Free-Range Living

'Meaningful life – the freerange way -----'   (occasional blog)

‘David v. Goliath --- ‘

The ‘struggle’ life with big business continues here at the organic micro-holding (small smallholding) in the UK north midlands, this time with one of the large energy companies. Normally this type of company wouldn’t be one to deal with, in that previous experience with large outfits, er, by and large, has been less than satisfactory, quite a way less in fact due to what seems at times to be ‘big is best’ superiority type attitudes. This time too it hasn’t been a deal different with strong messages in their e-mails and on their websites not to contact them, and them making it pretty hard to do just that - one afternoon two hours was wasted just trying to get in touch - trouble finding phone numbers, lack of general enquiries menu option, telephone numbers eventually given by one of their operatives, but no longer working ----

Surely operating in a domestic service industry, they need to take a little more care in regards to their customers - ? It might of course be useful for them to treat frequently asked queries via a ‘FAQ’ page, but what about specific queries re. specific customer problems - ? Treating customers in an ‘en masse’ fashion just doesn’t the ‘cut the mustard’ here and would seem to indicate a lack of care, effort and respect from the company. This particular customer problem was a bit involved concerning a solar energy application that was in trouble due to the two previous organisers of the customer’s solar energy scheme going suddenly out of business in quick succession, the provision of services then ‘automatically’ being passed by the regulator to the large energy supply firm.

The problem was then compounded by the new large firm supplying no guidance for the solar production unit, which was then eventually found, after quite a search, on an offshoot of their main website, which then provided forms to apply for them to manage the solar production side – eureeka! - but then only to find that their online application system ground to a halt a third of the way through for no perceptible reason ------ Oh, deep joy ----- a non-wonderful end to an afternoon of undiluted frustration ----

‘New season stirrings ---- ‘

It’s now in late February at the beginning of a new micro-holding season, except not quite yet as it’s still pretty cold, made worse due to the chill factor from a biting east wind. There are some early-sown into warmth seeds up - tomatoes, onions, celery, lettuce, calabrese and red cabbage, and which are surviving in the conservatory under bubblewrap pastic and with a bit of heat from a small paraffin lamp. Two or three buckets of soil are needed in which to sow broad bean seed, then to reside covered in glass/clear plastic (to prevent mice damage) in the top glasshouse, but as yet the ground outside is still frozen, so no soil currently available. The first daffodils though have appeared up the lane, and the first blossom has flowered in the paddock orchard.

The early potato ground has been covered with bubble-wrap plastic for a few weeks, so maybe some early potatoes can get planted under the plastic towards the end of this month. (latest: quite a few first and second early potatoes were in fact planted under bubblewrap due to ensuing milder conditions, the idea being to try to get an early crop before any blight attacks, which generally works ok.)

‘Reclusing calls ---- ?’

One of the advantages of ‘micro-holding life’ where the home premises (here half-an-acre (.2Ha) are in effect a ‘life-support’ unit, is that there’s quite a bit of interesting and satisfying activity to go at from now on, which along with living out in ‘clean air’ countryside, mean that deprivations experienced due to corona virus are not too severe – just need to get the golf courses open again – not sure in fact why such open air activity is curtailed, particularly when angling and shooting are apparently ok - ?

Ah well, who knows ---- It also helps to be a bit of a recluse, which as an older person seems to be a viable option when there doesn’t seem to be a complete ‘fit’ with mainstream culture, which judging by general policy, the array of TV programmes, and the ‘limited values’ and ‘money-tisation’ of the current (UK) culture, seems to be the case here. Important then, perhaps, to be able to lead a bit of a ‘freerange’ reclused lifestyle - ?

T had had a bit of a chequered past, falling foul of the law on occasion. He’d not long finished his last spell in prison, deciding for himself that it was ‘a bit of a mugs game’, and feeling the need to, as he said’, sort meself out and get me head straight’. With help, he was able to find an out-of-the-way country estate where he could ‘lose himself’ for six months, camping – it was summertime – and as he was a fair shot, supporting himself with mainly game. He went right through the six months without seeing another soul - the peace was bliss, he said – and helped him to do quite a bit of thinking and reflecting.

‘After awhile, the peace and quiet of the place seemed to get to me, slowing and calming me , especially in terms of thoughts, which now seemed to come to me, rather than me thinking them’, he said.

After his recluse period, he went on to be a pithy and erudite writer, publishing a number of books under an assumed name.

‘Large-ist life ----’

One of the modern mainstream culture features not seemingly fitting that well with the ‘freerange’ approach to life is the degree to which it seems to be a ‘size matters’ situation , which could have well been part of peoples’ ‘inner motivation’ for Britain staying in the E.C (E.U.), a ‘safety in numbers’ job? The snag, though, can often be that ‘large’ doesn’t always work out as maybe planned, as many empires, both geographic and commercial, have over time experienced.

Several eminent authors writing back-along (eg.s Huxley ‘Brave New world’, Orwell ‘1984’) also warned strongly on the theme of the danger ‘large power’ can pose to democracy and then to individual rights and freedoms – in fact right now there seems to be a trend of increasing autocratic power in the world, and to wealth ending up in the hands of the few rather than the many. Self-interest has been such a strong factor in recent times that maybe longer-term possible outcomes may have been under considered, with, from the ‘freeranger’ point of view, potential restrictions and limitations to the individual looming a little too large - ?

Should ‘individual freedoms potentially on the wane’ be the case, further longer-term implications could also be in line. There seems to be, for instance, an increasing groundswell feeling amongst those interested that the individual’s potential fulfilment is gained via ‘direct individual experience’, leading to ‘expanded awareness’ and connection to wider realities (eg. universal law and energy), then leading to what could be called ‘hlgher consciousness’ living for the individual, with the fruits and joys of such a then ‘self-realised’ life. Whilst it may seem in general to be a far-off prospect seen from present perspectives, some have suggested that a future of societies made up of such ‘self-realised’, fulfilled people, is the ‘salvation’ route for mankind ------ there maybe though, work to do -----

‘Small can be beautiful ------ ‘

‘Small’ can maybe then too easily written off – particularly if it is right that man’s salvation is through individual ‘fruition’ - ? And often the notion that just one individual is ‘powerless’ (against, for instance, the ‘giantist’ system), therefore ‘not able to take meaningful action’, can be prevalent among people, sometimes justifying, say, going to the supermarket rather than ‘growing own’. Well, in a way, yes, it’s probably fairly un-arguable that one person’s efforts are ‘drop in the ocean’ (although it still might be good to remember that the ocean is a collection of a lot of drops ---- ), and that in the collective sense don’t make an awful lot of difference. Isn’t it though, looking at it from just one angle? Again, the view from the individual perspective can maybe need looking at.

Miniscule the individual’s efforts maybe in the collective scheme of things, but in terms of meaningfulness and impact for the individual, they may be far from insignificant – providing much purpose and meaning to their lives - ? Is this a factor in the reported phenomena of lack of deeper meaning in modern life, with then people ‘losing empowerment’ and getting into a general ‘resigned’ mode (i.e. because they perceive they have little impact or significance in modern ‘large-ist’ culture), which then materialises as a feeling of lack of power/purpose - ?

‘Small life here ---- ‘

The organic eco micro-holding is similarly lacking in size and is insignificant in terms of contributing to general production and supplies. But at the individual (and important) level it’s fully significant and supports and enables a meaningful and purposeful lifestyle, which, you never know, may be more fulfilling than the general en masse mainstream culture lifestyle - ? The micro-holding is the equivalent of a ‘life support’ unit, enabling good levels of involvement with important life processes (providing sustenance, warmth and shelter, life processes interest, and so on), and important at this place, interaction with, appreciation of and enjoyment of, nature itself, a useful portal to too ‘a bigger world/universe -----? The place also encourages creativity, interest, exercise, sociability (spare produce and plants exchange with neighbours, for example) . What with ‘largist’ culture, and then supplying new housing with often tiny patches of garden, it may not be surprising then that existential life purpose can be evasive - ? Bill Bryson, the well-known writer makes a pithy comment :

‘We used to build civilisations; now we build shopping malls’

There were also pithy words from Buddha on the subject ;

'Your purpose in life is to find your purpose, and give your whole heart and soul to it'

Important then to work things out to find out what is meaningful at the individual level, to be able then to live the purposeful and fulfilling life - ? It may take a bit of ‘self-strengthening’, and spending too some time ‘out-of-flow’, working out own priorities - ?

And to even maybe, follow the ‘freerange’ way - ?