Notes on Living Outside Cultural Norms. A shift in priorities and necessities.

April 25th, 2014, 6pm

The more you know, the less you need.1

Ok okay, I admit it — I took you for granted — I’m sorry. I could turn the tap or flip the switch and there you were. Yes, I treated you foolishly, but I’ve changed — please believe me — just give me one more chance.

Since embarking on a cardanchi lifestyle I’ve noticed small shifts in behaviour and thinking. Recently my dependency on water and electricity has moved to the forefront of attention; having to collect and carry both daily. A realisation of a preprogramming to accept & expect such conveniences, neglecting the fact that these are services I pay for. And how efficient our service providers are at camouflaging consumption and charges — promoting and encouraging a reversed value system: consumption > conservation. A more responsible approach from both the service users and providers is needed dreamed of. Shifting priorities and necessities, establishing new value systems — not only for water and electricity.

Necessity changing behaviour and relationships to consumption.

Again—field thinking, informing home practice and studio innovation.


Simple Economy and Daily Rituals

My daily ritual of visiting the fresh water spring is far from bothersome (as initially expected) in fact, the opposite is true. A natural marker or decompression between spaces, and mental states. A peaceful moment, a time of reflection. As too with a limited electricity supply. Naturally filtering how much and of what to work on; keeping focused & working efficiently — Thrift, thriving.

Which would have advanced the most at the end of a month — the boy who had made his own jackknife from the ore which he had dug and smelted, reading as much as would be necessary for this — or the boy who had attended the lectures on metallurgy at the Institute in the meanwhile, and had received a Rodgers’ penknife from his father?
Which would be most likely to cut his fingers?2


  1. Chouinard, Y. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman, September 5, 2006 (Penguin Books, London) 

  2. Thoreau, H, D. Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Chap. 1. Economy, August 9, 1854 (Ticknor and Fields: Boston) 


Christine and Shu said thanks.

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James Gibson

Hungry & Footsore

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