COUNTRY LIFESTYLE
How would you feel when you woke up one morning and realized that all the things you had spent-- time, money and effort were essentially unimportant?.........
That wine glasses you bought on your trip with its endearing crystal gleaming, no longer graces your after meal indulgence, now stood still and just mere display pieces.
The new Armani outfit you splurged on for your mall trips lies shrouded in your wardrobe on a rack of ageing designer clothes…and all those jewels, blings ,watches,multitude of shoes you proudly spent your salary on, now sparkle only for the benefit of your locker. You feel bereft - as if you've left a part of yourself with those prized possessions - but all you can take on your next chapter in life is a feeling of being you strips of the 'good things"?.....
That's what happened to me when I took a 2 year hibernation, a work pause from the "usual me routine" and spent life out of the box - living life in Dinas, my hometown for almost two years and did some "Martha Stewart Fab Life in the Country Side". So there would be no cupboards filled with worldly goods ...only fresh air,..fresh vegetable from the organic patches on the backyard,like whenever you love chicken casserole you basically run to catch live chicken..either you are exhausted or the chicken ,then, you will have fresh cooked "chicken ala king! with fresh squeezed lemonade, fresh shrimps and crabs from your daily fish vendors.
Green environment for green life!!!!!
I was apprehensive to say the least…. If only I knew then what I know: that it is possible to be completely happy even fulfilled, that the best of things in life are almost free.....at least as I thought.
.....then acquisition became an antidote for angst.
I look back on my bouts of 'shopaholicism' now and grimace at thousands of dirhams,spent on things I am happily doing without. But I needed them then. When life handed me an apple, I would reach for my credit card and go on a spree - if you haven't already discovered retail therapy, believe me there's no faster cure for job stress or anxiety than that gorgeous branded pieces which makes one feel like a million dollars. Retail therapy was my panacea for my worries.... - till I came to my hometown where there was no retail...................!
Here, it doesn't matter if I'm wearing last year's - or even last decade's fashion... no one cares. I wear cargo shorts to my farm or going to marts because the dress code is more about comfort, not elegance. We have few status symbols here....no big cinemas,shopping malls and haute cuisine restaurants.
Here's what I have come to value about this no-frills existence: when people are stripped of their status symbols, you peel away the layers of social armour and see them as they are. There's no pressure to keep up appearances when all you have are half pants and t-shirts...no pressure of looking better than our neighbours!!!
How much more enriching to nurture friendships with people for what they are than what they have…I always knew this was true but I'm living it now in a way that makes me wonder why I ever spent a moment worrying about being on the A list.
I don't want to draw halos around heads and pretend to get kicks from living in so simple life,I still had nightmares on me walking in Roberto Cavallis..shopping in Harrods, or simply floating in cobbled Champs Elysees... half truth half filled, I was only as good as my last byline....my last deal or my last collection, this altruistic concern for the needy comes hard to the self-absorbed....I can't bear it longer!
When you turn your attention from yourself to others, your things, your status and its symbols become less significant. In fact, it's a classic tool for alleviating depression.
Why can't I just be contented sitting quietly watching the orange sun slip nightly into a turquoise sea...
Drop out of the rat race... then to downsize.... to simplify one's needs as a way of reducing stress, to redefine success as personal growth maybe….but I STILL CAN'T.
So in a hurry...packed my bag...run..and jump back again into the BOX!
How would you feel when you woke up one morning and realized that all the things you had spent-- time, money and effort were essentially unimportant?.........
That wine glasses you bought on your trip with its endearing crystal gleaming, no longer graces your after meal indulgence, now stood still and just mere display pieces.
That's what happened to me when I took a 2 year hibernation, a work pause from the "usual me routine" and spent life out of the box - living life in Dinas, my hometown for almost two years and did some "Martha Stewart Fab Life in the Country Side". So there would be no cupboards filled with worldly goods ...only fresh air,..fresh vegetable from the organic patches on the backyard,like whenever you love chicken casserole you basically run to catch live chicken..either you are exhausted or the chicken ,then, you will have fresh cooked "chicken ala king! with fresh squeezed lemonade, fresh shrimps and crabs from your daily fish vendors.
Green environment for green life!!!!!
I was apprehensive to say the least…. If only I knew then what I know: that it is possible to be completely happy even fulfilled, that the best of things in life are almost free.....at least as I thought.
.....then acquisition became an antidote for angst.
I look back on my bouts of 'shopaholicism' now and grimace at thousands of dirhams,spent on things I am happily doing without. But I needed them then. When life handed me an apple, I would reach for my credit card and go on a spree - if you haven't already discovered retail therapy, believe me there's no faster cure for job stress or anxiety than that gorgeous branded pieces which makes one feel like a million dollars. Retail therapy was my panacea for my worries.... - till I came to my hometown where there was no retail...................!
Here, it doesn't matter if I'm wearing last year's - or even last decade's fashion... no one cares. I wear cargo shorts to my farm or going to marts because the dress code is more about comfort, not elegance. We have few status symbols here....no big cinemas,shopping malls and haute cuisine restaurants.
Here's what I have come to value about this no-frills existence: when people are stripped of their status symbols, you peel away the layers of social armour and see them as they are. There's no pressure to keep up appearances when all you have are half pants and t-shirts...no pressure of looking better than our neighbours!!!
I don't want to draw halos around heads and pretend to get kicks from living in so simple life,I still had nightmares on me walking in Roberto Cavallis..shopping in Harrods, or simply floating in cobbled Champs Elysees... half truth half filled, I was only as good as my last byline....my last deal or my last collection, this altruistic concern for the needy comes hard to the self-absorbed....I can't bear it longer!
Why can't I just be contented sitting quietly watching the orange sun slip nightly into a turquoise sea...
Drop out of the rat race... then to downsize.... to simplify one's needs as a way of reducing stress, to redefine success as personal growth maybe….but I STILL CAN'T.
So in a hurry...packed my bag...run..and jump back again into the BOX!
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