Oh hell yes! This is exactly where I'm at too - and I think it is the secret they don't want us to find out. Peace, people, purpose. It is absolutely is a radical act and takes effort every day. But it is so worth it. Beautifully written, thank you!
It does kind of feel like the ultimate (anti) life hack, doesn't it? You can ... work less and ... enjoy life more? The only catch is you have to buy less shit.
Gorgeous, thank you. This chimes with how I'm seeing things now too. There is such relief in letting the old striving go, and sometimes it can be hard to just let myself read the book in the sun, even when I am totally in the position to do it. The angst / brainwashing / conditioning to spend days by the laptop hustling is strong. Thanks for being a sane voice.... here's to an embodied creative life of growing veg and enjoying the real world and the pockets of peace we are lucky enough to have.
thank you Rosie for yet again so precisely articulating the zeitgeist that many if us find ourselves right now. it’s so the point it almost hurts. maybe it’s my defense mechanism, maybe something else but i can’t stop pitying myself when i think that “maybe i will never be rich”. i think it’s certainly ok to grieve about it and mourn the life we all had with transatlantic travel and nice european beach vacations, but i still feel like im not ready to accept the new reality that the collapse has already happened. i still have a tiny hope that maybe the world will turn around again, to the better and old lifestyle will become possible again? is this wishful thinking or is it just a collapse aware person not willing to give up? and shall we abandon these hopes truly?
I think Sarah Wilson’s book answers this question pretty well, so I recommend it! But I will say, the more I settle into this mindset, the less I actually want the old model. I think I got a little headstart on the grieving process (around about 2020) and I think I might be coming out the other side.
Appreciate things that are tried and true. Love my 2012 Honda; so simple, and has never left stranded on the side of the road. Driveway coffees continue, with neighbors taking note - think the idea may be catching on. Looking for things that cause awe everyday, are free and enlightening - you only need be open to appreciating stuff that surrounds you. Having access to people and writings far beyond myself is an honor. So thank you Rosie, for your words, concepts, and stories, beyond your tender years.
I loved reading about this shift, and it’s one my husband and I have been working towards for the past several years. It is challenging and inconvenient at times but the overall reward is immeasurable — to live a life that is in service of your values as a family rather than in service of a model that is often at odds with what gives joy and peace and reduces chaos. We are always shifting, adjusting, not there yet but it feels good to be moving in an aligned direction. I think we need to take a cue from you on family camping!
Your 2012 Ford Focus estate née station wagon, has the serious advantage that it can be fixed by a local bloke or lass for very little, even barter, always get old cars, the older the better.
If you want to witness extractive capitalism or to be more exact, extractive corporatism, what is being done to all modern cars in making them repairable by only the manufacture at huge premiums, is going to crush the no / low / medium income people who depend on them. US MBA culture chalks up another win.
And what do you mean ‘go on holiday somewhere nice?’ What’s wrong with the lake district?
Thank you for making me feel even better about the Focus! And you're right, the Lake District is nice — it's just quite close to where we live and I am spoiled by all the excessive European travel of my 20s.
I also feel like monthly car payments are a kind of hostage taking… I was looking into getting car finance for the first time and realised it’s very hard to get out of it for the term signed up (especially with cars depreciating in value).
So, what happens if you financial situation changes dramatically (which is ever more possible right now). What happens if you decide to/need to move countries?
I feel like people are being held hostage to place and money by capitalism, and it’s all the worse for low income people who don’t have the cash reserves to buy freedom!
It is not so much capitalism as corporate monopolies who have captured the States regulatory framework, following the Italian Fascist model but in reverse. Capitalism comes in many flavours from the excellent village market and such groovy things as Vinted, to the morally bankrupt and actually so greedy it is insane: BMW hilariously tried to offer its fitted heated seats as a SaaS model (Software as a Service) so you bought a very expensive car, which you own but certain functions you still have to rent monthly (!!). This type of capitalism (again extractive corporatism) is designed to create a neo feudal environment where we are to be farmed forever, modern vehicles are tailored to help create this end result.
Buy outright an old car pre 2012 or so, no or minimal electronics, find a good local mechanic to keep that car on the road, there is no reason that if treated well you cannot be driving it in twenty years time. If you want old car safety buy one of the old boxy Volvos they are indestructible. And old cars are appreciating in value because everyone is getting wise, if you have to sell it you won't lose much in fact you may make money.
As to car finance especially in the US, the debt is being used to shore up mad financial engineering, like the subprime mortgages did in the (last) Great Financial Crash, see Big Short for details and brace accordingly.
I love this and resonate with it a lot. And these two women give exactly the kind of money advice you're talking about: https://womenspersonalfinance.org/
I had a blissful half hour lying on my towel and reading on the meadow at the Ladies' Pond before having an swim earlier this evening and reading your words about reading in the sun felt apt. And yes to more UK holidays. I want more daily and weekly moments of contentment rather than having to work so hard for indulging for a couple of weeks at a time. Huge congrats on your book. Can't wait to read it.
Great thoughts! Also, our rainbow chard has really flourished this summer... so much that we are having to freeze the excess. Your comment "I’m stashing bags of ... rainbow chard" - do you blanch it all before freezing, separated into stalks and leaves (not advice - just wondering if that's necessary). And how do you eat it? I make a generous gruyere and jarlsberg cheese sauce, lightly cook the stalks for a minute longer than the leaves and then bake it covered with the cheese sauce. Delicious with early potatoes or rice. Other suggestions would be great!
I read both advice online: blanch it or don't bother. I opted for the latter because in the winter I'll probably use it in stir fry or stew/soup anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's a bit wet. I do cut it (for chard I keep the stems, for kale I de-stem) and wash / thoroughly dry before I freeze it. Right now, my most common use is just frying it with garlic and a dash of soy sauce to eat with a protein + rice. But you can also put raw in salads with other greens I find.
Oh hell yes! This is exactly where I'm at too - and I think it is the secret they don't want us to find out. Peace, people, purpose. It is absolutely is a radical act and takes effort every day. But it is so worth it. Beautifully written, thank you!
It does kind of feel like the ultimate (anti) life hack, doesn't it? You can ... work less and ... enjoy life more? The only catch is you have to buy less shit.
Takes me back to the Tiny House movement that I was once slightly obsessed about!
Yep. Have you read Rest is Resistance? As a toddler Mum, this rewired my brain. Capitalism and patriarchy can’t have me. My rest is my rebellion.
Gorgeous, thank you. This chimes with how I'm seeing things now too. There is such relief in letting the old striving go, and sometimes it can be hard to just let myself read the book in the sun, even when I am totally in the position to do it. The angst / brainwashing / conditioning to spend days by the laptop hustling is strong. Thanks for being a sane voice.... here's to an embodied creative life of growing veg and enjoying the real world and the pockets of peace we are lucky enough to have.
You are me and I am you!
thank you Rosie for yet again so precisely articulating the zeitgeist that many if us find ourselves right now. it’s so the point it almost hurts. maybe it’s my defense mechanism, maybe something else but i can’t stop pitying myself when i think that “maybe i will never be rich”. i think it’s certainly ok to grieve about it and mourn the life we all had with transatlantic travel and nice european beach vacations, but i still feel like im not ready to accept the new reality that the collapse has already happened. i still have a tiny hope that maybe the world will turn around again, to the better and old lifestyle will become possible again? is this wishful thinking or is it just a collapse aware person not willing to give up? and shall we abandon these hopes truly?
I think Sarah Wilson’s book answers this question pretty well, so I recommend it! But I will say, the more I settle into this mindset, the less I actually want the old model. I think I got a little headstart on the grieving process (around about 2020) and I think I might be coming out the other side.
Appreciate things that are tried and true. Love my 2012 Honda; so simple, and has never left stranded on the side of the road. Driveway coffees continue, with neighbors taking note - think the idea may be catching on. Looking for things that cause awe everyday, are free and enlightening - you only need be open to appreciating stuff that surrounds you. Having access to people and writings far beyond myself is an honor. So thank you Rosie, for your words, concepts, and stories, beyond your tender years.
Nice one again, Rosie. You always make me think and then feel better - not always the same thing!
I loved reading about this shift, and it’s one my husband and I have been working towards for the past several years. It is challenging and inconvenient at times but the overall reward is immeasurable — to live a life that is in service of your values as a family rather than in service of a model that is often at odds with what gives joy and peace and reduces chaos. We are always shifting, adjusting, not there yet but it feels good to be moving in an aligned direction. I think we need to take a cue from you on family camping!
Yes it does require constant level-setting, doesn’t it?
Your 2012 Ford Focus estate née station wagon, has the serious advantage that it can be fixed by a local bloke or lass for very little, even barter, always get old cars, the older the better.
If you want to witness extractive capitalism or to be more exact, extractive corporatism, what is being done to all modern cars in making them repairable by only the manufacture at huge premiums, is going to crush the no / low / medium income people who depend on them. US MBA culture chalks up another win.
And what do you mean ‘go on holiday somewhere nice?’ What’s wrong with the lake district?
I will be subscribing
Thank you for making me feel even better about the Focus! And you're right, the Lake District is nice — it's just quite close to where we live and I am spoiled by all the excessive European travel of my 20s.
I also feel like monthly car payments are a kind of hostage taking… I was looking into getting car finance for the first time and realised it’s very hard to get out of it for the term signed up (especially with cars depreciating in value).
So, what happens if you financial situation changes dramatically (which is ever more possible right now). What happens if you decide to/need to move countries?
I feel like people are being held hostage to place and money by capitalism, and it’s all the worse for low income people who don’t have the cash reserves to buy freedom!
It is not so much capitalism as corporate monopolies who have captured the States regulatory framework, following the Italian Fascist model but in reverse. Capitalism comes in many flavours from the excellent village market and such groovy things as Vinted, to the morally bankrupt and actually so greedy it is insane: BMW hilariously tried to offer its fitted heated seats as a SaaS model (Software as a Service) so you bought a very expensive car, which you own but certain functions you still have to rent monthly (!!). This type of capitalism (again extractive corporatism) is designed to create a neo feudal environment where we are to be farmed forever, modern vehicles are tailored to help create this end result.
Buy outright an old car pre 2012 or so, no or minimal electronics, find a good local mechanic to keep that car on the road, there is no reason that if treated well you cannot be driving it in twenty years time. If you want old car safety buy one of the old boxy Volvos they are indestructible. And old cars are appreciating in value because everyone is getting wise, if you have to sell it you won't lose much in fact you may make money.
As to car finance especially in the US, the debt is being used to shore up mad financial engineering, like the subprime mortgages did in the (last) Great Financial Crash, see Big Short for details and brace accordingly.
Love this Rosie. I often ask myself how much is enough. It’s a good reminder in a world of excess, endless hustle, and billionaire worship.
We live much like you do though retired and in US. I feel extraordinarily blessed to be able to live simply.
I love this and resonate with it a lot. And these two women give exactly the kind of money advice you're talking about: https://womenspersonalfinance.org/
Rosie, I think you already "live a fully embodied creative life." You "make me feel rich" when I read your posts.
How lovely and intentional
I had a blissful half hour lying on my towel and reading on the meadow at the Ladies' Pond before having an swim earlier this evening and reading your words about reading in the sun felt apt. And yes to more UK holidays. I want more daily and weekly moments of contentment rather than having to work so hard for indulging for a couple of weeks at a time. Huge congrats on your book. Can't wait to read it.
That sounds so lovely, Avni. And so nice to see you here!
Great thoughts! Also, our rainbow chard has really flourished this summer... so much that we are having to freeze the excess. Your comment "I’m stashing bags of ... rainbow chard" - do you blanch it all before freezing, separated into stalks and leaves (not advice - just wondering if that's necessary). And how do you eat it? I make a generous gruyere and jarlsberg cheese sauce, lightly cook the stalks for a minute longer than the leaves and then bake it covered with the cheese sauce. Delicious with early potatoes or rice. Other suggestions would be great!
I read both advice online: blanch it or don't bother. I opted for the latter because in the winter I'll probably use it in stir fry or stew/soup anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's a bit wet. I do cut it (for chard I keep the stems, for kale I de-stem) and wash / thoroughly dry before I freeze it. Right now, my most common use is just frying it with garlic and a dash of soy sauce to eat with a protein + rice. But you can also put raw in salads with other greens I find.
Yup, to pretty much all of this. I always appreciate your writing.