Care

The last time I went over to the UK to work as a Live-in Carer, blogging came to a standstill for me. That was two years ago, starting in mid-June till early November of 2021, and included 10 days mandatory Covid quarantine, 16 weeks of work, and 10 days paid leave, where I took the opportunity to travel in England, my country of birth, and see some of my family and friends there. I skipped blogging for the entire time I was away, and only picked up again in August this year. Sixteen months is a long time between blog posts!

Quite honestly, I didn’t feel the urge to write while I was away, and this is partly at least due to the intensity of care work by nature, where I couldn’t wait for my bit of time out in the evenings when clients are (hopefully) peacefully asleep, and where I could catch up on reading or watch some Netflix in my room. Even during my allocated two-hour breaks during the day, rather than blogging, I preferred to rest or go for walks in the beautiful semi-rural areas (which is where most of my clients lived) or catch up on some admin. And speak to my husband back in ZA, of course.

And now it seems I will be heading out there again within the next few weeks. There is a lot to prepare for, and I can safely say that writing and blogging are on ‘pause’ for me for now. We’ll see in time when Pause becomes Play, but for now, all I can commit to is checking in with you lovely people on your blogs from time to time while I’m away.

Hope you have all had a bright and promising start to 2023, and may your year continue ever onward and upward!

Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.com

In my garden: purple verbena and yellow daisies

“What is minimalism then?…it’s living lightly and gracefully on the earth. … its uncovering who you are.” Francine Jay

I like the way that this quote points to two issues, without separating them:

1) Francine refers to ‘uncovering who we are’ which leads me to a few questions: Do I have some ‘uncovering’ to do? What are the things that I need and love? What things can I do without, and am I able to let go of these? What are my non-negotiables, the true essentials that add value to my lifestyle and to my life as a whole? What things that I own express my own true needs and preferences, and which do not?

2) She also refers to ‘Living Lightly and Gracefully on the Earth’, which for me is about living with care and consideration for the earth under our feet, and for the environment that surrounds us and gives us life. Minimalism is about living with less and implies going smaller, not bigger.

This quote from the wonderfully multi-skilled Peter Bevan-Baker explains further:

“Continuous expansion on a finite planet is not the answer to our challenges: Like our built environment, bigger is not necessarily better. Rather, we need better integration and a recognition of our proper place in the bigger scheme of things”

The use of the word integration reminds us of our deep connection to the world in which we live and that our actions and the choices we make, whether carefully or carelessly, have power and impact.

Our individual motives for Living Lightly, or becoming more Minimalist, is not really the issue here. Whether you have become tired of the clutter in your home and have started giving stuff away to a good cause, or whether your concern for our oceans means you stop using plastic drinking straws in order to help stem pollution, the result is that you are making positive change for yourself and for your environment. This is a step in the right direction towards uncovering who we are and living lightly and gracefully on the earth.