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You might call it a silent epidemic. You might not see things on the surface, but under-ground, it’s already on fire.
Waves of Anxiety in our Classrooms
Photo:npr.org
Nearly a third of students surveyed said academic work had damaged their personal relationships and left them feeling isolated.
‘A poll of almost 38,000 UK students suggests rates of psychological distress and illness are on the rise in universities, with “alarmingly high” levels of anxiety, loneliness, substance misuse and thoughts of self-harm.’
“Above all, a growing proportion just seem terrified of failure, and experience the whole process of learning and assessment as an unforgiving ordeal that offers no room for creativity or mistakes.”
‘The way universities are run is making us ill’: inside the student mental health crisis
‘British universities are experiencing a surge in student anxiety, mental breakdowns and depression. There has been a sharp rise in students dropping out – of the 2015 intake, 26,000 left in their first year, an increase for the third year running – and an alarming number of suicides. In the 12 months ending July 2017, the rate of suicide for university students in England and Wales was 4.7 deaths per 100,000 students, which equates to 95 suicides or about one death every four days.
The crisis in student mental health hit the news in 2017 after a high number of suicides at Bristol University. Over 18 months, starting in October 2016, 12 students are believed to have killed themselves. While the university tried to tackle the crisis, it struggled to keep up with the rising demand for help. In November 2018, a group of students gathered on a chilly Bristol street holding placards demanding better access to psychological support. The students told reporters that despite promises of more investment in student wellbeing, services were still badly overstretched…’-Continue to read
Teach us how to look after our mental health, say university students*
Students want universities to teach them how to look after their mental health and wellbeing as anxiety and stress levels surge on UK campuses, according to a survey.
Can You hear our Cries? So, Why are You Not Responding?
Photo:psycom.net
Ninety-six per cent of the 1,500 students polled by emotional fitness app Fika think universities should offer “emotional education” on the curriculum to improve their resilience against mental health problems...The modules could help combat the “alarmingly high” levels of anxiety, loneliness, substance misuse, thoughts of self-harm and suicides on UK campuses, which were revealed earlier this year by a separate study of almost 38,000 UK students.
Recent research has shed light on the extent to which universities are struggling to cope with the scale of demand for mental health support services. According to universities’ own data, students with mental health problems are having to wait up to 12 weeks for counselling and support – longer than a standard university term. Despite growing demand, the data showed that one in four universities have cut or frozen budgets for student mental health.
More than a third (35%) of the students surveyed complained that waiting lists for counselling and mental health support were too long. More than a fifth (22%) said universities only offered support when mental health became a problem, rather than preemptively looking to build resilience among students.
With pressure on students to secure a good degree mounting, nearly a third (28%) said academic work had damaged their personal relationships and left them feeling isolated.
Sir Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, said the mental health crisis is a direct result of how universities are run. “The pressure within the academic system to demonstrate quantifiable results, rather than turning out well-rounded, properly equipped graduates, is creating an anxious, ill-equipped and emotionally fragile generation of workers,” he said.
Several universities already offer wellbeing courses as part of the curriculum, including the University of Bristol through its science of happiness courses and the University of Oxford, through its mindfulness centre.
Willem Kuyken, a professor and director at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, said that universities need to address the mental health crisis at its roots.
“The higher education sector has a duty to redesign its offering to bring emotional and social education to its heart, making these as foundational to the university experience as academic education,” he said.
Eva Crossan Jory, the vice-president for welfare of the National Union of Students, said that while wellbeing education could be positive for some students, it isn’t a substitute for tackling the underlying causes of stress, anxiety and depression.
“Poor student mental health is rooted in the material conditions that students are expected to deal with as they study, including financial support which is not fit for purpose and spiralling housing costs,” she said.
“However many wellbeing initiatives providers invest in, we can only ever scrape the surface of the problem if we’re unwilling as a sector to look at the root cause of the problem: funding and regulating an education system itself which reproduces and exacerbates social inequality.”- *Read the original article
Teach us how to look after our mental health, say university students
Dear students,
It saddens me to note that your calls, feelings and your cries for better mental health provision at universities have all fallen on deaf ears. This, is nothing short of shameful.
For many years now you have been calling for a better, more ethical, valued-led education. You have been demanding modules to deal with real life situations, not so much emphasis on abstract, nonsensical, unreal theories, models and so forth.
Below you can see an example of such request from your fellow-students at the University of Manchester:
‘‘Few mainstream economists predicted the global financial crash of 2008 and academics have been accused of acting as cheerleaders for the often labyrinthine financial models behind the crisis. Now a growing band of university students are plotting a quiet revolution against orthodox free-market teaching, arguing that alternative ways of thinking have been pushed to the margins.
‘Economics undergraduates at the University of Manchester have formed the Post-Crash Economics Society, which they hope will be copied by universities across the country. The organisers criticise university courses for doing little to explain why economists failed to warn about the global financial crisis and for having too heavy a focus on training students for City jobs.’...Economics students aim to tear up free-market syllabus
However, be assured that there are many who have heard your cries and are willing to assist you, myself included.
Universities, can, if they choose to, be at your assistance, giving you all the care that you deserve. But, this needs a sea change from their side. They must, once again, discover their pastoral role. They must stop their neoliberal thinking that they are a business and you are their customers. This nonsense must be stopped.
Over the last many years I have tried to communicate this with them. The time is now for them to show that they are listening. Below, I have noted a few of those communications for your interest. Please help me to reachout to them, We owe it to ourselves to be heard.
Rising numbers of stressed students seek help(1 October 2015)
The Report that should Shame us all: The Neglected and Abused Children in England(4 July 2017)
The Path to Students’ Wellbeing: The Virtues of Living a Values-led Life
Photo:bing.com
1- A Sea Change in Teaching Values
Some say that my teaching is nonsense
Some say that my teaching is nonsense.
Others call it lofty but impractical.
But to those who have looked inside themselves,
this nonsense makes perfect sense.
And to those who put it into practice,
this loftiness has roots that go deep.
I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.-Wisdom of Lao Tzu: The Path to Virtue, Happiness, and Harmony
2- Ahe Sea Change in Lifestyle: The Virtues of Living a Simpler Life
‘Living a simple life is about paring back, so that you have space to breathe. It’s about doing with less, because you realize that having more and doing more doesn’t lead to happiness. It’s about finding joy in the simple things, and being content with solitude, quiet, contemplation and savoring the moment.
Of course, these are not the only gifts you’ll receive for living a simpler life. The best ones are the ones you will discover yourself. Try simpler life and see what happens — I think you’ll find out something beautiful about yourself, and about life.
In short, the best kind of simplicity is that which exposes the raw beauty, joy and heartbreak of life as it is; not the Facebook and Instagram life, but life as it should be: real, authentic, ups and downs, love and being loved…’-The beauty of living simply: the forgotten wisdom of William Morris
3- A Sea Change in Social Media Usage and Engagement
"How can we see ourselves and our true purpose/talents if we are constantly viewing others?"… "Many of us are in so deep we don't realize [social media's] delusional powers and the impact it has on our lives."...Good on you Ms. Essena O'Neill: Social media 'is not real life'
4- Small is Beautiful: Economics as if people mattered
‘Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful is an appeal to the deep instinctive understanding of the common good that all people share. It is an appeal to our essential humanity. It deals with some of the most pressing concerns of people the world over, concerns which every generation must consider and answer. It is written in the hope of inspiring idealism and the desire to give the practical help the world so greatly needs. The book encourages us to reflect on and to understand things we all seem to have forgotten: What is Education? What is Knowledge? What is Wisdom? What is the source of true happiness and well-being? What is the good life? What is the purpose of economic life? What does it mean to be a human being living on a spaceship with finite resources? What paths can be recommended to shift the current destructive global political-economic order from one of unrestrained economic growth, profit maximisation and cost minimisation, to one that embraces material wealth creation, yet also preserves and enhances social and ecological well-being and increases human happiness and contentment?...’-Small is Beautiful: The Wisdom of E.F. Schumacher
5- Economic Model to Serfdom has Destroyed our Heart and Soul
Neoliberal policies destroy human potential and devastate education
6-Why Happiness Should be Taught at Our Universities
‘From the dawn of our creation, our ultimate desire has been to find happiness. This desire is in the nature of things; it is common to all of us, at all times, and in all places. Nature, the material of the universe, is modified by us to create wealth so that this desire may be satisfied.
Today, at the dawn of the Third Millennium, our civilisation has scored its greatest successes in the material sciences. Our glory is the willing application of these achievements to daily life: they have brought us enormous benefits. However, in our understanding of the forces governing the relations between people in society we have shown little aptitude. So tragic is this failure that we have turned the masterpieces of the material sciences into engines of destruction which threaten to annihilate the civilisation which produced them.
This is the challenge of our time: we must either find the way of truth in the government of our relations one with another, or succumb to the results of our ignorance.
Many prophets, sages and philosophers throughout history have reminded us that there are two forces at work in society: the material and the spiritual. If either of these two is neglected or ignored they will appear to be at odds with one another; society will inevitably become fragmented; divisions and rifts will manifest themselves with increasing force and frequency.
It is clear that this is exactly what has happened today. We have a situation of disequilibrium and disharmony. Only the reawakening of the human spirit, of love and compassion, will save us from our own worst extremes. Physical wealth must go hand in hand with spiritual, moral and ethical wealth…’-The Common Good Happiness Project: A Spiritual Quest for the Good Life
It’s All in The Mind: Focus on Mental Health
A GCGI Initiative: Examining mental health issues around the world, with a special focus on children, youth, students, their teachers and lecturers.
Photo:flightsafetyaustralia.com
This new GCGI Initiative is dedicated to the youth of the world, our children and grand- children, who are the unfolding story of the decades ahead. May they rise to the challenge of leading our troubled world, with hope and wisdom in the interest of the common good to a better future.
'A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.'
Lest We Forget:
A country/nation drunk on market values, guided by cruel machinery of exploitation, racism, class division, austerity, cruelty, aggression, that humiliates it’s innocent, weak and vulnerable citizens, with neoliberalism, poverty, inequality and food banks and celebrates extreme individualism, feral competition, worship of mammon, rat-race to a success that it can never deliver and ignores the struggles and plight of its children and youth, ceases to be civilised and sooner or later ceases to exist morally or spiritually.
VALUING WHAT MATTERS MOST
It’s Time To Face The Facts On Children’s and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing
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William Morris, Britain's most inspiring designer: Walthamstow’s Gift to the World
‘Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement: a sanded floor and whitewashed walls, and the green trees, and flowery meads, and living waters outside; or a grimy palace amid the smoke with a regiment of housemaids always working to smear the dirt together so that it may be unnoticed; which, think you, is the most refined, the most fit for a gentleman of those two dwellings…?
And then from simplicity of life would rise up the longing for beauty, which cannot yet be dead in men’s souls, and we know that nothing can satisfy that demand but intelligent work rising gradually into imaginative work; which will turn all “operatives” into workmen, into artists, into men.’—William Morris
William Morris: A Man for All Times
The historian EP Thompson characterised Morris as “one of those men whom history will never overtake.”
William Morris, photographed by Frederick Hollyer in 1884. Photograph: © National Portrait Gallery, London
William Morris, born on 24 March 1834 at Elm House, Walthamstow, East London, was a revolutionary force in Victorian Britain: Known for his fantastic floral prints, William Morris designed tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics and furniture during the latter part of the 19th century. He was also a celebrated artist, poet, writer and social activist. His genius was so many-sided and so profound that its full extent has rarely been grasped. Many people may find it hard to believe that the greatest English designer of his time, possibly of all time, could also be internationally renowned as a founder of the socialist movement, and could have been ranked as a poet together with Tennyson and Browning. His designs are still widely used today and so are many of his ideas and principles. Morris has enabled us to dare to imagine and envision a more beautiful world. Throughout his life he laboured through his creative endeavours to beautify the earth and the lives of those who dwell upon it. Long may it be so.
William Morris: A Life for Our Time
THE ARTS & CRAFT MOVEMENT: The Slow Pursuit of a Slower and Simpler Life
‘All art starts from this simplicity; and the higher the art rises, the greater the simplicity.’
Photo:wikimedia.org
Elm House, Walthamstow; original illustration to Mackail's 'Life of Morris'-Edmund Hort New (1871 - 1931)
Photo: William Morris Gallery
William Morris and His Legacy: The Virtues of Simplicity and Valuing Beauty
Daisy wallpaper, 1862 designed by Morris. Photograph: © William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest
The Beauty of Simplicity — Living a Simpler Life, William Morris’s golden rule for a good and worthwhile life, his words and sentiments resonates with me. Why, you may ask? To answer this question, I need to go back in time, when, over twenty years or so ago, I faced, possibly, the biggest challenge to my way of life. It could have been very disastrous. But now looking back, one consequence of that very sad time, was the fact that ‘Simplicity’, ‘Living Simply’ which was forced on us, has turned out to be the biggest gift we could have ever had.
Let me recall, what I had noted about this awhile back:
Life is so full of unpredictable beauty and strange surprises
As many people, wiser than me have noted, our lives and the world in which we all live, are so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. We want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways we are, in some ways we're not ... Life, it can bring you so much joy and yet at the same time cause so much pain.
I was so devastated that after this wonderful journey, full of joy and happiness, achievements and success, due to some reasons beyond my control, I started to feel unwell, unhappy, not enjoying what I was doing and teaching, especially when I lost all confidence in the value of moral-free economics that I was teaching my students, and more.
In 1999 I voluntarily resigned from my post at Coventry University. It goes without saying that, I was heartbroken and extremely hurt that I was unable to nurture and develop further what I had envisioned and built.
Looking back, reflecting on what has happened, I think, somehow, somebody, somewhere, had planned it so that I, too, should have a life, similar to the life of Coventry itself: fall and rise again,...Continue to read
Yes, I left my employment. I lost my income. But, in the process, I discovered more about myself. I rediscovered the love of my wife, my children, family and a few friends that had decided to remain with me. My wife, my children, and myself were pushed into opting a far more simpler life that we had ever imagined before. This has encouraged us to become more aware of who we are, what and why we are and also what the most important and precious in life are. For all these, I cannot be more grateful and thankful.
All in all, for the last couple of decades, we have been living a (relatively) simple life, or to put it another way, we have been living a simpler life, that we may have not been living, if life had not played the card, as it did, all those years ago, as I noted above.
Thus, as the complexity of my life grew, and I renewed my commitments, I chose to lead my life more simply. I could, I suppose, have found solace in artificial lift-ups, drugs and alcohol. I am grateful I did not. I chose love, I chose mother nature, volunteerism, taking action in the interest of the common good. I chose to share and tell my story. I founded the GCGI and in the process found the best, most beautiful friends I could have ever imagined I could have.
Living a simple life is about paring back, so that you have space to breathe. It’s about doing with less, because you realize that having more and doing more doesn’t lead to happiness. It’s about finding joy in the simple things, and being content with solitude, quiet, contemplation and savoring the moment.
Of course, these are not the only gifts you’ll receive for living a simpler life. The best ones are the ones you will discover yourself. Try simpler life and see what happens — I think you’ll find out something beautiful about yourself, and about life.
In short, the best kind of simplicity is that which exposes the raw beauty, joy and heartbreak of life as it is; not the Facebook and Instagram life, but life as it should be: real, authentic, ups and downs, love and being loved. Carpe Diem!
Photo:bmhonline.wordpress.com
‘This golden rule of housekeeping was first uttered by William Morris, a celebrated 19th century designer, entrepreneur and writer in a speech to an assembly of designers in Birmingham in 1880. It wasn’t offered as a styling tip so much as a call to arms in an ideological battle on the course of civilisation.
Morris wanted to inspire people to challenge the norms of a society that in its ‘hurrying blindness’ pursued wealth and economic growth at the expense of what he called ‘the beauty of life’.
Morris grew up in the age of industrialisation, seeing factories spring up in the cities and machine-based methods of production take hold. He regarded the jobs on the assembly lines as dehumanising.
As a young man, Morris engaged an architect friend Philip Webb to design and build him and his new wife a family home, called Red House. Morris used this project as an opportunity to test the idea of a craft-based community, with his circle of friends working together to handcraft almost all the furnishings in the house.
Red House in Upton, Bexley Heath, Greater London. Photo:flickr.com
Through this experience Morris learned firsthand what science took another century to establish, that work if properly designed can be an inherently enjoyable and meaningful activity.
He set up an interiors company with his friends, determined to prove that it was possible for a business to make solid well-designed objects for the middle classes using traditional methods of craftsmanship. The difficulty was that quality goods made by artisans, if paid fairly, would cost more than mass-produced goods made in factories. How would people pay for them?
Morris’s answer: by living a simple life. If people consumed less, they would have more money to spend on solid and durable goods that would not need to be replaced, saving them even more money in the long run.
If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it:
‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.’
And if we apply that rule strictly, we shall … create a demand for real art, as the phrase goes; and in the second place, we shall surely have more money to pay for decent houses.
Morris believed education could change consumer behaviour and in turn drive demand for high quality, ethically made goods. But his message went largely unheeded for more than a century.
It is only now that there is growing consciousness of the need for mindful consumption as we come to terms with the environmental devastation wrought by industry and the exploitation of foreign workers in the supply chains of large corporations.
We can only imagine what Morris would make of the course of civilisation since that day, or how he would view his legacy. Morris & Co. fabrics, wallpapers and homewares are still in production, but they are high-end products out of reach for most middle-class customers.
If we take nothing else from his life and work, we can learn to consume more carefully, appreciate art and beauty – and keep our houses as he commanded.’ Read the original article
William Morris’s Thoughts and Reflection on a Good Economy
1892 Kelmscott Press edition of News from Nowhere, with a woodcut of Kelmscott Manor,
Morris’s summer house in the Cotswolds. Photo: British Library
In News from Nowhere, Morris imagined a world in which human happiness and economic activity coincided. He reminds us that there needs to be a point to labour beyond making ends meet – and there is. Unalienated labour creates happiness for all – consumer and creator; whereas modern capitalism, in contrast, has created a treadmill in which this aspect of work has been lost. Capitalism, he explains, locks the capitalist into a horrible life, which leads nowhere but the grave.
Morris’s utopian society has no government nor a monetary system. Craftwork has made ‘wage slavery’ obsolete, and parliamentary democracy has given way to new forms of cooperation. The means of production are democratically controlled, and people find pleasure in sharing their interests, goals and resources. The central character and narrator, William Guest, finds himself in conversation with a young girl, a citizen of Morris’s utopian society: Continue to read
Morris directs our attention to a set of centrally important tests that a good economy should pass:
How much do people enjoy working?
Does everyone live within walking distance of woods and meadows?
How healthy is the average diet?
How long are consumer goods expected to last? Are the cities beautiful (generally, not just in a few privileged parts)?
The economy can (with fatal ease) feel as if it is governed by abstract, complex laws concerning discounted cash flows and money supply. His point is that, nevertheless, the economy is intimately tethered to our preferences and choices. And that these are open to transformation. It may not be necessary (as Marx thought) to bring factories and banks and all the corporations into public ownership; and it may not be necessary (as Milton Friedman and others claimed) to wind back government impact on markets. The true task in creating a good economy, Morris shows us, lies much closer to home...Continue to read
Get to know William Morris better
William Morris Gallery-Walthamstow
WILLIAM MORRIS, THE ARTS & CRAFT MOVEMENT – ART THAT IS LIFE
The Good News: William Morris is becoming fashionable again!
‘Amid the economic rubble, a revolution is being knitted’*
Rebirth of the arts and crafts movement is now, once again, guiding our search for quality of life in a post-consumerist, recession-hit society.
‘...At a moment when laid-off bankers are testifying to the benefits of basket-weaving, a reversion to the reformist aesthetic of John Ruskin and William Morris can feel suitably corrective. The old manifesto has serious contemporary traction: respect for nature, dignity of labour, importance of long-garnered skills, access to beauty for all.
The reasons for this resurgence are not hard to fathom: we are producers frustrated with never seeing the end product of our efforts; consumers weary of being bullied into buying stuff we don't need, that is badly made or doesn't fit; and would-be creators waking up to the fact that inspiration exists beyond the Sunday style supplements.
Plus, craft is a slow pursuit. It takes many evenings to sew a tapestry or knit a jumper. As the author Nick Laird observed about the immediacy of the internet age: "Concentration proves hard to come by in a space where the vaguest thought, whim or wonder can be indulged or resolved in an instant." But you cannot Twitter a cushion cover.
Likewise, while it is a meditation, craft can be a highly social pursuit when our networks feel all too electronic. And for many, thrift is a necessity as much as an ideological position – though anyone who has bought wool or fabric lately will know that the craft economy can be as extortionate as any other.
There is, inevitably, more than a whiff of nostalgia surrounding this renaissance. But bountiful craft is no guarantee of moral purity. As the craft historian Glenn Adamson observes, German National Socialists were particularly enamoured with the patriotic impact and authenticity of craftwork.
As revolutionarily socialist as it strove to be, the arts and crafts movement was riddled with inconsistency. Morris wrestled with the paradox of insisting on art for all while championing creations so labour-intensive they could only be afforded by the few (not to mention the paternalism that dictated the lackadaisical poor could be rescued from the pub by the intervention of cane-weaving).
It's ironic that, as amateur craft surges, the professional sector faces a skills crisis, with courses in such disciplines as ceramics, glass and metalwork closing down. Although the craft industry contributes more to the economy than the visual arts, cultural heritage or literature sectors, and demand for craft skills has never been higher, it remains the Cinderella order of the arts world.
But if craft is, as Richard Sennett argues in his 2008 book The Craftsman, the doing of good work for its own sake, if competence and engagement are the most solid sources of adult self-respect, then the ethic of this industry is as relevant as ever. A recession invites fundamental reassessment of the place of work – and leisure – in our lives. Practically, this means recognising that teaching a tradable, portable skill is one of the best ways to lift people out of poverty. Philosophically, it invites an acceptance that a trade-off between hamster-wheel presenteeism and mollifying consumption has never been good for us and is not feasible in this economic climate.
Crucially, craft is egalitarian. While some in the Labour party appear bent on resuscitating the canard of meritocracy, which divides the gifted few from the unexceptional mass, craft reminds us of the significance of equality of outcome, rather than of opportunity. Everyone shares the capacity to develop a skill, based on decent teaching, application and time – not raw talent.’ *Read the original article
See below for more related articles:
Simpler life and simpler times: A Journey in Life
In these troubled times let us be ordinary and enjoy the simple pleasures of life
The Wonders of an Ordinary Life
In Praise of Frugality: Materialism is a Killer
A beautiful book to read as the nights close in this autumn
A Simple Manifesto for a Simpler Life: Why Simple Life Matters
Photo: lifesanswers.org
‘We live in a time when many people experience their lives as empty and lacking in fulfillment. The decline of religion and the collapse of communism have left but the ideology of the free market whose only message is: consume, and work hard so you can earn money to consume more. Yet even those who do reasonably well in this race for material goods do not find that they are satisfied with their way of life. We now have good scientific evidence for what philosophers have said throughout the ages: once we have enough to satisfy our basic needs, gaining more wealth does not bring us more happiness.’- Peter Singer
Simple Living Promotes Virtue, Which Promotes Happiness
Simple Living is Guided by Economic Prudence, ‘Waste not, Want not.’
Simple Living Allows One to Work in order to Satisfy the Basic Needs and Thus, Enjoy More of life’s Experiences which Suffices for Happiness
Simple Living Promotes Serenity Through Detachment
Living Frugally Prepares One for Tough Times
Simple Living Enhances One’s Capacity for True Pleasures of Life, When Less is More!
Frugality Fosters Self-Sufficiency and Independence
Simple Living Keeps One Close to Nature and the Natural, when one is Guided and Inspired by the Wisest Teacher: The Mother Nature
Simple Living Promotes Good Health and Spiritual Purity
Simple Living Allows us to Speak of Global Responsibility and a Global Community. It Encourages us to Take Action in the Interest of the Common Good.
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'Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.'– Confucius
My Quest for a Simpler Life: The Story I must Tell
How Pursuing a Quest Can Bring Purpose to Your Life
'Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.'-Confucius
A Simple Manifesto for a Simpler Life: Why Simple Life Matters
Photo:oursimplehomestead.com
Simpler life, Simpler times: How we got from there, being nothing, to where we are today, being us: in the hope that all who desire a life of quality and meaning and who are willing to meet the cost for such a life will receive what they long for.
‘I gave away our stuff’: the minimalists doing more with less- The Observer, Sunday 29 September 2019*
‘Growing numbers of people, partly inspired by Marie Kondo, are ditching consumerism for a simpler life’. More on this later.
I relate to a lot of this article. The words and sentiments resonates with me. Why, you may ask? To answer this question, I need to go back in time, when, over twenty years or so ago, I faced, possibly, the biggest challenge to my way of life. It could have been very disastrous. But now looking back, one consequence of that very sad time, was the fact that ‘Simplicity’, ‘Living Simply’ which was forced on us, has turned out to be the biggest gift we could have ever had.
Let me recall, what I had noted about this awhile back:
Life is so full of unpredictable beauty and strange surprises
As many people, wiser than me have noted, our lives and the world in which we all live, are so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. We want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways we are, in some ways we're not ... Life, it can bring you so much joy and yet at the same time cause so much pain.
I was so devastated that after this wonderful journey, full of joy and happiness, achievements and success, due to some reasons beyond my control, I started to feel unwell, unhappy, not enjoying what I was doing and teaching, especially when I lost all confidence in the value of moral-free economics that I was teaching my students, and more.
In 1999 I voluntarily resigned from my post at Coventry University. It goes without saying that, I was heartbroken and extremely hurt that I was unable to nurture and develop further what I had envisioned and built.
Looking back, reflecting on what has happened, I think, somehow, somebody, somewhere, had planned it so that I, too, should have a life, similar to the life of Coventry itself: fall and rise again,...Continue to read
Yes, I left my employment. I lost my income. But, in the process, I discovered more about myself. I rediscovered the love of my wife, my children, family and a few friends that had decided to remain with me. My wife and myself were pushed into opting a far more simpler life that we had ever imagined before. This has encouraged us to become more aware of who we are, what we are and also what the most important and precious in life are. For all these, I cannot be more grateful and thankful.
All in all, for the last couple of decades, we have been living a (relatively) simple life, or to put it another way, we have been living a simpler life, that we may have not been living, if life had not played the card, as it did, all those years ago, as I noted above.
Thus, as the complexity of my life grew, and I renewed my commitments, I chose to lead my life more simply. I could, I suppose, have found solace in artificial lift-ups, drugs and alcohol. I am grateful I did not. I chose love, I chose mother nature, volunteerism, taking action in the interest of the common good. I chose to share and tell my story. I founded the GCGI and in the process found the best, most beautiful friends I could have ever imagined I could have.
Living a simple life is about paring back, so that you have space to breathe. It’s about doing with less, because you realize that having more and doing more doesn’t lead to happiness. It’s about finding joy in the simple things, and being content with solitude, quiet, contemplation and savoring the moment.
Of course, these are not the only gifts you’ll receive for living a simpler life. The best ones are the ones you will discover yourself. Try simpler life and see what happens — I think you’ll find out something beautiful about yourself, and about life.
In short, the best kind of simplicity is that which exposes the raw beauty, joy and heartbreak of life as it is; not the Facebook and Instagram life, but life as it should be: real, authentic, ups and downs, love and being loved. Carpe Diem!
Below, for your interest I have noted a few Blogs I have written in praise of the simpler life:
But, before that, I very much wish to share an email I sent to our GCGI Friends, whilst on holiday in the Greek Island, Crete, last May, very relevant to our story today:
‘So often, we exhaust ourselves and the planet in a search for very large pleasures - while all around us lies a wealth of small pleasures, which - if only we paid more attention - could daily bring us solace and joy at little cost and effort. But we need some encouragement to focus our gaze…’
A Simple Manifesto for a Simpler Life
Photo: lifesanswers.org
Dear Friends,
(4 May 2019-Crete)
Greetings and love from the very beautiful and lovely Island of Crete, Greece. In the last week or so Annie and I have been traveling in Athens and a couple of days ago we arrived here in Crete. Very beautiful, warm and blue skies and calm seas.
Whilst travelling, I picked up, once again, a fascinating book I have been reading. I cannot put it down! I want to read it again and again. And knowing me, I cannot settle until I have shared it with you all.
Given the short term tenure of life, and the littleness of human existence, why is it that we spend so much time and effort on things that are not really important?
Our collective model of a good life tends to focus exclusively on material side of our existence, whilst ignoring the more important side, namely, the spiritual aspect of our being.
The biggest tasks of civilisation is to teach us how to better enjoy this journey we call life and this is why the book I am reading again and again- Small Pleasures- so beautifully fulfills that function.
Please click on the link below and scroll down to the bottom of the page and see more about this book. Get the book and read it. You will not be disappointed, believe me.
In these troubled times let us be ordinary and enjoy the simple pleasures of life
Love,
Kamran
And now more links for your interest:
The Wonders of an Ordinary Life
Why a Simple Life Matters: The Path to peace and happiness lies in the simple things in life
In this troubled world let the beauty of nature and simple life be our greatest teachers
Time or Money: Which one is the path to a happier life?
In Praise of Frugality: Materialism is a Killer
Slow Food for the Common Good to save the World
The secret to happiness? Contentment!
Are you physically and emotionally drained? I know of a good and cost-free solution!
Make 2019 the year of simplicity, so that all may live better
A Sure Path to build a Better World: How nature helps us feel good and do good
In Praise of Laughter and Joy in these Dark and Uncertain Times
The Art of Living a Happier life: Solitude- The Most Important Skill Nobody Taught You …
n a world of constant distraction seek solitude to attain contentment …
The Joy of Less- A Minimalist Living Guide: A must-read book
A Simple Manifesto for a Simpler Life: Why Simple Life Matters
‘We live in a time when many people experience their lives as empty and lacking in fulfillment. The decline of religion and the collapse of communism have left but the ideology of the free market whose only message is: consume, and work hard so you can earn money to consume more. Yet even those who do reasonably well in this race for material goods do not find that they are satisfied with their way of life. We now have good scientific evidence for what philosophers have said throughout the ages: once we have enough to satisfy our basic needs, gaining more wealth does not bring us more happiness.’- Peter Singer
Simple Living Promotes Virtue, Which Promotes Happiness
Simple Living is Guided by Economic Prudence, ‘Waste not, Want not.’
Simple Living Allows One to Work in order to Satisfy the Basic Needs and Thus, Enjoy More of life’s Experiences which Suffices for Happiness
Simple Living Promotes Serenity Through Detachment
Living Frugally Prepares One for Tough Times
Simple Living Enhances One’s Capacity for True Pleasures of Life, When Less is More!
Frugality Fosters Self-Sufficiency and Independence
Simple Living Keeps One Close to Nature and the Natural, when one is Guided and Inspired by the Wisest Teacher: The Mother Nature
Simple Living Promotes Good Health and Spiritual Purity
Simple Living Allows us to Speak of Global Responsibility and a Global Community. It Encourages us to Take Action in the Interest of the Common Good.
- A beautiful book to read as the nights close in this autumn
- Congratulations to Queen Mary University of London for the UK’s first social change degree
- Britain Today (24 September 2019): A picture is worth a thousand words
- Greed of Profit Maximisation and the Robbery of the Century in London
- Time or Money: Which one is the path to a happier life?