tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48013241039085986222024-02-21T21:31:45.283-08:00The Society Co.Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-81036873847136918342018-10-15T00:03:00.003-07:002018-10-15T00:03:58.135-07:00APRICOT & LAVENDER GALETTE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfd5PncFuqmi5Ow1xczMlkdpL1mRM5iVFFF1TPmM3tBxX04x-XywflTHAyyL7Da4Y_eHCjPskrRt-upL9AveTXN6eesprHlJ1nBT0A7ytsxjcVozRuRvwfUMEy1EVgQzrGUKm_ElIR6TiQ/s1600/Apricot-Galette-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="840" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfd5PncFuqmi5Ow1xczMlkdpL1mRM5iVFFF1TPmM3tBxX04x-XywflTHAyyL7Da4Y_eHCjPskrRt-upL9AveTXN6eesprHlJ1nBT0A7ytsxjcVozRuRvwfUMEy1EVgQzrGUKm_ElIR6TiQ/s1600/Apricot-Galette-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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A dessert nomenclature designed to impress the socks off your dinner guests but prepared with devilish ease, a galette is essentially fruit encased in a rustic pastry that any numbnut can compose with their eyes closed. Eat it warm out of the oven with double cream or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Prepare it in advance and freeze until ready to bake, if you wish. You're welcome.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4HusEWiv9_uVhx449NPyy3o7FTF6Bwe8whKq8NUTVeEgoBPayNY1HBVkADVlR6a-6B_Mzg0rmBLqzh9SF89xV2-lbk47TLc6y5FIsCFcJ3Sj6RWMoXk-8nxzpd7KlUbUpJOI9-XIIFbVd/s1600/Apricot-Galette-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="664" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4HusEWiv9_uVhx449NPyy3o7FTF6Bwe8whKq8NUTVeEgoBPayNY1HBVkADVlR6a-6B_Mzg0rmBLqzh9SF89xV2-lbk47TLc6y5FIsCFcJ3Sj6RWMoXk-8nxzpd7KlUbUpJOI9-XIIFbVd/s1600/Apricot-Galette-3.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>FOR THE PASTRY</b><br />
<br />
180g plain flour<br />
30g caster sugar<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
130g unsalted butter, refrigerator-cold and cubed<br />
80ml iced water<br />
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In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour then add the sugar and salt and stir to combine. Add the cubed butter and rub into the flour mixture until it resembles rough breadcrumbs. Add a spoonful of the iced water at a time and combine until the mixture comes together to form a flakey dough. Flatten slightly into a disc shape, cover with plastic and refrigerate whilst you prepare the filling.<br />
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<b>FOR THE FILLING</b><br />
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1 x 825g can of halved apricots (ensure Australian origin*. Use fresh apricots when in season)<br />
1/2 jar apricot jam<br />
a few tbsp caster sugar (to taste)<br />
a squeeze of lemon juice<br />
2 tbsp cornflour<br />
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Spoon the apricot halves along with a couple of spoonfuls of the syrup into a medium-sized saucepan. Add the apricot jam and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer until the apricots have softened. Taste and add sugar or more lemon juice to your liking. Add the cornflour and stir well to combine so that the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and set aside.<br />
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<b>COMPOSE AND BAKE</b><br />
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plain flour, for dusting<br />
butter, for greasing<br />
1 egg white, beaten<br />
1 heaped tsp fresh or dried lavender buds<br />
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Flour a clean surface and roll the dough out into a flat circle approximately 1/2cm thick.<br />
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Line a tray with baking paper and grease with butter. Transfer the pastry onto the tray and spoon the apricot mixture into the middle, ensuring you leave a 5cm border of uncovered pastry around the edges. Fold these pastry edges over the mixture, leaving a good portion of the apricot filling in the centre exposed. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg white. Sprinkle with the lavender buds.<br />
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At this point, either bake in the oven until the pastry is golden brown, about 35 minutes, or freeze to bake another day. Allow the galette to cool slightly before serving it warm with cream or icecream.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1B78hMAunxkD5iRh7qfLvIKCC6fhn4MNxfbPx_ffdRiAGb9QGzWxHfYjtsp_5VdKeMqG-7SSHaWooiVY7u2rfBbXp0iVIiyH5h60mN_YnhERsqxtG-UGOCGGHlwcSNVz6jpZEIuyBzvqy/s1600/Apricot-Galette-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1B78hMAunxkD5iRh7qfLvIKCC6fhn4MNxfbPx_ffdRiAGb9QGzWxHfYjtsp_5VdKeMqG-7SSHaWooiVY7u2rfBbXp0iVIiyH5h60mN_YnhERsqxtG-UGOCGGHlwcSNVz6jpZEIuyBzvqy/s1600/Apricot-Galette-2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i>* Ensure you purchase Australian apricots so that you're supporting our local farmers who have really had a rough trot due to drought and cheap imports.</i>Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-68778938397678587142018-09-25T00:30:00.001-07:002018-09-25T00:30:29.821-07:00VANILLA CAKE FILLED WITH LEMON CURD & TOPPED WITH THYME BUTTERCREAM<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There are a few elements to this cake but it's worth the effort. You can use any leftover lemon curd to fill tart shells or top a pavlova.... or eat it out of the fridge with your finger, like I do. This cake is best eaten on the day or the day after prep.</div>
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FOR THE CAKE<br />
335g plain flour<br />
1 tablespoon baking powder<br />
185g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing cake tin<br />
220g caster sugar<br />
2 teaspoons vanilla extract<br />
3 eggs<br />
185ml milk<br />
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FOR THE LEMON CURD<br />
110g of sugar<br />
2 large unwaxed lemons, juiced and zest finely grated<br />
3 large free range eggs, lightly beaten<br />
100g unsalted butter, cubed<br />
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FOR THE BUTTERCREAM<br />
handful of fresh thyme sprigs<br />
280g icing sugar<br />
80g unsalted butter, softened<br />
1 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />
1 tablespoon milk<br />
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METHOD<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Lemon Curd</i></span><br />
Place the sugar, lemon zest and juice in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and slowly add the beaten eggs, stirring constantly to combine.<br />
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Grab a whisk, return the saucepan to a low heat and add the butter one cube at a time, whisking constantly until the curd has thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool while you make the rest of the cake.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Cake</i></span><br />
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease a 20cm cake tin with butter then dust with flour and shake off excess. This technique ensures your cake won't stick to the tin, all without the use of baking paper.<br />
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Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat with electric beaters until smooth.<br />
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Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Buttercream</i></span><br />
Remove stalks from the thyme sprigs and discard them. Add the thyme leaves and all other ingredients to a large bowl and beat together with electric beaters until pale and fluffy.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>To Assemble the Cake</i></span><br />
Carefully slice the cooled cake in half and set the top half aside. Spread a (very) generous amount of the curd onto the bottom half of the cake, making sure to go right to the edges. Replace the top half of the sponge. If the top is very domed, simply slice off a thin layer to flatten it and help keep the buttercream in its place. Now spread a (very) generous layer of buttercream on top. Ready to serve, enjoy.<br />
<br />Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-33009386731313894962018-02-07T20:08:00.000-08:002018-02-07T20:08:43.286-08:00HAPPINESS IN THE FACE OF WORLD SUFFERING. A CASE FOR GIVING WHAT YOU CAN.It's a question acrid enough to turn any epicurean dinner party into a contemporary existential crisis... how can we truly be happy (and so blithely dine on fine wine and artisanal cheese) when we are aware of so much suffering in the world?<br />
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Can we achieve a state of individual bliss despite the misfortunes of so many fellow humans or is our pursuit of happiness in the face of global disparity a Sisyphean exercise, akin to when the gods made the avaricious Ancient Greek king roll a giant boulder up a mountain as punishment?</blockquote>
Sisyphus, of course, discovered that the boulder would always roll down before he could get it to the top, forcing him to begin the pointless exercise anew, for eternity.<br />
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Are we repeating his futile pursuit?<br />
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One is hard-pressed to dodge bad news in today's hyper plugged-in society. You might switch on your computer with the simple intent of browsing for socks on the internet, only to wind up watching news clips about yet another suicide bombing in Syria. You don't even have to be plugged in to receive such news, why it just so happened to me the other day; it was lunch time and I was about to bite into my chicken and salad wrap with extra mayo when I answered a call that turned out to be a charity soliciting extra donations to supply more equipment to refugee camps after the discovery of mass Rohingya burial sites in which many people were found to be buried half alive.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
My wrap promptly lost its appeal and for a brief moment I lost my will to live.</blockquote>
I recalled the words of a French-Canadian documentary maker and journalist I met whilst travelling through Vietnam years ago, who philosophised that much of our fate is predetermined by where we are born. Depending on which country we are born into, our existence may already be coupled to poverty, lack of education, religious persecution or gender discrimination even before our direct familial circumstances come into play. I counted my lucky stars that I was born in a lucky country.</div>
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It crystallised in me then that if one happens to be born into a 'lucky country', one should acknowledge and be aware of how lucky indeed one is. With this acknowledgement of our luck, perhaps we also need to accept that it is our duty to do what we can to help make the lives of those less fortunate a little more so. Perhaps this is the key to our own fortune and happiness.<br />
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I hear you ask, why should it matter to our own happiness if strangers across the globe are facing injustice, persecution or famine for instance?</div>
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Yes it is sad, yes it is devastating, but should it affect our inner peace?</blockquote>
The concept of collective trauma dictates that whether and how it affects us is not up to us to decide. Collective trauma is a psychological effect shared by a group of people, generations or an entire society. We see it in play and <i>accept that it's in play</i> in indigenous minority groups around the world and amongst Holocaust survivors and their communities.<br />
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Is it such a stretch to conceive that it is also played out amongst the global community as a result of current sufferings? That means each and every one of us experience it, at the very least to some subconscious degree and most definitely regardless of personal intent.</blockquote>
In French sociologist Émile Durkheim's 1897 book <i>Suicide</i>, he discusses the concept in practical application when he states that "<i>when there is a lack of moral guidance, integration or solidarity in society </i>(a condition he coins Anomie)<i>, suicide rates are higher.</i>"</div>
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It begs the question, if we are bound to experience collective trauma yet we cannot control world affairs, how do we live happily?<br />
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Frantz Omar Fanon, a Martinician physician, philosopher and revolutionary active in the 1940s and 50s (he died in 1961) wrote, after his attempts to treat Algerians during liberation war,<br />
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The result is a collective trauma that will pass through generations. There is no magic formula of rehabilitation. Collective trauma can be alleviated through cohesive and collective efforts such as recognition, remembrance, solidarity, communal therapy and massive cooperation.</blockquote>
This imparts a sense of relief, albeit moderate, because whilst we cannot control world affairs we can dictate what these efforts look like in real terms on an individual level. As individuals, we may choose to donate money to a charity or time to a cause or simply give a homeless person a bottle of cold water on a really hot day.<br />
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These small acts are acts of solidarity and together amount to massive cooperation and communal therapy.</blockquote>
One thing is for certain in this life and that is that our happiness is bound by others (whether we like it or not). Therefore our own happiness cannot be if we ignore the suffering of our global compatriots. If we ignore, we risk Durkheim's state of anomie and a society in which a guilty collective conscience prevails.<br />
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The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke.</blockquote>
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Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-38254820882506874092018-02-06T02:09:00.001-08:002018-02-06T02:09:16.676-08:00WHAT DO YOU DESIRE?<span style="color: #333333; font-family: , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Watch this 3-minute clip and then let's chat:</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/60087670" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span>
Watt's speech is achingly true, isn't it? We all know it, it's under our skin. Maybe it resonates a little too much for some. Maybe you think it's too late. Maybe you think you don't know what you desire.<br /><br />The truth is that it's not too late. And you do know what you desire. It's fear that stops you from defining it and fear that stops you from making it happen.<br /><br />Fear of failure.<br />Fear of judgement.<br />Fear of not keeping up with the Joneses.<br />Fear of losing what you have.<br /><br />Perhaps you'll only change when the fear of never living your life the way you truly want to, overpowers the fear of the unknown. Crap, I know it finally has for me. Are you living your life the way you truly want to. Are you? It starts by asking yourself that question. We all need to ask ourselves that question.Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-6118578945727068712018-02-06T02:08:00.000-08:002018-09-04T21:53:54.805-07:00EAT MASH WITH INDEX FINGER<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">When we were children, having fun was our biggest priority. Remember those days? We'd get our fun-fill from riding our bike hands-free, falling off, seeing who could stuff the most number of Twinkies in their gob at once...</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
<b>Geez you fall over a lot when you're a kid.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
<b>Fast forward to present-day adulthood and having fun isn't on our radar. Work commitments, mortgages and other such adult life endeavours squeeze the fun juice out of us until we dismiss it as something only children can indulge in. Which is sad, don't you think?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
<b>How about we declare this year the Year of Having Fun. More fun at home, more fun with our style, more FUN every day. Because, well, why not?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
<b>Since I'm no longer in to stuffing Twinkies in my gob, I've devised a list of silly nonsense I'm going to get up to in order to increase my daily fun factor:</b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Eat mash potato with my index finger. Lick each fingerfull slowly, like a softserve.</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Create alter egos for my cat and dog. British,, cockney to be precise. Adopt their alter egos and swear a lot.</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Skip down the street. I dare you to skip without laughing.</span></b></li>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">You get the idea.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
<b>Of course, research suggests a more official list of ways to enjoy ourselves more:</b></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Be present</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The reason children have fun is because they are completely and utterly tuned into whatever they are doing. We, on the other hand, generally suck at this because we're addicted to thinking about what we have to do later today, tomorrow, next week.</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Embrace your flaws</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />It's not easy to have fun in the moment when you're thinking about your cellulite, now is it?</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Get dirty</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Why are adults so obsessed with being clean?</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Break your rules when you feel like it</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Learn to say no to shit you really don't want to do</span></h2>
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Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-10229779958159526452018-02-06T02:06:00.003-08:002018-02-06T02:06:45.871-08:00WHY DO WE KEEP WANTING. HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH PART 2Why do we keep wanting more and more? What’s at the core of our insatiability?<br /><br />It’s matter of fact that most – not all, but most – of us are locked into a rhythm of living to work, working to earn and earning to consume. Which wouldn’t be so bad if we consumed for the improvement of ourselves, within our economic means and within the limitations of our natural environment. Of course, this is exactly the opposite of what happens, at least in the developed Western world. <br /><br />We’re never satisfied with what we have, even if what we have - on a practical level - is more than enough to meet our fundamental needs of food, shelter, safety, love, friendship.<br /><br />What’s the deal with that? Why do we buy a third pair of brightly coloured ballet flats, or upgrade our smart phone even though our current model is suiting us just fine?<br /><br />There are a plethora of reasons, including scarcity of goods, status spending and so on. Hungarian-born economist Tibor Scitovsky stated that getting everything we needed for a safe life didn’t land us in a state of tranquillity but rather a state of dissatisfaction According to Scitovsky, we become bored with what we have, and the only way we can relieve the itch is by experiencing more and more.<br /><br />This assumes that insatiability is in our nature, which begs the question... is there some evolutionary logic to our eternal dissatisfaction? The answer, of course, is yes. If we were always completely satisfied with what we had, we’d have never picked up that stone and chipped away flakes from one side to create a chopper.<br /><br />Maslow, in his hierarchy of needs, recognises that we all want positive outcomes – belongingness, love, beauty, security, intelligence. Who doesn't want more happiness, and more love? At the top of the ladder is our utopian state – self actualisation and transcendence. The struggle to achieve these is what the human experience is all about.<br /><br />So if you concede that insatiability is in our nature, then you might also concede that a system designed to prosper only under conditions of increasing consumption (economic growth) would benefit from piggy backing onto this little foible. This is exactly what a capitalist system does. It hijacks our desire for a better life, for more time, or more happiness, and channels it into the purchase of goods and services. A recent Coke ad told me if I open a bottle of cola I’ll “open happiness”. We’re told that if we want to sleep better, we best buy the latest in sleeping tablets. If we want to seriously enjoy our summer road trips, we better buy the latest SUV complete with iPad docking station and flat screen telly. If we want to bond with our children and get fit at the same time, we better buy the latest Wii game. If we want to be smarter, learn how to paint, teach our kids a new language, become better photographers and connect more with friends, we best buy the latest iPad.<br /><br />It’s a system that tells us we can achieve all the positive emotional and psychosocial outcomes we want by purchasing material goods.<br /><br />In time, we discover (much to our surprise!) that said goods don’t actually make us thinner, or better looking, or encourage our kids to love us more. We become dissatisfied with what we have. And because, all along, the system doesn’t bloody shut up about how a bottle of Coke will help us – no, guarantee we – have even more fun! times!, we go against our better judgement and buy a bigger flat screen. Because we want to grow, we want to get to the top of that hierarchy.<br /><br />It’s all very simple. And to be honest I’m not sure why it took me so long to get my head around it. After all, I’ve spent countless hours in marketing lectures being taught how to manipulate Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to get people to buy shit they don’t really need (I have a Master's in marketing as well as a science degree, but that's another story). I guess what’s really got my knickers in a knot is that if it’s so simple, why is it so bloody hard to cut the cord?<br /><br />Of course recognising that this is what is happening is the very first step towards breaking free.<br /><br />Buddhism tries to quash this basic human idiosyncrasy by attempting to enforce a life of detachment from all material goods. Me, I cut back my working hours to 3 days, giving me less dosh to play with in the first place. I’m also meditating more and more, which is helping me find a state of calm and contentment I didn’t think possible in this frenetic, distracted world.Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-85034516589049366542018-02-06T02:05:00.001-08:002018-02-06T02:05:35.884-08:00HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH PART 1In the 1930s, British economist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes">John Maynard Keynes</a> (those who studied macroeconomics would be friendly with him) predicted that over the next century, wealth would rise to such a level that we would have to work no more than 15 hours a week, allowing us ample time for greater life pursuits - ‘the good life’. Keynes predicted that a utopian state would evolve, where people will have amassed enough monetary wealth to fulfil their material needs, thus allowing more philosophical, meaningful and soul-enriching pursuits to dominate lifestyles.<br /><br />Ha! HONK if you’re still waiting for that one! In fact what’s happened over the last century is somewhat a trillion times less inspiring. Overall, average leisure time has increased by only <a href="http://weber.ucsd.edu/~vramey/research/Century_Published.pdf">four or five hours per week</a>. While, overall, we’re 4 to 5 times richer than we were 100 years ago, we’re working just as hard, just as long.<br /><br />Consequently, we’re missing out on doing the stuff that makes life richer: honestly and deeply connecting with friends and family, growing our own food, hiking through a forest, volunteering for a cause, reading a nourishing book... the good stuff, the stuff that makes life meaningful, purposeful.<br /><br />Somewhere along the line, we’ve forgotten that the ideal of wealth was never meant to be an end in itself but a means to achieving (and maintaining) a good life.<br /><br />As American political philosopher <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/how-much-the-moral-limits-of-markets-and-money/story-fn9n8gph-1226434895161">Michael Sandel asserts</a>, <blockquote class="tr_bq">
"without quite realising it, without ever deciding to do so, we drifted from having a market economy to being a market society". </blockquote>
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This has seen the values of a market economy (dollars, growth, and productivity) leach into every aspect of human life, where now “social relations are made over in the image of the market". Moral or ethical questions have now been replaced with “how much does it cost?” or “how much can it bring in?”.<br /><br />And rarely, if at all, do we take stock and ask ourselves, how much is enough? How much do we really need to live a good life?<br /><br />Instead we keep our heads down, we keep running ‘round and ‘round on the hamster wheel. Waiting. Waiting for life to get better.<br /><br />I recently took a foot off the wheel. I reduced my working hours down to three days. And it’s quite a shift to fathom, I must say. A life not dominated by paid work. People are puzzled when I tell them what I’ve done. The thought of earning less money, well it baffles. I think that’s largely because we’ve been told working full-time and earning as much money as possible is The Thing To Do. Those of us that challenge that assumption get a bamboozled look. But more on that later (that’s an entirely separate post).<br /><br />This is deep, heavy stuff. Important stuff. It’s the kind of stuff I ponder in the shower, or while chopping vegetables for dinner, or walking the dog, or hanging up the laundry. How did we get ourselves to this point, where we generally have more than enough material goods to afford us a comfortable life, yet we are sadder, sicker, lonelier and angrier than ever before? How did we allow market values to shape our personal lives, and what can we do to break free from them? There must be a better way to ‘do’ this thing called living, no?<br /><br />These are precisely the questions British political economist <a href="http://www.skidelskyr.com/">Robert Skidelsky</a>, and his philosopher son Edward, ask us to consider in their latest book, How much is enough? The love of money and the case for the good life.<br /><br />This book has got me excited. Just the title gets me revved up, and I’ve ordered myself a copy to pore over. I reckon it might be a book you might like to pore over to.<br /><br />The premise of the book is this – The Skidelskies argue that, <blockquote class="tr_bq">
“most developed economies are already rich enough for people to get off the growth treadmill and start thinking about what life is for, what they should do with their own lives, and how society should develop”.</blockquote>
<br />They argue that we’ve been living within a set framework dictated by a market economy that promised to fulfil and exceed our needs, but instead has pushed us into a never-ending cycle of insatiable consumption. It’s a framework that has failed us dismally, both economically and morally.<br /><br />As such, they postulate an alternative framework, one that nurtures the seven factors that they believe constitute the good life: health, security, respect, personality, friendship, leisure, and harmony with nature.<br /><br />The Skidelskies get a bit specific, apparently, such as proposing restrictions on advertising to “reduce the pressure to consume, because”, Skidelsky himself says, “the pressure to consume is one of the things that drives the pressure to work”. They also propose a tax on conspicuous consumption.<br /><br />The book also delves into findings from happiness studies (indeed, it questions their relevance) and discusses the environmental impact of our insatiable appetite for consumption.<br /><br />You can hear Skidelsky Snr chat about it all in a recent interview on RN, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/lord-robert-skidelsky/4187844">here</a>. <br /><br />I particularly love Skidelsky’s repute to the argument that what he and his son are proposing is a sort of nanny-state:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
“people erect an ideal of free choice against something called a nanny state, and in fact we don’t have free choice in many areas, we choose within a framework. If people agree there is such a thing as a good life, let’s start altering the framework in which our choices are made.”</blockquote>
I also love that the Skidelskies are quite specific about what they mean when they say ‘leisure time’. They take the Ancient Greek view of leisure – that it’s not about sitting around playing Wii, it’s about pursuing things that make us richer in spirit and in soul... things that makes societies better, things that helps them move forward.</div>
Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-75928546042318057892018-02-06T02:03:00.000-08:002018-02-06T02:03:05.798-08:00THE VIOLINISTThe story goes like this:<br /><br />A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.<br /><br />Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.<br /><br />A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till without stopping and continued to walk.<br /><br />A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.<br /><br />The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.<br /><br />In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.<br /><br />No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.<br /><br />Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100.<br /><br />This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organised by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?<br /><br />One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:<br /><br />If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?<br /><br />A simple social experiment like this can have a powerful effect, if we let it. It’s true, in this chaotic flurry of life into which we propel ourselves each and every day, what are we missing? How many poignant moments of kindness do we miss; how many beautiful yet subtle displays of art in nature do we pass by? How many earth-swallowing sunsets do we miss? If we’re not aware of the pitfalls of our supercharged lives, we can end up missing all the tiny detail that makes life beautiful and meaningful. Isn’t this awareness of detail what makes childhood so magical? Remember the feeling of awe?Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-8889234358119969092018-02-05T21:07:00.001-08:002018-02-05T21:15:46.975-08:00THE OLIVE GROVEI'm engrossed in a book by Daniel Klein called <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/daniel-klein-travels-with-epicurus_n_2041370.html">Travels with Epicurus</a>. Read it? Klein is a 70+ year old who travels to the Greek island of Hydra in search of how to live an authentic old age. He goes to study the old folk there, whom, he believes, live their elderly years contently.<br>
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Klein travels with a stash of philosophy books on how to live a good life, including works written by Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher whose notions of a good life revolved around simple pleasures and self-sufficiency (and hence, freedom). He wrote:</div>
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"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance."</blockquote>
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</div><a href="https://thesocietyco.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-olive-grove.html#more">Read more »</a>Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801324103908598622.post-8253085871329913782018-02-05T21:05:00.001-08:002018-02-05T21:16:09.300-08:00GO TO THE WOODSLiving simply, as a minimalist, is like Henry Thoreau going to the woods. It forces you to live deliberately and to front only the essential facts of life.<br>
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Thoreau embarked on a two-year experiment in simple living in 1845, when he moved to a small, self-built house in the woods:<br>
</div></div><a href="https://thesocietyco.blogspot.com/2018/02/go-to-woods.html#more">Read more »</a>Maria Hannafordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241088011533250457noreply@blogger.com0