Simple Living

Cross-posted from "Enjoy the Silence: Your life is not a movie, so stop soundtracking it 24/7" by @alyaza@beehaw.org in !humanities@beehaw.org

The composer John Cage told us to “not discriminate against sounds.”

He challenged us to become interested in what we usually perceive as noise and incorporated it into his compositions. Actually he said that the main difference between experimental and non-experimental music is the inclusion of noise.

Cage didn’t own a smartphone. He didn’t constantly stream music.

In the age of WiFi and Bluetooth speakers, we seem to believe that every activity in life needs an idealized, artificial soundtrack, whether it’s working or unwinding, running or relaxing.

Tech corporations have instilled and nurtured that belief in us. Their aim is to “maximize engagement”. The longer we listen, the more indispensable they become – and the more profit they make.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/26745393

In our eternal quest to declutter our life we found an approach that seems to work better than "does it spark joy?".

"Would I take it with me if I were to move to a 1 room apartment?"

Personally, I like the library

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/39514444

You know, before work and everything starts again... sometimes I feel like I'm obsessed with min-maxing my weekend because of the limited time I have. So I usually feel quite guilty if I end up slacking too much. And I tend to be quite aware of how much time I have left. Anyone else that has this issue?

Just noticed that post on our Simple Living cousin from Reddit and I was wondering if that was even an option to most of us?

Alas, the OP doesn’t share much context on why and how they did it, how they manage their daily activities without using any email.

I know I could not.

I mean, I can live without social networks (the only one I use being Lemmy, it was reddit before that) but I could not not use email.

I would even go as far as to say that removing email from my toolbox would make my life a more complicated and for what gain?

The OP mention not receiving spam. I don’t see much spam, simply because I use a spam filter. They also mention having better conversations than through email. Sure, I can understand that. But I can also have both without any issue. I never discussed much through email—save maybe in the early 90s, when I started really using email and quickly quit using snail mail in which, back then, people used to heave discussion that could go on for... years. With email I do things like create online accounts and stuff like that. I don’t exchange idea, I don’t even chat much. But while I do use email I can still discuss with people by other means.

Maybe email for me is a bit like the smartphone? I seldom use mine and only for practical purpose.

Like, there is no social, no games, no YT, not even… email is configured on my phone. It’s merely more than a phone (to pass and receive phone calls, I don't message) with a big screen and the very few apps I’m expected to be able to get access to (passwords, 2FA, finances, IDs), and that’s it. But as limited as my use case is not using that phone would make things uselessly and much more complicated for me.

What about you? Can you imagine going email free?

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/54337061

So, I'm just sitting here, under this covered patio. It's raining. And I just had a little Zen-like moment of appreciation for simplicity and wanted to share.

I live in a normally arid grassland at the base of a mountain range. This large rain storm just rolled in over the hills. I'm sitting on an old, semi-fancy, vintage couch that my ex left here but has since been turned into the outdoor seating. On either side of me, I have my large racks of this winter's worth of firewood (made with old pallets and scrap wood) and they're set up intentionally to block the wind while sitting out here.

Listening to the pitter patter of the raindrops and watching these thick clouds creep up and over the hills. The periodic wafts of smoke from my wood burning stove washing over. The daylight dimming quickly tho there's no sun to be seen thru these clouds. The beer in my hand might be one of the best I've had, not because of the quality of it, but because it's here, right now, in this perfectly simple moment in time.

I probably didn't convey the perfection of this moment as well as it should've been. But I hope you all are enjoying your perfect little moments too. And if you're not, sometimes you just need to stop for a sec and look around to find them. They're always there.

How does this influence your simple life?

This community had migrated from reddit & has an active community for those of you that don't get enough simple living from this community.

Our washing machine broke last week and the first thought was to buy a replacement but I wanted to at least attempt a repair first.

The machine would still fill and empty water, but the dishes remained dry and there was a burning smell. So, I unplugged it, tipped it over and popped open the bottom cover.

Aside from the controller, the dishwasher was very simple: a drainage pump, a circulation pump, a heating element and some solenoid valves. A multimeter showed the (main suspect) circulation pump still had continuity which narrowed the search down to the pump’s starting capacitor. Seven euros and a few days later and it’s back in action!

The simple fix really gave me a sense of joy and satisfaction. It feels great to extend the use of something that I already have rather than need to consume more.

Can anyone relate? Any good repair stories?

I’m a big fan of the right to repair movement.

I’m a simple living fan, but I like to make things and for that I always need/want more tools. How has everyone found compromise between simple living and pursuing hobbies like woodworking?

Mini Documentary my Kirsten Dirksen.

I don't know who the original artist is to give credit too.

From the book: Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig