On Leaping Out of the Pot
Rethinking my lifestyle and creative output in the face of a dystopian world
Every day I read about the world and think about the analogy of the boiling frog. If a frog is placed suddenly into boiling water, it will quickly leap out of the pot. But if it is placed into tepid water which is slowly brought to the boil, it will not sense the danger and instead boil to death. It is a good metaphor for this strange age we are living through, a warning against our inability or unwillingness to react to sinister threats that gradually arise before our very eyes. Reader, I have bad news. We are the frogs - and we are slowly being boiled alive.
Sweet lord, how grim! Understandably, most of us would rather not focus on the horror, and instead trust the systems we have collectively put in place to keep everyone above water. We believe this, even as we witness the widening chasm between rich and poor, the subsidising of fossil fuels when wildfires burn down Hollywood mansions, the manipulation of the media to convince us to protect the rights of billionaires above all else because maybe (maybe!!) one day we might be one of them.
But we are not getting a ticket to Mars. We are falling fast into the abyss of unregulated greed and vapid consumerism, and we need to wake up now and jump out of this pot. You know when you first read 1984 or A Handmaid’s Tale and thought, how can they have let this happen? Why didn’t people stand up and stop this? It is because the sinister threats coming for humanity are sneaks. They attack our values, one by one, repackaging their attacks into more palatable canapés that peak the interest of anyone who lets their fears speak louder than their hopes. And worst of all, they make speaking up seem like inconvenience in what is, for many of us, a very convenient existence.
Horrible stuff, I know. And I don’t pretend to have any kind of overnight solution. I’m one person in eight billion, and I have next to zero authority over anyone. Just ask my kids. And yet, I’m feeling more optimistic as I write this now than I have felt for a long time. Why? Because all the billionaires want is for us to lose hope and follow the path of least resistance, which means the most empowering and uplifting thing you can do is exactly the opposite. As the great poet Tennyson wrote:
‘I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair.’
The truth is that changing the world should not fall on the shoulders of individual people. The vast majority of the damage has been caused by big corporations and industries that lobby the governments to give them tax breaks, abuse people and planet, and then claim innocence because our neoliberal society has decreed that every decision should be made by market forces instead of - I don’t know - morality, sustainability, fairness, happiness, quality of life, all those boring things that are somehow less important than stock share prices.
But we’re past the point of entrusting our futures to corporations and corrupt governments. They don’t give a shit. So sure, we can continue to petition and vote and throw a Hail Mary in the hope that all the billionaires suddenly decide to no longer be billionaires. Fingers crossed! But after we’ve done that, it might be worth assessing our own individual impact too, just for good measure. Cut the gold-plated threads that tie our lives to theirs. Relieve them, piece by piece, of their power to control our lives with the soothing lullaby of convenience.
The first step for me? A mental association exercise. Every time I say one of the following things, I’m going to imagine a sad, little, boiled frog:
‘I know Amazon are evil, but God damn they’re convenient!’
‘I agree with Just Stop Oil in principle, but they need to find less obstructive ways of preventing the apocalypse.’
‘Social media makes us tribalist, hateful, braindead consumers and I hate every minute I spend on Instagram. But it sure is necessary!’
Part of the problem with Western neoliberal society is that we have been conditioned to value the individual over community. It’s one of the reasons we feel so overwhelmed with the state of the world, because we have been convinced that the individual is sovereign, and any change we want to see must come from ourselves alone. It is a huge amount of pressure and won’t get us very far in the long run, but on the flip side, it can be a great place to start making a difference.
And that leads me back to my Substack - my own online space from where small ripples of positive action might grow. Substack is far from perfect as a platform, but I feel like it is a much more positive and fulfilling place to show up than regular social media platforms like Instagram. I’ll still be writing about nature, seasonal living and the creative process, because these topics are powerful and important in their own right. But I also feel drawn to the deeper frameworks surrounding these topics. I am on a new journey to try and disconnect my family’s life from the shackles of hyper-consumerism and ultra-convenience. I want to really work on living a more intentional, ethical lifestyle where my money and energy are flowing into more positive places.
I’ll be offering free content every week to my regular subscribers, but I’m also going to be writing an extra weekly post for paid subscribers, diving deeper into some of the things I’m exploring. This won’t be all doom and gloom, don’t worry! In fact, my whole ethos moving forward is to find a new way of living without losing any joy at all. Some of the subjects you can expect from me as a paid subscriber will include:
How to create more and consume less
Podcasts, vlogs, written content and illustrations
Insights into the creative process
Tutorials for homebrewing, crafting and making sustainable gifts
Growing your own fruit and vegetables
Digital detoxing and living more richly away from the internet
A sprinkle of politics and current events
Reducing, reusing and recycling
Ethical shopping guides for everyday items like books, food, clothes, etc.
Art, books, films and cultural experiences that are inspiring me
I’ve also renamed my Substack ANALOGUE, because this epitomises everything I love about living more slowly and creatively, taking a breather from the internet, and trading in rat-race convenience for thoughtful intention.
I’m really excited to get back into the flow of writing and share the ideas, experiences and projects that are bringing more hope and joy into my life. If you are also plagued by WHAT CAN I DO? syndrome, and you’re looking to find a way to create more, consume less and live a more fulfilled, connected existence, I’d love to have you along for the ride.
Spot on, Tiff... beautiful written (and narrated!)... That sense of individualism over community has been the predominant narrative since the '80s (Thatcher et al.) and has been re-heightened through austerity. Your words are a perfect rebuff at the perfect moment... I've been on the mailing list for Woodbroke (Quakers) since the pandemic and FINALLY attended online 'worship' (mostly silence) on Monday. I'm an atheist at best (but with some pagan secular-Buddhism sprinkling too) but non-theists such as myself are very welcome in Quakers and I felt at home amongst like-minded folk- the Quaker values of simplicity, truth, equality and peace are exactly where I exist (and each seems mentioned by you when I read your post - so maybe you're also a Quaker in outlook :)!)
Here for it. Gribbit.