![]() Even Thoreau found modern living too much, and modern then was 1845. The tyranny of the clock is a terrible thing. I sense that the resurgent appeal of the so-called simple life is largely borne out of the pressure, stress and speed of modern living, with its relentless bills, emails, deadlines, debts, phone calls, advertising, text messages, noise, clutter and schedules. The kind of things I did without for too many years.Īnyone who has read Henry David Thoreau’s Walden twice probably fancies giving it a go at some point. I’ve found that when you peel off the plastic that industrial civilisation vacuum-packs around you, what remains couldn’t be simpler. ![]() What I think people are pointing towards with that phrase, however, is the uncomplicated essence of it all-and, yes, there is a timeless simplicity to it. By contrast, my old life in the city was quite simple, but made up of a thousand complex things, like smartphones and plug-sockets and plastic. It’s actually quite complex, made up of a thousand simple things, like fetching spring water and carving spoons and trying to catch pike. This way of life is often called ‘the simple life’, but that’s entirely misleading. What was the appeal of transitioning to an off-grid lifestyle-and how does the reality of living in the wild compare to the ‘simple life’ fantasy? ![]() You have been living without electricity or running water in rural Ireland since 2016.
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