Let’s talk about our lifestyles. I think that finding affordable things also allows us to live more slowly.
Does money realize rural life?
One day, I saw someone tweet on SNS something like this: “I want to live in more rural areas and live slowly. To live such a life, I need to save more money.”
She lived in a large city. And she seemed to be exhausted by her busy everyday life. So she longed for rural life. I felt that rural life would fit her because she was good at creating everyday life.
Sometimes we long for such more rural lives. Perhaps there are two kinds of people: those who love living in a people-gathering place and those who love living in a quiet area. The former love living in cities, and the latter love living in nature. And we will feel pain if we are nature lovers but live in the city.
At such a time, we often try to make more money to realize such rural lives. Money is useful. So we often think that the more money we have, the more our dreams come true.
But in terms of realizing rural life, sometimes money would not matter. I have recently noticed that finding affordable things in the new living area tells us how to live there affordably.
A man who moved to a remote island
To explain that, I will introduce a person. Recently, I learned about a man who moved to a remote island. This is based on a real person, but I’m adding several supplementary explanations I imagined to make it easier to understand.
After graduating from his first-class university, he was frustrated with his social life. And he failed in his life. So he moved to a remote, rural island and began a slow life. It might have been an escape from his life.
He settled in an old house near the sea. There was no other house nearby. He was relieved because he was in a quiet place with nature. And he regained the energy to live.
But he didn’t have enough money. So then, he thought and created how to live there with more comfort.
How he lived with little money
He began to create his new lifestyle.
First, he was able to get a free energy source. There was so much driftwood on the shore. Dried driftwood burns well. And he didn’t need to cut them because driftwood can easily be broken apart by hand. So he was able to have enough energy to live without paying money.
Next, he resolved the food problems. He was able to swim and do spearfishing. If we can swim, spearfishing is a better way to catch fish than fishing with a rod. And there was a lot of fish. In addition, there were many edible shellfish in the rocky area. Shellfish is delicious.
Then he made a garden behind his house and grew vegetables. So he was able to save a lot of money on food.
Finally, he got acquainted with an elderly woman living in the same area. She came to like his personality. And the elders often want to take care of young people, especially those who are struggling but doing their best without complaining. So he was able to get many things, such as food, tools, knowledge, wisdom, and kindness.
Creating new lifestyle
In his case, saving money in the city didn’t matter. Because he created his life in the new location with affordable things. Driftwood, fish, shellfish, and a garden are all inexpensive things in his place.
People often say, “Rural areas cost as much as a city,” or “Rural areas need more money.” It would almost be true. There are few grocery stores. And the goods are expensive. But it is assumed that they will try to solve their problems with only money. That is the lifestyle of people who live in the city.
On the other hand, in rural areas, we can create our lives with other affordable things. We usually think of driftwood as marine garbage. Sometimes, we cannot even recognize it because it is a part of the scenery.
Perhaps the more we rely on money, the less we notice it. Because money indicates the value of society, not individual value. So there could also be values only for us in those we think of as garbage.
In other words, finding affordable things makes it easier to live in a new world. This idea would give us a new perspective.
Conclusion
So I think that finding affordable things also allows us to live more slowly. We can explore there and find out what is affordable. It gives us easier change.
If we understand this logic, we might be able to create more slow lives without relying on money.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you at the next one.
