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I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

theguardian.com

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Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#281

Post by oilostthelast »

Decker87 wrote: post #257
oilostthelast wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You find noble, humble and virtuous souls depressing to be around? Look at this austere man, so capable. Entirely singular. Wholly content. How can you come to find even a hint of the vaguest ennui. Truly I envy the man, I aspire to be so contented, unfortunately I've decades of conditioning to unravel to attain such a saintly outlook. Imagine how simple and humane the world would be if it was populated with people l…

I can't tell if this is satire. If it is, bravo, well done.

On the contrary, I'm deadly sincere. You'd do well to read up on the Roman views on agriculture. It was, perhaps, the most respected occupation. In any case, this constant goading of science, the excision of religion, the exorcising of divinity of the soul and the blatant machinations which analytical minds use to crush the working class into their finely cut time pieces are abominable. All for the sake of... What? There's nobody in this world that could convince me there is a meaningful direction which all of this unremittant locomotion trends; other than ruin that is. And that's despite a deep desire to find precisely that.

We're sacrificing humanity for the vain and meagre rewards of the flesh and conditioned from birth to tow the line. This man seems to have entirely insulated himself from that, he renders his services seemingly for the sake of it. Lives, very apparently, with great modesty. He does this despite the social pressures to do otherwise, it is quite probable that he sacrificed romance to avoid the capricious intermingling of someone else, since few are contented without effecting their next step on the hedonic treadmill, their sisyphian burden.

I respect and admire the man.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#282

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

aeternum wrote: post #227
dinamic wrote: post #183

My great-grandfather was traveling to USA for work back in 1912. He came back after 6 years and settled in his village becoming its head. Almost everybody in my family knows this story and it's indeed fascinating, because at that time people rarely moved anywhere. And now we are fascinated by a man living in the same place all his life. It's funny how the concept of norm changes in 100 years.

A man living in the same place all his life has no basis for comparison. I would be more convinced that your great-grandfather's village is something special since he experienced elsewhere yet still returned.

> has no basis for comparison

I have lived in the same place only once in my life for 7 years and it was an exception because we raised kids, even then we ripped our kids out of school to move them to a different country just for the sake of "experience" and so we wouldn't get bored and comfy (as parents).

In my whole life (close to 50 now) my average years in 1 place was 3-5. I could numerate _all_ the countries I lived in but it would look ridiculous and make boring reading (but it includes some crazy places one seriously wonders what could bring one from A->B).

Only last night I sat on the terrace of my an old friend from childhood. We downed a few Guinness (imported and considered a novelty where we are). It led us to exactly this conversation because he doesn't like anything "fancy" or imported but makes an exception knowing I love it and knowing I'd come he bought it. He is the exact opposite of me and I've always looked up to him because he got the roots (and everything that comes with it discussed here) that I lack. I'd love to have roots and in my most romantic day-dreams wonder what it would be like having never left and still among the same people. (and with my siblings not spread around the globe but in the same town)

He has also often wondered what it would be like living like me, hearing about adventures from Asia, sometimes war zones, or more recently South Eastern Europe, always "trying to make it in a different way", sometimes thriving but quite often literally just surviving.

Despite knowing another quite well, we're only able to look at each others reality in a romanticized / idealized way because we have no idea.

"The grass is always greener ...." most importantly I totally lack the basis for comparison to _his_ life as much as he does to mine, because I've been wired and set up to be me very early in my childhood (and so are my kids who also had no choice but had to endure going through the experience of getting ripped out of school and moved to a new place every couple of years).

I think we are creatures of habit. And braking them is very hard regardless if the habit is to never make any changes, or must shake things up every few years to avoid going nuts.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#284

Post by doublejay1999 »

FractalParadigm wrote: post #65
montenegrohugo wrote: post #7

There is value in finding your place in life and being content with it. Yes, you might be able to change it, perhaps to conform to more traditional standards of 'success', but why bother if you're happy as you are? If we humans optimize by happiness, then we should have nothing but envy for a life like Wilf Davies leads.

I came to this realization in university - I love software, I love writing programs and solving problems, but I really don't love office work or the idea of sitting at a desk all day. I dropped out of a software engineering program to work on a factory floor, a decision I haven't regret once in five years (even if my parents would consider me a failure). The hours are good, the wage is good, benefits are good, I get…

Heart warming story. MUch respect.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#285

Post by hzay »

chrisco255 wrote: post #245
brokencode wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think eating the same thing every day is fine, though you need to make sure to have a balanced diet with good nutrition. The author mentioned his uncle who just ate bread, butter, and cheese for every meal, and I’m not sure how you can even survive off of that. Surely it’s lacking something important with no fruit or vegetables. I’ve heard that humans had a long period of time after we became sedentary and started…

> I’ve heard that humans had a long period of time after we became sedentary and started relying on agriculture that the average height decreased significantly, and it was only in recent centuries that it has gotten back to normal due to more varied nutrition. So even if you can technically survive on a very limited diet, it can still have negative effects. It's not the variety of the diet but the quality of the food…

> It's fine, however, to eat nothing but meat and many societies did this for hundreds of thousands of years.

Other than those who live in the arctic, which societies did this? You have sources? Thanks!

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#286

Post by usgroup »

telesilla wrote: post #266

"This valley is cut in the shape of my heart". I've known farmers like him, bachelors who are mild mannered and love their lives and the extended family that comes with living an entire life in one valley. He maybe goes to Sunday service for socialization and the local pub to watch the game, and as long as his sheep are healthy and the sky does what it promises (because he knows the day before always if it will rain)…

I appreciate the romance, but those of us who have children leave behind much more than stone walls we built in our 20s.

He’s a 72 year old Batchelor who’s once stepped foot outside a Welsh valley. If happiness is a lobotomy then credit to us who don’t choose it.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#287

Post by raverbashing »

sverhagen wrote: post #249
aeternum wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A man living in the same place all his life has no basis for comparison. I would be more convinced that your great-grandfather's village is something special since he experienced elsewhere yet still returned.

Don't most migrants have nostalgia for their country of origin? Where their roots are, no matter how much of a globetrotter they were. Sure, if the country you grew up in a beleaguered place, you wouldn't think of going back. But I've heard so many migrants say things along lines of: "oh, man, once I'm retired... ". "Disclaimer": migrant myself. Not necessarily my dream to go back "once retired". But my wife yearns f…

Yeah, it's funny how that feeling happens even if you're not coming from an "idyllic village"

Though not necessarily yearning, but more like "yes this was part of my history and you have a feeling of nostalgia"

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#289

Post by zwayhowder »

haihaibye wrote: post #280

71 sheep is a hobby, not enough to make a living as a farmer. In Australia a family farm can have 10-20x that number.

They also use different tools and methods size is relative.

My favourite anecdote for visiting Welsh friends is to tell them about Anna Creek Station, a cattle farm in South Australia that is slightly larger than Wales.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#290

Post by Talanes »

throwawayboise wrote: post #237
User23 wrote: post #210

Reminds me of Steve Jobs and his closet full of dozens of identical black turtlenecks.

I can kind of see the advantage of having one outfit. Eliminates all decisions about what to wear. But if I did that, I would not have a closet full. Maybe a weeks' worth, to get from washday to washday.

I did that with pants in high school, wearing 5 identical pairs of black dockers that fit my after-school job dress code. Worked fine until another kid pulled me aside and asked if I needed help getting another pair of pants.
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