we believe this corner, on a hill, on the plains, will be worth living on for a while. Our plan to stay in this house for a while makes me much more appreciative of the fact that we’ll be living in this world for a while, too, and I have a responsibility to do my part to keep this hill on the plains habitable. After I signed those mortgage papers, after I entered the social contract which says this bit of land is mine, come feast or famine, I felt attached to the rest of the world by a very real tether. It’s one thing to know, cognitively, each action has a real consequence; it was a new experience to feel that knowledge gutterally. It added weight to every choice I made.

I had a very similar experience. Unlike the author, I never considered myself an activist before being a homeowner. I didn't realize it at the time, but signing those mortgage papers led me to a deeper sense of responsibility for the world around me. Like the author, it started small. First making our house livable for us, then helping a stray dog or two (or three). Then seeking out the neighborhood organization and becoming determined to raise awareness about it after a difficult search for a contact. Starting this blog. Advocating for an improved quality of life for area residents. Starting my MSSW. Next: World peace.

Me in '07. Red-faced and ready to take a sledgehammer to those cabinets.

Ok, I have a long way to go. Maybe I have always had an inner activist lurking, just waiting for me to sign the dotted line in order to awaken. Did buying a house radicalize me? I have my moments. The point is, I can't ignore the influence that becoming a homeowner has had on the past 4 years of my life.

Jason mowing our yard for the first time in early '08. It was winter, the yard did not need mowing.
Nonetheless, a proud moment.