Living with nothing

There's a Google Director, or ex Director, Mo Gawdat, who has recently written a book about finding extreme happiness. (No, I'm not trying to get you to buy it and, even if you did, I won't get any benefits!)

One of the things that he mentioned in a recent BBC Radio 4 interview was that the human brain is wired to be satisfied when it has enough to survive. (The fact is, I think all animals are wired this way, and as much as we like to think otherwise, we are simply animals).

He goes on to say that once you reach the happiness threshold, nothing else that you get will make you feel happier, ok sure, there is the initial thrill when you open the box or use something for the first time, but quickly our brains retreat to the usual satisfied level.

He's an advocate of ditching everything and living the simple life (which is pretty easy when you are a multimillionaire with two vintage Rolls Royces in the garage.

But, let's take it to the other extreme, one that I can talk about with a fair amount of knowledge.

What if you have nothing?

Well, technically, in my case, that's not true, I have my Android tablet, three cameras (a digital camera and two small 'action cameras') a variety of hand tools, my cooking implements and my laundry gear.

And, to be honest, I feel that I am overloaded, so, I need to minimise.

There is another reason for my desire to shed things.

Once I get my horse or ox, I will be travelling and, the more stuff that I have, the heavier the vardo will be for the animal to pull. (I'm already looking at ways to do (yet another) refit of the vardo to reduce its overall size and weight - but that's another story.)

So yeah, I'm going to reduce what I carry around with me.

The thing is, do I feel poor or that I am missing out on anything?

Nope, not at all. I have everything that I need to live on a day to day basis, to make items that I can sell or to use myself and I'm quite happy with my situation. When I see people I don't feel any less than they are, everyone gets a 'good day' and a smile, and most reaspond.

I'm actually, much better off than most, I don't have to give up the main portion of the day so that I can work enough to earn the cash to pay the bills. I'm not saddled with a huge debt for a house that I barely see, or a car that drinks fuel like there's no tomorrow.

I don't own a phone, well, that's a lie, I do, I use it as an FM radio and alrm clock if I have to react to a timetable (such as when I want to catch a bus into the local town or something).

I sit with my animals, doing some leatherwork or writing, maybe making a short video for my patrons over at my Patreon site, or, I'll go foraging for dinner.

At the moment, I am needing to work toward becoming mobile, not because I have to, but because I want to. I'm living in a pleasant woodland glade, surrounded by apple trees, deer pass within feet of my camp, crayfish abound in the local rivers and the wood is a mushroom hunters idea of heaven.

No, I have the urge to travel, albeit at the pace of about fifteen kilometres a day. But travel all the same.

I'm building up my stock of pendants, leather bracelets, dog collars and leads and other stuff that I make from new or recycled leather, and being me, I don't set a price, people pay what they want or can afford. I'm happy to accept whatever they offer.

Anyway, this post was meant to be about something completely different, and turned into me, me, me LOL, sorry about that folks, I guess that's the problem with being a free spirit, you change as you wish, not tied to rules that many others are.

Hope it gave a little insight into the way that things are in my life, as I said in my first post, I decided to embrace the situation rather than let it drag me down into despair.

But, what I will do, is better prepare for my next post.

Enjoy life, do what makes you happy!