Brew #5 More thoughts on social media Good morning! I’m wrapping my hands around a warm mug of tea this chilly November morning. I’ve a few free days, and am toying with the idea of having an intense freshen-up of my social media. I’m not sure what has spurred me on, but after closing accounts… Read More Morning Brew 12.11.2019
Brew #4 It’s the first frost of the year this morning; dusting the rooftops and windshields, beginning to glint as the light finds its way lazily over the hills. The clocks stayed an hour this weekend, and now autumn is arrived, inevitably, surely. It comforts me, in this time of upheaval, that each and every… Read More Morning Brew, 28th October 2019
6 years ago, I decided to stop buying things for a year. I supposed it was easy to stop consuming stuff. After all, I didn’t want to be part of that machine any more – I wanted to break free, to get rid of the knee-jerk twitch that made it so easy to mindlessly keep… Read More What does buying give me?
A few years ago, I bought nothing for a year. It seemed so simple on paper. Inspired by the OG Minimalism blogs – Zen Habits, The Minimalists, Becoming Minimalist, Slow Your Home – I loved the idea of a streamlined life, free from clutter and distraction. And so, in the January of 2012, I just… Read More The other side of buying nothing
I managed a little walk today. And yesterday, and the day before. I’ve been thinking about making a change for a while. Last year was a shocker. The previous ones weren’t so great either. And a little walk, each day, sounds just lovely. Beginning to move stiff joints. Clearing out the cobwebs from my brain,… Read More Momentum
Today, I awake especially early. Dawn just hinting behind grey clouds. Rain battering the window pane, hurled against the glass by the strong gusts roaring outside. I sat up, bleary eyed. Pulling back the white curtains, wrapping myself in the residual warmth of the duvet, I sat in that space between sleep and wake and… Read More Anti-social Media
Return to minimalism – a journey. Over the past few years, I’ve had quite the journey with becoming minimalist. From those tentative few days, opening my wardrobe and staring desperately at the collection of high heels balancing precariously on shelves higher than my head, to now, settling into a sort of soft, simpler life,… Read More Return to minimalism – a journey
After-effects of buying nothing Last year, I challenged myself to buy nothing. Once you get used to buying nothing but food and the odd deodorant, your brain seems to re-wire into a state where it seems strange to buy things. I certainly felt this way, beating myself up for any slip-ups I made. Luckily I… Read More After-effects of buying nothing
I sit in Mavis, my worn, comfy chair, purchased from a charity shop after falling in love with her tattered, faded ‘project’ upholstery, fake aged armrests, and aura of warmth. The linen curtains are closed now, a veil against the ink black night and jagged winds that shake and rattle the branches of the birch… Read More Rekindling my love
I can’t stop spending. By cutting down on buying things I don’t need, I thought I’d have so much spare cash I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I’m not spending on many ‘things’…so why don’t I have any spare money at all? In fact, I’m worse off than at any time previously.… Read More Buying for the sake of buying