I’ve grown tired of the noise of modern life. Not just noise in the literal sense, but in the metaphorical sense too, the visual ‘noise’ and the ‘noise’ of stuff that seems to be clogging up my life. The audio pollution seems relentless. I try not to listen to anything more than I have too. I had stopped watching the news and I’ve stopped listening to the radio in the morning because I just can’t stand the daily drivel as I drive to work. And there’s another thing that gets on my nerves, the over the top dramatics of everything, the news, interviews, even quiz shows. You can’t get a straight answer anymore, there has to be a dramatic pause before everything. I used to enjoy quizzes but the minute the dramatic pause starts, I turn over or as it is now, turn off. Which explains why my TV watching is down to 3 shows, The Good Fight, the Grand Prix and Gardener’s World. Monty Don on a Friday night is the most chilled out moment of my week. Yes, I know how sad that sounds!
The sound of silence is seriously under- appreciated and it’s only when you try to find a silent moment that you realise, silence is almost impossible to achieve. Even when there is no one around, there is still the background noise of cars in the distance or planes passing overhead. Even at the top of Gortin Glen, you can still hear the distant drone of traffic.
So, I’ve been cutting back and cutting out a lot of stuff recently, I’ve also cut back on my time online, again the ‘noise’ of constant advertising driving me away.
I’ve been having a bit of a clear out too. As well as trying to get rid of the audio and visual pollution, I’ve been clearing out my ‘stuff’ as well. Actually, it’s been less of a clear out and more of a purge, getting rid of all the old stuff that has been clogging up my life and my house. There is just too much of everything and I feel overwhelmed by it. Too many clothes, shoes, books, creams, jewellery and all the other useless stuff I have accumulated in pursuit of…I don’t even know? What is the point of it all? I mean, what is it all for? I’ve also found, the more I get rid of, the more I want to get rid of, so I’m still purging. Minimalism here I come..
I’ve also called a halt to all spending. It’s part of my life plan to try and bring capitalism down by not spending my hard-earned on anything other than the absolute necessities, like food. So, I’ve set myself a weekly budget of £40, £20 for diesel (I need to travel to work, although I’m looking for something closer to home) and £20 for food, which is doable when you live alone. I don’t have much debt and I’ll be rid of most of it within 20 weeks or less, although there is one loan that will run until next year, unless I get lucky and get a lift of money from somewhere.
I was discussing the accumulation of stuff a few months ago with a good friend of mine and he recommended a great documentary called The Century of the Self. It’s available to watch for free online, and was made by the BBC. I highly recommend it. It explains how government and business have basically being doing their level best to brainwash us all. And they’ve been pretty successful at it too, I have to say. We have moved from the concerns of the collective, to the promotion of the individual over all others. It’s basically, divide and conquer by another name. We’ve been encouraged to put our own individual needs, over the needs of the greater good. Where we used to have neighbours, now we have competitors in the race to have and to own; better job, bigger house, fancier car, more stuff and more stuff and more... etc, etc.
And what is all the spending for? Profits, for the corporations. The wars and misery in the world today are driven by profit for the few at the expense of the many. The pursuit of money is a poison for humanity and the planet. It has caused the most horrific damage, pain, death and suffering to the world and its inhabitants since its invention. If we got rid of money tomorrow and instead started living by the maxim,’ everyone taken care of’, the world would become a very different place. All we need is the will to do it… To be continued
As always, comments are welcome..