This is amazing. I found it quite fascinating. What struck me was how much I think I need in order to live my life, and all the 'stuff' that I surround myself with, as opposed to what these people needed. This is simplicity of living pared down to the absolute minimum and I must say that I found the thought of it appealing. And brave. There is a part of me that would love to live in this way, but truthfully I don't think I could. Voluntarily, I mean. I'm not brave or courageous enough. Thank you for finding this.
Deb - true indeed. A lot of the people who left comments on YouTube picked up the danger of bears, living in such a flimsy tent. But I wonder if a person who lived that way might look at our life, and say, 'Yeah, it's all great until you go bankrupt or get burgled or run over by a car?'
Tania - something that interested me in the video was that all her things looked like stuff someone else might have thrown away. My friend Tom who lives in the woods near Liverpool once commented that the secret of success is to want what other people don't.
Helen - I like the simplicity but I'd find the cold daunting. I wondered about her log supply. She had a way to go dragging it home, but the logs were ready cut. Hard if you had to fell the tree! And she had the basics for cooking - I wondered what her system was. Had she a car to go into town? Could she get 4G internet connection out there (and a solar charger)? Would a lorry deliver - that's what my friend Tom did: he had a bike to go out and about, and every few weeks the Suma lorry came by to deliver his food essentials. He had a wood stove in his workshop under the main living room, so the chimney rose up through and heated it. A-frame house designed by his brother.
I can't imagine the amount of time it took her to do every blessed thing. I would never, ever, have the courage to live like that. Thanks for sharing a totally different way of life, Pen, and one that makes me count my blessings.
Loved this little film, the slow pace, the lack of background music. Wondering, being me, if I could pare my life down this far. Having lived with less than half my stuff for six or seven weeks I know I need less than half my stuff, probably less than half of half. In the back of my mind the purpose of the new job here is to save up for a bit of land where I can live even more simply. Thanks for sharing this Pen! <>
Yes - I found it so inspiring. I like the things I have, but I also like to keep them simple and few. God bless your dream of a patch of land of your own. It's a wise and worthwhile ambition. xx
The first thing that came to mind was, "chop wood, carry water". I would think that a very few could live like this permanently. Kudos to her for keeping her dream alive.......
Yes - I agree with you. People who live this way all their lives are unusual and few. But to live like this even for a little while would make a permanent difference to a person, I think. And in uncertain times I think it could create reassurance in the heart to have acquired the skills. In Europe at the moment we have been thinking hard about refugees and migrants, and in England we are in a steep downward plunge into austerity under our present government. Those on low incomes are frightened. I don't think anyone should be forced to live like the lady in the tent, but I think people who develop habits of frugality, self-reliance, foraging and scavenging, depending less on grids, systems and money, make themselves less at the mercy of social and political inequalities. It's not a way of life that one could ever recommend to someone else, but blessed is the one who chooses it.
Reminds me of the old story of the higher-up in court fellow counseling a poor political rebel, saying, "If you'd just learn to please the emperor you wouldn't have to be eating beans." To which the rebel replied,"Yes, true, but if you'd just learn to eat beans you wouldn't have to please the emperor." As our gap here in America gets wider and wider between the 1% (the rich) and the 99% (all the rest of us) it is becoming more and more important to learn the difference between needs, wants and preferences. Good lessons for soul and pocketbook.
I think if you make up your mind that a life like that is what you want it's probably fine to have to plan your life around chopping wood and collecting water. It's doubtful someone choosing a life like this would have to drive to the city for work 5 times a week so planning on 2 hrs for collecting wood or an hour for water would just become part of the routine I think.
Loved it. It reminded me a lot of a film I watched a few years ago about a family of Old Believers in Russia who escaped to the wilderness during the Stalin years. The last surviving family member, Agalfia, still lives there by herself. She is seventy. I was especially struck by something one of the young Russian forest workers said in the film: "When you meet a person here, you are happy because you feel you can help them. In the past, hunters would always leave firewood, matches, and something to eat in their cabins. It's the taiga way. There are no bad people in the taiga. Most bad people are where a lot of other people are. They can steal there. But out here, they would not survive. Taiga cleanses you. This place makes you reflect on your actions. It cleanses your soul." You can watch the video "Lost in the Taiga" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt2AYafET68
I wrote a little about simplicity on my blog this week. What does a sparrow need to be a sparrow? What does a squirrel need to fulfill its purpose as a squirrel? What is essential to fulfill being human?
Ah yes - I know that video. Somehow it makes me feel a little sad. There was that man, too, wasn't there - living nearby - with whom her relationship was a little uneasy. x
Yes, Agalfia's story is a little sad. Of course, she didn't really choose that life for herself, her father did.
Have you see "Alone In the Wilderness"? Dick Proenneke moved to the Alaskan wilderness at age fifty (I think), and lived alone there for thirty years in a cabin he built himself. I watched the documentary many years ago on PBS, but there are parts of it on YouTube. The first ten minutes or so are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss&list=PLHhsu-Vn6jZpBMVJ5Wncizf0wrCw1C0-V I have always been fascinated by people who leave society and technology and make a contented life for themselves.
Me too! No, I haven't found that story before - I'm looking forward to seeing that YouTube clip - thank you! Today I am marking proofs, writing a magazine article, then visiting my mother - it will be my reward at the end of the day! xx
17 comments:
Yeah it's all great til you get eaten by a bear :-D
I enjoy watching this video. Thank you for sharing.
Just goes to show that less is more. We have too much in this world of ours!
Blessings
xTania
This is amazing. I found it quite fascinating. What struck me was how much I think I need in order to live my life, and all the 'stuff' that I surround myself with, as opposed to what these people needed. This is simplicity of living pared down to the absolute minimum and I must say that I found the thought of it appealing. And brave. There is a part of me that would love to live in this way, but truthfully I don't think I could. Voluntarily, I mean. I'm not brave or courageous enough. Thank you for finding this.
Deb - true indeed. A lot of the people who left comments on YouTube picked up the danger of bears, living in such a flimsy tent. But I wonder if a person who lived that way might look at our life, and say, 'Yeah, it's all great until you go bankrupt or get burgled or run over by a car?'
Tania - something that interested me in the video was that all her things looked like stuff someone else might have thrown away. My friend Tom who lives in the woods near Liverpool once commented that the secret of success is to want what other people don't.
Helen - I like the simplicity but I'd find the cold daunting. I wondered about her log supply. She had a way to go dragging it home, but the logs were ready cut. Hard if you had to fell the tree! And she had the basics for cooking - I wondered what her system was. Had she a car to go into town? Could she get 4G internet connection out there (and a solar charger)? Would a lorry deliver - that's what my friend Tom did: he had a bike to go out and about, and every few weeks the Suma lorry came by to deliver his food essentials. He had a wood stove in his workshop under the main living room, so the chimney rose up through and heated it. A-frame house designed by his brother.
I can't imagine the amount of time it took her to do every blessed thing. I would never, ever, have the courage to live like that. Thanks for sharing a totally different way of life, Pen, and one that makes me count my blessings.
It occurred to me, watching it - that dog is VITAL to this situation! x
Loved this little film, the slow pace, the lack of background music. Wondering, being me, if I could pare my life down this far. Having lived with less than half my stuff for six or seven weeks I know I need less than half my stuff, probably less than half of half. In the back of my mind the purpose of the new job here is to save up for a bit of land where I can live even more simply.
Thanks for sharing this Pen!
<>
Yes - I found it so inspiring. I like the things I have, but I also like to keep them simple and few. God bless your dream of a patch of land of your own. It's a wise and worthwhile ambition. xx
The first thing that came to mind was, "chop wood, carry water". I would think that a very few could live like this permanently. Kudos to her for keeping her dream alive.......
Sherry
Yes - I agree with you. People who live this way all their lives are unusual and few. But to live like this even for a little while would make a permanent difference to a person, I think. And in uncertain times I think it could create reassurance in the heart to have acquired the skills.
In Europe at the moment we have been thinking hard about refugees and migrants, and in England we are in a steep downward plunge into austerity under our present government. Those on low incomes are frightened. I don't think anyone should be forced to live like the lady in the tent, but I think people who develop habits of frugality, self-reliance, foraging and scavenging, depending less on grids, systems and money, make themselves less at the mercy of social and political inequalities. It's not a way of life that one could ever recommend to someone else, but blessed is the one who chooses it.
Loved this little film, but you keep asking your self,who is she,where does she live, is it her own land,does she have an income? Etc etc
Reminds me of the old story of the higher-up in court fellow counseling a poor political rebel, saying, "If you'd just learn to please the emperor you wouldn't have to be eating beans."
To which the rebel replied,"Yes, true, but if you'd just learn to eat beans you wouldn't have to please the emperor."
As our gap here in America gets wider and wider between the 1% (the rich) and the 99% (all the rest of us) it is becoming more and more important to learn the difference between needs, wants and preferences.
Good lessons for soul and pocketbook.
I think if you make up your mind that a life like that is what you want it's probably fine to have to plan your life around chopping wood and collecting water. It's doubtful someone choosing a life like this would have to drive to the city for work 5 times a week so planning on 2 hrs for collecting wood or an hour for water would just become part of the routine I think.
Reminds me a bit of Guide Camp :-D
Loved it. It reminded me a lot of a film I watched a few years ago about a family of Old Believers in Russia who escaped to the wilderness during the Stalin years. The last surviving family member, Agalfia, still lives there by herself. She is seventy. I was especially struck by something one of the young Russian forest workers said in the film: "When you meet a person here, you are happy because you feel you can help them. In the past, hunters would always leave firewood, matches, and something to eat in their cabins. It's the taiga way. There are no bad people in the taiga. Most bad people are where a lot of other people are. They can steal there. But out here, they would not survive. Taiga cleanses you. This place makes you reflect on your actions. It cleanses your soul." You can watch the video "Lost in the Taiga" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt2AYafET68
I wrote a little about simplicity on my blog this week. What does a sparrow need to be a sparrow? What does a squirrel need to fulfill its purpose as a squirrel? What is essential to fulfill being human?
Ah yes - I know that video. Somehow it makes me feel a little sad. There was that man, too, wasn't there - living nearby - with whom her relationship was a little uneasy. x
Yes, Agalfia's story is a little sad. Of course, she didn't really choose that life for herself, her father did.
Have you see "Alone In the Wilderness"? Dick Proenneke moved to the Alaskan wilderness at age fifty (I think), and lived alone there for thirty years in a cabin he built himself. I watched the documentary many years ago on PBS, but there are parts of it on YouTube. The first ten minutes or so are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss&list=PLHhsu-Vn6jZpBMVJ5Wncizf0wrCw1C0-V I have always been fascinated by people who leave society and technology and make a contented life for themselves.
Me too! No, I haven't found that story before - I'm looking forward to seeing that YouTube clip - thank you! Today I am marking proofs, writing a magazine article, then visiting my mother - it will be my reward at the end of the day! xx
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