Here's an interesting article about Thoreau's early career and the incident that may have been a catalyst for his move out of town into the woods nearby. As it happened a year before the Walden experiment, it may have had some bearing on the idea. From the Boston Globe: On April 30, 1844, Thoreau started … Continue reading Henry David Thoreau, “Woods Burner”
Category: Philosophy
A Need for Heroism
There is a need for learning the right stories in childhood. “Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” ― C.S. Lewis
Hiking, Backpacking, or Just Enjoy the Walk
"Hiking - I don’t like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not hike! Do you know the origin of that word ‘saunter?’ It’s a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the … Continue reading Hiking, Backpacking, or Just Enjoy the Walk
A Story of an Old Time Sheepherder
It was a lonely life on the range. “Even if a herder does not particularly care for reading, he will be driven to it in self-defense." I wanted to re-share a good story about sheepherding life. Gilfillan was a shepherd for 20 years and went on to become a well-known humorist, author, and speaker. "Archie … Continue reading A Story of an Old Time Sheepherder
Have the Courage to Live Manfully
” The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully. “ ~ Thomas Carlyle
Bread – Some Thoughts from Cobbett
Every woman, high or low, ought to know how to make bread. If she do not, she is unworthy of trust and confidence; and, indeed, a mere burden upon the community. -William Cobbett Today this should probably read "Every homemaker" instead of "Every woman" but, as Cobbett composed this treatise in 1821, he assumed that the … Continue reading Bread – Some Thoughts from Cobbett
No Apology Necessary
As we head into the weekend, I wanted to share a short essay. This may be a lengthy read by internet standards but I would like to suggest that you pour yourself your favorite beverage or if you are at work then skive off a bit and take in the wisdom of Robert Louis Stevenson. … Continue reading No Apology Necessary
We NEED Community – by Damien Patrick
This is a topic I have often thought about. I come from a family that was in no way “close.” I had kind and caring grandparents who filled in when others wouldn’t but the expectation I was given at home was to get out, move away, do your own thing. That’s all fine as a product of the “Baby-Boomer” generation. With my own grown child, I cannot believe we live so far apart. Thousands of miles actually. I don’t think this is because of a poor relationship, but is just a factor of the twenty-first century.
Here are some thoughts from the “Kindness Blog” today.
Can I ask you some questions?
Why, when we grow up, do we move out from our family home and then go and buy or rent a house in a street full of complete strangers, sometimes many miles from our loved ones? When did this practice start, why and to what benefit?
As a teenager, I too grew up, moved out and lived away from my family. Because it was the done thing. The thing everyone else did. I never questioned it and even now, many years later, I still live away from family. But why?
I have elderly neighbours where I live now. One in particular, in his eighties, has a host of medical conditions yet, despite his many healthy challenges, he has a cheery, welcoming disposition and a great sense of humour. From speaking with him many times, I understand that his children and grandchildren do not ‘have the time’ to visit him all that often. Perhaps once every few months for an hour or so they pop in to see him. This despite them living fifteen minutes away in a car. I’m not judging here, just making an observation. They don’t have the time? Really? My neighbour is lonely and has told me that, of all the things he suffers from, isolation and loneliness is his greatest pain. If he hasn’t hurt his children in the past, damaging their relationship, and if his children love him, why is this situation occurring? Why don’t they come and see him more regularly? Will he die alone, lonely and lost, with his body found days after his passing?
Why don’t we live with our families or at least close to them?
Maybe in the same street for example? I appreciate that for some of us we couldn’t think of anything worse but if you truly love your mum, dad, brother, sister, cousin, granddaughter….wouldn’t it make sense to be as close to them as possible?
I imagine a family living side by side, each with their own separate house in the same street. Practically, this might not be possible because of existing house owners, but I can dream, right? The children would be watched over by many loving eyes, the elderly would be taken of and family could share time together. There would be support, face-to-face time, conversation, love, laughter and there would be real community. Not to say an increased sense of safety and connection. Blood with blood, loving one another, protecting each other.
Instead of that I see people who are away from their families. People that don’t even speak to their neighbours. People who avoid eye contact. People that go to work in jobs they often don’t like, travelling distance every day with a sad face to earn money for rent on a flat which they spend their evenings in sat lonely and lost. How sad.
Why? What’s gone wrong? I’m asking.
Loneliness is a killer
In August 2017 the American Psychological Association presented research based on two meta-analyses. The first examined 148 studies involving 300,000 participants and found that increased social connectedness was linked to a whopping 50 percent lower risk of premature death. The other study, examining 3.4 million people across 70 different studies, revealed that social isolation, loneliness, or living alone has as significant or equal an effect on premature mortality as obesity and other major risk factors. It is time to take our own loneliness – and that of those around us – seriously.
Can I ask you some questions?
Why, when we grow up, do we move out from our family home and then go and buy or rent a house in a street full of complete strangers, sometimes many miles from our loved ones? When did this practice start, why and to what benefit?
As a teenager, I too grew up, moved out and lived away from my family. Because it was the done thing. The thing everyone else did. I never questioned it and even now, many years later, I still live away from family. But why?
I have elderly neighbours where I live now. One in particular, in his eighties, has a host of medical conditions yet, despite his many healthy challenges, he has a cheery, welcoming disposition and a great sense of humour. From speaking with him many times, I understand that his children and grandchildren do…
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Thoughts About Minimalism and Survival
Learning a thing or two from the past...Part 1, 21st century Westerners are not the first to minimalize. "The things you own end up owning you." Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club There's a lot of recent talk about Minimalism as a social movement and this fits well with my personal philosophy and my interests in preindustrial … Continue reading Thoughts About Minimalism and Survival
Three Men in a Boat (a book of subtle humor and deep philosophy)
“Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need—a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough … Continue reading Three Men in a Boat (a book of subtle humor and deep philosophy)
Emerson says: — The Müscleheaded Blog
” You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” via Emerson says: — The Müscleheaded Blog
Take a Walk
“It is the best of humanity, I think, that goes out to walk. In happy hours all affairs may be wisely postponed for this. Dr. Johnson said, ‘Few men know how to take a walk,’ and it is pretty certain that Dr. Johnson was not one of those few. It is a fine art; there … Continue reading Take a Walk
Life is Short, Keep It in Perspective
Happy New Year one and all! Here's a bit of Stoic thought to help keep a perspective on reality... "Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible, be daily before your eyes, but death chiefly; and you will never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything." - Epictetus Save Save
Dream, Live, Never Give In
I know this is a little outside the normal material for this blog but there is very little that is normal about me anyway. I hope you can enjoy the message here. https://youtu.be/ja-n5qUNRi8
Safety, above all…?
Just how important is safety in a happy and complete life? Don't get me wrong. I have known people with little regard for their own well-being, be it physical or otherwise. Some of these are confirmed idiots. Whether they are just non-thinking zombies or the overly entitled who expect someone else to look out for … Continue reading Safety, above all…?
Re-tooling the PaleoTool
WELCOME BACK! I have been ignoring the blog for quite some time now but I have not been idle. Far from it. The vardo update project took on a life of it's own and it feels like a complete renewal of the living space. In the coming month I hope to make a video tour … Continue reading Re-tooling the PaleoTool
Be Kind While You Can
You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Great advice from a great thinker. Life is short and it's easy to forget those important people in our lives; until it's too late.
Be Yourself
This advice will go a long way towards happiness. It isn't an excuse to be selfish or uncaring of others but to find who you are and what you want to be. A path we're all on. "Be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be." -Henry David … Continue reading Be Yourself
This is What You Shall Do…
This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to … Continue reading This is What You Shall Do…
Wise Words
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. ~Marcus Aurelius