Goblincore for me, since at 62 I reckon I've more chance of looking like a goblin than a coquette or a VSCO girl (I had to look up the latter, not for the first time but being 62 I'd already forgotten what it was). Also I do rather like muddy, woodsy places, mushrooms and toadstools, winter colours and curling up in a safe dark hole sometimes!
It's seemed to me for a while now that off-grid is really missing the point; what we actually need is a strong, resilient, sustainable grid, fairly shared and accountably managed, accessible and affordable to all. The social, ethical and spiritual aspects aside, off-grid life seems to involve a lot of burning stuff, wood, gas etc, when we should really be looking to electrify as much as possible. Generating enough carbon free renewable electricity to live independently is a tall order, and would require a lot of individual investment in technology someone else had produced. Much better to share and redistribute with a wider community. Same with food, in essence. And ideally, towns and cities are a more efficient way for people to live, so more land could theoretically be available for rewilding.
I've done my share of fleeing the rat race and living in (comparative) splendid isolation, growing gluts of vegetables and burning wood (though we never aimed at self-sufficiency and enjoyed life in a small hamlet) but in recent years we've moved into a small town, a more efficient smaller house with a heat pump and a pellet burner. We still try to grow a bit of food, in a smaller garden, but I honestly prefer to go along to the community garden and work with other people, improve my French and bring home the surplus. I'm very lucky, I know, to be able to do this.
It's taken me a long time to find such a satisfying way to live, I hope you find one too!
thank you for writing this isabelle; i've been chewing on similar questions and ideas in the past few months! if you haven't seen it, you might enjoy this video essay by mina le, which discusses many of the same ideas and also changing norms of friendship in the face of commodification, privatization, etc. https://youtu.be/KqjpuUJQFcM?si=tG1TJFzq9WSXdkK2
"Friends and family members who throw money at issues rather than getting to the root of the problem, or parents who work countless hours to provide for their children’s preconceived material needs yet never spend quality one-on-one time with them. Those who have commodified their own immaterial dimensions, such as love or care, and believe money can be used as a sufficient replacement."
The answer to ecological problems is NOT money. The answer is actually love. Sounds so cliche, right? But this is very good news for most of us will not be endowed with great sums of money, but we are all endowed with great capacity to love. This man shows us that money is not the answer to a healed earth. He healed a bald desertified land into a beautiful Eden by loving it and listening to the uneducated elders who still knew the songs of the land - not by paying expensive environmental firms. They carved poetry into the land and life and beauty returned. Money will not solve the problems, yet most folks believe it will. Your essays are guiding people towards another way - the way of care.
Very interesting points! It's so tough to embrace community when society has been structured around consumerism and individualism — it's as if we're constantly paddling upstream. Maybe the purchasing of "experiences" (going with friends to the theater or out to eat or to a sporting event) can satisfy that urge of consumerism, while embracing a social experience that involves a community.
(Her substack is Other Feminisms, where readers discuss various prompts on "valuing interdependence and vulnerability, rather than idealizing autonomy.")
Goblincore for me, since at 62 I reckon I've more chance of looking like a goblin than a coquette or a VSCO girl (I had to look up the latter, not for the first time but being 62 I'd already forgotten what it was). Also I do rather like muddy, woodsy places, mushrooms and toadstools, winter colours and curling up in a safe dark hole sometimes!
It's seemed to me for a while now that off-grid is really missing the point; what we actually need is a strong, resilient, sustainable grid, fairly shared and accountably managed, accessible and affordable to all. The social, ethical and spiritual aspects aside, off-grid life seems to involve a lot of burning stuff, wood, gas etc, when we should really be looking to electrify as much as possible. Generating enough carbon free renewable electricity to live independently is a tall order, and would require a lot of individual investment in technology someone else had produced. Much better to share and redistribute with a wider community. Same with food, in essence. And ideally, towns and cities are a more efficient way for people to live, so more land could theoretically be available for rewilding.
I've done my share of fleeing the rat race and living in (comparative) splendid isolation, growing gluts of vegetables and burning wood (though we never aimed at self-sufficiency and enjoyed life in a small hamlet) but in recent years we've moved into a small town, a more efficient smaller house with a heat pump and a pellet burner. We still try to grow a bit of food, in a smaller garden, but I honestly prefer to go along to the community garden and work with other people, improve my French and bring home the surplus. I'm very lucky, I know, to be able to do this.
It's taken me a long time to find such a satisfying way to live, I hope you find one too!
Ahhhha goblin core!!! I love the sound of your style, Lucy!
1000% agree on the off gridd lifestyle. You're completely right. Would love to hear more about your stories. :)
thank you for writing this isabelle; i've been chewing on similar questions and ideas in the past few months! if you haven't seen it, you might enjoy this video essay by mina le, which discusses many of the same ideas and also changing norms of friendship in the face of commodification, privatization, etc. https://youtu.be/KqjpuUJQFcM?si=tG1TJFzq9WSXdkK2
Omg me and Mina are on the same wavelengths!!!! I've added to my watch list THANK YOU MIA
for sure! hope you enjoy it :)
I like this quote in your lovely essay.
"Friends and family members who throw money at issues rather than getting to the root of the problem, or parents who work countless hours to provide for their children’s preconceived material needs yet never spend quality one-on-one time with them. Those who have commodified their own immaterial dimensions, such as love or care, and believe money can be used as a sufficient replacement."
The answer to ecological problems is NOT money. The answer is actually love. Sounds so cliche, right? But this is very good news for most of us will not be endowed with great sums of money, but we are all endowed with great capacity to love. This man shows us that money is not the answer to a healed earth. He healed a bald desertified land into a beautiful Eden by loving it and listening to the uneducated elders who still knew the songs of the land - not by paying expensive environmental firms. They carved poetry into the land and life and beauty returned. Money will not solve the problems, yet most folks believe it will. Your essays are guiding people towards another way - the way of care.
In Gratitude, Alissa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=415an1V0FxQ
Thank you so much Alissa <3 This story is so lovely
Very interesting points! It's so tough to embrace community when society has been structured around consumerism and individualism — it's as if we're constantly paddling upstream. Maybe the purchasing of "experiences" (going with friends to the theater or out to eat or to a sporting event) can satisfy that urge of consumerism, while embracing a social experience that involves a community.
Ooooh I like this idea. We tried to do experience gifts over Christmas, and it does hit some extra serotonins than simpler gifts did. :)
We should totally do a podcast! And get bought by Gary Lineker :)
The Rest In A Collapsing Society
So what do you say we do it? :)
I think you would enjoy this essay from Leah Libresco Sargeant, as I am sensing a theme (among a few) along the same vein here.
:) https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/culture-of-life/dependence
(Her substack is Other Feminisms, where readers discuss various prompts on "valuing interdependence and vulnerability, rather than idealizing autonomy.")
Thank you!! I have added it to my list to read, I will let you know what I think :D