The Joy of Boring

Most people would call my life boring—and from the outside, they’d be right. However, I haven’t experienced a single moment of boredom ever.
For the last couple of decades I have rarely ventured more than about 20 km from home, even back when we owned a vehicle. 
I spend most days here, never going out purely for entertainment. Linda and I find our quiet life highly entertaining in the most natural, low-key way.
Quitting the rat race and disentangling from consumerism means I no longer get the jolt of buying new things. Instead, I get a quiet kick from repairing old possessions and using items decades old that still work perfectly.
We’re not into mainstream entertainment or socializing. We neither attend nor host parties—our liveliest “social events” are the occasional lively comment thread on this blog.
We don’t travel unless it’s absolutely necessary, and very few trips are. Yet by staying put so long, and proceeding so slowly, this place has revealed its intimate secrets to us. 
We’ve watched trees grow that weren’t even here when we arrived in 2014 after crossing the continent in our quest for peace and quiet in an appropriate and affordable setting. 
And after more than a decade of feeding the local crows, we now visit with generations of the same family. They bring their fledglings each spring to show them where the daily peanuts appear, recognizing our faces and footsteps from a tree in the yard, or from the power lines across the street.
So, what is boring, exactly, about peace, clarity, and liberation from the tedium of the daily grind? 
Linda once put this to the Universe: “Is enlightenment boring?”
Perhaps it is—to those still chasing the next material thrill. But to us, this quiet, ordinary life feels like the deepest adventure there is.
What about you? Have you found richness in what others call “boring”? We’d love to hear in the comments.

A Soulful Pause for Nature-Loving Spirits

What is that I hear? The sound of life rushing by growing faint now, in this final month of the year. 

Snowflakes drift down here, not yet collecting, but portending promises of a deeper stillness soon to come.

Bring it on.

For those of us deeply attuned to nature's rhythms, winter is far more than cold and quiet—it's a sacred invitation to pause, reflect, and rejuvenate our spirits.

Fall and winter remind us to slow down and savour the present moment. 

The vibrant greens of spring and summer have faded into autumn's brilliant colors, giving way to freezing temperatures and a serene landscape soon to be blanketed in white.

In this season, the universe whispers: "Pause, dear souls, and find beauty in this moment."

Winter's approaching cloak offers a gentle opportunity to cultivate mindfulness—to be fully present and appreciate winter's simple repose.

In the animal kingdom, many creatures wisely embrace hibernation, retreating to cozy dens to conserve energy and allow nature's cycles to unfold undisturbed.

I, too, feel drawn to this instinct. 

As spiritual beings, we can draw profound inspiration from nature's wisdom. 

Create your own sacred space—a cozy nook where you can retreat and "hibernate" metaphorically. 

Whether it's a cushion by the fireplace or a quiet spot beneath your favorite tree, let it be a sanctuary for reconnecting with your inner self and the divine energy that surrounds us, rekindling your inner flame.

As daylight shortens, our focus naturally turns inward. Winter is the perfect time to nurture the soul through practices that feed the spirit: meditation, prayer, gentle movement, or simply sitting in quiet contemplation.

Lighting candles or tending a fire, the warm glow symbolizes the eternal flame that burns brightly within every living being.

Allow this season to become one of introspection—a chance to explore your inner depths and rediscover truths that may have been overshadowed by life's warmer, more active seasons.

Incorporate winter's elements into your practices. Observe the delicate patterns of snow crystals as reminders of beauty in simplicity and the infinite variety of life. 

Offer gratitude for the earth's dormancy, trusting that it rests now to burst forth with renewed vitality in spring.

Winter is not a time of barrenness, but a canvas for inner reflection. Nature, in its quiet wisdom, guides us to turn inward and discover the magic within.

Embrace the stillness. Honor the hibernation of your spirit. 

Let the winter winds carry away what no longer serves you—releasing, as Thoreau urged, with his call to "Simplify, simplify, simplify.”

In this season of quiet renewal, may you find solace, deeper connection, and profound spiritual recharge. 

It won't be long now until the days begin to lengthen and the light returns.

In that promise we rejoice, because the light always returns.

In the meantime, happy hibernation, friends.

Home Grown Carrots

Artist Paul Cezanne said, “The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution."

I’ve observed that carrot - it came from my garden, and it set off a revolution of taste in my diet.

In my humble opinion, there is nothing better than fresh garden carrots. So crisp, so sweet, so easy to store and enjoy.

I have never tasted a store bought carrot as good as the ones I grow myself. 

Until I pulled a carrot from the ground, washed it off, and ate it, I  hadn’t experienced the true carrot taste.

The substandard ones from the store that I was use to were the right colour, the right shape, and the right size. But they lacked the robust, lively taste of carrots from the garden. They were bland and ho-hum. Carrot-ish.

Garden variety carrots are not only tastier, but also more nutritious. 

Speaking of variety, garden carrots have it all. Big ones, little ones, and in all kinds of shapes. There are orange ones, yellow ones, and purple ones - a rainbow of tasty beauty.

And my wonderfully diverse carrots are almost free. 

I had a moderate carrot harvest this year. Like everything else, this year's yield was affected by the months-long drought.

It seems too early, but I am nearing the end of my carrot harvest that has been stored in our unheated garage since I lovingly picked them in September. 

There are enough left to make a nice, big batch of carrot-ginger soup. Perfect on this snowy, windy, cold late Fall day.

I will miss my carrots when I have to go back to buying the store-provided industrially grown, all-the-same orange roots I call corporate carrots. They are built for profit, not perfection.

Because of that, I am grateful for my fresh, naturally perfect carrots. Planting, caring for, harvesting, and eating them makes me happy.

Start your own taste revolution - grow carrots! Your tastebuds, and pocketbook, will thank you.

You Are the Gift

Happy holidays simple livers. Once again we have the perfect opportunity to initiate a buy nothing Christmas. 

But it won’t be easy.

Suggesting leaving gift giving behind in our debt-funded consumerist economy is tantamount to treason, punishable by exclusion, banishment and ostracizication. 

However, it also just might save us from out of control debt and misery, not to mention overstuffed storage lockers and garbage bins.

Mainstream narratives confuse good will in the world with good loot under the tree. We can turn that around.

It is amazing what a search for ‘’no gifts, please’’ brings up. Tons of polite and gracious ways to let people know you are going gift free.

If you are present-free curious, right now is the perfect time for choosing a stress-free, gift-free holiday season.

Try one or more of the above suggested ways to communicate your desire to make this holiday season about relationships with each other, and nature rather than about loot.

Besides, the best gift you can give is your time and undivided attention. 

And that is free.

No material gift may be the best gift this year. It is exactly what many of us would like.

Thanks for nothing, except for you, just as you are, which I deeply love and cherish.

Be the most valuable gift you can give, then give freely.

The world will be a better place because of the gift of your presence in this very moment.

Happy Buy Nothing Christmas from your Scroogey friends at the Not Buying Anything Blog.

Thank you for your time and attention year round, for which we are infinitely grateful.

You Can’t Buy It

We've been sold a bill of goods. Consumer cultures have been brainwashed into thinking that happiness is all about piling up more crap. 

The trillion-dollar-a-year advertising industry is behind this scam, pushing the idea that buying junk we don’t need is the path to bliss.

But here’s the real kicker: we can’t figure out how people can have a paltry possession pile and yet still be happy.  

From our perch atop our teetering mountains of trinkets, gadgets, and toys, we scratch our heads and wonder, 

"How is that possible?"

Maybe those happy, non-materially oriented people are happy because they don’t have a bunch of distracting distractions. 

Some of the happiest societies around are less affluent, small, traditional, and relatively unmonitized. 

That is because historically, indigenous and traditional societies have operated on principles that prioritize community well-being over individual wealth accumulation. 

These societies often rely on systems of reciprocity, gift-giving, and communal labour rather than monetary exchange.

We shouldn’t be pointing out what they don’t have; instead, we should look at what they do have.

Maybe stuff doesn't actually make people happy. Consider the results of the 200-year-old conspicuous consumer experiment. 

The verdict is in: it’s a bust, and it’s time to try something different.

Actually, it’s not that different. Go back just a few generations, and everyone's ancestors were living simpler, materially poorer lives. 

But were they any less happy? If not, then what’s all the extra stuff for?

Here are a few reasons why our ancestors and materially poor people and communities today might be happier than those with more stuff:

1. Less Debt, Less Stress 

Less debt means less stress, and less stress means more happiness.

2. Strong Community Ties

Often, people with fewer material possessions have stronger community ties, relying on each other for support, which creates a sense of belonging and mutual aid.

3. Appreciation for Simple Pleasures

When you don’t have much, you learn to appreciate the little things. 

4. Freedom from Consumerism 

Being away from the rat race of consumerism can lead to a greater sense of contentment and peace of mind.

5. Genuine Experiences

It's important to note that experiences can also be consumerized. The key is to seek out genuine, meaningful experiences that enrich the soul, not just the social media feed.

6. Spiritual Richness

Spiritual practices and community rituals can play a significant role in daily life. These practices provide a sense of purpose, inner peace, and connection to something greater than oneself and one’s material possessions.

7. Simplicity and Contentment

Voluntary simple living people often find joy in the simplicity of their lives by prioritizing quality over quantity. This leads to a greater sense of contentment and fulfillment.

 

Think about that the next time you're standing in line at the mall, waiting to buy non-essential things. 

Because in the end, it's not about the stuff. It's about the stuff that matters. 

And that stuff? 

You can't buy it.

Buy Nothing Day/Week/Month/Year 2025

The last Friday of November has arrived once again. It's the day advertisers shout even louder and brasher than usual, imploring us to, “Buy! More! Now! Hurry!”

And what is that right beside it? Why, it is  Buy Nothing Day, and it is whispering rather than shouting, “How about taking a break from it all?”.

I hear those whispers on this, and every day. 

Not because of what this day is against, but because of what it is for: a whole 24 hours set aside to remember that we already have enough, that our worth is not measured in things, and that true wealth lives in the moments we choose to leave unfilled.

Buy Nothing Day is less a protest and more a quiet celebration—an annual pause to enjoy what we have, to notice the beauty of an uncluttered space or an unhurried morning, to feel the lightness that comes when the urge to acquire softens into the peace of appreciating.

It is a day to walk outside and let the wind and sunshine be the only things that brush against us.

A day to cook from the pantry and discover we have everything we need to make beautiful, nourishing foods.

A day to mend, to borrow, to create, to give away, to simply be.

The hermit-poet Ryōkan wrote:
“If you want to be happy,
there is no need to go running about.
Just sit like a solitary cloud
and let the world come to you.”
We can choose to sit like that cloud.

No running.

No grasping.
No buying.

It’s an intentional moment of doing nothing commercial—so that life, real life, can come to you.

This year, whether you observe it for one day, one week, a whole month, or weave its spirit through the entire year, know that every moment you choose presence over purchasing is a small act of kindness: to the earth, to others, to your future self, to the quiet heart that already knows enough is a feast.

So light a candle, drink tea from your favorite old mug, listen to the rain or the silence or the laughter in the next room. 

Let the ads flash and the doors open early somewhere else. Here, in this moment, we are already where we want to be.

Let’s celebrate Buy Nothing Day together on Friday, my fabulous frugal friends.

May your cup, and life, stay sufficiently full.

These Apples Are Wild and Free Just Like Me

I found more wild domestic apples. They were conveniently in my back yard. Why have I never seen them before?

I should explain. We live rurally, and the lot our rental home is on is just over two acres. Since we moved in here in 2014, what used to be an old farmer’s field has really shrubbed up. 

Deer, coyotes, and ring-necked pheasants hide back there, so why not a smallish apple tree?

I looked out my window recently and finally noticed the yellow apple tree way down by the forest edge. 

I put on my boots, grabbed a pack, and went down to pick to my heart’s content.

Since then I have been enjoying them daily, and wondering to my amazement,

“Oh little apple tree—what makes your apples taste so sweet and delicious?”

Maybe it is because you are free, choosing to live in the wild, just like me. How you arrived here, I know not, but you are so welcome.

Maybe I love thee because I picked your natural fruit with my own two hands.

Or perhaps because you gave me ten dollars worth of apples for just a bit of effort in the sunshine.

It could be because you not only survived and fruited out during a months-long drought this past summer, but thrived and produced a most tasty and appreciated food for all.

Or, it could be because you are a yellow-skinned variety of Malus domestica, which is rare in my experience.

So many possibilities.

I’m thinking it just might be the waft of sweet apple nose candy that greets me cheerfully every time I go out to the garage to grab a couple from your storage box for breakfast in the morning.

I guess it is a combination of all those things, and one more I almost forgot: You asked nothing of me.

No fertilizer, no pruning, no spraying, no permission.

You just stood there at the edge of the field, year after year, doing your apple thing while the rest of us rushed past with grocery lists and worries.

And when I finally looked up long enough to see you, you were already holding out your branches like you’d been waiting for me to catch on.

So thank you, little wild-yellow apple tree, for the sweetest lesson I’ve tasted for a while:

Sometimes the best things in life aren’t planned. They’re just there, waiting quietly, until we’re slow enough (and lucky enough) to walk far enough into our own backyard to discover them.

I’ll leave the ladder in the garage.

You seem to be doing fine on your own.

 

Resisting the Holiday Hype

Today, since we are now past Halloween, I present a selection of the top 10 most relevant holiday-themed posts from our blog, staying true to our year round focus on anti-consumerism, waste reduction, and joyful alternatives that are low cost or free. 
Here you will find low-impact celebrations like Buy Nothing Christmas and solstice rituals instead of the usual commercial excess. I prioritized a mix of timeless classics and more recent entries from our 17 years and 8 months preaching the simple life on the net. 
Here they are, listed chronologically. Click on the URL below to see the post.

1. Why I Am Having A Buy Nothing Xmas (December 9, 2011)
   My personal manifesto highlighting global inequities (e.g., 80% of humanity on less than $10/day) and positioning non-shopping as activism, with alternatives for true giving.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-i-am-having-buy-nothing-xmas.html
2. Buy Nothing Day 2012 (November 23, 2012)
   Elevates Buy Nothing Day as an anti-Black Friday "holiday" with overconsumption stats (e.g., 70% of U.S. GDP from spending) and creative, debt-free ideas like zombie walks or community picnics.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2012/11/buy-nothing-day-2012.html
3. No Christmas Gifts, Please (October 9, 2015)
   Advocates declaring a gift moratorium to reclaim holiday simplicity, sharing reader stories and suggesting solstice-focused alternatives to escape the shopping pressure.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2015/10/no-christmas-gifts-please.html
4. Simplify The Holidays - Buy Nothing Xmas (November 28, 2016)
   Builds on Buy Nothing Day success with tips to de-commercialize the season through sharing, creativity, and resources from the Center for a New American Dream for stress-free celebrations.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2016/11/simplify-holidays-buy-nothing-xmas.html
5. Rise Above Consumemas (December 15, 2017)
   Critiques the shift from Christmas to “Consumemas" and promotes zero-buy rituals like natural art-making for a sustainable solstice.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2017/12/rise-above-consumemas.html
6. Facts On Holiday Waste (December 25, 2021)
   Shares stark stats like 25 billion pounds of annual U.S. food waste and $800 average gift spending, urging a "Buy Nothing Zero Waste" approach to end the cycle of dissatisfaction.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2021/12/facts-on-holiday-waste.html
7. No Gifts? Not Necessarily A Bad Thing (December 21, 2022)
   Celebrates declining gift trends (from $1,300 in 1999 to $800 in 2020, adjusted) as progress, linking it to better communication and charity growth, with ideas for handmade or need-based exchanges.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2022/12/no-gifts-not-necessarily-bad-thing.html
8. The End of Black Friday Madness (November 29, 2020)
   Reflects on pandemic shifts ending in-store Black Friday crushes, proposing permanent alternatives like mindful non-shopping to avoid debt and chaos year-round.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-end-of-black-friday-madness.html
9. A Prescription for a Minimalist Christmas Might be Just What You Need (December 17, 2024)
   The doctor is in! A Peanuts-inspired remedy for ditching debt-fueled extravagance, favoring simple joys like hot cocoa gatherings or peace vigils over "perfect" gifts and decor.
   URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2024/12/a-prescription-for-minimalist-christmas.html
10. Reverse Christmas (December 2024)
    Examines the post-holiday returns frenzy as a symptom of overbuying, encouraging preemptive "reverse planning" to match gifts to real needs and minimize waste from the start.
    URL: https://notbuyinganything.blogspot.com/2024/12/reverse-christmas.html

These selections offer ideas for holidays that prioritize connection over consumption—ideal for the 2025 season. Please enjoy our selection of posts, and may they help you celebrate a more meaningful, intentional holiday season free of the pressure to spend, spend, spend.
Happy Holidays, everyone.
Let the peace and calm begin.