The life of a modern man in a large metropolis is so severe that the existence of a squirrel, which is forced to constantly turn the wheel, may seem compared to her vacation.
We are always in a hurry somewhere, do not have time, we are nervous, we try to justify the hopes placed on us, we want to have more than our neighbor's, but. ..
Are we happy with this?
I'm sure that among my readers there will be those who will answer positively to this question, but there will also be those that will reflect.
Those who not only thought about it, but decided to change their life abruptly, because they did not experience happiness, and founded a new movement called downshifting , which is currently at the peak of popularity.
What is it, who was the first downshifter, why do people generally throw everything and run away from civilization, you'll learn from today's article.
Downshift: the history of the development of the movement
The very term downshifting in English means a transition to a lower gear in the car or, at all - the slowing down of any process.
Now explaining to someone, what is downshifting , we mean people who abandoned the common life benefits( such as a career, a large salary, huge real estate, etc.) and began to live the way they want, and there, where they want.
It is believed that the first downsweeper was the Buddha who abandoned everything( family, prosperity, inheritance), and went as a monk to study life in order to save humanity from suffering.
Well-known downsweeper is also considered Paul Gauguin.
There are many adherents of the theory that if a well-known artist did not quit a lucrative job in a bank and did not go to Tahiti to do away from the hustle and bustle of the people, then the world would never have received so many incredibly beautiful works of the master.
10 tips on how to stop wasting
The very term "downshifting" was first used by a US journalist Sarah Breatn in 1991.
She wrote the whole article "Life in a downshift: downshifting and a new look at success in the 90s", which she published in the legendary "Vanishton post".
The term has got accustomed and now everyone who escapes from the blessings of a civilization, name not "idiots", and "downshifts" 😛.
What is downshifting and what its fans like
? This movement is most popular in the US, UK and Australia.
In these countries, a third of adults at one point make an intelligent decision: to escape from the metropolis to the bosom of nature.
But Russia and Ukraine( or rather, cities such as Kiev, Petersburg and Moscow) downshifting did not pass by.
The most attractive countries to escape for today are India( on Goa, for example, there are entire settlements of downshifts) and Thailand.
However, in order to become a downsweeper, it is not necessary to flee to some exotic country, it is enough to move to the village and abandon many civilizations that destroy the blessings: technology, car, household chemicals, medicines, etc.
Downshift is a fairly broad concept. In his sympathy record those who:
- changes an apartment or a huge house to a house in a small village, in the forest, near the lake, in general - away from people;
- feeds on organic products grown or found in the forest with their own hands;
- uses organic cosmetics and household chemicals: makes them on its own or buys from the same ones as itself;
- gives up a lucrative job and begins to engage in creativity, travels;
- leads an exceptionally healthy lifestyle, does a lot of self-development and self-knowledge, is fond of spiritual practices, therapeutic gymnastics, yoga, but not just sometimes attends classes and reads books, but pays it almost all the time, etc. Downsifting and the most famous of his fans
Henry David Thoreau, who graduated with honors from Harvard, had a brilliant career and perspective work, but he gave it all up to live in a forest hut, there are only those products that he independently procured in the forest, treated with herbs.True, Henry refused from everything worldly, not forever, but for several years.
Then he returned to civilization and wrote about his adventures book, which became a bestseller.
A well-known parliamentary journalist from England Judy Jones, at the peak of her popularity, turned her back on her once-beloved work.40-year-old Judy went to travel and explore the world.
Now she continues to write, but not about political confrontations, but about medicine, social problems, floriculture and her love for downshifting.
Beginners fugitives from civilization use her texts, as mistresses of the book of culinary recipes.
The most famous Russian downshift is Herman Sterling. Back in the 1990s, he joined the ranks of super-billionaires, and then decided to take part in the presidential elections.
Disappointed in people and achievements of civilization so much that he abandoned Moscow and settled with his little wife in a remote Russian village.
However, business habits did not leave, turning downshifting into earnings.
Herman sells organic products, cosmetics, offers beginners to learn how to handle cattle, chop wood, etc. And all this for money, of course.
The criminals laugh: "Mrs. Sterlingova goes, they say, in designer sarafans."
Not too successful, as for me, and an example of a grief-priest Okhlobystin.
So he decides to devote himself to God, takes the dignity, puts on his wife a handkerchief, a skirt on the floor and flies to Tashkent.
Then returns, a little more plays in the priest and decides that looting in life is the main thing. Again begins to act in films, not disdaining the roles of a sadistic doctor and a robber.
How to become a downsweeper, find harmony with yourself and nature?
What will this venture cost and will it be possible to return to life in the metropolis?
Answers to these questions are contained in this video.
Include, listen, remember!🙂
Public Attitude to Downshift
Most do not care about those who flee from civilization. Indeed, each of us grows his own cockroaches.
There are those who still can not understand what is downshifting and with what it is eaten.
There are also quite aggressive views on this trend, up to the complete isolation of these "crazy" and the ban on them to promote their ideas.
For example, I respect the point of view of dissenters, although I do not understand how you can voluntarily give up the benefits of civilization.
And here is the reason why the downshifts throw everything, it seems to me far-fetched: career, financial well-being, technological progress and other benefits - not forced on humanity.
It's just a conscious choice of normal people.