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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Transition Lifestyles: Satisfaction

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  • From: <pbunch@cox.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Transition Lifestyles: Satisfaction
  • Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2010 6:25:15 -0700

Thank you so much for the responses so far, I hope there are more to come.
Work as an integral part of life seems to be a thread which ties together all
of these responses. If this is generalizable it is very significant. It
really is not surprising in that many psychologists have worked on the
problem of alienation and compartmentalization of "modern" life and found
them to be harmful.

One of the issues I have come across in the transition literature is the need
to educate people to prosper with fewer material goods. The sense of
satisfaction in life is one of the fundamental components of this kind of
prosperity. Surviving would hardly be worthwhile if it meant living with a
sense of constant drudgery and boredom.

A related issue that may be worth chatting about is well-being and how we
communicate it. It gets into the use of status symbols which of course will
never go away but will change in a low consumption society. How do we tell
people non-verbally who we are and that we are doing just fine, thank you?
Smiles and facial expressions reflecting well-being are usually part of the
package but we also generally use clothing, jewelry and other symbols that
say I am this or that and have the power to own this or that.

This group derives status as members of the living on the land listserve and
through contributions to the list. We respect those that contribute useful
information and their status increases as they help others. This appears to
me to be a very healthy kind of prosperity. Membership in the group also
provides the benefits of being recognized as a valued part of a community,
sharing the benefits of knowledge, reaffirmation of beliefs, and other
non-tangibles.

An example of a symbol in the community where we are becoming integrated is
rubber boots. People who work in this rather damp climate generally ware
rubber boots as their work shoes. They are just a practical adaptation to the
the realities of life. They do however immediately scream out " here is a
campesino or at least a person who works outside and understands the
realities of the countryside. As an unknown person I am immediately accepted
on a different level when I'm walking down the trail in rubber boots. The
greeting is likely to be "hello neighbor" rather than just "hello" or perhaps
some non-verbal indication that I am being accepted as something other than a
tourist (the most common kind of "outsider" in the area.)






---- John D'hondt <dhondt@eircom.net> wrote:
>
> We read a few books, play the odd game of chess or cards, sudoku puzzles or
> other puzzles and crosswords quite a lot but other than that it is mostly
> self sufficiency related. We do have a variety of musical instruments (4
> guitars, one banjo, trumpet and bag pipes, a dozen or more tin wistles) but
> it is only when someone feels like playing that any playing is going on, it
> is very unorganized and informal.
> We had a fox killing a good few ducks and geese here so I have been
> trapping
> foxes these last few weeks. Very interesting this, I have systems to see
> where and when a fox comes past but it means a long walk at least 2-3 times
> a day. Then we decided to try our hand at brain tanning the liberated
> skins.
> Takes a lot of time to cure a good skin that way.
> Berries are being gathered by the barrel load right now and they need to be
> processed into jams and wine and winter medicine. Quinoa and amaranth
> harvest are in full swing and that takes a good bit of work. At the same
> time we are smoking some hams and pies are being baked. There are too many
> perch in our lake and we do some night fishing maybe once a week to right
> that situation.
> I finally got a particular rat this evening I had been after for over a
> year. Much more interesting than listening to some drunk people in the pub.
> We have our hands so full we really need few external distractions.
> For a while, well a good few years, most of the family were involved in
> martial arts with several training sessions per week. We grew out of that
> for several reasons, the constant pressure to "grade" for an expensive new
> belt (more than $250 once you are past simple black) all the time and the
> pressure to give it too much of your life with competitions abroad and so
> on.
>
> If you like what you do (the "work") it is like a vocation combined with a
> holiday.
> John
>
> > I'm really interested in how people on the list relax and recreate. One
> > of
> > the great challenges of the transition will be finding low material
> > throughput means of having fun and finding meaning in life. In fact this
> > is perhaps an area of greater personal interest than the agricultural
> > aspects although the two are not necessarily or at least completely
> > separate. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
> >
> > At this point we are making the transition from urban living to country
> > living and are so busy we don't think much about it. Things we do however
> > include trips to other small towns in the area to get to know them and
> > what they offer, occasional trips to some of the other interesting
> > locations nearby, birdwatching, botanizing, gardening with flowers and
> > other non-food items, reciprocal visits with neighbors for chats and
> > meals, listening to music via the internet and on CDs, going to an
> > occasional concert or theater event (in Medellin there are a lot of free
> > opportunities), learning to play the guitar, and who knows what else that
> > does not come to mind just now.
> >
> > Anyone?
> >
> > Phil Bunch
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland
> >
> >
>
>
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