How to Live a Simple Life

[jazzactivist]

I have just watched an interesting TV programme where a vicar from Surrey walked to Devon without money. Did any of you watch it too? He has been living for the past 6 months without money, and this was a step further in making a journey along the same lines of St Francis of Assisi, being totally dependent on people's generosity for everything he needed. Along the way he did meet some people who gave him a bed for the night or a meal, but some people were suspicious and turned him down too. He did look a bit like a traditional tramp, even though he was wearing his cassock. The main message of the programme is that there is a lot of joy in giving, and certainly everyone who helped him seemed to enjoy it. If someone knocked on your door and explained what he was doing and asked for food or a bed for the night would you help?

[franbee]

If I knew about the journey, I might help. I would probably offer food and drink, but a bed for the night is a bit tricky, there's only ours ever available without notice!

[jazzactivist]

I don't think you have to cosy up that much, Fran! I would help someone who asked me with either food or a bed or both if we had some to spare. The man in the programme stayed in a church, at a couple's house for three days, in someone's caravan and in a traditional gypsy caravan in someone's studio. He said it was a very humbling experience, but he felt so vulnerable having to keep asking that he couldn't do it for more than two weeks. The final episode is next week when he takes what he has learnt back to try out in his parish.

[Crocus]

As Fran says if I knew about the journey, I will give him a bed for the night and a nice hot meal. xx

[souter girl]

Also I really wanted to see Satish Kumar who is a wonderful environmentalist and says that a person only ever needs 2 pairs of shoes, one to wear, and one at the cobblers. I have read quite a few articles about him and would love to spend an hour in his company. Peter Owen Jones did look mentally shattered at the end, will be interesting to see how he copes next week.

:confused:Oh dear, I am a lost cause then - only 2 pairs of shoes....?? No way!!:eek:

[Katelb]

I watched that program too Jazz because he is the vicar of one of the villages near where my friend lives in the south,so she knows him,he is quite a character as a vicar. I may seem a bit cynical when I say I wonder if it was the sight of a cameraman which encouraged people to buy food/tickets for him etc,nevertheless,he did the journey and his humility was quite profound.

[souter girl]

More seriously, the principle of a simple life has to be one which we consider. Think back to the 80's and "conspicuous consumerism" and then think of the waste around us which is CRIMINAL and what we are doing to the planet. Also bear in mind the recession, people living on reduced or restricted incomes and a "simple life" has to have something to say to us all. My (re)discovery of the library today was an example for me. a simple supper with friends - or a takeaway, and not a "dinner party" would be another example. I think we should all be looking at simplifying our lives!!

[jazzactivist]

I agree with you, SG. OH and I tried simplifying our lives a while back by going for walks with a picnic and flask instead of going to a cafe / reastaurant for lunch, dropping to eating out / takeaway once every month etc. However, it hasn't lasted, except for dropping to one car between us, so we need to get back into it again. I think that you do feel better and more virtuous for simplifying things. I did find Peter Owen Jones a little bit annoying - I think it was the posh-surfer-tramp image, and am sure that at one time he was the minister on the Ilse of Iona in Scotland many years ago... However, I admired what he did. It reminded me of my travels when I was younger where at times I had no money and was dependent of other people for lifts, food and a place to stay and it is amazing how kind people can be. I always help others if I can as a result of the kindnesses that were shown to me. I had hoped to see more of Satish Kumar and his teachings too, Pippa, but there was just a little bit at the end. Maybe there will be more about him next week.

[cindy]

My first thought was where was the camera man, second thought who was looking after his parishioners while he was travelling. That is how cynical I am.

[jazzactivist]

I'm sure that this parishioners could look after themselves for two weks, cindy! Also, don't churches also have a trainee minister or curate? There was a bit where he was hitch-hiking and had to ask the cameraman to hide in the bushes, as he thought it was preventing him form getting a lift. I think some people may have helped him because of the camera, but if so that's a shame that people won't help their fellow man / woman unless there is something in it for them. Most who did help didn't seem to notice the camera though.

[Crocus]

I'm sure the vicar most probably made arrangements for someone to look after the parishioners, having a trainee or curate as Jazz's said or probably the vicar from a neighbouring village or church will help out. x

[softie]

I thought the best conversation was through the intercom at the flats! The way he was speaking,the guy must have thought,what a freak!!!! I wonder why he is seperated from his family? seems a shame.

[jazzactivist]

I thought he sounded OK on the intercom, Softie, and the man at the other end sounded a bit rude and unreasonable. It was a hotel closed for the season, wasn't it? He could have at least come down to talk to him in person to find out more about it and then perhaps he would have helped instead of turning him away. I wasn't aware of any mention of family (but that could just be me!) - maybe he doesn't have one, or they separated if he decided to become a vicar later in life. If you are keen to get involved with the whole alternative 'yurty' type of world then better get used to people like that vicar because he is the norm! Did you watch the Country House Restoration programme where she went to assist an intentional community who live in a huge stately home? I thought it was really interesting how their ideals and her money making ideas collided. I thought of you at the weekend when I went to a craft gallery nearby called The Beach Hut Gallery. It is a tiny room in a cute train station overlooking the sea.

[eleanor2]

sounds a very interesting programme.i have put many people up over the years.who have come to this area for different reasons.they have all come from churches and our vicar at the time asked to find a bed.or like when we had American students every year.it is quite interesting meeting different people.i am not so sure about having a stranger off the streets living in my house tho.i would help some one in other ways.when was growing up my dad was always taking needy folk i.he used to give people his clothes and shoes as well as money.

[dragonfly]

I would gladly help out someone in need but I would not let a stranger stay in my house unless they were recommended by someone. I value my safety and home and am not very trusting these days.

[softie]

yeh,jazz,i meant the vicar mustve thought 'what a freak' when he kept on....so you have no money.....you have no cheques.....you have no card. It said at the beginning of the programme that the fee he got paid for doing the programme went directly to his wife and kids who he sadly lives apart from x

[softie]

ps,the beach hut gallery sounds wonderful! x

[sunflower]

I've been watching the series as well......but...I have a confession to make. I watch it because I think he's dishy!! I followed his programme 'around the world in 50 faiths' awhile back and thought he was eccentric but lovely guy. I thought the woman in the pub that made him do all that washing up and kitchen cleaning for a single meal was mocking his spiritual journey though. I love eccentric individual thinkers. They add colour and a new perspective into alternative ways of living.

[jazzactivist]

I must have been making my cuppa ready to sit down and enjoy the programme and missed that bit at the start, Softie. I would have thought it would have been better for him to donate the fee to charity, but can't you just picture his estranged ex-wife saying "You're doing what? How long will that take, and what about your maintenance payments for the kids...". Sorry about the mix-up about who seemed the 'weird' one too. I agree with you sunflower, and although he is a bit hairy and earnest (even for me!), I do like people with individuality and character. I've known quite a few people like him, so don't think he's eccentric, but admire what he is doing.

My parents regularly helped people who came to our house too, eleanor, and I learnt from them never to turn away someone who needs help, as it is no trouble. When I was a young child my mum's side of the family had a regular 'tramp' who had been visiting them for years. He would come once a year and stand at the back door. My mum gave him a meal and tea, and he would pass on bits of news from people around the country, and even sometimes the odd letter or small gift. My dad also used to occasionally be visited by an openly gay cross-dresser, and he was the only person who ever invited him in for a cup of tea and a chat. It was the 1960s and this man was often reviled and in the end murdered, but my dad felt sorry for him and always gave him the time of day. Later on in South Africa poor people often came to our door asking for "the Doctor", as they knew my dad would give free treatment for basic physical injuries. No amount of protests that he was an animal doctor and not a people one worked, as that idea was unfathomable to most of the people, and the treatment for topical wounds is the same. He cleaned wounds, stitched them, set fractures, and even once saved a choking baby.

If I come across someone who needs help, or if they come to me I always do what I can. Years ago a coach driver knocked on our door as we were up quite late, asking if there was a B&B anywhere in the village. He had dropped off a coach load of passengers at the hotel, but his expenses allowance didn't cover a stay there for him. There was no B&B, and he looked really tired so we just offered him to spend the night in our spare room. He was a lovely man, and we were glad to help him.

[Hedgehog]

Iv'e seen similar tv stunts but most people won't help for fear of crime and suspicion of strangers etc. There was a programme on Sky where 2 chaps aimed to tral accross the US on the strength of their art but most people declined. I've thought about cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats with no money and seeing how far I would get.
Regards H. Hog

[jazzactivist]

Hi Hedgehog. I think it's a shame that people are so suspicious nowadays. My OH and a few others walked from John O'Groats to Lands End when he had just finished university, pushing a hospital bed to support the Leukemia Trust. He said that even then in the 1980s it was remarkable how areas differed in their attitudes to strangers and giving to charity. In Scotland and the north people were very generous with donations and their time and practical help, in the middle section of England some days they didn't collect a thing and people could be quite hostile. Around Birmingham they were refused entry to several pubs for a meal, and the police came and moved them on every time they stopped for a short rest! Devon was apparentty very good for help and donations, with the police and a brass band providing them with an escort and people coming up to them with food and offers of accommodation, and in Cornwall lots of people turned out to wave them over the finish line and a local hotel offered a free weekend's board with food. He and a friend who were on the original bed-push would like to do it again, but think that now most people suffer from charity fatigue and are too suspicious.

[jazzactivist]

I think it's great, Pippa, and would love to be able to live like that myself and greatly admire people who do it. In a 2 up 2 down cottage you don't need more heating than a decent woodburning stove, and if you can cook on it too then no need for a cooker. The main thing would be owning a piece of land to grow your own firewood, or bartering for it from someone else. I think it just requires a good think and a change in attitude of what we really do and don't need to live. Once you get rid of one thing that encumbers your life it must be quite easy to get rid of other things that cost money to run too. I am not sure about not travelling around though, as it could be a bit limiting, but with a bicycle enough could be managed. I think you probably need to live in an area where other people are on the way to doing something similar though, so that they are interested in buying and bartering with you. I can't imagine that happening here somehow!

We have a couple of friends who live very frugal lives - one set only because they are too mean to spend money though, so have got rid of their car, washing machine, TV, only have the hot water on once a day for an hour etc... The other is a poet who read with OH in Lancaster on Friday night. She lives alone on a farm in the far north east of Cumbria, and has been deaf since the age of 9. She doesn't let it hold her back though, and is a well-known musician, poet and artist, as well as winning awards for her farm. She also lost her drivers licence 6 months ago, and thinks that she won't bother getting another car again. She was telling us at the meal afterwards that she can't remmeber the last time that she spent more than £20 on anything, as she grows her own food, and sells it too, heats her house with woodstoves, and her other activities mean that she is often paid to cover travel etc, plus she barters with other people. We are going up to visit her for a week in July as she and OH are going to collaborate on a writing project together. I am really keen to live a pared down life without dependency on anyone or anything, so am hoping to pick up some tips.

[Crocus]

Hi Pippa, that is definitely leading a simple life, it seems she's manages to get it right. It sounds quite an uncomplicated life.

[Crocus]

This program is now on our telly screens! I unfortunately missed the first one, but watched the second program yesterday evening. I found it very interesting actually and wish I could've watched the first program. It would've given me a better perspective on the whole I think. About half way through the program I remembered we had a thread on this series.