Turtles-Paradise

I haven’t written in here for almost two months. I’m not going to apologise though, for I had very little to contribute in that two months. I was struggling with figuring out who I was, and what I really wanted from life.

For a long time, I thought I wanted that modern, minimalist, entrepreneur lifestyle. The kind that writes best-selling ebooks on a laptop in Peru. I thought I wanted passive income, freedom from work. It’s a lifestyle that’s sold as the future of the internet, and it’s an unsustainable one. People who buy ebooks, write ebooks. There’s an entire glut of info-products on everything from how to tidy your house to rigging your blog to attract a stream of profitable visitors.

The truth is, that freedom sounds tempting. Mostly because of that laptop in Peru. But who wouldn’t want to quit their day-job, travel the world, and whack out a few thousand words on nebulous subjects here and there?

The truth is, every possible tip on developing yourself and making a success has already been written down, and is probably accessible for free. Ebooks mainly repackage existing information, or personalise it with an individuals person experiences in applying it. That can be useful, make no mistake. There’s a lot of good ebooks out there. But the idea of writing one, of churning out SEO friendly blog content, or of relying on the circular – admittedly huge – internet marketplace was not for me.

Over the past two months I’ve purged my to-do list. I cancelled experiments with Mechanical Turk, survey sites, get two dollars a month for hours of work type submissions. I refused to take on any more web-design projects, bar a couple of minor modifications for long-term clients. I finished projects that had been hanging around uncompleted for months (sorry, Mum!). My husband received his visa, that means he has 99% of the rights and obligations of a British Citizen, and can stay here indefinitely.

And around two weeks ago, I realised my to-do list was empty. Done. Nothing left. It was the oddest feeling to be able to come home from my day-job, and just relax. Play a video game. Cook something nice. Or just lie down and drift into peaceful rest.

It has been a long time since I’ve had that amount of mental space.

It feels good. Really good. So good I’m thinking of patenting it as the new ‘cure-all’ drug and selling it for forty-seven bucks apiece. Only, sadly, you can’t bottle and sell free-time.

Anyway. All this is besides the point – the point is that I had some time to think about what I really want, and what makes me happy. The truth is, we are all different. What works for someone else, even your favourite guru, might not work for you.

So make your own mistakes, and learn your own lessons. There’s a bit of advice that’s been floating around for a long time.

One of the things that often bothers me about ‘Eco-Living’ is the saturation of the market with products labelled as green, eco-friendly etc. and that as a result come at a premium price. It seems like a triumph of marketing more than anything else.

It also has the problem of penalising people on low incomes, who frequently cannot afford organic-cotton fairly-traded independent designer premium cardigans. Whilst I do believe that we need to put our money where our principles are, it should be recognised that a great many people struggle to make ends meet and often cannot even afford enough to eat. This is true both in the developed world, and in the developing world. The different access to resources between a large corporation and a small independent business needs to be recognised. The difference between someone on a professional income raised with a good understanding of ‘how money works’ and someone on a part-time minimum wage job who generally runs out of money before they run out of month also needs to be recognised.

‘Eco-friendly’ products frequently act as a way of assuaging guilt. They are a way of us continuing a pattern of consumption and convenience but paying a little more in order to feel like we’re still doing the right thing. Buying new clothes every season is not sustainable, regardless of how organic the cotton is.
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My kettle has broken. My guess is that the heating element has burned out, and it being the dirt-cheap value-brand kettle purchased for less than a fiver, it’s not worth trying to get it fixed.

In considering replacement options, I considered getting another dirt-cheap one (easy on my pocket), or doing some research and getting a good kettle that would last. On the one hand, I wanted to be able to get rid of it easily in the event of our eventual move – I didn’t want to sink a bunch of money into something that would only be used for a year or so. On the other hand, cheap disposable appliances use energy and materials in their creation and transport, and they frequently (not always) break down faster.

Then I realised there was a third option I hadn’t considered.

Not replacing it at all.

Here was a golden opportunity for clearing some counter-space, reducing the number of items in my kitchen, and solving both my ‘not spending a lot of money’ and ‘not buying cheap appliances’ problems in one swoop.

I don’t need a kettle. I have two other methods for boiling water – slowly, on the stove-top. And quickly, in the microwave. Do I really need a single-purpose item that does the same job?

The main thing I used the kettle for was making a cup of tea in the mornings. This morning I made it in the microwave. Easy!

The next time something of yours breaks down, ask yourself: do I really need to replace it? What else do I own that can do this job for me?

1. Pause. Stand up and stretch. Breathe slowly and deeply for a minute.
2. Go outside. Stand in the sunshine, or the rain, or the wind. Allow yourself to just enjoy the feeling of real weather.
3. Do a few star jumps (jumping jacks).
4. Smile as wide as you can.
5. Give yourself a quick eye and temple massage.
6. Drink a glass of water.
7. Phone a friend and listen to them talk about their day.
8. Have a hug.
9. Write down the thing that is stressing you out. Then rip it up.
10. Go for a long walk. Preferably with a dog.

There are a lot of minimalist blogs out there that talk about the joy of being location independent. Living – and working – from anywhere. Travelling the world.

I have a confession to make. I’ve already done that. I started in University, by taking advantage of an exchange program, and was immediately bitten by the travel bug. I spent around a year living out of what I could carry, making my own shampoo, and travelling on a shoe-string.

And, truthfully, it’s brilliant. It is easily possible to live on almost nothing, especially when you have a network of awesome friends who are happy to let you crash on their couch for a few days. I spent my days looking at some of the natural wonders of the USA – the Appalachian Trail, Red River Gorge, and the Florida Wetlands. I spent my nights writing the amazing novel that would take the world by storm.

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