Comments on: Slowly (steadily) turning green

By: mandarine » Blog Archive » New life, new site subtitle

mandarine » Blog Archive » New life, new site subtitle — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:08:08 +0000

[…] may have seen it coming; I think I have reached a tipping point in my life. I want out of the treadmill of (debt- and) […]

By: mandarine

mandarine — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:02:40 +0000

The low-stress part reaches beyond the going green process: once you decide life is about living and not about money, everything is so much simpler.

I feel more pity than anger at the ‘bad guys’, but I try to stay indulgent: to a Somali farmer, I am still the equivalent of a hummer driver.

By: healingmagichands

healingmagichands — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:45:09 +0000

In addition to living more lightly on the earth, you are probably discovering that a more green lifestyle is a much less stressful one. I have been steadily working my life towards more and more “green-ness” as well.

Now, if I can just let go of the deep anger that arises within me as I observe the people around me who are progressing lemminglike in a destructive path towards becoming less and less green: building 5000 square foot houses for two people, driving Hummers and Suburbans, eating fast food. If only they were only killing themselves, I wouldn’t care, but they are selfishly dragging the rest of humanity right along with them. It makes my blood boil.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:53:20 +0000

Welcome to farm country!

By: Emily Barton

Emily Barton — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:14:49 +0000

Although we talk a good game about wanting to be green, you are much farther along the path than we probably ever will be, but such an inspiration, who knows? At least I’m living in farm country now.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:51:28 +0000

True. It reminds me of another thing I have decided long ago: I have no guarantees that I will ever live to retirement age, nor that there will be any pensions left when I retire. Therefore, I choose to enjoy my free time right now, instead of postponing to when it’s too late.

By: Dorothy W.

Dorothy W. — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:57:09 +0000

I love the idea of simplifying and “greening” your life as you have. I certainly care much more about quality of life than I do about money (or I wouldn’t be a teacher!). I don’t get the point of being wealthy and not having time to enjoy it.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:20:20 +0000

Yours was a bold choice of life too. Letting go of the housework is part of the cultural change, I think. This is why we have dark-red weathered terracotta tiles in the main kitchen/living room and dark brown weathered oak furniture. It pushes the need-to-clean threshold a lot further, leaving time for more important things (like watching kids grow up). Maybe we could call this strategy ‘organic household maintenance’.

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:48:26 +0000

What a fascinating road you have taken and I am going to enjoy watching as you make new turns. There ARE different ways of doing things - and I so admire you for bravely forging ahead.

Moving to Germany has changed my life too, albeit in a smaller way. Had I stayed in South Africa, I would have stayed in a full-time work in order to massage an enormous mortgage, and left my children to be raised by someone else. Here, there is no-one else, and I am learning that it’s possible to raise my kids AND work, and do each well (the housework suffers a little, though).