In a time of commoditized pop music and duelling on-demand streaming services, it can be easy to forget that music is anything other than a generic product to be effortlessly and often unconsciously consumed. But music, perhaps moreso than any other art form, has always been as much about group interaction and co-creation as about mere audience reception.
Life Patterns
A pattern language is a method of describing good design practices or patterns of useful organization within a field of expertise. The term was coined by the architect Christopher Alexander and popularized by his 1977 book A Pattern Language (highly recommended).
The following pattern language was inspired by Alexander’s original. It describes a slow, simple and “light” style of living, rooted in but not bound by tradition. Maybe you will find it useful as a jumping-off point for your own thinking about how to live well.
Follow the seasons
In the modern urbanized settings where most of us live today, it can be easy to neglect the seasons. But this is a mistake. The seasonal cycle of the natural world supplies a rhythm against which we can structure our lives.
Gardening as practice and metaphor
There is a stereotypical view of gardening as a “soft” activity, a gently escapist pursuit suited to retirees with time on their hands and an aversion to loud noises. This stereotype is false. Gardening is one of the most essential of all physical and intellectual activities, bringing us in touch with the deepest core of what it means to be human.
One partner stays home
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For good reason, Western society has evolved beyond a system that determines a person’s role based on rigid gender norms of manual work and war-making for men, homemaking and childrearing for women. This does not mean, however, that a division of labour between the members of a household is always and in every respect or possible configuration a bad thing.
Cycling
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The bicycle is one of humanity’s most recent transportation innovations – more recent even that the locomotive or automobile. It is also perhaps the most healthy, elegantly simple and timeless of all of them.
Cultivate love
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Humans require love and connection, more than any other single ingredient, in order to live happy and fulfilling lives.
Walking as transportation and recreation
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More than any other creature on earth, humans have evolved as masters of travel on foot, but our modern lifestyles often alienate us from this key aspect of our being, weakening us both physically and mentally.