Two weeks on...
Nothing happening on the writing front. No news from Stan. I guess all those editors still aren't back from Goa or Jupiter yet. Or maybe… none of them likes my offering and Stan's too embarrassed to tell me. Could be.. Certainly could be. Oh well… maybe I should have written a filthy and depressing novel after all. Can't miss with them, it seems:
'Oh God… not that you exist… why was I born? Why does everything I do turn to dust and ashes? Why must cocaine cost so much these days, even when I bring it in myself in Louis Vuitton 'One-Trip' plastic sachets in my crappy little yacht?? Oh God.. not that you exist, as we've already established.. why is life so unfair?'
Hmm.. sounds pretty good to me, actually. Maybe I'll carry on with it.
The MS I did send Stan is a little 60k number which reflects my growing interest in What's Wrong with the Country. Or more accurately, what's going wrong with a lot of the people who make up 'The Country'.
Poverty? Don't think so. Witness all those billions of £s Britons booze and gamble away every year. It seems to me that people now have more money than ever before, and all they do with it is gamble it away, fritter it on over-priced 'labels', or stuff their faces and livers with more and more junk food and gallons of industrial vodka. Meanwhile they blister their skins with megamiles of junk travel on Melanoma Airways and give each other STI's like they're going out of fashion.
So what's going on? What's at the root of all this ridiculous behaviour?
Well.. at the bottom of it all, it's clear that people aren't happy. Happy, well-balanced people don't get smashed three times a week or feel unfulfilled just because they haven't got the very latest mobile phone, or whatever. They have other markers and standards in their lives.
So.. if money isn't the answer, what is?
I think the problem, the fundamental problem, is that people feel lacking in purpose. Their lives have no point. Thus they are easy victims of advertising and 'style' magazines, who tell them over and over that when they have this particular handbag, or that particular shade of lippy… well then they'll be fulfilled and happy. All they need is more and more money, to buy more and more things.
And, of course, it's all bollocks, isn't it? Because, if it worked, then you wouldn't be needing yet another handbag or lippy every other week, would you?
The fact is that money does not buy purpose in your life. And if you have no sense of purpose you are doomed to being unhappy. That's it. Simple. No matter how many Prada earrings you own, or Jimmy Choo Home-Lipo kits, or how many BMW Pelvic Thrusters you have in your Coco Chanel garage, none of them will make you one jot happier with yourself.
I'm just about the happiest person I know, and my average income is consistently below the official poverty line. But I have a sense of purpose in my life, and that's what makes all the difference. When we were full-time smallholders we were living a personal challenge. Every day was an adventure. We were our own bosses, too. And we knew we were acting out of a sense of purpose: to be as green and as self-sufficient as we reasonably could, ultimately for the benefit of all.
There's a key phrase: for the benefit of all. Although we constantly struggled to pay our bills (see 'Scenes from a Smallholding'), we knew we were leaving a tiny carbon footprint (before we'd even heard of such a phrase) and were thus doing our best for the planet, and thus for everyone living on it.
We had purpose in spades (and forks, naturally). And our purpose wasn't just self-based, but planet-based.
All the other smallholders we've ever met have been similarly happy folks, because they are acting on principle: the principle of working for something bigger than mere self.
None of them has any money worth mentioning, but they get by somehow and are endlessly creative too. It's no coincidence that you'll find a much higher percentage of artists and musicians among smallholders than you will among, say, stockbrokers or corporate lawyers.
I feel actively sorry for the pointlessly rich of the world.
The good news is that a growing number of these poor souls seem to be realising that mountains of money isn't (aren't?) the answer. It's for them and the millions of other dissatisfied people 'out there' that I've written the little book that Stan is currently trying to find a publisher for.
Now and again someone asks when I'm going to write a third 'Scenes' volume. I tell them that it's pretty unlikely, because my publisher and I did not see eye to eye on many things, and I don't think they would be interested in a Scenes III, especially as Scenes II has not exactly made them a fortune. In fact, it dropped virtually out of sight as soon as it was published.
But a recent mail from a certain 'Wanda Knowmore' (a pseudonym, methinks…) has set me thinking again…
I self-published the original Scenes book. Why shouldn't I self-publish Scenes III as well?
There's a couple of obvious reasons why not: It's expensive and risky, for one. Secondly, it takes your life over, trying to sell one copy here and two copies there: it's just not cost-effective, and I do need to earn my living. When I published Scenes I we were living on Benefit, so I could spend my non-ME/'awake' time on the sales work. Now I'm recovered enough to not be on Benefit and must be more efficient.
Thirdly, I'm no longer writing for the HDRA magazine, so I don't have that level of public 'exposure' to people who might want to buy the book.
On the other hand: I now have a website and indeed a blog, which can act as information channels to potential readers. Maybe I could just sell direct from the website?
But I'd need to print at least 2,000 copies to make the unit price acceptable. Could I really sell 2,000 copies via just a website?
May I ask a question of you, dear reader?
Would you be interested in buying a Scenes III? It would not be quite the same as the other two, as we are no longer running a commercial enterprise, so it would lack the 'storyline' element. But I would retain the 'scenes/articles', and intersperse them with what I hope is useful material and advice for anyone even vaguely wondering about going down a self-sufficient route. I'd try to talk Ken into doing some more cartoons, too. Obviously, a sense of fun would guide me, as usual.
If I can get assurances from enough people, then I reckon I might have a bash. What do you think? Please contact me if you're interested. And please get your friends and contacts to do so, too. If I hear from 500 people….
Time to go. Garlic to plait. Hmmm… garlic… Like a bit?
'Oh God… not that you exist… why was I born? Why does everything I do turn to dust and ashes? Why must cocaine cost so much these days, even when I bring it in myself in Louis Vuitton 'One-Trip' plastic sachets in my crappy little yacht?? Oh God.. not that you exist, as we've already established.. why is life so unfair?'
Hmm.. sounds pretty good to me, actually. Maybe I'll carry on with it.
The MS I did send Stan is a little 60k number which reflects my growing interest in What's Wrong with the Country. Or more accurately, what's going wrong with a lot of the people who make up 'The Country'.
Poverty? Don't think so. Witness all those billions of £s Britons booze and gamble away every year. It seems to me that people now have more money than ever before, and all they do with it is gamble it away, fritter it on over-priced 'labels', or stuff their faces and livers with more and more junk food and gallons of industrial vodka. Meanwhile they blister their skins with megamiles of junk travel on Melanoma Airways and give each other STI's like they're going out of fashion.
So what's going on? What's at the root of all this ridiculous behaviour?
Well.. at the bottom of it all, it's clear that people aren't happy. Happy, well-balanced people don't get smashed three times a week or feel unfulfilled just because they haven't got the very latest mobile phone, or whatever. They have other markers and standards in their lives.
So.. if money isn't the answer, what is?
I think the problem, the fundamental problem, is that people feel lacking in purpose. Their lives have no point. Thus they are easy victims of advertising and 'style' magazines, who tell them over and over that when they have this particular handbag, or that particular shade of lippy… well then they'll be fulfilled and happy. All they need is more and more money, to buy more and more things.
And, of course, it's all bollocks, isn't it? Because, if it worked, then you wouldn't be needing yet another handbag or lippy every other week, would you?
The fact is that money does not buy purpose in your life. And if you have no sense of purpose you are doomed to being unhappy. That's it. Simple. No matter how many Prada earrings you own, or Jimmy Choo Home-Lipo kits, or how many BMW Pelvic Thrusters you have in your Coco Chanel garage, none of them will make you one jot happier with yourself.
I'm just about the happiest person I know, and my average income is consistently below the official poverty line. But I have a sense of purpose in my life, and that's what makes all the difference. When we were full-time smallholders we were living a personal challenge. Every day was an adventure. We were our own bosses, too. And we knew we were acting out of a sense of purpose: to be as green and as self-sufficient as we reasonably could, ultimately for the benefit of all.
There's a key phrase: for the benefit of all. Although we constantly struggled to pay our bills (see 'Scenes from a Smallholding'), we knew we were leaving a tiny carbon footprint (before we'd even heard of such a phrase) and were thus doing our best for the planet, and thus for everyone living on it.
We had purpose in spades (and forks, naturally). And our purpose wasn't just self-based, but planet-based.
All the other smallholders we've ever met have been similarly happy folks, because they are acting on principle: the principle of working for something bigger than mere self.
None of them has any money worth mentioning, but they get by somehow and are endlessly creative too. It's no coincidence that you'll find a much higher percentage of artists and musicians among smallholders than you will among, say, stockbrokers or corporate lawyers.
I feel actively sorry for the pointlessly rich of the world.
The good news is that a growing number of these poor souls seem to be realising that mountains of money isn't (aren't?) the answer. It's for them and the millions of other dissatisfied people 'out there' that I've written the little book that Stan is currently trying to find a publisher for.
Now and again someone asks when I'm going to write a third 'Scenes' volume. I tell them that it's pretty unlikely, because my publisher and I did not see eye to eye on many things, and I don't think they would be interested in a Scenes III, especially as Scenes II has not exactly made them a fortune. In fact, it dropped virtually out of sight as soon as it was published.
But a recent mail from a certain 'Wanda Knowmore' (a pseudonym, methinks…) has set me thinking again…
I self-published the original Scenes book. Why shouldn't I self-publish Scenes III as well?
There's a couple of obvious reasons why not: It's expensive and risky, for one. Secondly, it takes your life over, trying to sell one copy here and two copies there: it's just not cost-effective, and I do need to earn my living. When I published Scenes I we were living on Benefit, so I could spend my non-ME/'awake' time on the sales work. Now I'm recovered enough to not be on Benefit and must be more efficient.
Thirdly, I'm no longer writing for the HDRA magazine, so I don't have that level of public 'exposure' to people who might want to buy the book.
On the other hand: I now have a website and indeed a blog, which can act as information channels to potential readers. Maybe I could just sell direct from the website?
But I'd need to print at least 2,000 copies to make the unit price acceptable. Could I really sell 2,000 copies via just a website?
May I ask a question of you, dear reader?
Would you be interested in buying a Scenes III? It would not be quite the same as the other two, as we are no longer running a commercial enterprise, so it would lack the 'storyline' element. But I would retain the 'scenes/articles', and intersperse them with what I hope is useful material and advice for anyone even vaguely wondering about going down a self-sufficient route. I'd try to talk Ken into doing some more cartoons, too. Obviously, a sense of fun would guide me, as usual.
If I can get assurances from enough people, then I reckon I might have a bash. What do you think? Please contact me if you're interested. And please get your friends and contacts to do so, too. If I hear from 500 people….
Time to go. Garlic to plait. Hmmm… garlic… Like a bit?
posted by Chas Griffin at 3:58 pm
1 Comments:
Hi Chas, I am halfway through and loving Scenes II - and would love to read the next installment!
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