This is my dream: To live as my forefathers once did - in harmony with the land that sustains us. A project to investigate and innovate the creation of a low impact home with methods of living in a form of permaculture designed to sustain my family and improve biodiversity. To leave the land richer than before and in doing so enable others to do so.

What is it I/we actually need to (blank)?

Posted 23/10/08 by Matt B in the Questions category

Life love and the pursute of happiness - how do we have that when the cupboard is empty?

This might at first seem a simple question but as we explore it I hope to show you that it is a powerful one too. It cuts to the heart of the issue and allows you to see what is necessary and what is simply that which has become common place.

To put it another way - when the budget is tight and you can only have some things how do you choose? What do you or I actually need?

Let's look at the question when applied to living - "What is it we actually need to live?" and the matching "What is it we actually need to live happily?"

These are big questions - perhaps too big to answer with ease. However implicit within this question is the tool to answer it. "If I'm honest do I need X in order to (blank)?" which is a question that allows us to keep things that are very helpful but not vital. The second question is "if I am honest could I still (blank) without X?"

So with living should we apply these test - what do we need to live? Do we need a big house? What about the latest clothes, computers, phones, Internet access or even friends?

To keep just the body alive we need food, somewhere warm and dry to sleep and the ability to keep warm. In that we are much like other animals.

However, we also need to keep the soul alive. That means social interaction whereby we are validated as people, the space for the expression of self and a sense of safety as a minimum but added to that we need that hard to define thing called "fun". Just feeding ourselves while enough to keep the body going is not enough to keep any deeper sense of "life".

So what is the minimum of things that we need in order to live

For example. Do I need beer, smart clothes or the money to go to the pub in order to have a satisfactory (or dare I say happy life)? If I do need them why do I need them?

For example do I require the pub because it's my best or only source of social interaction? Could I find that somewhere else and what would the price of the change in my lifestyle be to obtain that?

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What is it I/we actually need to (blank)?

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