My simple life - the power of making

Photo by Nicole Frazen

"Instead of buying all that is new and shiny, we are standing our ground and going back to basics. It's comfortable there. It's warm oats soaked overnight and cooked slowly rather than cornflakes; it's homebaked bread instead of sliced white in plastic wrap; it's 'come over and I'll teach you how to knit' instead of 'let's go shopping'. Instead of buying fast food, we have it slow and easy bubbling away in the oven when the family comes home in the evening. Even the smell of that home-cooked food in the air when they walk through the door tells your family that someone loves them enough to make it all happen. It's sitting around the table, talking about today and tomorrow. It's really knowing your friends and family instead of just knowing what they tell you.(...)"

(Rhonda Hetzel, in The Simple Life)

Este é o caminho que cada vez faz mais sentido para mim. Longe vai o tempo em que seguia os padrões da sociedade sem pensar muito, em que tentava ser igual, ter igual, sentir igual e misturar-me. Fazia algumas coisas, mas tinha vergonha de as assumir. Para passar o tempo, por desorganização ou por conveniência, consumia.
Aos poucos, fui redescobrindo o prazer de fazer, reaprendendo o que já tinha aprendido em tempos, e aprendendo coisas novas. O poder de ser capaz de fazer algo é imenso, e esse poder foi tomando conta de mim, fortalecendo-me, aumentando a minha confiança e entranhando-se na minha maneira de pensar. Primeiro foi a curiosidade, depois a necessidade e, aos poucos e cada vez mais, o caminho óbvio. Hoje em dia dou por mim a pensar quase sempre, antes de comprar, se conseguiria fazê-lo por mim. Seja comida, roupa, acessórios, utilitários. Quando penso que sim, e me sinto com forças para tal, experimento fazer. Pesquiso e adapto, improviso e erro muitas vezes, mas aprendo muito pelo meio. Hoje sei que sou capaz de fazer muita da comida que como, cultivar alguma, e fabricar alguma roupa que visto. Não chega para me tornar auto-suficiente, e o tempo não chega para tudo, pois ainda não encontrei o balanço ideal entre o fazer e o ter de comprar (e ganhar para tal), mas o poder de saber fazer tem-me tornado mais autêntica neste mundo, com um propósito mais definido, faz-me valorizar as coisas de outra forma e dá-me a energia necessária para ir, aos poucos, construindo um modo de vida que sinto como meu.  

...

This is the path that makes more and more sense to me. It's been a long time since I used to follow society's standards without thinking much about it, when I tried to be equal, have equal, feel equal and mingle. I used to make some things, but was ashame of showing them. In order to spend my time, or because I was disorganized, or for a matter of convenience, I went shopping. 
Slowly, I rediscovered the pleasure of making, relearned what I had learnt once, and learned new stuff. The power of making something with your own hands is huge, and that power went taking over me, making me stronger, more confident and changing my way of thinking. First it was the curiosity, then it was the necessity and, bit by bit, the obvious path. Today I often think, before buying something, if I could make it myself. Being food, clothes, accessories, utilities. When I think I can, and feel strong enough to give it a try, I do it. I research and adapt, improvise and fail a lot, but learn a lot in the middle. Today I know I can cook much of the food I eat, grow some, and make some of the clothes I wear. It's not enough to make me self-sufficient, time is not enough for everything, because I still haven't found the perfect balance between making and having to buy (and earning enough for that), but the power of being able to make has made me more authentic in this world, with a clearer purpose, valuing things differently and getting the energy to build, bit by bit, a lifestyle that I feel like my own.


Inspiration:
::: Down to earth
::: About a simple living
::: Garden
::: Living life on a simple note