A New and Sparing World
No, I don't mean the mighty U S of A. Some of the people in the mighty USA are dedicated to consumerism in a way I cannot even fathom. Once upon a time I lived in a place where life was quite basic -- no supermarkets, frozen food or Doctor Pepper. I once asked one American friend what he missed most in that place. Disposable kitchen tissue, he said. In a country where women boiled strange vegetation for hours to make something that resembled mushy soap.
With COVID terrorizing us, I have wondered, what price our extravagances? At the end of all this, are we willing to take a good, long look at our silly indulgences? Are we able to consider the harm we are doing to our world?
I think: do we need to travel quite so much to quieten the sheer frenzy of our indulgent selves? Do families need more than one car in their front-gardens? And are all their trips in them necessary or useful?
I start with my own household. The number of items of clothes we buy for our grandchild is sinful. And then we give away two or three bagfuls to charities twice a year. A few years ago, I remember I used to buy clothes a size too small for my biggish self. In the hope that I could slim down to them. Did I ever succeed in wearing them? The answer can be guessed.
I look in my condiments cupboard and there are several kinds of vinegar, Soy sauces and pickles.They fester there for years, and jars barely used get chucked out after a year, or two, or many. My linen cupboard is bursting with towels and duvet covers from all over the world; pillow cases that never see the light of day... Recently I counted the saris I haven't worn since decades and there were sixty-four. I periodically look at them -- they are pretty to look at. But I don't wear them in England. Some are from the time of my youth, old and saturated with memories, but still, there is no excuse with such covetousness.
After Covid, shall we see some sense in our lives? Less time rushing around wanting more and more, instead find more time to enjoy what is all around us. Just now, the butterflies, wasps and bees are back in force in my garden. The birds are reclaiming the trees, the grass, the bushes. I potter around in the wet mud, knowing I have to wash my hands so many times anyway.
Next year, hopefully with death and damnation behind us, I shall make a list of how I shall trim down my life. Stay still. look. listen...
No, I don't mean the mighty U S of A. Some of the people in the mighty USA are dedicated to consumerism in a way I cannot even fathom. Once upon a time I lived in a place where life was quite basic -- no supermarkets, frozen food or Doctor Pepper. I once asked one American friend what he missed most in that place. Disposable kitchen tissue, he said. In a country where women boiled strange vegetation for hours to make something that resembled mushy soap.
With COVID terrorizing us, I have wondered, what price our extravagances? At the end of all this, are we willing to take a good, long look at our silly indulgences? Are we able to consider the harm we are doing to our world?
I think: do we need to travel quite so much to quieten the sheer frenzy of our indulgent selves? Do families need more than one car in their front-gardens? And are all their trips in them necessary or useful?
I start with my own household. The number of items of clothes we buy for our grandchild is sinful. And then we give away two or three bagfuls to charities twice a year. A few years ago, I remember I used to buy clothes a size too small for my biggish self. In the hope that I could slim down to them. Did I ever succeed in wearing them? The answer can be guessed.
I look in my condiments cupboard and there are several kinds of vinegar, Soy sauces and pickles.They fester there for years, and jars barely used get chucked out after a year, or two, or many. My linen cupboard is bursting with towels and duvet covers from all over the world; pillow cases that never see the light of day... Recently I counted the saris I haven't worn since decades and there were sixty-four. I periodically look at them -- they are pretty to look at. But I don't wear them in England. Some are from the time of my youth, old and saturated with memories, but still, there is no excuse with such covetousness.
After Covid, shall we see some sense in our lives? Less time rushing around wanting more and more, instead find more time to enjoy what is all around us. Just now, the butterflies, wasps and bees are back in force in my garden. The birds are reclaiming the trees, the grass, the bushes. I potter around in the wet mud, knowing I have to wash my hands so many times anyway.
Next year, hopefully with death and damnation behind us, I shall make a list of how I shall trim down my life. Stay still. look. listen...
No comments:
Post a Comment