Brett Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Over the past year I have gone through quite the lifestyle change. I moved across the country to here in beautiful Oregon. I sold my car before I moved and I am now in the privileged position of riding my bike everywhere as my means of transportation (I take the bus when I need to). I no longer use a tv. I started buying locally and organic. I try to support the farmers markets when they are out. I started getting into science and nature more, and have long since had a very very STRONG distaste for consumerism, advertising, and corporate power. I'm trying to break away from my old life of bad addictions. I used to just lay around and surf the internet all day or watch tv. I'm trying to expand on becoming a freethinking and creative person. I guess in a sense I'm "recovering." I'm looking for new hobbies. I'm also looking for some really good books. I just finished culture jam by kalle lasn (founder of adbusters magazine). What have YOU found or what suggestions/sources would you have for someone like me trying to find new things to do and explore? I'm having a hard time finding things on my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Posted June 17, 2008 Author Share Posted June 17, 2008 I've also been reading some Thoreau and Emerson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcina Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Art! I used to do lots of art before I lost my passion for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offense74 Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I have changed alot spiritually over the last year or so too. It's weird when you stop caring about stupid shit and focus your devotion on seemingly real things. Anyhoot, here are some good books: The story of BEcology of commerceandThe Silmarillion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelhobson Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 For the ultimate in sane living, here is my post from the influential books thread. By far, the most influential books I have ever read were by Helen and Scott Nearing. Helen was a talented musician and Scott a university professor and famed socialist writer. Together they set out to build a rural homestead nearly a century ago. They built multiple houses of stone, grew most of their own food in organic and later veganic gardens, built solar greenhouses and composting toilets. They lived a high-raw vegan and organic lifestyle in rural Vermont, decades before it was popularized by the hippie movement. Their life and work continue to summarize my life's goals and aspirations. You can get the summary version of their lives here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_and_Scott_Nearing Or begin some serious reading with this book: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71QHCTSJ4ZL._SL500_AA240_.gif Another great book I read just recently is From the Bottom Up: One Man's Crusade to Clean America's Rivers by Chad Pregracke. Follow Chad as he progresses in just a couple of years from a teenager cleaning up the river behind his house, in to adulthood and taking on the Misssouri, Mississippi, Ohio and Potomac rivers and finally forming a nationwide organization dedicated to cleaning up America's waterways. It's a very inspiring story of one man taking on the world and winning. One of the coolest things is that this is a new book, very recent story and Chad is personally still out cleaning up the rivers. http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1426201001.01._SX140_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 For the ultimate in sane living, here is my post from the influential books thread. By far, the most influential books I have ever read were by Helen and Scott Nearing. Helen was a talented musician and Scott a university professor and famed socialist writer. Together they set out to build a rural homestead nearly a century ago. They built multiple houses of stone, grew most of their own food in organic and later veganic gardens, built solar greenhouses and composting toilets. They lived a high-raw vegan and organic lifestyle in rural Vermont, decades before it was popularized by the hippie movement. Their life and work continue to summarize my life's goals and aspirations. You can get the summary version of their lives here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_and_Scott_NearingScott Nearing is the only person that approaches idol status for me. That isn't based on the fact that he gave up on mankind and became a hermit but on his uncompromising honesty, Compassion and morality. His autobiography The Making of a Radical has a far more meaningful set of goals to aspire to than 'living off the grid'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 Thanks a lot! I'll definantly take a look at those books. I just feel like I don't know how to truly live yet because I've been sucked into some of the consumer teenage lifestyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RawKev Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Read books by Daniel Quinn and by Derrick Jensen. You will dig em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 Cool, I'm actually browsing through the culture of make believe right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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