On excess, or living with less

 

I've purposely avoided creating an Instagram account; I feel like it is a form of consumerism. I could post many photogenic pictures of my morning coffee in the caravan, the hammock hung in the trees outside, the sunset on the mountain peaks, or the many delicious meals cooked in the tiny kitchen. But the essence of Tiny House living is doing more with less- and perhaps also doing more and posting less. 

The story of Modern Humankind seems to be a story of excess. Humans eat too much and then have to diet to try to save their health. Humans work too much and then have to take anti-depressants to save their sanity. 

We have been systematically replacing natural cycles with one-way tunnels that need human input. We can look at agriculture this way, if we think of the fields of sterile crops kept alive by synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. We can look at the way livestock is raised, crowded in inhumane conditions and doped on pharmaceuticals. We can look at our use of water: what other species would pollute hundreds of thousands of litres of drinkable water just by using it as a toilet? And then have to re-purify that same water with chemicals?

Self-sufficient systems are no good for profits. Any time input is needed, there's an opportunity for someone to make money. And that's why the current socio-economic system wants us to be as dependent as possible. Dependent, at the expense of all earthly systems. And there will be a backlash.

Create a culture addicted to every kind of input imaginable, and then pull the plug: ideal conditions for social uprising. In mainstream society, large-scale revolt hasn't happened yet. But in the news here in Switzerland, they're talking about black-outs and gas and oil shortages this winter. This summer, heat waves and drought have impacted everyone. The hard conditions, extreme weather, resource shortages - they are already happening.

 

I didn't build my Tiny House to make a statement; I built it because I realised that my values were incompatible with the lifestyle I was forced to have by living in an apartment. But if there is a statement I could make, it would be this: living with less is more comfortable than you think. And it's easier to prepare for shortages as a free-thinking individual than be forced into submission by some higher power. There's less fear involved, more of a sense of adventure.

So what is the secret to living with less?

1-  Don't think that you've 'earned' or that you 'deserve' something. I feel like a lot of people are stuck in a mentality that they can't willingly give up or pass up on 'stuff' (a second car? a second home? a third television? the newest iphone?) because they've 'worked so hard' to earn it. But all the things a person can own are based on resources extracted from the earth (and probably those resources were transformed by some unfortunate human in much poorer conditions than you). We're borrowing the material. It will all have to go back eventually. Instead of a mentality of 'possession', we should have a mentality of of taking care.

2- Effort is good; effort is healthy. So many modern inventions play on our natural laziness and make us believe that the less effort we have to put in, the better things are. In my experience, it's mostly the reverse. And it leaves us with the absurdity of having to create gym memberships for people to haul weights around or to spin the pedals of a bike.

A Tiny House is less work than a gym membership, that's for sure! Yes, I bike everywhere, and I take the train; I have to leave my house to shower and fetch water from the fountain. But these efforts are minimal, and welcome, because for me they are clearly offset by the benefits: reduced housing costs, spending more time outside rather than housecleaning, reduced energy use and water use, and probably health benefits from the physical activity. You couldn't say all that about a treadmill.

3- Objects are just objects. It's easy to mistake stuff for meaning. But it's just stuff. A hundred-dollar present might be worth less than a hug at the right time.

4- Doing nothing might be the best and hardest activity of them all. And by nothing, I really mean nothing: no screens, no distractions. Spend time with your own thoughts, and you might just find that you aren't living exactly how you wanted to, after all. You might just find that a lot of the accumulated clutter is there because you are afraid of finding yourself alone with your thoughts.

I'm not saying these are the only answers. But however you end up going about it, trying to gain back a little autonomy - to not be on an endless IV drip of petroleum derivatives, electricity and silicon - will be helpful for everyone. And it might help you survive when our species starts to go extinct. (just kidding- or not...)