209_Avoiding the Trappings of Modern Society

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 209

Avoiding the Trappings of Modern Society

Someone said to me once that you should never forget the power of a good conversation. Yet in our fast-paced hyper-connected world we are losing touch with this vital part of human communication. We are also losing our focus on the things that really matter because we are constantly distracted. We are so inundated with notifications, dings, and beeps that as we are driving to work we can’t even remember if we brushed our teeth this morning.

Modern technology was supposed to make our lives easier. But in many ways our connectedness results in over stimulation and the clear inability to focus. Without knowing it, we have become trapped in a fast-paced, high stress, very impersonal world that always appears to be falling apart.

So join me for E209 Avoiding the Trappings of Modern Society

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E209 Avoiding the Trappings of Modern Society.

What I want to accomplish in this episode is very simple. I want to point out how the structure conveniences of our modern society tends to trap us into a lifestyle that is sometimes very difficult to escape. Then I want to point out how all of this can easily be avoided. But you are going to have to pay attention.

Good news story of the week

This weeks good news story is a follow up on a previous story that I had talked about, which was the largest dam removal project ever accomplished in this country. After decades of protest and petitions by local tribes, four dams were removed from the Klamath River which originates in southern Oregon and flows into northern California.

These dams have been in place for over 60 years and created a barrier that prevented salmon from migrating upstream and spawning. However, in less that two months after the removal of these dams salmon have been found far upstream. The Klamath River is the third-largest salmon spawning habitat on the West Coast, traveling 400 miles from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. And that habitat has now been restored.

So the round of applause this week goes to the restoration of a major salmon habitat. Now, let’s get started with this weeks episode.

The first place I ever owned was a small 900 square foot cabin in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado. It had two bedrooms, one bath, and sat on a small lot at the edge of town. It truly was nothing special but it was all I could afford at the time.

This was also long enough ago that no one had cells phones, personal computers and iPads were virtually non-existent and no one really paid that much attention to the internet. At least in the community where I lived cable television was not available much less satellite service. I had to put a signal booster on my television antenna just to get one channel and even that was so fuzzy that it was not worth it.

At some point during this time I started dating this girl named Karen. On her second visit to the cabin she asked if I had a television. I told her  that I did have one but it was on the top shelf in the bedroom closet. Of course she wanted to know why I had put it there. It was because I never use it. Since this was a small cabin the TV was in the way most of the time so I put it in the closet.

Very soon after this I started my undergraduate studies. I was taking a full load of courses and working a full-time job. Needless to say what little free time I had I spent doing something outside. Between work and classes during the week I spent a great deal of my time indoors. When time I had on the weekends was not going to be spent in front of a television. And that was 1985.

Once I graduated I spent a few years working hard to pay off my student loans as quickly as possible. One year after graduation I bought the cabin property and started construction. Once again I just did not have the time to watch television nor did I have the interest. Basically I have never gone back to watching network television and at this point I do not waste my time surfing the internet and social media. For me it is a matter of priorities. I tend to focus my time on things that bring value into my life.

Presently I do no even own a television, or a radio, nor do I have a newspaper subscription. The only subscriptions I do have are National Geographic and a magazine called Mother Earth News which focuses solely on sustainability and self reliance. To me these are things that are enjoyable, I get to learn new things on a regular basis and therefore it adds value.

Because of how I choose to live my life some of you may feel as if I am living in the past. But the reality is that I am actually living in the present. I have a modern lifestyle albeit simple, off grid and in the middle of the forest.  I am not avoiding modern day life I just choose not to partake in many of its trappings.

Certainly many of you have heard me make references to how things were when I was growing up on the farm in Tennessee and Georgia. For better or for worse the world has changed considerably since that time. At this point our world is changing so rapidly that even the most sane and stable person certainly has trouble feeling any sort of personal security. On top of that we are inundated with an over abundance of conflicting information which makes it difficult to sort fact from fiction.

As such, if I want to maintain some sense of personal security and stay grounded in what I consider to be reality I truly need to take responsibility for my day-to-day life. Consequently I need to limit all the noise of modern existence and focus on what’s important and spend my time on those things instead of everything else.

Once I am at home at night and on the weekends I tend to disconnect from the outside world and slow down. I turn my phone off at night when I go home and maybe check it once or twice a day on the weekends. I turn on the internet modem only when I need it. I just do not feel the need to constantly check email and messages. Instead I walk the dogs in the forest, I look at cloud formation, I fill the bird feeder, take care of the chickens, purify water, split firewood, and catch up on other chores.

Beyond that, I sit and read or plan our next camping trip or explore options for living in a different culture for a while. I also catch up with friends by going to their house, cooking dinner with them, or just visiting over some good coffee. Since we live in a mountain community that is spread out, unless we take the effort to stay in touch we may not see each other for months at a time. So it is important to put forth that extra effort. Again this is how I limit my social and societal input to things that are important to me and bring a positive influence. This is how I keep my life on track.

But keeping your focus and maintaining a life that is what you want it to be is often difficult for most people because we live in a society that is constantly telling us how we should act and what we should look like. We are bombarded with so many messages from the media, social media, and advertisements. Furthermore we see so many people on Instagram sharing how they are living their best life. It is very difficult for most of us not to feel the influence and be affected in some way. But one of the best part of limiting your input from social media is that you can continue to feel like yourself instead of someone else’s idea of who they think you should be.

One of the most important things that has helped me to stay on track is to focus on my goals. But more often than not my goals, both personal and professional, did not fall in line with what people and society expected me to do. A perfect example is the cabin. When I first purchased that property and started living off the grid, everyone thought I was crazy. Another example is when as a veterinarian I wanted to learn advanced surgery. For one reason or another I was met with a lot of resistance. But I did it anyway. Now years later people are envious of my off grid lifestyle and I’ve had a very successful career doing advanced surgery. I credit part of my success to the fact that I paid little attention to what society expected. I created my own version of what I consider to be a fulfilling life, not what society said I should be doing. 

Another challenge that we have is that the world is constantly trying to sell us things that we don’t need? We are encouraged to buy more, consume more, get a better vehicle, have a bigger house and prettier clothes. But is that not a subtle way of telling us we are just not good enough? It tends to distracts us from what truly matters.

Sometimes I think if we could rid our lives of all the noise and all the distractions it would be so much easier to focus on ourselves and we would be a lot happier despite what the rest of the world is telling us. Then we would have the time needed to pay more attention to our physical and mental health.

And perhaps I am overstating the obvious. But still so many of us get trapped by modern society because material possessions signify success, status and affluence. Things such as:

-Luxurious possessions. This is what I call shiny object syndrome. We want big houses, new cars, designer clothes and expensive jewelry and watches.

-Consumerism. We are often driven by consumerism and the pursuit of all the new and improved products.

-Wealth: The accumulation of personal wealth is also demonstrates success and status.

-Social media: Some of this of course is driven by the online personas and virtual lifestyles that people present to the world through social media.

Consequently we feel the pressure to conform to societal norms and opinions. We feel the pressure to fit in which can stifle our personal creativity and individuality.

And where does this really truly leave us with?

It leaves us feeling empty, lonely and emotionally numb. Since most communication is now virtual, we have a growing sense of detachment and disconnection from other people resulting in a loss of empathy. We are pressured to always stay busy and focus on personal accomplishments. This creates another kind of stress because we start feeling as if we can never meet up to societal expectations.

At the end of the day I think a lot of people in modern culture feel trapped because of the false promises of freedom and the lack of true freedom. For example, in our modern world we are told we can pursue anything we want. Yet most of us are pressured to conform to societal expectations which end up trapping us in a construct of life that traps us far away from the freedom we truly desire. Furthermore we are often told, and in a very convincing manner I might add, that true freedom lies within a system such as democracy.  However, because our societal structure is controlled by numerous external factors, most of which we cannot control, we start to feel trapped. The true freedom to be who and what we want always seems to be on the distant horizon and eventually we convince ourselves there is no way to break free.

While this may sound like a dismal outlook, it is possible to avoid many of the trappings of modern society. But you must know up front that it is often more difficult than you can imagine and sometimes you have to make some hard choices especially if you have already made some poor ones. 

About 10 years ago for the first time in my life I went through a period of burnout. I had been working approximately 100 hours per week for 14 months without a break. The reason for this is that I was trying to pay off the mortgage on the cabin property. In the end I was successful in raising the money that I needed but I also paid a heavy emotional price.

After that 14 month stint I was so burned out and exhausted that I walked away from everything I was doing. I returned to Colorado, paid off the mortgage, went to the cabin and did not leave for 9 weeks. I obviously accomplished an important goal  but I also learned a valuable lesson.

I too had been influenced by the notions in our society that more is better. I had two mortgages, credit card debt, and vehicle payments. I was living only to work because I thought that was the best way to get ahead. But in the process I had trapped myself in a hard lifestyle with lots of debt and little personal freedom. In other words, the same sort of thing that so many people do. I got lost in the fog of everyday life and forgot what it was like to actually be happy. I finally realized that what I was doing was not sustainable in the sense that I could not keep doing this and be healthy and happy.

During my 9 week sabbatical it became clear to me that I needed a change in perspective. First of all I decided that I would never work like that again. Then I thought long and hard about what was truly important to me and how I wanted to live. But I also knew all too well that in order to get where I wanted to be I would have to make some very difficult choices.

Once I started down that path it took me 5 years to get completely out of debt. I sold the second home at a small loss. I gave away 50% of my personal possessions and completely downsized my life. I then moved back to the cabin full time. Was this difficult? Yes it was. Did I have to make some really difficult choices? Yes I did. Do I regret my choices? No I do not and let me tell you why.

Since becoming debt free my choices in life are so much easier. If I want to take a month off I take a month off and never give it a second thought. All I have to do is work a little extra for one month to take care of any expenses during my time off. In the past I had to worked hard for 6 to 9 months in order to get that kind of time off. But life is so much easier when you essentially have no bills. Now it is so much easier to travel, take road trips and leave the country for periods of time.

But herein lies the rub for most people.

When we are constantly bombarded by a society that tells us how we ought to act and who we should be and that is all we ever hear, it is very difficult to not feel the influence of such social pressure. It is difficult to not listen to the noise, to get past the fog and realize there is a very different way to be.

Ultimately, the trappings of our modern society serve as a double-edged sword. Those trappings represent both what we can truly achieve but also the challenges we can experience in contemporary society. All the things we focus on and work for can contribute immensely to unending complexities in our lives and promote the inequalities of our modern society.

Because of this double-edged sword it is truly important to acknowledge the ways in which our modern society can trap us,  be proactive in taking steps to prevent this from happening and opt out. Otherwise, it may take years, as it did with me, to undo the complications you have created in your life. And the best path to take is to seek out a simpler, more authentic lifestyle by doing a few simple things.

-Think long and hard on the things that really matter to you. Sit down and make a list of the top 3 to 5 things that bring value to your life, the things that you really enjoy. Once you have settled on your list,  get rid of everything else.

-Make personal well-being and mental health one of your top priorities. A significant portion of people in our  world today suffer from chronic stress, fatigue and depression that eventually cause mental health problems. You do not have to be one of them.

-Challenge societal norms and expectations. Never accept what someone else says about who and what you should be.

-Be open-minded to new ideas, opinions and experiences while embracing individuality. At the same time, cultivate your own critical thinking and question everything. 

-If your employer, your friends, your family, or any other system or institution that exerts an influence on you day-to-day, fails to exhibit transparency, accountability, and take your well-being into consideration, walk away.

-Seek out simplicity and minimalism. Far too often our personal possessions create even more obligations that limit our lives. Living with fewer possessions often means more personal freedom.

-Seek out alternative lifestyles. Pursue an unconventional path. Be as self sufficient as possible and embrace sustainable practices as this lifestyle is often far less expensive.

As you can see, unless you pay close attention the trappings of our modern society can easily pull you into a lifestyle where you have little freedom of choice and very little personal freedom to do anything. But if you are proactive and learn to be a critical thinker, you can avoid many of the challenges of our modern world. That said, some people may think because of my off-grid lifestyle I am advocating a total rejection of modern society. But my reality is the exact opposite.

For much of my adult life I was financially challenged. I lacked any sort of secondary education and worked unskilled jobs with poor wages. So many of the things I did during that time was because I had no choice. However, because of the advances in our society and culture, I did have the choice and opportunity to get an advanced education and enter into a rewarding career.  This was a privilege that many people in the world still do not have.

My homestead property, all the structures that are there, the equipment that enables me to build what I do, the solar electric system, the water system, even the internet connection that makes my life easier, is all the result of modern advances in technology. By taking advantage of this I have a nice marriage between the basic skills of self sufficiency and modern technology.

In my opinion it is not productive to romanticize the past. Instead we should embrace the advances in modern technology and use that as an opportunity to develop an even better lifestyle and still have very little impact on the environment. We don’t have to reject money, technology and electricity in order to get back to nature and have a simple uncomplicated life. We can use all that to our advantage to make life even better.

So here is the real kicker of this whole thought process. There are literally billions of people in the world that do not work to making a living. They work to survive. If they have access to some small convenience due to modern technology you can believe they will take advantage of that because it makes their life easier. It may be the only choice they have available.

The other side of the coin is that for those of us that live in the developed world we generally have numerous choices as to how we live our life. But these conveniences can sometimes trap us. If we choose to reject all of these “conveniences” and “trappings” of our modern life this is only possible if you are immensely privileged thanks to all the advantages the modern world brings. As you can see, there are two distinctly different sides to this issue.

Sustainability tip of the week

Linear versus circular economy

Now I want to start closing out this episode by talking a little bit about the difference in a linear versus a circular economy and why this is important.

Historically we have always operated under a linear economy. This is based on a pattern of take-make-consume-throw away. This model relies on cheap, easily accessible materials and used lots of energy. This model is also based on planned obsolescence where a product is designed to have a limited lifespan and consumers are encouraged to buy again.

A circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves reusing, refurbishing, recycling, sharing and leasing so that existing products are used as long as possible. Because of this, the lifecycle of every product is extended and we minimize waste production and the use of additional resources.

As consumers, we can promote a circular economy by choosing products with sustainable packaging that are designed to be recycled. We can purchase second-hand or refurbished products. We can avoid single use products. Buy durable and repairable products and participate in product take-back programs. We can also change our consumption habits and adopt a repair, reuse, recycle mindset. Additionally we can support businesses with circular business models. And above all we can make the effort to educate ourselves about this issue and pass that knowledge along to others.

Now I want to make a few last comments in order to close out this episode.

Earlier in my adult life I took every opportunity to drive into the mountains, go hiking, go to a park, take a walk along a stream somewhere because this was how I stayed connected to nature and it was how I sometimes kept my sanity. Since owning the homestead property much of that has become completely unnecessary. I spend time outside doing chores, taking care of the chickens, splitting firewood, and walking the dogs in the forest. Sometimes I completely forget about taking a vacation because I have a lifestyle where I am already happy and satisfied.

There is nothing that I do that traps me in anyway. I have few limitations about the lifestyle choices that I make. Within reason I can take as much time off as I want, I can work as little or as much as I want and I can live where I want. But this has also been the result of a lot of years of hard work and paying very close attention to the choices that I make. But this type of lifestyle is also available to anyone who wants it.

Instead of relying on vacations to recharge, develop a lifestyle that supports and nourishes who you are and what you value. First of all identify your values and long-term goals. Then align your daily activities with these principles to create a sense of direction and fulfillment. Establish a healthy work-life balance and prioritize self care and relationships. Incorporate relaxation, hobbies exercise and meditation into your daily routine. Embrace life-long learning and personal growth. Considering moving to a place you love and start doing exactly what you want.

So instead of being trapped my our modern society, develop a lifestyle such that you do not have to escape. But doing so requires intentional focus on purpose, self-care, growth, flexibility, and mindfulness. By incorporating these simple principles into your daily life, you can create a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. This also will reduce the need for frequent vacations or escapes. But remember, it’s essential to be patient, kind, and compassionate with yourself as you work towards creating a life that truly nourishes who you are and what you value.

Well folks that’s about it for this week. I truly hope this has been an insightful episode and it will encourage you to develop exactly the kind of lifestyle you are looking for. Until next week, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.