Sunday, August 28, 2016

Living In the Past

I think I have a love-hate relationship with the future... there's things about the past I love more than things that are going on about now.

Things were much simpler when I was a kid. If a kid bullied you at school, that's where the bullying was kept to - the schoolyard. You didn't have them bugging the crap out of you on your phone, while you were looking things up on the computer or while you were walking down the street; because 99% of the time the parents were the ones who took full responsibility for how their little grots actually acted. I had a bully at school whose parents knew their child was a horrible little grot, so much so he even picked on his little sister - yep, not just me. But he was one of those kids who made primary school so horrible for me that when it came time for me to go to high school, I asked my folks to send me to a different one than the one they had planned for me because of him.

It's not just the bullying aspect though. I have found that other things have changed as well. The way people cook is making us all so lazy. Instead of everyone cooking their family meals from scratch and sitting down at the kitchen table, most people are relying on satchels of powder where you add water, milk or cream and then you add it to something in a microwave pot, pop it in the microwave for ten minutes and hey, after cooking some rice up on the stove (yep, that's just about all people know how to cook now - besides boiling eggs and water), dinner is ready and they go and sit on the lounge and watch 'Gogglebox' or 'Survivor' or some reality television show which makes them dumber. 

Now, I'm not speaking for everyone here... but I've seen some people just pull the oddest things from the pantry and say they're 'going to cook dinner' when really they're not cooking anything, but making what I've dubbed 'plastic food'. I make dinner from scratch - and it takes over an hour to do. I buy my fruit and veggies from a farmer's market where if I don't eat it, the food actually rots in my fridge or on my benchtop in bowls (where I put fruit ready to eat!). I have milk, organic cream and full-cream, salted butter in my freezer and in a butter dish on my bench - where the latter belongs; not in the fridge where everyone seems to think mixing it with margarine is a great idea. 

I've gone back to eating the same way as my Grandparents and have felt so much better for it! My weight used yo-yo, but now it's stable. My blood pressure isn't up and down either. My blood sugars are also a very normal 4.6 - and don't move at all. And for a person who is from a family of Type II Diabetics, and has naturally low blood pressure, the doctors are very happy for me to stick to the 1960's diet I've 'discovered'... you see, it's not really a discovery I've made. The retro 1960's diet is one which is something which has been forgotten by society. 
Okay, we're a lot busier nowadays, but it shouldn't mean that we have to let our diet suffer. And just because I'm not doing paid work, doesn't mean I'm not working on anything in my life. I'm always busily do something to improve myself, my way of life or I'm working on something around my house.  I don't always have time to make dinner - but I make sure I have time to eat good food.

This has meant I have to let go of the futurist way of life. 

Yes, I have the internet - as you can plainly see - but I don't play with my phone constantly. I have a Tech-Free day once a week, where I'll turn off the computer, the television and just go for a whole day without looking either one and enjoy the day away from it all - sometimes, I go for two days without the high-tech stuff just for the fun of it. I'll pull out the vinyls and read some books, put away some art gear, work on the garden, or a painting and enjoy life just how it used to be when I was younger... and you know? It frees up my mind and I get some great ideas for writing. 
When this happens, I jump in and get out the typewriter and type up some pages of work on the table. Yes, I have a manual typewriter just for these tech-free days, so I can get in and get right back to the good ol' days of writing. A typewriter makes me really think about my words before I put them onto the page... it's a great way of writing. 

I'm also in the throws of changing my furniture back into the 1960-70's style of furnishings. In the last month or so, I've bought myself a gorgeous Chiswell Dining setting, and now, I want to buy a lounge to match the rest of the house... as the lounge I have now is very 1990's, and it just doesn't match anything I have. Yes, it's the last piece which isn't a part of the house... so I'll be saving up for a lovely old lounge over time. 

It's not hard to live in the past... what does make it difficult is how the outside world affects you when you step outside your home. This is why I love my home the way it is - retro and cluttered with little things that make it look and feel so cosy. I hang out my laundry on the clothes line and it dries out there - and I've seen so many people dump their clothes from the washing machine straight into the dryer because they claim they don't have time to wait for their clothes to dry on the line. However, when you line-dry your clothes, they last longer, feel softer and have been disinfected by the sun. In a clothes dryer, none of that has happened to your clothes.

If you live a retro lifestyle - like I do most of the time - good for you! I've been talking to a kindred spirit. However, if you're hooked into the futurist life and feel as though I've been bantering at you about a 'long lost era which I'm just dreamin' about'... well, you've failed to see my point here today. Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.

2 comments:

  1. I prefer modern technology more! If it wasn't for Facebook or other social media format I wouldn't be involved in many craft swaps or know what my extended family would be up to without regular posts listed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I understand where you're going with social media... it's a bit of good and evil at the same time, isn't it? Sometimes, FB is a good thing (with craft groups and other things like that), but otherwise, it can be a right invasion of privacy too with people stalking others through it.

      This is why I love to have a few days away from it sometimes to recharge myself through gardening or working on my craft works or listening to music on vinyl.

      Delete