But what do you really want out of "ish"

[Flo]

What do you really want to gain out of being self-sufficient? Or even a bit ish? Just wondering after reading through the replies to being anti-ish for a time? Are we setting our goals too high and too wide? Would we be happier just doing a little rather than attempting to do a whole lot?

[safronsue]

i get pleasure from feeling that i am not making an impact on the planet from my little moves, even if it's just putting peelings on the compost or succeeding in fixing something instead of buying new, or just making the choice to buy local in the supermarket.

[Stonehead]

What do you really want to gain out of being self-sufficient? Or even a bit ish? Just wondering after reading through the replies to being anti-ish for a time? Are we setting our goals too high and too wide? Would we be happier just doing a little rather than attempting to do a whole lot?

I wrote an answer, but it came it at 1,300 words! It reads like the preface of a book. Anyway, the summary is: we like to be independent, self-reliant shapers of our own destinies and not good little consumer drones dependent on government and business to provide everything for us (at a price). Hmm, that's not a very good summary but as most people only like morsel-sized pieces of information it will have to do.

[Paul_C]

fo me the main driving force is to save money on essential things to enable me to have a higher quality of life by having some disposable income.

it sounds quite a selfish reason but i exist on benifits through circumstance not choice and am sick of not having a life because of it.

from this my beer brewing started so i can have a beer at mates houses without it costing me the earth, and have a few beers at home.

i cut my food costs by picking inseason foods myself, and freezing when suitable so i dont have to BUY whatever it is.

all opf these savings lets me go diving. without witch i would have totaly lost it and wouldnt be sat here now.

i also do it because i do not like or trust large corporations at all and especialy when it comes to food. alot of it is out and out crap flogged to us at rip off prices to make them money and us fat and stupid and above all reliant on them.
i want to be able to choose where i spend my cash. they have killed the local town centre off with out of town places so my shopices are limited already but now choose to support the local shops which still exist. not tescos, but the co op.

its a way for me to stop rely on supermarkets for things which i can make for myself. and as i have lots of free time it also gives me something to do. but at the same time saves me time in the long run which is an odd idea i know but it works.

im not walking to the shops every day if a jar emptys, as i have litre jars of pickes, sauces etc sat thier ready so i spend an hour or so making them once a month isntead of an hour every week buying them.

i am making things to suit ME not suit some accountants cost analyises of what i eat. its not homogonised bullshit its real. sometimes its hoter somtimes its tangier somtimes its softer or crunchoier. i get the fuilkl range of what the food CAN be but isnt.

i also do it to get out of the house.
when i go to the supermarket i speak to one person, on the tills, unless i am shuffled onto one of the machies, when i Ish it and go to the butchers, green grocers, spice shop, bakers, i get to talk to people. my butcher knows i dive and we talk about it, i meet people in the spice shop and we talk food for 10 minutes.
i get some social interaction instead of simply being a faceless form of cash.

in a supermarket everyone is heads down, up down get the naffy "offer" and be ignorant.


ish for me isnt not about saving the world as for every one of us who does as much as they can, there are a thousand who undo all what has been done. but about saving MY little bit of the world and saying to the corporations who are trying to make us dumbed down serfs NO i will not bow down. there is a better way.

i know i would LIKE to have a small holding to be able to totaly say to the world Feck off but that is not realisitc, both fiscaly, in knolage of farming, and also in a health manner as i know i simply cant do what i would need to do. so i do what i can on my terms.


i know for me Ish isnt about being a "hippy" with lots of dangly stuff in my home and eating vegan food which unfortunatly the outside world equates it to but instead Ish is about choice. and the choice is simply stepping away from the consumerist world which we are force fed with the ideas of improvement always being a new phone, a bigger tv etc and simply being able to enjoy life for what it gives us.

[Green Aura]

There are lots of different facets really.

I want to -
be more self-reliant
be in control of what goes into as much of our food, cleaning products, toiletries etc as possible
be able to get satisfaction out of what I can make/grow etc
get fitter/healthier (although I'm afraid that doesn't necessarily follow!)

and more in that vein.

But above all I want to be able to put as little money in the hands of a certain supermarket (which tends to dominate up here) - suffice it to say I'm old enough to remember Westminster Council.

[Odsox]

Wot Stoney said, plus I'm as mean as ars*h*es and don't see why I should pay someone to do something I'm perfectly capable of doing myself.
Actually given where I live it saves quite a bit of money.
I'm totally self sufficient in vegetables, eggs and chicken meat and as a result we only need to go grocery shopping every 2 to 3 weeks.
As the nearest decent shop is a 60 mile round trip and if I didn't grow veg I would need to shop twice a week to have fresh veg (no veg box schemes here), so I probably save an average of 4,800 miles a year of unnecessary travel.
And then bugger it up by going away on holiday.

[oldjerry]

Wot everyones said(specially Stoney)Plus..

And I 'm struggling to omit the expletives,but that's cos I feel it so strongly(or maybe it's Tourets),

Basically I really don't like people telling me what to do.The more control I've got over my life the less there is for them.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

- Independence
- Re-skilling
- Improved self-reliance
- Increased ability to usefully contibute
- Inner peace and tranquility.

These are aspects of striving to be at least self-sufficientish that I believe define the proper human condition.

[Ellendra]

Can't really say what I want out of "ish", only that I can't stand NOT being "ish". Ever since I can remember I've wanted to be able to make and do everything myself. It grates on me not to. That's just the way I am.

[Thomzo]

I'm not as ish as many but I do love being able to pick food directly out of my garden. I won't ever be able to stop buying fruit and veg but just to be able to supplement it is lovely. At the moment it's just herbs, spinach and the odd raspberry but in the summer I have loads of fruit and the occasional bean.

I also hate waste so a lot of my 'ishness' is trying to find a use for something and I love crafts and making things.

Zoe

[baldybloke]

I have alway liked simplicity of design and function instead of blindly following fashion. Living life this way can be less stressful and gives you a increased sense of value and perspective. By analysing how you approach and tackle a task can bring forth great satisfaction and contentment. This applies to growing as much food as I can within the confines of my back garden and trying to maximise its yield throughout the year. I also monitor the amount of resources I use, for example electricity and gas. I try not to buy in unnecessary packaging and have been fairly successful at minimising waste. I also try to extend the life of items by repairing and restoring. Any new purchases are agonised over, prefering to buy second hand if I can.
Whether I could ever be truly self sufficient is debatable but by introducing a few individual measures I not only feel I'm doing my bit towards saving the planet, but I'm saving money as well. What's not to like about trying to be 'ish'.

[Stonehead]

No one can be truly self-sufficient but anyone can lean towards self-sufficiency. A more self-sufficient person can greatly benefit their neighbours and community, a more dependent person often doesn't. One gives, the other takes. By being more self-sufficent, I can share what I learn and that feels a lot better to me than rushing down to the shops to buy, buy, buy.

[LittleRat]

I just want that wholly fulfilling feeling after a hard days graft of manual labour in the beautiful great outdoors, the simple sense of wholeness when you have soil under your finger nails and fresh air in your lungs. The peace you have from nurturing and nourishing another life. The gratefulness to mother nature for all that we have. Basically stick me outside with no modern trinkets, ,let me sleep under the stars, roll in the mud, find and raise food and generally be wild

[demi]

my reasons for trying to be as self sufficient as possible are (in no particular order):

To save money
To be together with my family
To eat healthy organic food
To have a physically active lifestyle
To be eco-friendly
To be happy


so iv been a housewife since i got married 5 years ago and we now have 2 beautiful children. my my husband will be giving up his work in 2 weeks time and we are heading back to macedonia where we have a small holding awaiting our return. this is going to be our work now, producing our own food and selling the surplus at the local farmers market. a job which the whole family can be envolved in. no bosses, no stressful office job. just a more relaxed, go at your own pace lifestyle. i want to have a job which keeps me fit and that i can enjoy with my children, no need for child care, we can be all together, working for ourselves.
and from producing our own food organically i feel happy that we are eating safe foods with no chemicals and no cancer or health risks. and i can feel happy that i am doing my bit for the enviroment by recycling, cycling instead of using the car, using wood for heating/cooking instead of gas/oil electricity ect. and by not using harmful chemicals on the land and by promoting diversity instead of monoculture.

for me, and my husband, we think the best thing in life is to be happy and stress free. and we believe this is the best way to go about it :)

[safronsue]

ish for me isnt not about saving the world as for every one of us who does as much as they can, there are a thousand who undo all what has been done. but about saving MY little bit of the world and saying to the corporations who are trying to make us dumbed down serfs NO i will not bow down. there is a better way.

well said Paul, i agree