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I think COVID, which is a present reality being conjoined with potential hardships due to the future implications of climate change have forced me to...

There will be people making some more and some less, longterm, changes as we each discover the benefits or deficits during covid now and continuing...

I liked them some (they were still too long and had too many boring speeches) when a callow youth. But I think the independence stuff is mostly...

Gardnr, you were diplomatic in using the world 'interesting'. I see it more as being disrespectful of others' freedom to think and do as seems right...

I just had leek and lentil soup! Love leeks.

Tacos!

AMEN!

Can't believe so many people have been wrong for so many years. SLOTH? Wow, your interpretation is interesting.

Yes, I can see what you are saying and would definitely be upset if what I volunteered for was not what where my efforts ended up.

The reality is that most people are only capable of fairly modest goals. You aren't a special snowflake! :~) It has nothing to do with sloth. You...

It is warm enough on sunny days I do not have to run the car for the heat at lunchtime, which helps a little offsetting the ever rising price of gas.

Likewise to both. I read one or two of Rand's books when I was a callow youth: fortunately, they had no effect on me. Her characters were so clearly...

I know, exactly! I have been telling him that I expect him to quit the condo work after early to mid March because by then it will be gardening...

That IS a lovely way to put it. I used to tell people who commented that we had no mortgage that they, too, could be mortgage free if they were...

Just don't burn him out. Think of him like a good circular saw.

I think you are probably right! And believe me, I am only at this place where I am because of the end of life issues of my parents. I have been...

Thank you!

I will carry permanent resentment toward the person on the board of directors (who by the way is supposed to be sophisticated in working with...

The Chicago Teachers Union was almost on strike a few weeks back, saying they wouldn’t go back until a vaccine was available for everyone. Now...

Your pictures are beautiful.

And I see almost everything as an exercise in values these days. Maybe it is the place in life where we are.

When you are part of a organization doing good some of the volunteers are on a power trip and do it for recognition and the ability to boss others...

A little of Ayn Rand goes a long ways and those novels of hers are excrement. But not surprisingly, I identify somewhat with some parts of...

These are really interesting responses, and thank you for elaborating. Maybe it is a spiritual question--but again, aren't they all spiritual...

As I elaborate below, do-gooding on the basis of differing values is the problem. When I join organization A with goals to benefit organization A,...

Ice diving class in WI this weekend. Hope to take my camera on the last dive.

I agree--it reminds me of the Fountainhead where Rand casts the ambitious, self-serving people as gods and the people in the helping professions as...

I do mean it as less than complimentary because their efforts remind me of herd activity, group-think, going back to high school where THE group...

From what I have personally seen, we aren't "all" interested in doing good; and it seems to be used as a negative by those who aren't interested...

Quality beds are the one thing I have always spent money on. Initially expensive but not when you think about it being comfortable for 30 years for 2...

I have always helped people individually that needed it. Helping strangers without some type of organization probably isn’t going to work.

I am spending ridiculous amounts of time chasing down a way to get these French Coolie shades that I have fallen for made into a light fixture. The...

Prasangika Madhyamaka, and "I'm only a halfway (meaning sincere-but-not-very-good-at-it) Buddhist, not a proper one" is pretty obvious. Wishing you...

And that is as it should be. That's the funniest thing I've read this week. What is ambition except striving and grasping? And in Buddhism...

Dude, I have no trouble being judgmental. :~)

Omg is there a Reddit simple living group!!!??? Of course there is. I should’ve known. There’s a reddit group for everything. I recently left...

It's funny that the term "do-gooders" becomes an insult. When aren't we all interested in doing good?

Steve, what does "ratio'ed" mean?

My millennial daughter was ranting about how she thinks her peers are a bunch of babies. She isn't a workaholic, but she is responsible and works...

Well, I'd join you in bashing the 20-somethings attitude about meaningless work done just to get a paycheck, but I can't because I used to be just...

You have hit on something here. It is The New People in my neighborhood who seem to be anxiously quivering to “help” and I find that—jarring. It...

That sounds expensive. I did find such a site as they make them for rv's. Will have to price it, but was thinking of buying a full size foam...

When we had a antique bed we hired a mattress maker to make one. It lasted 30 years comfortably. I don’t know if those craftsmen even exist anymore.

Even during our recent Arctic blast, the winter sun up here is so strong that it can start melting a thin layer of snow on an asphalt driveway. And...

That's right... I think most people would prefer to go the route whereby they don't have to ask others to do them a favor.

I've recently rediscovered leeks. I'm a fan of any member of the allium family, and they're lovely and mild in cooked dishes. I may have assorted...

Nothing negative about it. Modest and reasonable are just quantities. The Oxford dictionary defines modest as "(of an amount, rate, or level)...

You would get absolutely ratio'ed for that in the reddit simple living group, where it seems half of the posters are young adults just finding out...

So glad you have come to find your own definition of simple living that works for you. With regards to this: "If you have the capability to reach...

I love the way a friend of mine put it (don't know if he came up with it by himself): "We were living like most wouldn't so that one day we could...

The fact that there were military and law-enforcement members involved in the insurrection, evidence of lengthy pre-planning and coordination, not to...

I know nothing about growing anything but cobwebs, but a friend noted that her poppy seeds had sprouted, requiring cold temperatures to do so.

My definition of simple living is just as valid as anyone else's and I'm not one bit hesitant in stating it and defending it. Plus I love the way...

Yeah, the relative timings expressed in that statement don't necessarily work in their favor.

Or maybe they were satisfied with their professional online delivery or pickup service.

My neighbor pointed out to us yesterday that one of our fruit trees is budding. ??? After a week of Vermont weather in the low teens?? And 17mph...

Yes, that is so nice of you, Tradd. I'm sure it was much appreciated. When it comes to the inability for IL's do-gooder friends to find people to...

I think George Parker has assigned an overly negative connotation to “modest” as in modest goals. We are all talking about the same thing. This is...

Daffodil shoots are visible!!!