- A Charles Bukowski wisdom on finding peace in iso-ordinariness Sometimes reading another’s words regarding a mindset that we are aching for, or are ready for, can take us to that mindset. In mere pithy paragraphs. In the considered placement of phrases of care by the writer we can be drawn down into peace, stillness, mindfulness, what matters. The act of considered care from the more
- I don’t have a chapter on recycling in my book. This is why… There were a few reasons. First, it would take an entire book to explain helpfully how to navigate the convoluted recycling system across states, councils, countries. There is seriously no comprehensive information to impart, because it doesn’t exist. I looked and looked and asked and badgered. No one knows where, if it all, you can more
- The world’s first zero waste cookbook! (How so?) Since you guys know me well, I can tell you this. When my publisher Ingrid asked me to write one last cookbook, I struggled with the idea. The way cookbooks typically work is wasteful. Does the world need another one? You see, cookbooks as we know them today work to a bunch of isolated, complicated more
- I want to own the fact I rant about consumerism and then this… I appeared in a Stellar magazine on the weekend (the popular colour insert that runs in the News Corp newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne; it also ran in Queensland and WA). I agreed to do the interview to be able to talk in more (hopefully useful) detail about walking away from “more” and money and more
- The lessons of a generation living out of a storage unit Lead singer Rai Thistlewayte from Australian band Thirsty Merc did one of those “at home with” interviews recently. “Owning stuff is a burden,” he told the journalist. “That said, I learnt the hard way. So, now I like to keep it simple. You end up putting an apartment’s worth of stuff into a storage unit, more
- You go shopping for shoes. Then the Diderot Effect. Back in the late 1700s, French philosopher Denis Diderot found himself broke. But he lucked out when Catherine the Great heard he couldn’t afford to pay for his daughter’s wedding and she stepped in to give him a huge wad of cash. Feeling flush, he bought himself a new red robe. Then this happened… He more
- When I see those “Gifts for the hard-to-please” guides this is what I do… These articles are popping up in my feed with increasing ferocity right now. For the “hard to please”. For “the person who has everything”. You, too? Sometimes I look at their list of gift solutions. It’s all Shit No One Wants. Shit That Takes Up Room in Miscellaneous Kitchen Drawers and Precious Resources On The Planet. Like more
- Don’t Buy My Books What do you think of this? It’s a message I’m trying on for size after seeing outdoor brand Patagonia give it a crack as part of their anti-consumerist campaign. Patagonia ran with the slogan “Don’t Buy This Jacket” a few years back as a series of print ads. The irony, of course, is that it translated as more
- Here’s my beautiful pimped bike (an indulgent bike porn post) As reported last week, I had a bike stack. I’m feeling much better now, thanks! My main concern, however, as I got lifted from the road by lovely strangers, was for my bike. My bike is the most valuable material possession I own, apart from my couch, if we’re talking from a financial POV. From more
- I’m a modern-day nomad Lovely Jo sent this quote to me the other day as a sort of “hey, it’s you” alert. It’s from Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman, an American woman who, at 48, took off to discover the world. She sold her possessions and became a nomad, living in a Zapotec village in more
