Review: Slow Gardening: A No-Stress Philosophy for all Senses and Seasons
Slow Gardening: A No-Stress Philosophy for All Senses and All Seasons
I’m a fan of the author’s philosophy. Build out your garden slowly, focus on quality, and you’re not going to accelerate biology’s timeline, so may as well enjoy the ride. That’s a great way to think about a garden, and a home, or even a family life.
Beware though, the book is (perhaps purposefully) also set to a slow pace. It’s a meandering approach to gardening, and a useful introduction for beginners. Theres some (little) focus on the tangible and functional, but it is mostly a ‘how to think’/philosophy book.
Steps to Personal Resiliency
- Ruthlessly suppress expenditure. Cut down every expense to the bone, to where you’re almost uncomfortable. This helps you get innovative. (Be careful. If you cross the line, your productivity/thinking capacity crashes HARD and FAST, so test often and fire quickly.) Gauge your progress by watching your monthly burn rate (consumables, food) drop.
- Pair your capital with your time and energy to invest in productive assets. That is, stuff that further erodes your expenses while enhancing your quality of life (less toxins in the home) and economic capacity (skills). Examples? Miiu is full of them, with tons more coming.
Do this alone, and you’ll be OK. If you’re good, you’ll be able to fend off a reversion to third world living standards. Do this with a market, however, and you will thrive, with an ever increasing standard of living.
RSS Problems + This Blog
Getting reports that in Google Reader, this blog’s RSS is showing someone else’s stream of paintings from Canada. Are you experiencing this too?
Idea: ModShoes
Disrupt the product differentiation rut that the shoe industry is stuck in with modular shoes.
Build the base, with a layer of padding (that over time conforms to the shape of your foot). Make this part Birkenstock-comfy (though thinner).
Then, unleash upon the world a long tail of options you can swap out at any time, depending on your requirements and aesthetic. New covers, heels, become a sneaker, or formal wear. Running would be a specialized function, but sliding in a steel tongue for boots is not a big deal. Make each one of these options $5/$10 and enable them to be locally produced (you earn royalties on the plans).