Saturday 28 July 2012

What this blog is all about

This might sound really silly but the other day I realised what this blog is all about.  I had been feeling all bothered about not having a singular voice or a focus for the blog.  I wanted it to be cohesive, but felt it came across as muddled and without direction because of all my separate interests, ideas and aspects to my life.
It hit me whilst browsing some other blogs about parenting; The Minimalist Mom,  The imagination tree and Little eco footprints.  And now, having seen the way other people come across on their blogs, I can explain the content of my blog with one wonderful word, Alternative.  Let me explain first by examining what I see as being the opposite to "Alternative":
The Anti-to my "alternative" can be encompassed in three words; conventional, mainstream and conformist.  I see these things as following the status-quo, not questioning, accepting the way things are, not hoping for change.  Also, (perhaps rather more controversially) I see this way of life as being Capitalist; a life in which on strives for always more money and/or power; consumerism.
 My life, and this blog is about getting more of other things in my life than money, stuff and power.  More love, more joy, more peace, greater satisfaction, better relationships, greater autonomy,  more self-reliance when it comes to material things, better quality of life. And in so doing, following a way of life which is alternative to the mainstream of what most people do; challenging what is the norm and being more mindful of the planet as I do so.  Putting this into practical terms means my blog is about:
  • Trying to be financially self-sufficient through working for myself, selling my wares (Art, crafts) and my skills (teaching, photography),
  • Trying to be more environmentally friendly and self-sufficient through growing my own veg (Allotment), making things rather than buying them (crafts) and doing things that help the environment, or at the least cause it less damage,
  • Following alternative parenting approaches, (attachment parenting, eco-parenting)
  • Differentiating myself from secular, mainstream society, living a "good" life, (Christianity) 
  • Thinking about life, the world and everything in a different way, not conforming to how society expects me to behave, act, dress etc.
And all these things are of course interconnecting, so it looks something like this:

A bit messy I know, but that's just me!
So in summary, this blog is about my life...my Alternative life.  
Hope you like it!

3 comments:

  1. Love your map :-)

    yes - in the beginning in felt like I was writing about too many different topics - but then i realised they are all related. they are all about living a mindful and sustainable life.

    ReplyDelete

I love reading people's comments on what I have written, but I am not in the business of debating, this blog is my space, so if you can't say something nice, the please, don't say anything at all. If you don't like what I have written then please don't read it.