Free-Range Living

 

 

Freerangin' on -----  Living 'Multi-Dimensionally --------'  (Part 1 )

Looking at 'people diversity' ---- (and the need for it ----) 

( N.B. Part 1 - General overview material,    Part 2  (see next piece) -  Individual participation content )

 

Intro ------

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There's criticism amongst some these days that modern western-style cultures have become over-materialist, tending to relegate, for example, any social and/or spiritual dimensions to a lower rank. Along with the commented-on tendancies for such cultures both to 'dumb down' people and to 'hit' individual empowerment, it could be that the range of dimensions potentially open to folk are undergoing a 'narrowing' trend, ultimately to the diminishing of people's ability to gain personal fulfiment - ?

 

It seems relevant then, to aim to try to explore the area of 'people dimensions', the 'inhibitors', and ways the individual might yet still progress to any wider life dimensions, with the proviso that this piece makes no claim to complete coverage of such a potentially wide (and deep) area. Maslow, the people motivation/human need researcher, it was, who unexpectedly found that his 'positively healthy' research subjects were experiencing 'peak'  experiences of joy, bliss and well-being - leading to the question then as to whether there might be an alternative 'wising-up' process for folk, to then experience similarly - ?

This piece comes in two parts, part 1 being more in the way of 'overview' type content, leading to part 2 looking at steps individuals can consider taking to assist them in the process of 'widening dimensions'.

 

Scene setting -------

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'Narrowing people diversity - ?'  

Has the strong modern 'money focus', allied with a 'lust for luxury living',  had a diminishing effect for some/ many, in terms of 'life dimensions' - ? How about, for instance, the guy who makes exquisite hand-made wooden furniture in the Welsh borders? Or, many farmers, traditionally never overkeen to spend time away from their farms, which tend to contain a good level of emotional investment, besides delivering a strong interest source . Attractions also allied for instance, with so-called 'ordinary life', or with social/family living, along with community benefits - all maybe then being 'underdone' in such times, not to mention (as above) creative-type lifestyles associated 'making, mending, creating' /, and/or lifestyles focused on degrees of self-sufficiency/responsibility, 'simple' living and 'existential living' - ? 'Spiritual living' too could also be something of a casualty, even though, according to some reports, a majority of individuals experience and value spiritual aspects ---- All in all, the modern lifestyle mode concentrated on money accumulation and 'heavy' consumerism could be then somewhat 'limited dimensionally', and then in danger of selling individuals short in terms of life fulfillment - 

People from Scandanavia seem to be pretty 'sorted' with a good  social/individual balance to their lives, so much so the Scandanavian countries often win the 'world's happiest country' acolade, so presumably it's worth looking at some of their 'ways and mores' :

A contributing factor to their success is that they make 'enjoyable socialising' a priority in their lives - good to see such a focus on 'social'. Take, for instance, the Danish custom for creating and embracing 'hygge', indicating the good, warm sociable feelings created by enjoyable company. The joy, good feeling and 'togetherness' of meeting with sociable others and the sense to make it such a priority (instead of just focussing narrowly on individual financial gain)-----surely adding a meaningful (and enjoyable) dimension to life - ?

In a small South Sea island community of approx 300 souls, there appeared to be 'natural society' forces at work. Most mornings, the younger, stronger able bodied folk would set out to sea to make a catch of fish, which they then brought back to the community, spread out on the shore. Each member of this community, young and old, then came down to the shore and collected a sufficient quantity of fish for their needs. 

Probably a pretty good feeling for these able-bodied fisherfolk, being able to make such a significant contribution to their community - ? 

Henry Cole, in one of his 'Great World's Motorbike Rides' TV episodes, says on leaving a prominent US west-coast town :

'Crikey, am I glad to be out of there - in that town, they're very welcoming and polite, but boy, you get the feeling that at the end of the day, they're really just after your money ---'

'Money geared' can give a more limited view - ? Money is of course important for a 'survive and thrive' life in a money economy, and no doubt to younger generations 'making their way'.

One of the potential limitations of being  'over' money geared' though, could be that it can restrict then the range of view and activities, and with particularly the longer-term at times under-considered : 

'A small/medium glazing firm in these (N. midlands, UK) parts didn't appear to engage too much in activity to promote their business, yet always seemed to have plenty of work on the go. This firm had come to the attention of Higher Education students undertaking a group final year project looking at alternative ways of promoting businesses. The students were somewhat intrigued by this firm, especially comparing it to the larger firms operating in the area that tended to promote their activities fairly prominently and vigourously. 

On investigation the students discovered that the smaller firm above was generally well known by people in the area and that it had a strongly positive reputation amongst the local populace. It soon became evident that the firm had been established in the area for a while and its reputation was solidly based on areas customers and prospective customers valued, such as providing good value at reasonable prices, reliability of service and good customer attention and service.'

Another angle maybe that people were attracted to the smaller ('more humane') firm as an 'anti reaction' to the larger firms which can come over in 'predatory' fashion at times - there's a place for 'smaller' yet --- ?  The principals of the business when interviewed indicated that a more vigorous promotion regime could be problematic for them, in that they were already occupied to virtually 100% capacity , with quite a waiting list. When the students 'tested' the marketing reach of the firm in a local town, they found that a majority of shoppers both knew the firm and knew of its positive reputation.

This firm was not particularly seeking to become no.1 market leader in the area (although in fact they were close to it), but rather to create a solid long-term sustainable small/medium size business via employing the values they themselves supported. It was also therefore not aiming to necessarily follow the modern trend of 'maximising' its profits, but rather to have a profitable secure sustainable business that would last well into the long-term, which it achieved at least partly by being then able to offer its customers good 'value for money' prices, so building customer longer-term trust and loyalty, whilst also creating a successful marketing operation via its well satisfied customers passing on positive reports to others.

Whilst the business may have sacrificed some shorter-term profit, it gained by operating sustainably at lower risk into the longer-term.  Aiming to push for higher short-term profitabilityy could then compromise the longer-term sustainability and security of a business - an example of where a strong focus on, say, maximising profits, could be a 'dimension limiting' approach, risking then longer-term security.

' Balancing act - -----'

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 Besides being geared strongly to profit making, (and associated 'bigness' in business), the prevailing western-style 'business philosophy' appears to be also geared strongly towards individual self-gain, but, according to some at least, lacking in the dimension of social/community needs  - and people do live in societies ----- It could well be that there's a balance that needs to be made between the two sets of needs - individual and social - to then be able to see beyond 'small self' gain, to then focus on 'what makes a good, strong community/society', an approach which in itself could contribute to a firm's longer-term viability - ? Those good Scandanavian folk appear to be leading the way ------ Some have suggested that the lack of a good social/individual balance generally in the world has significantly contributed to problems and 'unpeaceful' times -----?   Pope Francis, recently deceased, in his autobiography, also points out that elitism in the world can be part of the problem  :

'Each day the world seems more elitist and cruel-er, toward those who've been cast out and abandoned ---- ' 

Maybe so-called 'ordinary' folk too may feel somewhat 'semi cast out' - ?

In byegone times in the UK, the nature of much trade was agricultural (eg. wool trade). In those times, if an individual was seen to be practising self-gain a little too avidly ( i.e.'non sociably'),  they would then be ostracised commercally (and socially),  so then be unable to partake in the trade at all (short-term would-be gain, resulting in long-term pain - ?)

A further potential 'balancing act' may lie within the individual realm itself. There are research results indicating that individuals report to having more of a spiritual side than current 'mass' trends would seem to recognise, seemingly then though at to some extent at odds then with the 'heavily material' focused mainstream movement prevailing.  The current western-style cultures' focus tends to decree that the 'much individual wealth' road being the one to be on --- (as against, for instance, a mindset  of 'sufficiency' of material provision, then leaving more room for 'other dimensions' ---? ).

Could this, though, be a 'wrong road' taken, an 'over-focus' on material gain - ? The 'ever more' style of wealth accumulation can too tend to conflict with some of the 'human motivation' theory, (eg. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs), which states that human needs are 'layered' and once one 'layer' is largely satisfied, then focus 'automatically' tends to then rest on the next layer, the individual 'progressing' up the ladder through individual and social needs towards the 'top' need layer of 'self-actualisation' - becoming the 'fullest' self - a 'wising up' fuller dimension position, rather than 'dumbing down' limited dimansion material existence mode - , but one which could be obscured via over-emphasis on money gaining - ? 

Maslow, an American developmental researcher psychologist, includes a raft of social needs the individual has, such as 'social contribution' and 'social recognition', which in practice these days do not seem to be so recognised, the modern strong focus on individual gain via 'phlilosophies' such as the 'free- market' approach, probably then under focusing on social priorities, causing a needed balance to be 'unmet' - ? The dimensions available to people can then tend to become more restricted, and human scope gets to be more limited - part of the oft-remarked limiting dimension 'dumbing down' process - ? 

 

'Free market --- or ---- Free-for-all market - ?'

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In recent years there has been an American-led strong trend of following what's called the 'freemarket' philosophy (although initially initiated by a Britisher) - which more or less says that markets don't need human intervention, that they will operate 'autonomously', with supply balancing out with demand via an 'automatic' mechanism which is that market price will settle at a level where there is a market 'balance', and demand will equal supply. Such a philosophy may well suit folk of predominately the 'mainly individualistical' outlook,  and such an economic outlook no doubt originates from the economists' model of 'perfect competition', which basically indicates the same proposition. The free market/perfect market model, in which demand and supply balance out and produce then a 'perfect' price level, therefore 'solves the problem' in a 'perfect', 'natural' way. 

 

The original model, though, stipulated as a key condition that such a market place had to have 'many buyers and sellers', so no one or group could 'falsely' influence it to their advantage. In practice such a condition hasn't been in place, with the result that many large commercial organisations have proliferated, influencing the market to their own ends, and practising undue power in the market to the detriment  of others - particularly the 'power bereft' individual citizens and 'small business' (ref. food supermarkets well documented practice of 'bullying' their suppliers). 'Big' has become the desired state, with the associated 'might is right' 'philosophy',  the prey of such large 'predators', individuals, small businesses, then relegated to the 'small and unimportant' level, potentially narrowing individual power and choice ----- and potentially then limiting dimensions ------ 

 

'Threats to democracy/civilisation  - ?'

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The world seems to have quite a few problems, quite a few folk here in the UK  for instance are under considerable 'ordinary living' pressure (2023/4). On the other hand there seems to be quite a few on the 'single track' of the heavy materialistic trail, often in positions which have enabled self-interest ---  The TV recently showed such a 'contrast' experience in the USA, where an opulent city in the west also seemed to have a major social problem on its hands, with a considerable population of homeless people living on the streets. Has, though, as some suggest, such a situation 'pushed back' civilisation: one cited measure of civilisation being how a society treats its 'under-priviledged' - ?   If quite a population proportion are involved in quite a struggle in life, it can then be argued that focus can tend to become narrowed, a condition then unlikely to be able to embrace greater diversity, in itself then leading to 'narrower dimensions' - ?

The 'business-isation' 'narrowing'  trend in society fostered seemingly by the free-market tenets can potentially have other dimension narrowing effects, as the recent reported case below can indicate :

An academic working in a Higher Education establishment expressed an opinion which the student body found not to be to their liking so these students decided to boycott this academic's classes. Not only did his senior management not support him, and in the interest of 'free speech' suggest to the students that debating the issue(s) in question would be more keeping with the purpose and spirit of the establishment------- but they fired the member of staff---- The staff member's comment was that the students, now living in a 'business-lsed' world, saw themselves as 'customers' and therefore felt that in spite of their lack of experience and knowledge, that they should 'call the tune' ( 'the customer's king', but a 'cart before the horse' situation -?)  This member of staff who's career has been de-railed, is taking his management on and petitioning for 'wrongful dismisal'.

If a Higher Education operation  cannot espouse free speech and support it, what hope for anywhere else ---or 'dimension widening' generally ? 

 This piece aims to look at a wider picture, and one with a further dimension or two, without aiming to be presciptive or all embracing. In the light of the 'free-for-all' free market 'philosophy' having seemingly produced so many giant 'predatory' commercial firms, a situation which some writers have  suggested has diminished 'individual empowerment ', such a 'freerange' type of approach supprting 'honourable independent individuality', may from the point of view of ' healthy individual operation' ,  be even more of a necessity than an option  - ---- - ?

 

'Exploring the range------

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'Setting the scene ---- (2)'

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'Consumerism rules --- ---?'

Many world culture mainstreams seem to have now embraced 'limited dimensional', 'high material' living lifestyles - as the writer Bill Bryson has pointed out :

' We used to build civilisations; now we build shoopping malls'

Those of the western variety for instance often seemingly to have shaken off religion's hold and gone 'secular', in spite of a majority of individuals (in the UK for instance) recording that spirituality is important to them - ?   Some, maybe many, might say  that western-style cultures have been/are heading the 'plutocracy' route (where the rich and powerful hold sway) ------ It mightn't be too surprising that 'organisational' religion has waned, considering the heavy conditioning style in which it was/is often promoted, often, for instance, without opportunity for the individual to 'seek and decide' for themselves. One prominant 'organisational' religion apparently used to decree when married couples could  'co-habit' ---- , and forbade couples to split up, even though their relationship might be proving to be untenable -----

Another more recent religious grouping appears to extoll the 'personal aggrandisement' route, which at first sight seems to be a 'man-made' construct, a non-authentic religious move, some might say - ?

'Dumbing down ---- ?'

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Modern materialistic -geared life has been criticised for being  'limited dimentionally' and so having a 'dumbing down' effect on populaces, as Bill Bryson's quote, above, can indicate.  One of the problems appears to be that money can be in modern times so pervasive, but then to some, can appear to be surface-like 'simplistic' and 'superficial', also having the ability to 'take hold' of people, as people who've operated on payment via results or bonuses will likely attest tor instance. In more multi-dimensioned times and following , say, Maslow's 'hierarchy of human needs', the idea was that when one set of needs was largely satisfied, then it was natural to then 'move on' and focus more on the meeting of a 'higher' set of needs. So base needs such as shelter a, hunger and a degree of security were the needs first in line, and plainly, in a money-geared society, needing the gaining of money to satisfy them. 

 

Once met at a 'reasonable' level, then Maslow's model stated that it was natural for the individual to then focus more on the next set of 'higher' needs, in this case a cluster of socially-based needs. Money can come into the satisfaction of this set of needs but not always necessarily; the need of, say, 'making a social contribution' being also satisfied by, say, the individual at her/his employment or, say, for instance, undertaking voluntary work in society. The implicit danger could then be that if modern focus is mainly on money, the higher less financially-geared needs can go under attended, again limiting dimensions and contributing to the 'dumbing down' scenario ----- A strong 'money focus' can then prove to be inadequate, and over simplistic, to cover all such situations - maybe it's become a wide-spread 'virus' type of situation?

If the range is extended to include peoples' values, morals, inner motivations, ethics, short-term/long-term ranges,  compassion, loyalty, trust, personal motivation, care-taking - and so on, it's clear that there can be quite a level of limitation in using money as the key parameter ---- and that this may be particularly apt when considering the fuller range of 'human needs', money then restricting matters to a less full vision of human activity, endeavour and scope.  It could well be of 'freerange' interest to explore a potential 'wising up' (as opposed to 'dumbing down') scenario, then able to encompass a wider diversity range ------ 

 

'We have more knowledge ---- but less judgement -----'   (Dalai Lama)

 

'Wising up ----- ?'

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If there's such a process as 'dumbing down', is there then a 'wising up' alternative process - ? Abraham Maslow (Americam developmental psychologist) was of the view, informed by his research, that there was, with the culmination  (i.e at the top of his hierarchy of human needs model)  being the need of 'self-actualisation', where the individual is becoming the 'highest manifestation' of her/his human self'. The self-actualisation stage is indeed a high-spec level, with aspects such as 'full self-acceptance', 'objectjve assessment of situations without undue self-interest /interference', 'having relative independence of current culture', indicating a person who's developed via life experience, often 'naturally', well beyond any 'small self' stage, connecting with a much bigger and wider reality. 

Such development gain appears to be open to anybody rather than restricted to any particular group or 'elite', although it may well be that some life situations may better facilitate it than others ---  Those struggling with 'survival' pressures, for instance, presumably may not have too much energy left to follow any perceived 'esoteric' self-fulfilment roads - ?

 

'True human nature aspects -----'

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Another key 'wising up' area is said to be that of 'self-realisation', which can be said to be the individual, then 'unfettered' by mass cultural conditioning and norms, experiencing a 'flowering' of their full, true selves, their 'true nature' - virtually the opposite end of the spectrum from Wilde's notion of 'most people are others' (see below).  It seems that such an event can often involve what's termed a 'spiritual awakening' - some state that in fact 'man' is in essence a spiritual being, having an 'earth' experience to 'test and develop' their spiritual natures.  There seems to be an increasing interest, certainly via the net, in the area of 'personal spirituality' these days, maybe as at least partly reaction to the 'problematical' material culture times ( eg. here in the UK ), and worldwide difficulties (eg. climate change problems) - and as a response to the notion that the 'baby may have been thrown out with the bathwater', in terms of western society's diminishing of the importance of the spiritual side - ?  

 

'Waning spirituality ---- ?' 

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 As 'matters spiritual' have over time waned in 'advanced' countries in tandem with the rise in materialism and the increased focus on 'large organisational life', said to 'disempower' individual strength, some have questioned as above as to whether, as far as spirituality is concerned,  the 'baby' hasn't been thrown out with the bathwater -?' There may have also been a reaction, for instance, against the 'heavy conditioning' style some religious organisations have sought to promote spirituality - ?  Any resurgent interest in the spiritual side may have arisen along with individuals seeking to 'find more meaning to life, (consumer culture life being somewhat limited -?), to 'find their place' better, and/or to strengthen their own standing as 'fully formed and validated' individual human beings', (in the face of a 'biggist'world diminishing effect), and along with release of latent spirituality aspects ------ an interesting area in relation to the exploration of 'human dimensions' --- ? The younger generations (generation Z) in the UK, for instance, are said to be more switched on to spirituall aspects than older? people (see spiritual section below).

 

 'Most People are others ----- ',

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 So ran Oscar Wilde's observation on the nature of life. Oscar's life was undoubtedly pretty much a one-off - was he in fact though more savvy, more perceptive than most - ? He probably mean't that the culture's conditioning effect on people was reasonably 'severe' in terms of affecting peoples' mindsets and behaviours, (he lived in 'class consciousness' times), in that they then tended to be 'moulded' by society quite strongly hence the nature of his quote. Social conditions in Oscar's time in the UK were no doubt pretty 'set' with a firm social hierarchy and a 'know your place', 'forelock touching' respect required from people to their 'betters' (and yes, that expression was used --- ). 

The basic ruling process was more via a 'plutocracy' (the rich and powerful holding the reins) rather than democracy, and other powerful controlling organisations such as religious orders existed. Whilst Oscar's quote may well have hit 'the nail on the head', it's fairly clear that the scope in the prevailing 'official' mass culture for people to 'be themselves' was relatively small, and that in more recent times in democracies something of  free-er conditions generally have been in place for the individual.

 'To be a man, a person needs the ability at times to be a non-conformist' 

(Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1800's US commentator and philosopher)

Emerson's comment follows on from Wilde's, no doubt indicating that a person, as they develop and mature, can find their own inner strength,  which may or may not coincide with general mainstream values and mindsets-----

 

'A key balance --- ?'

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One 'overview' aspect that would seem to be particularly apt for modern times, is the relevant 'positions of 'society' and 'the individual', and the possibility/probability that a satisfactory balance is needed between them. There are quite a few examples of world wide of societies at either end of the spectrum, with some eastern countries geared to society solidarity over, say, individual freedoms, and in the west, more emphasese tend to be placed on individual liberties. Either models are no doubt subject to imperfections, being essentially 'man-made' - those with high control  systems could be manipulated for instance to the benefit of the relatively few, whereas in the west, where there's been strong emphasis on the 'free market' approach, the reservationists have pointed out that the essential condition of the free ('perfect') market, that of maintaining 'many buyers and sellers' within the marketplace, has not been maintained, hence the rise and prominence of large 'predator' firms, wielding undue power over suppliers and customers  - 'predating' on smaller prey ----notably individuals and small firms ----- 

'Steep profits --- but shallow relationships ----- '    (Dalai Lama)

 

'Hard times ----- '

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   At the moment (early 2024) here in the UK, considerable reservations have emerged in recent time about modern life here in the UK, with currently quite a few problems identified in society : problems getting a doctor's appointment, major waiting lists for operations via the National Health Service, sundry on-going strikes by groups of employees, not being able to register with a dentist, significant food inflation, increasing child poverty , problems in the national train transport sector, significant national problems with water pollution, greatly increased energy costs, an increasing wealth gap in society, and so on, and now (2023/4) exacerbated for many be sharply rising housing rents and mortgage costs, all amounting to many not having too easy lives at present , and according to some, 'natural' occurences' of a broken system, with a society heavily geared to self-gain and insufficiently equipped then to adequately address society needs and issues. 

At July 2023 for instance, 52% UK residents were said to be struggling to meet 'everyday' costs(energy, food, mortgage, rent), (Independent paper jly. '23). Plainly if people are under pressure from struggling to survive day-to-day, life dimensions can become somewhat limited ------- Some have suggested that the rise in right wing organisations has been at least partly as a reaction to such current society conditions - ?

 

'Self-responsibility to 'save the day' --- ?

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Presumably life is always destined to have the 'dynamic' aspect, what might be 'right' in one situation/time, may not be in other circumstances, and with an important aspect for the individual of being able to consider conditions without fear or favour - not always that easy with the existence of powerful vested interests,whether commercial or 'thought movements' - and hopefully then to steer a course to calmer waters ----- If society as a whole is not appearing to 'grasp the nettles', as it were, then the responsible individual might well need to consider plotting their own particular course to minimise any potential adverse effects ----- ?  ( as an example, aiming to limit the amount of domestic plastic debt to avoid an over burden of (high) interest payments down the line).  If it's perceived that modern conditions are potentially over limiting to the individual then awareness of and action on 'diversity in life' might well be aids to counter any such limitation ----- freerange life can beckon -----

 

'People diversity ----- '

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 Various areas which could be relevant to the theme of 'people diversity' are examined below ----- 

 

 ' -- ----  Gimme MONEY '

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So went the song, and anyone who's experienced working directly for financial gain, be it via results,  bonuses and the like, will likely know the narrowing focus' effect it can have, maybe at times to the extent that the comic actor, John Cleese exclaimed 'money has spoilt everything'. It's certainly permeated many areas, even to the local fairly straightforward local rural community :

 'A small local rural UK midlands community enjoys a new-ish modern village facility - what used to be called 'a vllage hall'. This is run as a non-profit making social enterprise, which is exactly what it is, with a mandate 'to encourage and support community contact and activity', with 'money making a 'means' rather than an 'end'. So imbued though are folk in general with the 'making profit/money chasing' manner of life that at times it's difficult if not impossible for some to switch to a 'non-profit' mode'.

. When costs go up, for instance, there's at times an automatic 'knee jerk' response that drink prices in the bar must go up, though when  the situation is investigated more fully, it's sometimes found that there's sufficient financial momentum to cope with the price rises and as 'maximising profit' isn't relevant, 'profit' being the 'means' rather than the 'end', there's then no requirement to increase bar prices. 'Money making' having tended to become a now-imbued automatic goal, can then, tend to 'run the show', rather than concious decisions by people --------- 

 

 ' No money, no honey ---- ' 

( modern Asian saying in relation to acquiring the 'love' of females, demonstrating a seeming overarching power of money? Maybe, though, 'an expected reaction' in such materialistic defined times? )

 

Countering the 'lure of the lira' ---- 'power of the pounds'

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   There are though measures that can be taken to 'take back control' and thwart the 'automatic control' of money momentum. Perhaps one of the commonest over now several decades is the trend of 'downsizing', that is opting for a less money-pressurised existence by say, selling an urban-based property and taking up often heart-lead,  lower-paid occupation in a cheaper area, to get a better work/life balance to the 'life' conundrum . A modern take in this area may well have been as a result of the 'work from home' trend facilitated by computers, and initiated by the corona virus imposed conditions, enabling people to downsize and/or locate more ameniably ---- 

 There are of course less 'dramatic' moves that can be made to limit money's influence, such as limiting exposure to TV adverts and news, budgeting everyday spending money fairly tightly, expanding 'non spending' activities such as repairing items and re-cycling, opting for lower cash outlay lifestyles, such as say the semi self-sufficient mode here at the micro lifestyle micro-holding, the recycling of home-grown veg seeds being a small example (as well as the general sustainable, 'semi-frugal' style of living), non-money activities such as walking in nature - there could be countless ways of countering the 'power of pounds', the 'lure of lira' or the 'distraction of the dollar' ---- Awareness of 'money power and the existence of having a 'countering  money power' plan' can be in themselves over time a liberating move --- freeing up vision to more dimensions ---- 

Talking to the two canal 'water gypsies' at their boat moored at the towpath, was proving to be interesting. These experienced operators had both been in UK higher education but had sickened at the plethora of rules and 'systems' that had been introduced, plus the seemingly endless 'reorganisations'. The last straw had been the appointment from outside of a 'heavy handed' head of department who seemed to want to run and control everything, which as they were experienced operatives, didn't exactly sit too well with them. They'd taken the bold step of early retirement, taking reduced pensions due to going early, sold their house and bought a flat at half the cost which they now rented out to augment their income, and bought a 'live aboard' canal boat gently cruising the UK canal sytem, but spending time at their own interests such as painting and music making, now living 'extra dimensional' lives ------

 'We have less money these days than we used to have, but guess what, so what? - we've enough to pursue our chosen lifestyle, that's the main thing.  We feel a big weight's been lifted off us, and that we've got our lives back', they said --------

 

'Management can make it hard at times for people to work'   (Peter Drucker, renowned US management consultant)

 

The 'lifestyle enterprise' can be an answer  -?

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Small lifestyle enterprises can also give the opportunity to gain a living in an alternative 'heart-lead' fashion, one that some at least  reccomend as leading to longer-term saner, more balanced living and better levels of personal satisfaction and fulfilment. Rather than just go for money-making, then, say, retiring to a desired lifestyle, a valid option no doubt for some, the lifestyle enterpriser  follows her/his heart and makes a living from an area they are 'naturally interested' in, so are 'naturally motivated'. It was evident in farm advisory work that this was the approach of many of the new entrants into farming followed, the chief potential possible stumbling block though, then being that insufficient business planning was carried out to ensure longer-term business viability - there had been insufficient supporting 'head' planning activity -  it was always a bit gut-wrenching to see a new-ish enterprise come to grief. (see too 'lifestyle'section below). Undoubtedly though, there are more than a few successful on-going 'heart-led' enterprises ---- 

 

'Role of money ---- '?

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As in these columns a few times previously, money was invented as a means of exchange to facilitate easier trading, for which it seems to have been and still is, pretty effective. In the past, if 'A', the local bootmaker, wanted the local thatcher to do him a new roof on his cottage, it was a little tricky to be able to do the exchange of skills/services. Now with the advent of money, though 'A' could put some aside each year, so that when the time came for the new thatched roof, he'd be able to make the exchange with 'B' with the saved-up money, and the same goes for modern times, with borrowing money an additional option. Money though then seemed to have taken on a life of its own - Oscar Wilde's famous comment suggesting so : 

 'We'll soon know the cost of everything, and the value of nothing',

 pointing to the fact that money can't acount for everything- eg,s community well-being, loyalty, trust, sociability, personal motivation, longer-term security, goodwill, spiritual aspects, independent spirit and so on, and so if it becomes 'all-conquering' then life will be made simpler  - over simplified? - and less 'humanised' ----- part of the oft-quoted 'dumbing down' trend --- ?

 

'The best things in life ------- aren't things --- '     (Art Buchwald, American writer)

 

                                        >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

Expanded dimensions ---- Lifestyle modes

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'Heartily ---- '

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For lifestyle businesses, generally formed on the basis of folk having an interest and inner motivation for their particular enterprise/line of work, the freerange pieces previously have presented the case for the following approach :  'Heart  >  Head  > Will'.  'Heart', the first stage, representing interest and personal motivation, but more stages generally needed, for example :'head', the second stage then representing the planning sequence needed to ensure as far as possible, a successful venture, otherwise no longer term 'heart' fulfilment, then a third stage, 'will' to meet the virtually inevitable on-going challenges on the 'enterprise journey'.

One argument is that if a person's 'heart and soul' is in their efforts, the rate of their success levels could likely be higher, as people, eg. customers, pick up on areas such as 'levels of real care' involved in the running of the venture (see case study below). 'Unreal' practices such as telling employees, for instance, to say to customers 'have a nice day' may well backfire as such a missive can fairly easily be perceived as 'un-genuine' (and apparently  now discouraged, in that such a practice has been found to cause mental stress in employees). The modern trend of focusing on making money rather than 'following the heart' could risk then bye-passing a potentially important dimension potentially impacting on longer-term business success - ?

 

'Dog lovers, for example --- '

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In west Staffordshire (in UK, north midlands) there operated a small farm which struggled for financial viability for a period, that is until the small dog boarding operation was expanded, the owners having noticed that there seemed to be plenty of demand for dog boarding spaces. The expanded dog enterprise went well, and more or less 'saved' the business financially. The dog side was principally run by the mother of the farmer, assisted by two part-time dog-lover ladies. Their farm adviser noticed  that whilst the premises were pretty unglamorous and without too many 'frills', the kennels did a good level of business, often having a waiting list for places.

On investigating why this was so, it was found that the number one want of the customers boarding their dogs whilst taking a holiday, was a 'trust' factor -  that the animals were safe, well looked after, and 'properly cared for', but then with the 'plus factor', in this case, that those running the enterprise had real interest in their charges and acted with a high and genuine level of care towards the well-loved dogs, which was where this operation scored highly.

Although in this day and age there seems to be an ever strong cultural focus on money accumulation, 'flash', luxurious living and the like, lt's still probably true that in practice many different heart-lead lifestyles exist -from public service to self-sufficiency,  to high sea yacht life, to 'organic' farming, to religious order living, to the running of family farms -and the rest -lifestyle bio-diversity alive and well. An example of such 'people diversity' is the lady living a Welsh idyll (below) :

  One lady in west Wales lives in a mud hut in a wood, without any services. She grows her own environmentally-friendly food, has her goats and chickens and spends much time alone, communing with nature. She wanted a simpler, less complex, less noisy life environment to then be able to connect more strongly with nature.

 A majority of folk don't live such an 'individual' lifestyle, instead being drawn into a more 'norm' mainstream type of lifestyle, complete with signifcant reliance on the 'system;  for food, for shelter, for energy, for entertainment. This may mean that many -most even? -may not necessarily have made pro-active decisions on how they want to live their lives, apart, maybe, from choosing which specialised work activity route to take, often opting then to take traditional/conventional paths, such as, say, going to university. The inherent potential 'downside' (for some at least) may be that the individual can then quite easily end up with their own inherent interests, nature and skill sets under-played, with then fewer ' own life' dimensions than feasible - ? An advantage of the 'naturally inner motivated'  lifestyle  has to be that the individual and her/his fuller ('diverse') self are 'fully engaged' - ------

 

'Ineffable ---- ?'

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Some folk value their 'non-logical' innate feelings, of which the example below could be a case in point:

   'S went to university and then landed a relatively 'high-powered' and high paid job in the financial sector.  She enjoyed the 'high life' for awhile but then the long working hours and  socialising began to pall, as did her energy levels, and she experienced a form of 'burn out'. 

  'Looking back', she said, I just had to stop and 'get out',   so she finished her job and took time out, and went travelling. 'Again looking back, I'm not sure I did the right thing, it was if I was 'wired' to have to do something 'worthwhile', whereas maybe a period of 'rest and recovery' was what I really needed'. 

 S did resume her career after her travel period but after experiencing depression, she changed careers to one with as she said,  more 'human content' and 'inner life satisfaction'.

Sometimes mainstream cultural life may come over as being too 'big', too complex, too 'hectic' ----- and it may be useful to sort a 'simpler' situation more suitable to being able to relate to ------- The following example is one way one group of people managed to 'solve the dilemma' - :

   A group of like-minded people clubbed together and bought a small farm in the Welsh/English border country. Initially they focussed mainly on building work, converting several redundant farm buildings to independent living accomodation, then they organised themselves for the longer term, using the farm as a communal resource. Each member of this 'loose' collective committed to one and a half days a week farmhelp, including food growing, (which added up to the equivalent of two full-time 'workers') leaving themselves five days for their own work and leisure. One male member for instance undertook plumbing work for the local community, another female member was able to work via computer from base on her design agency. Yet another member (male) hired himself out to local farmers as a relief worker/ contractor, whilst a female member worked part-time locally in the hospitality sector.

The farm ran a small dairy herd making unique organic cheese and butter, a suckler herd of cows producing young cattle, a flock of free-range hens producing eggs for sale at the farmgate, and with veg and fruit production for their own consumption. The farm proved too to be a great place in which kids and animals (eg. pets) could grow up relatively safely in natural surroundings and with good experiece of caring for animals, including wild animals, as one member was particularly into rescuing injured animals. 

   A key element of having a 'multi-dimensional' productive lifestyle could then be a 'following the heart' process, doing work of natural interest hence having high internal motivation. It can help if as above, the general advantageous situation trumps any 'small' disadvantages. The couple who sustained themselves via a self-sufficient/low financial lifestyle on their smallholding can illustrate the 'positive lifestyle' aspects : 

This couple, both teachers, had tired of their increasingly stressful working lives, and then decided to 'follow their hearts', by selling their urban based house and buying six and a half acres in a peaceful rural setting, complete with a mobile home. They grew organic-style vegetables on an acre of their holding which they then sold on a market stall in a nearby town; were self-sufficient in wood from their own two acre wood and had  cattle to utilise the grass area. Although their cash economy was small, so were their cash needs - they for instance biked their produce to market. They ran a successful, near idyllic life system with few stress points and living and working in a gloriously gorgeous nature setting. Some might say their lives were somewhat 'narrowed', but they themselves valued the aspects and freedoms such a changed lifestyle gave them, plus the opportunity to lead their own, self-responsible independent lifestyle.

Setting up a 'heart-lead' lifestyle enterprise is not of course the only route to the 'personal motivation' style of living - undoubtedly many individuals working in, say, public services - nursing, teaching for instance - lead such personally motivated lives, as no doubt do many running their own enterprises.

 

''Ordinary life --- ok?'

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For some, as above, their 'ordinary life' gives the opportunity of their 'sorting wheat from chaff' and focusing on areas that are the most important to them : 

T and S found themselves in older age living in a rural village (in the UK), without employment but with a useful collected range of practical skills and knowledge (building, mechanics, veg growing, homemaking). They adapted by starting a small machine mending operation (mainly mowers, but also car body repairs) and trimming their living costs by continuing to practice 'economic' living (getting for instance waste wood for the woodstove from building acquaintances contacts) and growing quite a proportion of their own food. They were by no means 'rich' but did lead an absorbing and meaningful lifestyle, enjoying too the fact that they were able to be helping other folk out.

There are undoubtedly many small 'lifestyle' enterprises, both full and part time, often occuring due to the circulstances people can find themselves in, as was the case in the earlier case study of the two water gypsies', finding extra dimensions to life after 'freeing' themselves from an unsaisfactory work situation - 'we feel we've got our lives back', they said.

 

The 'lifestyle enterprise' can be an answer  -----

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Small lifestyle enterprises can give in fact the opportunity to gain a living in an alternative fashion, (that is, alternatively to 'mainstream' life), one that some at least  reccomend as leading to longer-term saner, more balanced, dimensionally-expanded living and better levels of personal satisfaction and fulfilment. Rather than just go for money-making, then, say, retiring to a desired lifestyle, the lifestyle enterpriser follows her/his heart and makes a living- running a cafe, opening a book shop, taking adventure tours, leading 'portfolio' life (having several income strands) -whatever. It was evident in farm advisory work that the 'heart' was the approach of many of the new entrants into farming followed. 

 

More on -----Personal Inner Motivation -------'

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Linked strongly with 'lifestyle living' is the area of 'personal motivation', but one that in these current time in the UK at least, not too much is heard about,  with, for instance in the case of managing staff, the UK culture in the last few decades seemingly having gone more down the 'control/authority' people management road.  People control has emerged in the form of stiff work goals and objectives set for employees, employee work behaviours closely controlled (eg toilet break limits, employee body searches, sickness leave limitations/harassments and work sectors with minimal/limited employee rights (eg.  the 'gig economy'), all of which could be said to some extent to de-recognise and de-facilitate the existence of internal personal motivation - ----- ?

 The heavy control systems of managing workforces have been likened to the older UK poor working conditions factories which were labelled 'the dark satanic mills', and several commentators have pointed out that such heavy and close control of people can be an infringement of peoples' 'natural rights', and can also act as a barrier to the operation of peoples' own inner motivation drives. One motivation theorist (Frederick Herzberg of the USA), used to define work efforts as a result of 'incentivisation', as 'jumping for the jelly beans', and defined the 'heavy control' methods as 'movement' rather than 'motivation' management - people responding by 'moving' as a result of 'external' (to them) measures/pressure, rather than by their own internal motivation drives.

When people are denied use of their own motivation sources by the use of 'heavy control' measures, either say via 'authority' or 'incentivisation', it's possible y that then their own personal responsibility is also being dimnished, potentially causing negative effects in the workplace, such as 'de-motivation'. The potential danger for 'freerangers' is then that their own individual diversity can then be limited - there may well be a need to for instance assess potental employment situation in terms of how likely they might be to impact negatively in this area ----

 Douglas McGregor, another motivation researcher, classified the 'heavy control' approach as 'Theory X' management style, whilst proposing that a more motivationary style existed which he called 'theory Y'. He forwarded the idea that 'inner motivation' was a necessary and natural state for humans, in that they were 'need satisfying' organisms, hence, and all other things being equal , motivated efforts should be the norm, and that the theory X  control system was in effect thwarting 'natural' motivation and potentially,  productivity. 

This author found this area to be of considerable interest and determined to try to see whether the case McGregor was making did hold good in practice. As he then worked at a national university college which had a long-standing group of 'long-term effective' placement employers of the students - over time for instance non-effective employers were dropped from the group - he was able to research this group of 'effective ' employers and found that indeed, over 90% of them practised motivation-based management (theory Y) of staff rather than 'heavy control' methods (theory X). This result was further confirmed via feedback tutorials from the students themselves, after their work placements.

Given the 'right' work conditions' and the 'right' managerial approach, the motivation-based style of management then can potentially give the strongest long-term sustainable results in terms of staff productivity, and from the feedback, a far more satisfying work experience for employees,  (and, no doubt, then for employers).  Work, often a very significant portion of a person's life, can then have a big impact on the levels of satisfaction and fulfilment in terms of the employee experience, so in terms of overall impact on life diversity and conditions,  can be a major factor.

It would then seem to be important for a reasonable 'freerange' operation in life, to be able to select work situations which promote, support and encourage motivational work efforts, rather than having to operate by external 'movement management' methods, (often practised to bolster some managers' sense of power/authority?), to give that deeper, fuller more rewarding work experience, in itself enhancing 'diversity of life experience', no doubt at least a good part of the reason why 'lifestylers' choose their path in life.

A reward scheme was imposed on academic staff at the same college mentioned in the last paragraph, causing some level of dismay amongst the staff, due to its seeming banal parameters, implying that their work situation was little comprehended by management, and that it was also based on a limited and incorrect assumption that they needed to be induced to work via monetary 'bribes',  cutting accross their professinal self-motivated work instincts and behaviour, and so creating a counter-productive effect, along with reduced respect/regard for 'management' amongst staff.

 

Promoting 'diversity' -----

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Establishing diverity lifestyle can also mean 'going against the trend' in  varying degrees, as illustrated by the case study used to illustrate the 'diversity' lifestyle approach in several previous 'freerange living' blogs:

that of 'Soddy's Farm', featuring Soddy himself, a giant 'retired' boar pig who, having the free run of the small farm, had become the farm's 'meet-er and greet-er', enjoying life as did the other mixed selection of animals who lived there, being cared for in exceptional manner.

'The experts have told me', said D, the genial black-bearded farmer, a giant himself, 'that a farm this size needs to be plastered with dairy cows to be viable, but if I ran it like that, the family would probably upsticks and scarper!' 

As it was, with their mixed animal enterprises, money was never plentiful. although D did make sure it paid its way,  the family living quite frugally, cutting kale for instance from the cows' kale fodder field for their own use, in a time before kale became a fashionable foodstuff for people. A surfeit of money was anyway pretty meaningless to them - they got their goodies from the 'caring running' of their little farm, with all their animals and their country lifestyle - and a happier crew than them would be hard to find ------

 

The case study above highlights another strand to the 'diversity' theme - that of the 'variety is the spice of life' ilk,  one which may be somewhat in short supply in quite a few employment situations, given the degree of 'specialisation' in modern cultural/commercial life - ?            

 

'Natural' diversity ---

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One school of thought is that the strong focus in recent times on 'flash' and luxury living has in effect been a form of escapism and/or a reaction to an underlying 'not ok-ness' condition, trying to 'prove' ok-ness, at the same time then underplaying normal 'ordinary' life - ?

People who are able to gain satisfaction, pleasure even from what's been described as 'simple living' and/or 'everday living', may then be in danger of experiencing quite a degree of positive returns in life, and particularly maybe from active participation in 'existential' activities such as active caring activities, environmental conservation work, involvment with nature, and/or 'creative' activity, for instance, such as growing activities, making stuff , repairing work and the like. A seeming reasonably common strand is for people to want to work with and in nature, often via growing, conservation-type work and/or animal-related enterprises, emphasising maybe the fact that many might feel that 'being part of nature' is a fact of life for them, then being an important factor in 'satisfying living' and life diversity---- 

Such people are also likely to be amongst those 'drawn to nature', feeling, for instance, that it's 'right' to give animals used by man as 'natural' (i.e. to the animals) a life as possible.

 One UK large food 'quality' retailer for instance, informs its customers that only milk from dairy cows experiencing natural conditions - in this case a considerable portion of the year grazing out at grass. Many modern large dairy cow set-ups now house their cows under cover for most of the year, following mainly economic arguments such as 'reaping economies of scale'and 'greater efficiency' .These herds are kept 'indoors', with their feed, for example, brought to them indoors, which is said to give around 20% more efficient utilisation of feed eg, grass - but of course there's considerable increase in mechanisation/labour costs to do it. 

It's not always that easy to be able to make the argument for 'natural' treatment' of animals in that it's often feeling/intuition based rather than objective/logic based. Two examples 'supporting' the 'intuition' approach could be David Attenborough (well-known British naturalist)'s comment that 'man' should treat animals compassionately as she/ he's related to them ----- and the spiritual approach that man and animals have something in common, in that their common 'driving forces' is spirit-derived energy.   Intuition has been said by some to have been in recent years a 'muted' factor in an age of logic and rationality, a diversity limiting effect - ?               

 

'Sorting self ----gaining/enhancing 'natural dimensions' ' -------------

 

'Personal validation ------ ' 

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Personal diversity as a human characteristic is maybe being masked by cultural conditioning that can tend to 'lump people in together' - some adverts for instance, start with the words 'we all like --- ' 

One youngish woman in a local town, though, was not to be included, seen wearing a teeshirt emblazoned with the words 'I'm not weird; I'm a limited edition'.

There appears to be something of an 'identity crisis' in the UK, particularly maybe within the younger generations, with people experiencing 'not ok' feelings,  exacerbated by strong social media messages relating to 'how people should be' (note the rise of 'influencers' on the net).

 Modern western-style life does appear to also quite strongly value wealth and power as 'personal value' indicators - it's this position of 'importance in society' that people could be attracted to, the power of the  'mass cultural' vibe being quite strong - ?  Others, a significant minority maybe travelling more on the 'being and becoming' route rather than the 'having' way, suggesting for instance that material goods or capital is  a temporary matter, whereas accruing 'being development' and/or spiritual capital', for instance, (see below), is permanent, more longer-term. A certain amount of material provision is of course important, just as maybe is the ability to keep 'material gaining' within reasonable limits - ? 

Remembering that good ol' boy Dorset (UK) farmer from backalong farm advisory days :

' You know what, me boyo? I reckons money be's a good servant, but a bad master'

It seems evident that following the 'being development' route could be a/the way to escape any mass 'materialistic' conditioning, particularly maybe in relation to money, to then discover and develop dimension aspects of the self, even ultimately to the point of 'real self' experience, in keeping with then finding measures of personal validation from internal sources rather than, as seems common these days, external (to the individual) sources) -----

 

Individual needs v. social needs -----

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The emphasis on accumulating  copious wealth as an 'external prompted' individual value  could no doubt be fuelled by the strong focus on 'competitive life' that appears to have emerged as part of the 'free market' 'philosophy', presumably originating in the US but now prominent in quite a few western-style cultures, tending to treat the individual as a 'lone economic operator' but then potentially risking underplaying any social side?  People though live in 'societies'------ 

 No doubt over control by the state curbing individual development and attainment is a valid concern, but at the same time social needs can then become neglected/over relegated;  presumably there's a need to achieve an effective balance between group social needs and the needs of the constituent members of the society, (i.e. individuals), an argument supporting the so-called 'mixed economies/societies' concept- ? The notion that the individual is only validated 'externally', that is by measures dictated by the culture, often these days, 'wealth and power',  plainly does not work particularly well for those who choose the 'internal' validation route of 'being and becoming'.

The latter has a considerable following as seen on the net, and offers additional dimensions for the individual beyond any cultural mainstream's promotions, strongly emphasising for instance financial gain -------   Modern life may not then particualrly help or support he cause of diversity ------  Presumably following 'natural' lines( i.e not heavily influenced by 'mass' conditioning effects), people can often gain strenth via experience in life, then gaining naturally the opportunity of self-development, even to the potentially fulfilling 'real self' realisation level ------   

 

'Self expansion ---- '

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In general life there does seem to be a general trend that as the individual proceeds through life and accumulated experiences, positive and negative, the, internal self can 'grow', as does internal strength, enabling then those (now older) individuals to operate more at the 'responsible independent individual' level, and with added dimensions, less affected by the vagaries of 'mass cultural life'. (see Maslow's self-actualisation characteristics).