#Microblog Monday 311: Sustainable Life
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CNN had a piece on a couple who built their own island over the last 29 years. The pandemic hasn’t really changed much for them because they’ve set up their lives to be completely sustainable on their floating compound.
It’s not that it’s easy—they have an exhausting number of tasks per day in order to be self-sufficient. But they also don’t have to worry about losing their home because they couldn’t pay the mortgage.
The pandemic has made me take a hard look at what it means to live a sustainable life. What do we actually need vs. what do we want? And then taking a hard look at those wants: how many of them should stay on the list?
I’m always fascinated by people who figure out how to be self-sufficient; in big or small ways.
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5 comments
I remember reading a book when I was a kid called “My Side of the Mountain” (it was also made into a movie), about a young boy (about my age, when I read it) who ran away from home & lived inside a tree trunk, living off the land, making his own clothes, etc. I would never want to live like that, but I was fascinated by it nevertheless.
(Found the book on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41667.My_Side_of_the_Mountain )
I too have found it fascinating to consider what’s been important and what hasn’t, what I’ve been able to do without during this pandemic (and how other people think about these things). Groceries & prescriptions, obvious necessities. Being able to see family? Very important, although modern technology helps when we can’t be there in person. Trips to the mall? Not so much, still haven’t been back since early March. We’ve been for haircuts twice now, & we’ve been to the bookstore a couple of times since it reopened (lol — priorities!), and to the gelato shop — which aren’t exactly necessary trips — but done with masks & hand sanitizer and at times of the day when there are fewer people around, it’s a calculated risk that feels relatively safe. SIL has been for a manicure & pedicure, which I enjoy, but don’t feel is necessary for my well-being in the same way a haircut is. Restaurants are now open for inside dining here, but we still feel like takeout is risk enough for us for now. (Although I suppose if we feel like we ever want to graduate to patio dining, we’d better do it while the weather still allows it, lol…) Everyone’s limits are different. But yes, needs versus wants. I think a lot of us have forgotten the difference.
I bet it’s difficult to be totally self sufficient, but at this point in things I think maybe I could be okay with coconut harvesting duty and shark watch and rain water collection. Which is what I imagine it to be like, maybe that’s not entirely accurate. Maybe I just need a break from reality, and that experience in reality isn’t as much the fantasy I envision. More like The Beach where everything seems idyllic until the dark underbelly is exposed.
Or you might have meant finding a way to live with less and shrink carbon footprints and I took it down a twisty path. I do love fantasizing about tiny houses, although I’d need an entire tiny house for my books.
My husband is always predicting the apocalypse, and suggests we buy a farm and become self-sufficient. Yes, the pandemic made us feel vulnerable, and I enjoyed feeling more self-sufficient in terms of what we ate (ie cooking and baking etc). But I figure we (NZ) will run out of necessary medication before we run out of food, and life wouldn’t be worth living if I don’t have medication, so I think we’re too late!
I read that article too. I found it fascinating. I’ve been thinking a lot about sustainability and my needs versus my wants. I guess we all have. I used to go out to eat a lot, but now I don’t at all. I feel lucky that I got into quilting last year because I already had a sewing machine, fabric, and an interest when I started staying home back in March. Weird times for sure. Everything is changing and there’s lots to think about.
That is such a cool story!