Money is still SO tight for us at the moment, but I find it tempting to live as if it isn’t, given all the credit facilities available to us. I am fully committed to ‘simplifying’ our lifestyle (in theory, at least …) but I am still finding it difficult to adapt our lifestyle. We do not live an extravagant life, by British standards. But by world standards I am certain we are amongst the richest of the rich.
One of the things I struggle with is my overinflated appetite for leisure. I guess it is hardly surprising, given that advertising media is constantly encouraging us to ‘treat’ and ‘reward’ and ‘indulge’ ourselves. A European Commission Working Paper in 2005 collated time use survey data from across Europe and showed that Europeans enjoy, on average, between 4 and 6 hours per day of ‘free time’ – that is, time that is not used for eating, sleeping,working or study, personal hygeine, domestic chores or travel. 4 to 6 hours is a lot of disposable time on our hands on a daily basis! It is little wonder, then, that there are so many businesses out their peddling wares to ensure that we enjoy every last minute of our spare hours.
When I think of how I’d like to spend an idle hour, espresso, cake and comfy armchairs in an upmarket cafe inevitably spring to mind. Similarly, a ‘night off’ should involve takeaways, a bottle of wine, and a DVD. I quickly develop cabin fever at home with my toddler, and get bored of the same mealtime routine at the very same dining table, day after day. I can find it difficult to come up with ideas to inject interest into our daytime routine that don’t involve eating out, or spending money.
That is why tonight I thought I’d write a brief blog post celebrating a few ‘simple pleasures’ that we enjoyed throughout the course of today. This will hopefully remind me – and perhaps also inspire others – that we don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy life.
Simple Pleasure 1: A walk in the woods
A picture of my son from a previous walk, about a fortnight ago
We are lucky to live close to some beautiful green spaces. The photo I have included is taken within 5 minutes walk of our front door, on a public footpath, overlooking literally acres of farmland.
I have discovered that our toddler LOVES kicking fallen leaves and splashing in puddles. I find watching him bound along a country lane like an overexcited puppy to be more entertaining than a trip to the cinema.
Today was sunny and the snow is long gone. Daddy came too, and we enjoyed crouching in the woods, looking up towards the sky and watching the treetops swaying in the breeze. Who needs television when you’ve got nature?
Simple Pleasure 2: Magnets
This afternoon, following the walk, toddler and father entertained themselves for over an hour with these:
We picked up this set of magnets from a car boot sale a month or two back for less than a couple of quid – a small fraction of what they would cost to buy new.
I also joined in for a little while, and was entertained by our toddler’s confusion when he could not get two pieces of magnet to get close to each other (opposite forces attract and like forces repel – he was trying to stick the ‘like’ ends together …). Physics can be fun; my science teacher was right.
Simple Pleasure 3: Music
Besides the weather, few things have the capacity to transform my mood like music does. This afternoon, I put on some nice music while I did some computer work and the effect was immediate.
I listen to an internet-based radio service for free which lets me pick my own playlist. It’s got ads but they’re very short, and I seem to find it easy to ignore them. If I put on a bit of lounge music, and make myself a nice coffee, I could close my eyes and almost believe that I am in a trendy cafe somewhere …
If you’re reading this, I’d love to hear your suggestions for free or inexpensive ways to inject a bit of interest into the daily routine – please leave a comment below.
