Life update October 2020

Tags

agent hunting, clean living, detox, epicurean, karezza, Minimalism, Narrowboat living, Rumi, Travel memoir, Vegan, Voluntary simplicity, writing

After several days of rain, the sun came out in the late afternoon, lighting up the red berries

The wood burner is going- it’s not that cold, I’m sure when I eventually go out for a walk and get it together to fill up the water tank, it will be okay with a nice warm coat on- but sitting writing it feels a bit chilly.

#NoSextember Year Two (where my husband and I have a month of clean living including no sex) This was completed with no breaches; it was a lot easier having done it last year. This time we approached it more confidently and with more seriousness and it seemed to go better. That said, it wasn’t always easy. Week one we were both suffering from one last blow out in August. Week two we both seemed a little cranky with each other. That can be difficult when you can’t just make up with sex or flirting, or cheer yourself up with chocolate or a drink. The second half seemed better, and even more productive. I got my book done, and even booked a day off work in early October to make sure it got sent off (I think that’s called ‘honouring my craft’)

My husband has been working on planning our new website: Further. As with all things tech related, this has been slower than we anticipated. However, we now have a new laptop, lots of ideas and my son on board to help with the technical side.

We are both increasingly distant from- and often dismayed by- the polarisation which people seem so involved with at the moment- people we know with otherwise quite lovely lives, who could be really happy, full of hate for politicians on the opposite side or lost in particular conspiracy theories and calling everyone else ‘sheeple’ and falling out with friends on social media about whether or not to wear a mask.

Further will be a place for anyone who feels similarly to us, who is able to look at it all without getting completely caught up in it, who values human connection and kindness over ideology. Best summed up by Rumi’s famous quote: ‘Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.’ ‘Seeing beyond boundaries and meeting heart to heart’

We’ve also found the ideal underpinning philosophy, to the Further site and to our lives: The teachings of Epicurus. In a stunning example of synchronicity, as we were discussing this, a boat went past called The Epicurean! Nowadays the term is used to describe a ‘foodie’ someone who enjoys good food and wine. But Epicurus himself lived on bread, olives and the occasional slice of cheese. He devoted himself to the search for what makes people happy, and his conclusion was, a simple life with few possessions, shared with friends, while also having plenty of time for alone time and quiet reflection, and really appreciating what you actually have.

As the videos explain, it can be used nowadays as an antidote to the relentless dissatisfaction human beings naturally seem to have (the craving, addressed in Buddhism) which is mercilessly exploited by advertising, marketing, and the forces of capitalism. People always want more, but material things don’t give you happiness.

So naturally I have abandoned my longing for a stone cottage in Yorkshire and have moved onto a house in Italy whereby to create an Epicurean community- we live there, and people on the same path/with the same outlook come and stay.

Self portrait, Pushkar, India 2020

About the author

In 2018 in our forties and fifties my husband and I sold up, gave away most of our possessions, and went travelling for a year, mainly in India, and also to Thailand, Tokyo, Nepal, Cambodia and Vietnam. My personal/spiritual/travel memoir of the year is completed and out with agents. I live on a narrowboat in rural Northamptonshire UK with my husband and two cats.

Follow me on Instagram thisisrachelhill

Thank you very much for reading

September Update

Tags

Abstinence, awareness, karezza, meditation, Meditation exercises, Minimalism, Screen free Saturday, Screen free Sunday, spirituality, Travel memoir, Travel writing, vegan for the animals, Voluntary simplicity

 

We are over halfway through September so here is a quick and dirty update on our No Sex, No Drugs, No (Greggs Vegan) Sausage Rolls September programme

Meditation

As of the time of writing we have meditated every day. I met someone at a family do recently who asked me how to get started. Maybe you’d like to meditate but are finding it hard to start? We were out of the habit of meditating regularly so we started at just five minutes and increased it by one minute every day. We take it in turns to ‘lead.’ Also, if it helps/is of interest, here are all the things we have meditated on so far this month:

1. Take stock of yourself, where you are physically, emotionally, spiritually, how you feel going into this programme etc.
2. Do your own thing
3. The Twelve Lessons (above)
4. Meditate on your energy
5. Meditate on The Nature of Existence
6. Meditate on Identity
7. Meditating on energy which no longer serves us being sloughed off. This was post a little pagan ritual, we did one the last night of August- the night before we started- and one on Day 7 at the end of week one.
8. Meditate on your Identity within your Family
9. Meditate on The Nature of Love
10. Meditate on ‘The answers lie within’ from the 12 lessons (above)
11. Meditate on The Nature of Eternity (not in a religious sense, description here)
12. Meditate on golden healing light, imagine pulling energy in through the top of your head and sending it/allowing it to flow all through your body especially onto any aches and pains
13. Do own thing: Relaxing and recharging
14. Post ritual the end of week two which was also a full moon, we meditated on the full moon, what this means, and on renewal, etc
15. Meditate on the four elements Air, Fire, Water, Earth- their practical manifestations, your relationship with them, what they mean to you, or on their associated qualities.
16. Do own thing/Things you are grateful for (this was John’s turn, I was in a bad mood, he wisely added the second part, and by the end I was in a much better mood, even if I started off saying ‘Nothing’ petulantly to myself…

For more here is a link to a previous post Meditation Methods

Food

This has been very successful. Like stepping through a portal, suddenly I am no longer a person who eats GVSRs all the time, I now happily snack on walnut halves and dried apricots and effortlessly and joyfully prepare and eat things like the dishes above.* Even some processed foods like Linda McCartney pies and baked beans have begun to taste less appealing. My diet was overall pretty good and I was brought up on whole foods, so it hasn’t been a huge adjustment. *basically a thick smoothie made of soya milk, a banana, an apple, a pear, oats, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, cacao, maca,  linseed, peanut butter, topped with muesli, dates, nuts and seeds, all bought cheaply either in bulk from Grapetree or just cheap at Aldi

Walking, Yoga,

Fine, plenty, photo above of us and sheep on our regular walk, just got up and went and not at all media ready!

No cigarettes or alcohol

Fine, none. I hadn’t smoked any cigarettes since Harlequin Fayre in early August so that was easy. I have fond memories of my last glass of red wine though and may have another one in October.

Writing productivity

I’m on DaLat, the second to last place we went to in Vietnam. The last place was Ho Chi Minh City. I may or may not completely finish that before the end of the month, but either way I am happy with the progress I’ve made this month.

No sex

We have stuck to this and probably managed better than previous times. We’ve been respectful of the fact that it is difficult, and been careful about our behaviour, avoiding talking much about it, avoiding getting undressed in front of each other, avoiding flirting etc.

Not having sex can 1. Dip one’s mood, and 2. Take away a method for cheering oneself or each other up. When I said that to Anthony, he said, ‘Can’t you think of another way to cheer me up?’ And that’s a good question, because I have found it easy for that to be my go to method, whereas cooking a meal, tidying up my piles of clothes and papers, or just being in a good mood, would also be effective but would require more work/less enjoyment on my part…

One Screen Free day each week

Yes we have done this, one was easy as I was at work for most if it, the other was harder, I didn’t even allow myself Word laptop writing time, so I felt a bit discombobulated. In the evening we listened to the radio and then to an audio book, Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities. The fact that it felt hard makes it worth doing regularly I think.

Thank you very much for reading

About the author

Sold house, left career, gave away almost everything else. With husband went travelling for a year, mostly in India. Here are my India highlights. Now back in the UK, living on a narrowboat and writing a book about the trip, a spiritual/travel memoir, extracts from which appear regularly on this blog.

No Sex No Drugs No Sausage Rolls! Part Two

Tags

awareness, Be as healthy as possible, Enlightenment, Greggs vegan sausage rolls, It's not boring it's radical, karezza, Make good choices, Make smart choices, meditation, Mid life, middle age, Midlife awakening, Natural skin care, Natural teeth care, No sex no drugs no sausage rolls, No Sextember, No sugar, No vegan junk food, Reflection, Screen free Saturday, Screen free Sunday, spiritual enlightenment, spiritual memoir, Travel memoir, Travel writing, Turning 50 in eight months, Turning 60, WiFi free Wednesday, writing, Yoga

No sex no drugs no sausage rolls #NoSextember

My husband recently celebrated his 60th birthday and that inspired a fair bit of reflection and the creation of our September programme. The bodhicitta mind isn’t only about years of spiritual training or pure magic. Some of it is a choice which we can make right now e.g. think about how the Dalai Lama would behave in a traffic jam and act accordingly.

September Programme

Starting from September 1st running through the whole month and beyond for some things.

‘Be as healthy as possible’

‘Make good choices’

‘It’s not boring it’s radical’

Mediate together every day The only must do every day; show up daily for the commitment benefits likewise be careful what you commit to as self blame etc is not beneficial if you can’t stick to it.

No sex (see previous post)

One screen free day each week

No alcohol or cigarettes. For after work destress lying on the floor, doing yoga or tea and chat is just as good, plus free and and non harmful.

No sugary confectionary (no biscuits, cakes, tarts, sweet pies, chocolate, ice cream, etc, also no crisps.) The vegan junk food explosion has been a mixed blessing…

No Greggs vegan sausage rolls 😦

Overall be more healthy and wholefood and cooking from scratch but allow ourselves some bread, baked beans etc.

Yoga morning and/or night. I won’t hold myself to every day but intend to do daily- just a stretch will do

Put moisturiser on face each night as well as each morning as usual. Do regular salt facials (use salt as facial scrub.) Do regular electric toothbrush and baking soda teeth whitening.

Go for big walks/lots of walks

Have September as a super productive month re writing: Get to the end of the trip/draft (travel memoir) so that October, November and December are for the editing and polishing of the entire manuscript. Wish me luck!

Thank you very much for reading

About the author

Sold house, left career, gave away almost everything else.  With husband went travelling for a year, mostly in India.   Here are my India highlights.  Now back in the UK, living on a narrowboat, and writing a book about the trip, a spiritual/travel memoir, extracts from which appear regularly on this blog.