Tulitha King

Tag: Thoughts

  • Large House vs Small House

    Most of you following this blog will know that we are making the shift from a small rental house to an un petite bus-house. A bus-house with an uber generous 23 square metres of living space on board.

    Australia has one of the largest house sizes in the world with free standing house sizes sitting at about 243m2.  With an average of only 2.66 people living in these large houses that leaves a lot of free space.

    While the UK has a very small house size (at an average of 76m2). That popular program Grand Designs often raises the hopeless case of their upper-middle-class renovators and self builders in finding those ‘hard to find’ bits of land for their dream houses, these people manage, in increasingly creative ways, to fill vacant blocks with floors and walls and rooves. These vacuous spaces are then relegated to housing just a couple of bodies on a regular basis.

    In an increasingly populated world people seem to continue to want their own space.

    Australia has a lot of space and I guess that is why our homes are bigger, but to what end?

    What is the use of these large expanses of dead space, which are designed to consume things instead of produce things?

    I have been resisting normalised compulsive spending urges since knowing we were drastically reducing our house size.

    In a home this tiny every little object matters and every square centimetre of storage must be seized upon. The ‘bedrooms’ are only as large as they need to be. Both kids have a private space, their bunks, which equal about 2 square metres each, with room enough only to sit. Every part of the bus is shared, except for the drivers seat, we have only one table with enough room only for us four, and there is one lounge.  Our living space however will be huge. It will be the great Australian outdoors. In this bus the outdoors are very close. I was sitting in it yesterday while the rain poured down and it felt very much like I was sitting inside a waterfall. It was beautiful and sensory and I relish that kind of living.

    Downsizing does not feel cramped or like a negative lifestyle shift. It is better! It is better than living where we were. With a cut in living space comes a closeness to the outdoors and a reduction in things that we never really needed in the first place.  Cutting down on space, and ergo things, should not scare anyone. It is quite liberating.

    A big benefit of renovating a very small area is the way in which we can inject quality into it.  Rather than a big kitchen, for example, we can have a well designed, well made kitchen with a high standard of materials.

    This last point is very important to me in my quest for a sustainable life. Ultimately a sustainable life is not fast or big or full of things or expensive, but it is a life of excellence. That is the strength of sustainable living.

    I would be rather interested to see the trend of housing in Australia in the future. I wonder if a nomadic lifestyle, like ours, might become more popular as house prices continue to soar, I hope people will learn to live in smaller spaces, leaving more room to live outside.

  • Thoughts on Simplicity

    ‘The Simple Life’ has undergone a few overhauls over the years.  These days minimalism and ultra simplicity seem to be all the rage.  Back in the day ‘the simple life’ or ‘the good life’ equated to some kind of wholesome, outdoor-living, preserve-making, family-friendly, pig-raising escapade.

    Things change and I guess that’s life.

    The thing is, ‘the simple life’ never seems to lose it’s charm, whatever the definition. We seem to be ever searching for ‘a better life’.

    I have been reading a bit and thinking a bit on this new reincarnation of simple living and the thing is: I hope it’s not a fad. But. It will be a fad if the lifestyle is not whole-of-life and sustainable.

    Firstly, I guess the basic premise behind Simple Living is to consume less, take away the unnecessary and only do what’s left or, equally, what you are passionate about. I guess the idea is that you get rid of the things, the tasks, the busyness in order to focus on the relationships with family, friends, society, nature, the world.

    It’s alluring.  I really like this ideal.

    But I’ve noticed a few things. Sometimes when simplifying we can simplify our own lives whilst making other lives more complicated and, inconsiderately, putting undue expectations on others.

    For example:

    Paring back on your own grocery items, cooking basic, bland food, but then relying on other people to feed you your essential vitamins and minerals and your meat (if so inclined).

    Getting rid of your car to either a) take public transport (relies on a reliable and sustainable transport system) or b) rely on other people for lifts (relies on them having a car & money for the petrol) which can put pressure on your community to provide for you, when you are in fact well able to provide for yourself.

    Perhaps choosing not to go outside of your area while expecting other people to come to you.

    Or taking away the television only to expect to visit other people’s places to view the box.

    I guess all these thoughts point to a central idea: In simplifying we must think outside of our own little box/apartment/house/self/family. If simplicity is to last it must be undertaken with the wider community in mind. Consideration of those around you must be your issue.  Expecting other people to provide for your needs (or as one blogger put it: stealing from plates on the dinner table.) builds resentment in the long run and can not lead to a long-term sustainable lifestyle of simplicity as in order for any lifestyle to succeed it must be supported by the community around it.

    It is in the simplicity spruikers interest to encourage, even assist others to pursue simplicity, not simply to use others to maintain ones own lifestyle or budget.

    As my friend says, it’s best to live simply and generously. Simplicity should not stop us from being generous to those around us. And simplifying should not in turn rely on the unending generosity of others, especially when we are well able to provide for ourselves and just choose not to, for whatever reason.

    P.S. Pics and adventure updates to come soon. We’ve been living on low internet for a couple of weeks while away from where home is currently. We are back to high-tech living soon!

  • Judgement: Who needs it.

    I’ve been thinking a little bit about judgement. Don’t ask me why. That’s not so important.

    Suffice to say that, while I have tried to escape it probably for all of my life, I am still and continually surrounded by it. Whether judgement of me by others, observing judgement of others by others, sometimes (unfortunately) judgement of others by me (though I kick myself if I find myself doing this – and I do not condone it!!), etc.

    I guess some judgement is good. We have to judge whether things are right or wrong for us.  We need some kind of internal compass.

    In the main, though, I tend to get rather fed up with blanket judgments.  

    The thing is I guess, none of us know where other people are coming from, what their backgrounds are, what peculiar circumstances they might be in.

    I see younger people executing judgement and criticism on other people a lot more than older people and, thankfully, I am finding that as I grow older I am not so bothered by other peoples judgments of me and I am less inclined to judge other people…I also much prefer to believe the best of people.

    I am struck by living in my husbands family home of how our upbringings influence us quite fundamentally. This is a large house and it is perfectly acceptable to raise your voice to talk to other people, because often you are shouting from the house to the shed or from upstairs to down below. To traverse everywhere to deliver messages in quiet, subdued tones would run you ragged. The Kings have ‘the King voice’ as I call it, and their normal is several tones louder than my loud. I grew up in a house where we were expected to be quiet.

    Some families grow up with an overflowing pantry and so children from these homes will, in turn, fill their pantry & eat well. Others learn to eat very bland food when they are young and stay that way their whole lives.  Some of my friends come from homes where time is a relative and a relaxed concept. I have really learnt to appreciate the rhythm of such a life, it is comfortable and relational, these people will stay to complete a conversation, no matter how banal, rather than rushing off to their next appointment. Other families live their lives around scheduled meetings and learn to be on time every time. Always prompt.

    Sometimes we backlash against our upbringings.  Some people learn through having several children that having a neat and tidy house is not the most important thing in the world.  They learn that things are not so very important – as most of them get broken or spoiled.

    Growing older, knowing different people, I have learnt to appreciate these and other differences. I must say, it is a great place to be.

    I used to be much more black and white and I would get hung up on inconsequential traits in people. I would struggle to integrate with a variety of people.  This is one thing about getting older that I would never want reversed.

    To live in harmony with a great many and variety of people is a real blessing and I hope to do it better and better, more generously and graciously as the years flit by.

    I hope to instill in my children this attitude of adaptability, not taking on unfounded criticism of themselves and also not living in a critical spirit toward other people.

    Critical, resentful people can never be happy. Thankful people will always be happy.

    N.B. For further study read/watch: Pollyanna (the children are watching this with their grandma at the moment. Let’s hope they take some of her almost sickly ‘gladness’ on board! haha.)

  • Options

    I have been thinking a lot about options and limits lately.  It has been my studies that has brought this on, I will concede.  That, I guess, is what uni studies are supposed to do – draw your thinking out into areas previously left unexplored.

    LIMITS.  We feel pretty unlimited, don’t we?  We have umpteen career choices, cheap enough travel options, the pick of places to live. If we don’t like something we change it fairly easily. New bedspread. New couch. New TV.

    We could spend our lives getting new things. Upgrading. Forever upgrading. Upgrade suburbs. Upgrade house (in fact upgrading houses seems to be the major drive for many of us westerners. (Rental > buy small house > buy larger house > buy/build dream house > die > live in coffin.)

    Seems a bit petty looked at like that, doesn’t it.

    We feel free, but we, like everyone else, are constrained by limits.

    We can choose between this, this and this dress. This one made in China, this one made in China and this super duper expensive one made in Australia…so either ten cheap dresses or one pricey one? Well, what’s your choice?

    We can wear these, these or these shoes.

    They haven’t made this shoe yet, so it’s not an option.

    We can choose to live in this house on the beach, this one in the city centre, this house in the country, but oh, we can’t live in that one because there’s no work there and to get a house you have to go into debt and there’s no work where that house is. Options.

    If we’re a bit game we could think outside the box a little. We are going to live in a converted Bedford bus. Another person lives in a smallish sail boat and goes around the world for the next three years (yes, there are people who do this – even some with kids). Another person chooses to be homeless (yes, there are people like this too). Sometimes these choices come with unfavourable consequences. Homelessness really limits your social life, you can never really have anyone over for dinner. You can’t really have anyone over for dinner when you are in the middle of the Pacific either, you will have to put your career on hold if you are sailing, too. Sailing a boat takes up a bit of time.

    Travel! We are unlimited when it comes to travel, aren’t we? I could travel to Greenland, Africa, Britain, South America. What fun. Me the tourist. Footloose, fancy free. Never mind the appalling polluting force that airplane travel is. The world can worry about that, not me.

    Well, yes. See this graph.-VVV- The consequences of my polluting force will affect people other than me. My choices will limit other peoples options. As long as my options remain unfettered what have I to care about?

    Image

    That there is typical Western nonchalance. But….I find…that I can’t be like that, much apologies.

    We think we have options, but we are sold our choices. We can choose between three thousand and thirty three toys, but you can’t have no toys, not in our culture. We can drive a car, catch a bus (I can’t, not where I live), catch a train (again, not I), walk (20ks to the shops for me), ride a bike, but try living locally – you just can’t – not in most places! We are expected to use our cars, especially in Australia.

    Further afield. I would love to travel. I would gladly go by ship. But why? Ships are so s l o w, and one couldn’t be slow, could one. Faster is better, isn’t it? Well, is it? Flying would greatly grate on my principles, and ships don’t go everywhere these days. So I am limited.

    We are surrounded by limits. But we fear them. We must be able to choose between several pairs of shoes, so be offered the option of ‘this pair or nothing’ feels constricting. Why can we not limit our consumption ourselves? If we do not do it now, if we do not choose a life of self-imposed-limitations, surely into the future either someone else will do it for us or the earth will do it for us.

    Since 1971 heatwaves in Australia have been getting more frequent and longer. Some people like to ignore the science. Ignorance is bliss. With knowledge comes power and also responsibility (to change). And we do not want to change. We do not want to give up this (illusion of a) limitless life which we have inherited. We feel entitled to all these options – never mind at what or at whose expense.

    Eventually our inaction will lead to the earths reaction. And that can not be ignored or changed or simply overcome. There is little you can do about the weather.

    Throughout history we have managed to fit our options around the weather.  Air conditioned & heated cars. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter fashion. Houses which are inefficient and plug into terribly costly (in every way) external energy sources in order to cater to the comfort of their inhabitants.  And I know, some of you enjoy the heat and hate the cold. But a Summer which differentiates between blisteringly hot and just hot? No thanks. And brief winters in which we experience fierce hailstorms, incredible cold snaps, extremely cold night and warm days? Some of us may adapt, some of our precious cars and houses and things may get through, but will our crops and animals? Nature doesn’t adapt quickly and the past century has accelerated pressure on the earth in many ways.

    There is lots of fear mongering around this subject. But to me it’s clear.

    Image

    Chart from here.

    We are greedy and we are selfish and we are driven by money, fear and power and we ought not to be.

    The world has chosen a path, it has chosen between its options. We are on a path. The path doesn’t fit. Our tower of babel ambitions do not fit with the limitations of this world. We are gods on this earth and we are making our presence known. The less powerful are suffering under our weight but still we go on. We are gods and we must continue to be gods. If we are not the gods who will be? We fear. We fear life. We fear death. We are only safe in our consumerism.  When we consume we know we are powerful, we know we are limitless, we know we have options. When we consume we can define ourselves by design. We applaud our growth economy, we see it as a way out of the limitations of nature, of localism, we do not (well, I do) see it as a hungry, greedy creature out to consume more and more of the worlds resources.

    I love this beautiful world. We have created nothing better than the natural wonders of this planet. This planet should form our limitations, not our own greed. We can be humble about it. We can humbly accept natural limitations, not fearfully strive to overcome them.

    There are other options out there, not just the ones we create and sell.

  • Grocery Lives

    Sometimes, when I am waiting in line at the Supermarket checkout, I stare, dully, at the groceries of whoever is ahead of me, and because I am a sticky-beak I put the story all together in my mind. A story which is full of questions. I wonder how much you can tell of somebody by their groceries.

    There is the older woman, she must be a pensioner, she buys the barest of essential ingredients. Milk. Tinned fish. Rice. Pasta. Tinned tomatoes. Onions. Bread. A few cup-o-soups. They are all home brand. I wonder if she has children, how old they are, if they live near her, if she has grandchildren, what has happened to bring her to this point where affording the simplest of groceries is difficult. Maybe, though, she is quite wealthy and saving even the smallest amounts of money on her food is strangely satisfying to her, a way she can feel in control of her life, of her expenses. Perhaps money is something to be squirreled away instead of spent on living.

    A shiny woman in her thirties. Her hair is voluminous & well cut, she is about a size 18-20.  Her clothes look expensive, but she is bulging out of them.  There are two types of women in this category.  Those who buy cake and those who buy diet soft drinks.  One doesn’t care, loves her size, flaunts it and enjoys her food; the other one is really trying…but not really.  I’ve been in the overweight camp after each of my pregnancies, and it is hard to lose it, so I sympathise.

    The trendy looking couple, with fair trade everything.  Checking the back of every label.

    I like to note how many fresh ingredients I see in peoples trolleys. Sometimes it is hugely encouraging, seeing the clearly competent and confident mums with trolleys full of greens, other times a sad commentary on the state of our food system, with near everything in said trolley in a plastic bag or a brightly coloured box with brand names screaming loudly.

    Well.

    Food has forever been a centrifugal force in relationships and storytelling.  So many stories converge in a supermarket. People passing like trolleys in the aisle, words unspoken, but the contents of trolleys speaking volumes, uttering a myriad of questions, stating simple facts about this increasingly complex world. Supermarkets are an icon of lost community, where even getting food is done without any need for relationship, especially with the introduction of self-serve checkouts, before these however ‘checkout chicks’ were merely human machines, just another cog.

    This is the 20th century version of foraging. With the 21st century still in its infancy I wonder what they’ll think of next. I wonder if I will like it.

  • Drip Drip

    It’s been raining here, a non event most seem to think, but rainy days are my favourite days, freezing cold mornings only just slightly win over the rainy ones. I hate the heat of summer and I have sensitive eyes so the summer brightness kills me.  I am the opposite to most people.

    What would we do without the rain?  My plants would survive, but not thrive, our water tank would never fill, the dust would never settle.  Rain is severly underated out there (like when the weather man says ‘another beautiful day out there today’, referring to the sunshine and ‘more miserable weather heading our way’ referring to the wet.), it seems it takes a minor miracle like the breaking of a seven year drought to make us Southern Australians appreciate the rain (unless one were a farmer and then I imagine you’d value the rain for what it really is).

    No, rain is reassuring.  In this day of Climate Change (which is very real, I was a sceptic, but now am not) the rain brings reassurance to me. Things are changing, but (for now) they are still living.

    Last night it was music to my ears to hear the soft & steady rain pattering onto the roof, flowing through the gutters & pouring into our rain water tanks with a gentle gurgle. That’s life, that’s beauty, that’s peace in the present moment.

    I love nothing more than nature. I really do.