Comments on: How Soon Is Now?

By: Hg

Hg — Sun, 07 May 2006 19:14:59 +0000

Clare – hopefully now I’m in a position to make some of the plans actually happen, rather than fantasies that evaporate into nothing as I spend yet another evening or weekend recovering from work.
Paul – I’ll pass on the car, thanks. Partly because you’ve done such a terrible job of selling it, but mainly because I don’t think I’d fit into it. Isn’t the Corsa fairly small, kind of like the older VW Polo or the Peugeot 106?
The gardening stuff, on the other hand, is very interesting. I’ve come to appreciate the whole Slow Down concept over the past few years, having come to the realisation that living life in one long, ongoing adrenalised rush was no good for me. Using some of the advice in that page as a metaphor for my current situation is a neat approach. I especially like “Don’t just do something, sit there!”

By: Paul Freeman

Paul Freeman — Fri, 05 May 2006 11:47:20 +0000

I forgot to provide a link -- http://www.spiralseed.co.uk/lifestyle/ I should also add that my garden suffered under my non-intervening observation period as it lasted 5 years. Oops.

By: Paul Freeman

Paul Freeman — Fri, 05 May 2006 11:43:55 +0000

I can do you a 10-year old 5 door Vauxhall Corsa (the family has outgrow it) but it is very well lived in, so I really wouldn’t want to know the person who bought it
There is a form of gardening that is the antithesis of TV makeover gardening (“whip in some decking, plant hundreds of correctly sized shrubs; have a bbq”) known as permaculture. Permaculturists “recommend a non-intervening observation period of at least twelve months” which is perhaps a bit extreme, not to mention lazy.
However, this “thoughtful in-action” sounds like just what you need. How can you plan what you are going to do in the future before you’ve even stopped working? I like your idea of living in the moment and you should spend a month just looking at the garden as your current thoughts will unconsciously be clouded (dare I say limited) by your current job.

By: Clare

Clare — Fri, 05 May 2006 09:21:36 +0000

Ooh, I own a 5-door ten-year-old Golf! But I’m not selling it. Sorry. Good choice though.
“My natural inclination is to plan, to extrapolate and to anticipate, but a couple of months of living in the moment won’t do me any harm at all.”
Hahaha, we are lost secret twins. My guess is that, if we are indeed secret lost twins, there’s no way on earth you’ll get through the next few months without making a billion plans. That’s OK though. There’s nothing wrong with making plans. It’s fun.