It's not slow living, its how we always lived until mass consumerism, it is the normal and natural way to live. But people now are always working for the next holiday, the next car etc. Always hoping that the next thing they buy will make them happy. Developing your inner world and living as nature intended is the only path to true contentment.
Hello from the USA. I enjoy your videos. Slow living to me is finding peace and joy in everyday mundane tasks. Finding beauty in hanging clean sheets on the line, seeing poetry in clean dishes drying on the countertop, feeling privileged to be able to stop everything to help a child with a challenging math problem. It’s being in the moment with joy. You can have a good attitude no matter where you live.
@@winterwoodcottage3657 It’s such a shame that more people don’t realise that there is so much peace in everyday tasks, and we don’t need all the paraphernalia that only bring fleeting pleasure, and not happiness.
@robertseddon2512 No truer statement, it's as if you have stolen my thoughts. It's how people are 'programmed', told how to think, feel and live. The fortunate become wise to the fact that this isn't the way it should be...
We retired early 12 years ago because I couldn't bear watching my husband fall asleep from exhaustion every night on the sofa in front of the television. He looked old, washed out and grey. We weren't wealthy but we knew we'd have enough. Nagging him to give it up and move here to Crete was the best thing I ever did. We bought a doer upper in a small village with an outside bathroom and we did it slowly when we had the money. Everyone thought we were bonkers! Now it's all done and I garden, knit and bake and he walks in the olive groves and runs the village football sweep each week. We eat locally grown food, swim in the sea, explore this beautiful, wild island and have a quiet life. You don't need to be wealthy or wear a flowery frock to lead a slow life. You just have to decide what matters.
We built a 5 bedroom 3 bathroom 2 living rooms & a 3 car garage. Happy here but in my heart when I read messages like this I think “wow THATS perfect!” Maybe someday we will do the same!!
He does indeed! I've never been to Japan but it's on my wishlist list. Just do it. We have no regrets apart from not seeing our daughter and granddaughter often enough. Best of luck!
I would love a cottage in the woods but I’m extremely grateful for our ex council bungalow on a small council estate. The bonus being that it’s near the woods and the song thrush wakes me up every morning. Great video, you have a new subscriber.
I am glad (happy) that the song thrush wakes me up too, even here in this ground-floor appartment in a small town in the eastern part of the Netherlands.
I watch them all! Some make me giggle with the flowing dresses! 😂but I do enjoy them. I live alone and introverted and I enjoy my own company. I run my own little business just to pay my bills! I also enjoy your no nonsense videos best. Keep them coming 😊
Oh my goodness you are singing my song! The slow and simple life allows us to take in all the special and curious and interesting moments of the day- otherwise they just whizz by… along with our precious life. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and most amazing scenery, so lovely 💚 continue to live and thrive young man 🌱🌷🌿
I can't thank you for that image you just put in my head but it did make me laugh - "I could do that but I'd look a bit daft in a frock." I've been blessed with a vivid imagination Nigel and it's taken awhile for that one to be, at last, erased! That God for little mercies - all the best from Oz.
I think I'm in love with this fellow with great accent (could listen to him forever ) and very beneficial philosophy of life.😊❤ Vicki from Tennessee in the USA 🇺🇲 My Scot side of family has name of Stark. emigrated to US in 1700s.from Glascow.
Thank you! Finally, someone is saying what I've been saying for ages. The whole slow living thing has actually become a bit of a joke. So perfect. So beautiful. So utterly unobtainable.
@@primalengland There was a young lady in a frock When a bee gave her quite a big shock... They both buzzed around The young lady frowned And the bee ended up in her sock ! 😊
I had a conversation with a lad at work who took up fishing after COVID, fantastic I said I have fished virtually all my life, fancy a trip out? We met at the bank and he landed in his van, with a trolley about the size of a one from Morrisons or Tesco. A whole host of very expensive gear. I was stood with a rod and reel, a plastic tube with my floats in and a small tin box with the rest of my kit. My trusty Border terrier at my feet. A mornings fishing produced me Grayling and Trout and sadly my friend caught nothing, "Idon't understand" he said. My answer was what I was told from an old man in the the area I was born, "If you pay attention to commerce and all they will sell you, then you miss out on what life is about, focus on the task ahead and choose what is ONLY NECESSARY to achieve it" The next lesson was from the Bible, "Never a lender nor borrower be" Thank you Sir for your content, thank you for experiences, and may God bless you Sir .
Sounds like you're on the path that you should be Sir. I come from the big city of Manchester and i moved to Worcestershire 22 years ago. Ive never looked back. I easied into "slow living" like water offa ducks back. Im definitely where i should be ❤
That sounds fantastic, we’ll done. I’m kind of glad I grew up when I did. There were fewer distractions in the day, and no one bothered what you said or how you dressed or what you thought.
This is my second video of yours I've seen (first was on hobbies), and I'm looking forward to seeing more! Your videos have a certain serene yet authentic beauty to them, not just including but being One With the natural world, that is wonderful to watch and inspirational to me!
Just here to say I love your messages and you are so right. I had no idea "slow living" was even a thing. Recently discovered the term. And saw that, it's the closest to what I've been doing for a while now. I picked it up as retrospective self-therepy in a way, due to ptsd. And it worked. And I've built a business doing it, selling my art. Though, without cinematics and romanticising in that sense. Enjoying coffee with my cat in old PJs every morning, sculpting in the afternoon and just being. Took a lot of mental and physical work to get to it but I'm here now.
I had no idea it was a ‘thing’ either, and, apparently I’ve been doing it for years. I think more people should get the message. Who wants a stressful life!
This would make a great TEDx talk.. In particular, people facing retirement .... a lot of them just fall off the cliff into boring mundane existence .. your suggestion of multiple hobbies and interests is excellent..
I often roam barefoot through the moss in the wooded acreage at my off grid, and sometimes in my flowing nightgown 😅 but at 65, I won't put it on you tube 😂 I do love the fantasy content too. Love your accent and your cheekyness (is that a word!) 😉 Just found your channel...new subscriber from Nova Scotia, Canada. Love your content ❤✌ and seeing your beautiful countryside.
I found your videos just at the right time in life a couple of weeks ago. Thankyou so much as I now feel complete in my slow life, even if no one else around understands, I do. Cheers from Julie in sunny Qld Australia. Peace and love.
I am glad I came across your video. You are absolutely right about stress and illness. I found that out 14 years ago and have been moving to slow living since. Looking forward to other videos.
Wow, what you have said is spot on. As much as I love all these beautiful, ephemeral videos of the slow life and cottagecore lifestyle, I've come to my own conclusion that it's a mindset, not something to attain necessarily but things or location. The mental impact alone slow living has due to consuming less, valuing what you have or pursuing what is natural to you is priceless. Unplugging from social media will give anyone time to reset and truly think about what matters to them. I understand the spiritual side to it and for me it's my faith in God and gratitude for all He has made. Just stopping to appreciate nature and hear the music of the birds and wind blowing through the trees is sometimes everything. Not to mention all the natural beauty we see and the beautiful souls we come across just because we're not distracted. I'm glad I came across your channel and i look forward to what else you have to say
I love both the cottagecore videos as well as the ones you make. I’m a young Norwegian girl in her 20s. The lifestyle you promote is in many ways similar to how I grew up in the Norwegian countryside. I’ve lived in South Korea for nearly seven years now, for my education. However, as one of the most competitive countries in the world, I feel that it has taken away much of my enjoyment in life. I’m tired of the digital and the superficial… I find myself longing back to the “slow life” as you call it. Although I still have a few months left before graduating college in Korea, I have started with some small steps… I carry an old mp3, instead of relying on music subscriptions. I leave my phone at home when I can, and bring with me a book instead. I find that not being connected and available all the time can be such a blessing, and I find myself enjoying life again in ways I had nearly forgotten before. This autumn I will be moving to England for my postgraduate studies, and I hope that I will be able to continue a more “disconnected” lifestyle and live my life in a more meaningful manner. Thank you again for your videos. I enjoy them very much, and I look forward to your next upload :)
Thank you. I have a friend who lives in Ulsan, and visited a couple of years ago. Korea is very modern and geared to tech. I managed to escape to temples and bamboo forests for peace and to meditate. Still, the society was a little too high paced for me.
Subscribed immediately! Smashing film, so glad I stumbled onto your video. Thanks ever so much, thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to such sense and poetry! 🌺
Sounds like you’ve lead an interesting life. I agree about the trendy “slow living” movement videos. I find them very relaxing and they are talented videographers. But it looks like so much work and trying to keep up a channel, creating new content each week will probably get stressful. I consider them more storytellers. Like a fairytale.
I absolutely love the idea of slow living 😂, the problem is... To create a nice home, there's a lot of EFFORT needed. I love Beatrix Potter, I even have some stuff of that in my house. Living alone with my youngest daughter, I had to put in a lot of heavy work, feeling like a builder for weeks/months ahead to create, visiting secondhand shops to make it affordable. All nice and done, then you need to look at the next thing; how to make it "slow" or "easy"... I haven't had a TV for years now, but replaced it with the internet, RU-vid etc. And although I have used it to learn, after a while I just wanted to relax... To read, to knit, whatever... Or maybe just staring at nothing... We are bombarded with the whole world's ups and downs, ins and outs, its madness. We don't need all of that. To find balance is perhaps the hardest thing, and takes time, to wind back and come close to you, yourself.
I don’t have a nice house. I’m nearly 70, and I owned my first house at 20. I’ve owned a few houses, but ultimately lost my house in a divorce, then lost my business to heart attack. I live in a rented terraced house in a working class town. I just have my pension to live on. I have terminal heart failure and am recovering from cancer, and you know what? None of that matters. I can’t be unhappy or stressed. My simple life, hobbies, love of the countryside and the odd gin and tonic means that I can genuinely say that I’m at peace. My kids love me, too….. That’s a nice bonus. You sound like you have pretty much everything you need, and the right attitude. I predict a happy future. ❤️
@primalengland It might sound like I have everything in place, but I have suffered immensely, which resulted in a full-blown stroke. After that, I changed. I recovered pretty much, only to feel myself very quickly exhausted all the time. It's what it is....
@@Grace0Claire That sounds tough, but, easy for me to say, you sound strong enough to make the most of this one crack we have at life. I always say to people that when I go, I want to look back and think. ‘Yep, that was alright. I’m happy with that.’
I'm approaching "retirement" and all I want is a simple life. I'm so tired of the rat race. New subscriber looking to learn how to slow down...love your sense of humor!
My life now is as it was 60-70 years ago (since my husband died last year). I have realised that just “being” is the only path to contentment. All these new, young, trendy slow lifers are staging a life to make money. One Winter with an outside loo would finish them off 😂
I'm intrigued first viewing of you, I live a simple life 2 up 2 down small victorian terrace, busy town road full of cars and people, I would love to transport it to somewhere more scenic, however I have a tiny greenhouse not overlooked which backs onto a brook and trees its my peaceful place nurturing seeds, and feeling the warmth on my face from the fleeting sun, if I need something I'm a convenient 20 min walk away. Still working you can't live on fresh air it's the daily choices I make mentally that helps me slow it all down I too love those videos and agree they are beautifully produced they give joy and inspiration , you may not look too bad in a dress😊 don't knock it until you've tried it xx
All the time they must spend editing the drone shots and multiple angles on one activity, phew, seems like hard work and far from slow 😅 but to be honest, I've never known this phenomenon in the 70s onward, we just had to live within our means and make what we could from what we had, it's been vamped up now. For the better in many cases, we did it out of necessity not out of an income source
I have a video that I haven’t posted, and may not post. In it I talk about this ‘slow living’ being just living as we all did all those years ago. I think a lot of it means living without technology. My technology was building my own bike out of bits.
OMG!! YES!! I look like shit in a smock as well. I am 61 living on the high plains of Colorado. Simple does NOT mean it isn’t hard. I work very hard to live out of the system and self-reliant. I am not as big a fan of all the 30 something women in frocks. It comes off as phony.
Oh! It’s very phoney. I agree. I just like some of them because they are so well produced. Mine look like they have been put together by a drunk on a bad day. 😊
I’ve just soused a fresh mackerel. It cost £5 from a proper fishmonger. It’ll probably last me 4 meals. It must be 6 months since I last had one. I’m pre- war vintage and do stuff from scratch but no woods where I live so I watch yours. No television but I watch RU-vid instead and learn all sorts of stuff. RA certainly slows me down but really I’m just an aging hippie still muddling along 🤗
@@DB-pm2vy Bloody hell! Just the words. ‘Soused mackerel’ is evocative. Folk don’t eat ‘soused mackerel’ these days. They really don’t know what they’re missing.
It originally meant someone living in solitude as a religious discipline, but I like to think of it as just someone living life outside of busy society. Spend most of their time alone and living a simple life.
I hate you….. I genuinely hate you. My brother has an allotment. I’ve wanted one all my life. Have you ever noticed that people who have allotments have a ‘look’ about them. They know something no one else does. 😊
"I believe that happened ...tho I don't believe in ghosts", that's "about" your gut over riding incoming information, ...that does happen, int Nature brilliant?!.
The majority of slow living videos present a completely fake and unattainable lifestyle. They try to portray their life as the perfect Disney fairytale, I loathe watching them because of how unrelatable they are.
I think, once you realise how unattainable they are, then you can just enjoy the fantasy. I’ve had personal push back off a couple of these creators, but they seldom stand up to scrutiny. 😊
I’ve only just found your channel on RU-vid but totally agree with you on this point…a lot of the ‘slow living’ content on RU-vid is a moneymaking/profit driven exercise because ‘slow living’ is trendy at the moment….often these channels advertise very expensive products that no true ‘slow living’ person would ever buy!
You made me laugh a few times talking about the slow life. It’s pretty and it’s eye candy but it’s usually unrealistic. I watch and enjoy them occasionally as escapism from all the craziness that is going on but I find out they have have a husband who bought the house and there are things that seem impossible for the average single woman. I much prefer to follow a woman who lives in her car. They are usually more real.
They are mostly just escapism. That is absolutely fine, as long as they don’t try to be anything else. I think many of them may believe their own hype.
I have lived the slow life all my life,I always lived the simple life with no money worries if I wanted anything I would save then buy it and not get into debt.
Well meaning people are always telling me I need the newest gadget for cooking, or housework, or gardening. They just don't understand that I don't want my life to be "easier" I want to live every minute of it and at 69 years of age, I'm not in any hurry. I want to bake from scratch and garden with bare hands and sweep the floor with a broom. And enjoy the peace and quiet.
But the media shows us superhuman beings to aspire to. Beauty, brains, perfect families, perfect jobs. I wonder how many people have actually suffered mentally because they feel they have to meet these standards.
@@primalengland Many I imagine. TV can be very brainwashing and I think humans naturally compare themsleves to others. Unfortunately TV is manipulated to show the world as it very rarely is in real life.
The irony is, if you slow down, your life becomes fuller. I used to have a 24/7 job in finance, running at a million miles an hour. Sure, I could eat at 5 star resaurants and was staying in nice flashy hotels, but , in my new slower life, my horizons and knowledge of life have expanded immensely ; having to time to read and study more, and notice more, including the delicous small moments of life, will do this for you. You can lower your cost base and be more self reliant. Im really just repeating the great wisdom of Primal England.
First timer here really enjoyed your stories and philosophy on life. I retired 3 years ago at 64 after working since I was 15 I am not ruled by a clock and it’s the most wonderful gift I’m not saying life is perfect but it is perfect for me and I am so thankful…
This video absolutely thrilled me because it took me back to my childhood. I am a British expat living in Western Australia but I grew up on the Isle of Wight living the Slow lLife in the 50s and 60s. I spent those years roaming the outdoors in the woods and nearby brooks, picking Primroes and Bluebells for my mother and our neighbours - who didn't have daughters. I miss the English countryside so much and hanker for that long-ago life. I have lived the Slow Life - for me it is the simple life - for many years here, and go out into nature to feel the peace and harmony wash over me and fill me, but it is not England. My heart has always been, and will remain, in the English countryside. So grateful for this video.
I'm a west Aussie but had the extremely lucky fortune to spend nearly two weeks going around the south western region of England in may about a decade ago, it was cold, there was some sun but mostly cloudy and wet. Definitely my preferred weather. Only downside was the birds didn't sound as nice as Aussie birds.
Thank you for this video! I am also 70 this year, live in PNW of USA. I agree with you, nature, gardening, crafting and hobbies are what bring me joy. 💕😎
Twenty-five years ago a debilitating chronic illness pushed me kicking and screaming into the slow life. Now, I wouldn't have it any other way. Travelling for the sake of keeping moving and hanging around cool cafes is now the last thing on my wish list. In fact, my current wish list is quite small. Like Diogenes, asking his important visitor to move aside to let in the sun.
I remember when the lockdown came here in America. I worked at an essential job. I had people telling me how much they missed out on day to day. I myself lived in a small cabin in the woods off grid. I would tell them that they have a choice. I never lost out on my freedom or ability to do my day to day life. Not cooped up looking out the window or worried about the neighbors breathing on me. I completely retired at 55 and have enjoyed what others say is unattainable for them. I tell them, if you want it, it's up to you to make it happen. God bless
Absolutely perfect outlook. When you live frugally, you don’t have far to fall. If you live a lavish lifestyle, heaven help you if anything goes wrong.
Hello from a new subscriber in Alaska! Love the tone and tenor of your channel. Like taking a walk with a wise friend. We are approaching 60 with thoughts of doing less and living more.
The Slow Life to me is really to live within our means...Dont follow the crowd...Those younger youtubers are ok some of them, but others fake and unrealistic. I think definitely country life would help with no shops/consumerism nearby 🙂......And please dont wear a frock 🤣🤣
PS Peace is the end product of a life well lived with enthusiasm, gratitude and freedom to explore and know your Self, the living vibrating energy that dwells within us all and yearns for true connection to Life. 🙏
Hi there. Thank you for this lovely talk video. Just want to tell you that I am your subscriber. I have enjoyed this video and a few others of yours. Stay healthy and keep posting ❤
To tell you the truth, I couldn’t read a pattern to save my life. I’ve tried but I just get confused. I just watched a couple of videos, then took out a notepad and worked out the number of rows and stitches roughly. I did most of my hats on circular needles, which are a bit weird to start with. I tried socks, but after nearly having a couple of nervous breakdowns I gave up. I knitted my friend an awesome Bob Marley style slouch hat a couple of years ago. I’m going to see if she still has it and wear it in one of my videos.
I've not really worked out what 'slow living' is. It's easy for these pretty lasses in floral dresses within a rural idyll, up to their elbows brewing camomile tea before settling in front of a blazing woodstove. But what they're not doing is felling the coppice wood, or splitting the logs, or wresting the heavy horses out into the plowfields dawn 'til dusk. They've someone working hard to pay for their privilege to float around, or have a cabin on Mummy and Daddy's estate. Show me one who's genuinely bashing her laundry on a rock by the beck, or smashing away with the plunger in a dollytub, sleeves rolled up and sweat dripping off her nose. They're faux, and mistakening the simple living lass, with the squire's wife who had staff to run around at her every whim. All pleasant to look at but a deception for those who aspire to a simple, rural existence.
I’ve had this conversation so many times. It is make believe, and one day the RU-vid trend will move on to the next big thing. I just like to watch a couple of them because they are well produced, like watching fiction. I often wonder whether they rent some of these places and knock out a few months worth of videos. They certainly don’t live in my working class, north England town, where the local shop gets robbed every week and cats are screaming all night.
I've just found you and i must say that i enjoy your rambling and your wordy rambling too and i whole heartedly agree with your philosophy! I'm looking forward to the next one. I live slowly in the Welsh countryside. I have neighbors, but only a few, but surprisingly they are not like minded people and so i tend to navigate them very carefully!!!
"O to be in England, now that April's there..." So nice to see those familiar hills and walls and the little lambs! My dad saw a ghost near the Wrightington fish ponds. He drove for Ribble Busses. It was almost midnight, the last bus. He thought the lady was on her way to the bus stop so he stopped and waited for her. Instead, she walked across the road and through a stone wall! Apparently, other drivers had seen her too. Great video, another nice hat! Now I'm off with the dog to get my own sheep in, but not in a frock! :)
I love the area around Wrightington. Some great walks. There was also a really good motorbike importer up there some years ago. I bought one off them. Only problem was they had kph clocks. I’m a sceptic, but I’m not disbelieving your dad. The experience I had was real. I might tell it on here, and encourage others to share their experiences. Could be a fun episode.
I don't know that i live a slow life, but I do know that I dislike the consumerism and madness of modern society. I don't watch the slow living videos (incidentally, why does EVERYTHING have to have a label?) I choose my own path and don't give a damn about what people say or think.
I think I mentioned in this or another about the label, ‘slow living.’ You’re right. People say they want to live a simple life, then complicate it by spending energy thinking of a name.
I stopped watching TV a couple of months ago- particularly because of the news. Yes upsetting stuff is going on in the world and here in the UK it feels “broken”. Living on my own little world, making sure family and friends are OK is the most important thing.
I don’t know many, or any people that think like I do. My mother laughs at it, and says I should be sitting in front of the tv watching baking programmes.
What a treat to hear your introductory thoughts - thanks for sharing them! I’m a Gen X’er who has slowly migrated into a minimalism / essentialism lifestyle over the past five years. So I appreciate your wisdom and experiences on whatever label you or I want to use to describe a satisfying, stressless life. Looking forward to the follow ups. Cheers!
Thanks, Kevin. I seem to be resonating with a younger demographic, which is awesome. We are, after all, the same people. It’s just that some of us have woken up in the morning more often than others. 😊
