withdrawal Archives - SLOW LIFE.

One of the main problems of today’s global society is a sense of anxiety, or frustration because one may feel that he or she is constantly under pressure to fulfill the expectations of how to live and do things. In the midst of a sea of information flooding us every day through the internet and social media, one might feel fragile. Internet, social media might get us to compare ourselves to others, or compete with the world, which might result in a willingness to escape.

Escaping however is not necessarily a defense reaction to cut off from the toxic world around us, to protect oneself from stress and anxiety. On the contrary, it might be a willingness, striving, and proactive choice to build one’s own “better” world, to successfully steer one’s own mini-universe.

From this perspective, escapism can be seen as an attempt to work on a balanced life, embracing oneself and one’s own well-being. Escapism can take radical forms, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be radical. It may manifest in daily life as slowing down, focusing on one’s thought, or as a meditative element in life which allows us to find balance – for instance in the form of a long walk.

Self-sustainability is a state of being in which the basic needs of an individual or a family can be fulfilled based on their own sources, without outer help. Self-sustaining entities make themselves independent of money, global economy and employers. This idea has emerged repeatedly in the modern history of mankind – see David Thoreau’s Walden – On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1854), which gives insight into withdrawal into nature from the maiming impact of civil society. In addition, numerous other examples could be mentioned where individuals or complete communities withdrew from industrialised society to reach self-sufficiency by producing all raw materials and products for themselves and their families using traditional methods. Withdrawal does not only mean independence but also progression – through building a harmonious relationship with nature, one can also develop spiritually. Traditional methods of producing do not exploit nature the way industrial agriculture and livestock farming do. Self-sustainability can also be realised in an urban environment: by baking our own bread, by using chemical free sanitary and cleaning products, by drying, preserving or pickling fruits and vegetables, or by sewing our own clothes.