Kindymycin

Thanks for sharing this. Hopepunk and grimdark are terms that we're not on my radar at all, but now reading about it I can look back and see the subtle difference in storytelling. Seems to me the difference come through not from the atmosphere of the work, but in the source of determination of the protagonist, favoring hope in humanity over bleak fortitude. There's certainly lu carryover lessons for real life, that identical situations can be approached with different sources of motivation.

I hear you, and I've really enjoyed our discourse. I think we're about 95% on the same page here, but you know how difficult trying to clearly communicate through text can be. I'm not sure I agree that how a society treats someone is more important than their internal sense of self worth, and that may be our sticking point that we can't reconcile, but I'm not saying your wrong. That point is completely defensible, but not how I see things.

For what it's worth, conversing with you has added value to my life and expanded my perspective. Though we've never met, and I'll most certainly never shake your hand or look you in the eye, I value you.

I wish you and anyone reading this to be well and have peace 😊

Thank you for your well put reply, and I agree, your position is not without roots. Though, I'd like to humbly suggest that your points may actually support the notion that runaway modern capitalism does not effectively determine a person's value. I would argue that the fact that a paragon can struggle economically and a grifter can swindle their way to high fortune shows that capitalism does not equitably reward good and punish evil. Therefore, a person should not allow their financial status (the value capitalism has assigned them) to be the measure of their personal value.

On the point of the system's undervaluing of people and their work (which is absolutely true) making it harder to lead a simple life, I'm not sure the two are connected. Being compensated well makes things much much easier, but that doesn't make things simpler. A person can live a very modest life that is simple, tranquil, and full of joy. Someone can also be extremely wealthy and ambitious with a fast paced life full of complexity, stress, and anguish.

I'm very sorry that youre feelings stuck. It's frustrating and it absolutely can feel patronizingly when you're struggling for better and someone tries to placate you with platitudes. But, the gift of simple living is that by appreciating the little things, removing stressful complexly, and slowing down, anyone in any situation can have more peace and happiness in their situation, even if it doesn't get better.

Warmest wishes my friend and be well.

I find that I tend to spend a lot on just about everything I buy 😅. I have a lot of check boxes for the things I buy, like being ethically sourced, environmentally friendly, fair trade, look for B certified, etc. Consequently, I try not to buy very much. I'm sure I'm probably being taken for a chump with "green washing," but that's on them, not me.

In particular, I find that I spend more on food because I try to buy local and support small producers. I also try to get BIFL items when it comes to tools and things notice that I use frequently.

This perspective sounds like relationships are a transactional affair of reciprocy. I am very sorry if this has been your experience with people ☹️

I find the current tone of the comments in this thread rather upsetting. It feels like a lot of people are arguing to refute OPs position that a person's value is not determined from their material productivity. If this is you, I think you might be in the wrong community. I don't think this is a point of debate in the simple living community.

To say that a person's value is derived from their productivity is to say that you do not value the person, but what they produce. This can be interpreted as viewing a person as a Means to any End, rather than an End in themselves. For me, viewing people as Ends in themselves is a foundational pathos of Simple Living. The idea of valuing people, relationships, love, time, above wealth, material, prestige, speed is what simple living is all about!

Well wishes to you all 😊

Like others have said, try to have a place for everything, but I have a couple of caveats. I have a spouse and two young children, so having a specific spot where everything always goes is not really feasible. I try to restrict things to specific areas, like specific drawers/boxes/containers for it's if a certain kind. This keeps clutter out of sight, and having a policy that every item lives within some kind of container allows me to control how much space I want to allocate to a category of items. For example, my kids love figurines and action figures; they have a box for those type of toys, and once the box gets full, they have to let go of some if they want to get something new.

We also have areas in our house where things are allowed to be "parked," but the parking lot has to be cleared everyday, so that every day begins without clutter/chair. These are mostly our flat surfaces, like the eating table, kitchen counters, coffee table, etc. Part of our nightly routine is to run around for 10 minutes cleaning off these spaces.

Great post and reminder! I find myself sometimes tempted by the trap of seeking simple living/minimalism/environmentalism/general earthiness by doing silly things that aren't practical. Like just the other day I was thinking about getting rid of my awesome Braun razor ive had and loved for years and buying a simple safety razor instead to simply my life more. How silly. There are certainly times when there are actions needed to be taken to align our lives with simple living ideals, but sometimes we can feel a need to continue to search for changes to be made and it becomes a never-ending pursuit. Sometimes the only real change needed is our perspective!!! Just give yourself permission to let life be simple with just how it is.

If you read the article, it tells you that they collect recyclable material, then provide to firms which produce products from the usable material, and the remainder goes to landfills or is incinerated. I think the punchline is that by reducing their waste production and developing a better waste management system, they've been able to clean up their island.

I use a Synology NAS to back up and sync everything. There's a high up-front cost with this option, but there are a lot of benefits and they have great apps for accessing stuff. The argument can definitely be made that it's more cost effective to just pay for a secure cloud service subscription, but it's nice to self host, plus now I have 16 terabytes of space and can run my own services like bitwarden and Plex for zero cost!

Pulled the trigger on Crosscode! I'll put the others on my list. Thanks!

$1.37 on GOG? Yes please 😁