About Harmony

Welcome to Creating My Kaleidoscope, where we share our progress towards becoming financially semi-independent and realizing our dream of thriving on a homestead.  Over the past seven years, we have destroyed over $100,000 in debt, while growing our family and finding time to enjoy the journey.

Harmony Smith is my secret identity; an alias to use while executing my design for a more balanced and fulfilling life.  I might be described as an average member of the middle-class: attorney and mother of five, but readers of this blog know about just how much more there is to my story . . .

The short version is that I found myself incompatible with a life that was perfect according to the generally-accepted views on “success.”  I had a promising career and a healthy family.  Yet, a suffocating malaise set in and I was paralyzed, looking out at an endless horizon of mediocrity.  I went through the motions, in a haze of work, to-do lists, chores, and zoning out in front of the television or escaping into fiction novels.  I regret the time that was wasted in this purgatory.  The spell was broken, eventually, after I embarked on a journey of self-discovery via the internet.

I became fascinated by blogs.  There are so many people in this world who are living extraordinary lives because they were brave enough to break free from the status quo.  It was enlightening and truly life-changing to learn of the universe of options that are available, but rarely encouraged. My realization:

We can design our own life: a shifting, multi-faceted, beautiful kaleidoscope. 

The Smith Family consists of my best friend, Mr. Smith (married since 2005), Goofball (12 years old), Tornado (10 years old), Trey (7 years old), and The Twins (5 years old).  We love the outdoors, taking road trips in our bus, visiting National Parks, hiking, and learning about new things.  In 2020, we went on a one month California Adventure with all seven of us in an RV.

We are working towards the goal of building a homestead where we can semi-retire at the age of 40 43, with greater flexibility in our lives and the ability to become more self-sufficient.  The plan for our Kaleidoscope Homestead includes gardens, an orchard, chickens, honeybees, and solar panels.  We will be living a even more frugal lifestyle, and support ourselves with income from our two rental properties and various side hustles.  The biggest unknown right now is how long my work will continue to be in the law, or until we will reach a point where side hustles/passion projects will be enough to support our full-time engagement in life.  We will continue to explore on family adventures, hopefully with more road trips in the future.

I love to hear from my readers.  Also, please contact me if you’re interested in working together: creatingmykaleidoscope@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by to read about our journey!  Make sure to enter your email in the box on the right to subscribe to new post notifications.  It’s the easiest way to stay updated on our progress.

Best Wishes,

Harmony