Forget that which shines

Of late, I have noticed my thoughts tending toward matters of unnecessary complexity. The pursuit of a simple life of basic needs, along with a few small comforts, has been usurped by cravings of a worldly nature. Money, possessions, reputation and recognition have become dominant thoughts. In essence - greed and ego. This shift in thinking has decreased my happiness a bit. Not a drastic change but enough for me to notice it. I don't like it. 

It has prompted me to return to the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Re-reading the early portion has reminded me of the confusing and sometimes complex pursuits of modern life, always chasing after more of various things, drawing people away from the bare necessities of life. Reading it provides a measure of peace to my mind, calming the turbulent desires and bringing them under heel. 

This morning I spared a thought for the chores at home - cleaning dishes, sweeping floors, folding laundry, dusting shelves, and other tasks of this kind. As I went about these chores I stopped thinking about the things from the world beyond - news, politics, markets, employment, and so on. The outside world was ushered from my mind and escorted back outside where they belong. I simply did the tasks at hand, and that was enough.

Obviously, we cannot ignore worldly concerns forever, but neither should we entertain them for longer than necessary. The same is true for most thoughts and matters. There are times when our thoughts on some topic are no longer useful. When we have moved beyond helpful reflection, and begun to ruminate, rehash and reinforce counterproductive lines of thought, then it is time to lay them aside to go do something. Keep it simple.

Stop trying so hard

I have read the book The Underachiever's Manifesto by Ray Bennett some years ago. I don't recall much specifically about its content, but I do remember the feeling that its core message was important. It was also a message which flew in the face of conventional rhetoric about how we should aim to live. Instead of championing the values of working harder, striving more and trying to forever climb the many vague ladders in life, we might be better served by taking things easy. 

The encouragement to become an overachiever becomes dominant toward the end of high schooling. There still seems to be a lot of pressure on young people to attend university to get a qualification. But the value of qualifications has decreased over time. As more people completed degrees the qualifications became more commonplace. Some people continue on with post-graduate studies to increase their value in the job market. And there's something interesting about degrees - they don't directly and reliably indicate the potential value of an employee. At best they serve as a proxy. 

We are also expected to look after our bodies. So, many people end up spending as much time working out as professional athletes do, when there's no need for it. Young people want the good looking body which is hopefully desirable to potential partners. But do you really need to workout five times a week? Or would you be better off by doing some basic compound lifts twice a week, a little moderate cardio, and otherwise simply staying active in your daily life? 

Then there is the matter of money. I have read quite a few news articles which share social media posts which complain about the cost of living. But how many people are living within their means? There was an absolutely priceless example recently - a woman took to social media and complained that her $40 grocery spend couldn't create a meal. Look, I'll admit that life is expensive these days, but if you can't create a meal for $40 then you're not seriously trying very hard. ...either that or you have a very, very large family. The lady then showed a picture of the items she bought and they included many convenience items, and some prosciutto. If anyone out there is buying prosciutto, they have immediately lost all rights to complain about the cost of living. Go buy a bulk bag of rice, some vegetables, some dried beans, and along with the fundamental items that are in most people's pantries, you can create many meals quite affordably. It isn't fancy? So what? Stop watching cooking shows on television, or those luscious food pictures on social media, and set some realistic expectations. 

There are many areas of life in which we try too hard. Obsession is the problem. We spend too much time obsessing over what everyone else is doing. And where do we get this perception? Social media in many cases. By now we all know that the way in which people present their lives online is inaccurate. So please, stop believing the nonsense. 

Simple pleasures

This morning I opened a new jar of instant coffee. A nice start to the day. Some people might not see the value in such a simple act, but I'm sure that many of my fellow instant coffee drinkers will know the joy that's found in starting a new jar. I've been a bit of a coffee snob in the past. I have owned some espresso machines, and honed my brewing skills to be able to consistently make coffee the way I like. But I can still enjoy a cup of instant coffee. It requires a little bit of luck to get a good cup. Even when I think I'm getting the proportions of coffee, water and milk just right, I will sometimes end up with a nasty flavour. But there's something about the first few brews made from a freshly opened jar of instant coffee - they just taste better than usual. So, I find some joy in that. It's cheap, simple, doesn't require specialized equipment, and can be tasty. 

Cold showers are another simple pleasure. Now maybe you're reading this from a cold place, or you could have some health reasons that make cold showers a bad idea, in which case you might want to skip the cold showers. I enjoy them though. I like that the water doesn't have to be heated, which saves me some money. I like how invigorating a cold shower is; it's like being supercharged for the next hour or so. The cold water can provide some relief to sore muscles. These are all good reasons. But what I like most about cold showers is the mental discipline required. It's not a monumental challenge, but it is slightly unpleasant for the first few moments. As I get into a cold shower and feel the mild jolt of initial discomfort I think: Okay, so it's cold. Don't complain about it. It will feel nice soon. 

There are a number of other simple pleasures that I enjoy. But I find it interesting that many of those simple pleasures require a small degree of discipline or self-control. Some degree of an expectation of comfort or convenience needs to be rejected. With coffee, I know that I could go buy a tasty coffee from a cafe or store, and it would taste better than my homemade instant brew. With cold showers, I could easily make the water temperature more comfortable initially with the turn of a tap. It's seems like I've become accustomed to seeking quick joy or pleasure in many areas of my life. And the more that I indulge in such conveniences, the more undesirable the alternatives seem. 

When I do push past the almost reflexive urge to seek immediate comfort or convenience, I feel something peculiar - feelings of freedom and deep-seated joy. Maybe the feeling of freedom arises from exerting my willpower and going beyond animalistic cravings. And the joy that I feel seems to be an extension of the freedom; knowing that I'm not compelled to do things a certain way, feels like a weight being lifted from off my shoulders. 

Review: The Great Depression - A Diary

The Great Depression - A Diary, by Benjamin Roth. I decided it was time to learn something about the Great Depression, and this book is what I went with. Roth was a lawyer in Youngstown, Ohio. From the market crash in 1929 he started to write a diary. His entries describe the local, domestic and international events. Observations range from the shopping habits of everyday people, stock market movements, political news, and everything in between. Over the span of the book he paints a vivid picture about what life was like in America from 1929 to the conflict of WW2 reaching Hawaii. Roth continued to make diary entries for the rest of his life, but this book doesn't cover that latter timeframe. 

Reading about the severity of The Great Depression was shocking. I hadn't studied anything about that period of history, and my encounter with this first-hand look at it was revealing. The levels of scarcity, unemployment, and malnutrition were hard to imagine. The fortunes that many people lost along the way were equally horrifying. This book sheds light on a lot of details and challenges of the time. 

While reading this book I reflected upon the challenges faced in our present time. Here in Australia we have many people struggling with the cost of living, and a lack of affordable housing. And as tough as things are these days, they pale in comparison to what life was like during The Great Depression. In a way, it was comforting to read the book, knowing that life these days could be an awful lot worse. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to read about The Great Depression. It might also appeal to diary or journal enthusiasts. This book provides a view of world changing events, but through the eyes of the individual. 

Final score: 4 / 5

Reflecting upon summer crops

I have heard it said that many people expect to be able to buy common fruits and vegetables all year round. I wonder if that's true. I personally don't have such expectations. Maybe that's because I'm a vegetable gardener, and that experience has shown me the difficulties of growing good crops. There's the obvious problem that a lot of species don't grow well at all times of the year. But there's also the multitude of other problems - pests, diseases, drought, too much rain, rain at inopportune times, low temperatures, high temperatures, and so on. Sometimes I can give my best efforts toward growing good food but it just doesn't work out because nature has other ideas. 

I was recently considering the differences in yields from this summer compared to last summer. 

Summer of 2022-23. That was a good season for cucumbers, beans, maize, millet, watermelons, carrots and sweet potatoes. But my pumpkins, tomatoes and capsicums (sweet peppers) all struggled. 

This present summer of 2023-24. Nearly everything struggled except for tomatoes and pumpkins. The sweet potatoes seem to be growing well, but I haven't harvested them yet. And I have grown two new crops this season, ginger and peanuts, which have good growth so far but are yet to be harvested. My watermelons had started well, but most of them split after some very hot weather alternated with many days of heavy rain. 

So I've begun to wonder what I might do differently next summer. I think that I might reduce the number of varieties that I grow, and instead focus on the strong performers with high yields per square metre. I tend to want to grow as many different crops as I can because of my curious nature. But it might be better to change that habit. The more that I can grow well and in good quantities, the less I will have to buy from the shop. This should allow me to dedicate more growing space to each crop, stagger the plantings more, and providing for a longer harvesting window. 

Another opportunity is to trial some more resilient varieties. I have already started moving away from growing Roma tomatoes toward growing cherry type ones. And I might move away from Golden Nugget pumpkins toward a different one. 

Whatever the coming year of gardening yields I'm looking forward to learning from it and trying to adapt the best that I can.