This is in a walkable city though, Vonnegut. I’m sure even you’d agree driving sucks and cars have ruined cities.
Yeah but walk to what you can. It’s worth it. Hell, walk without the envelope sometimes too
Sadly, that’s the mailbox for me.
I have never been to a non walkable city.
I’m European though…
I am very jealous. Of course I only live in the US because Europe at one point decided to exterminate its Jewish population and those in my family who didn’t make it to the US didn’t make it at all, so I guess there’s worse things than having to drive to the store. Still jealous, though.
Exactly! I LOVE getting the newspaper from the box near the only intersection in my village. I LOVE getting eggs and milk from the 24/7 egg and milk station. Chances are that I get to talk to others about local stuff. “How’s your husband?”, “It’s freezing, isn’t it?”, “I made some liquor, wanna come over and have some?”, “Yesterday the sheep broke free, did you see that?”, “Do you still have some boar from the last hunting season?”
Fuck, I’m thankful for this village. Good people.
All that and all I could get is not in the states. Wish we had that here.
I wish you all the best and hope that the tide will turn.
I wish my town was more like this. Stupid stroads all over make walking impossible.
You made some liquor?
Yes, with gooseberries. Next time I have to make more. My neighbours liked it, so it was gone quickly.
I do this too, but more in the physical sense. Like take the stairs instead of the elevator, purposely take a longer or more difficult path just for the exercise, etc. It’s very rewarding.
That’s absolutely fantastic, definitely keep that up. And add in doing things, for no reason. I feel like we get in this grind of toxic productivity, maximising effort and output for ultimate returns, but your nervous system pays for that, it’s not as free as it feels.
There’s a whole part of your brain that isn’t verbal, and just reads the levels of safety in your environment, by how you feel. If you are constantly sending the message to your emotional brain, that we gotta get productivity out of every moment, it actually triggers the fight or flight, if you don’t balance it out with the safety affirming, of just being in the moment, just noticing what’s around you, doing something and just noticing your surroundings, the smell in the air, the way the wind moves in the trees, watching the clouds float, just be a body on a beautiful rock, for a moment, it tells your nervous system, we don’t have to be on allert, there’s no danger. Which in turn, lowers your cortisol and adrenaline. Making the experience of being a body on a beautiful rock, exponentially more enjoyable. Absolutely keep doing the exercise and endorphin boost, just add in “just because” once a day, here and there. Soothing to the soul.
I used to take the stairs instead of the elevator on my way out on Fridays because I sure as he’ll didn’t want to get stuck in the elevator on a Friday evening! It definitely grew on me and I started doing it everyday. People did in fact get stuck in the elevator. More than a couple times lol
Meeting a lot of people just to buy an envelope sounds like a nightmare for my introverted ass.
Also, I don’t need 100 envelopes.
Remember that buying things online always atomizes community. The less you know your local community, the harder it feels to go out and buy local and the more you crave the convenience of buying online. The more you buy online, the less you go out into your community.
