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Living The Simple Life

HarrytheHead

HarrytheHead

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 14, 2013
Messages
194
Location
East Coast USA
Not sure what's the best forum for this but here it goes anyway.
I am 26 living a fast paced lifestyle in NYC - born and raised here. Life is so stressful. Work, dating, money, etc. I have become so stressed that I've developed anxiety and the docs want to medicate me so I can return to life as normal.

However, I have always had a desire to move out of the city to a rural area to work on some land and live the simple life. I would grow lots of organic vegetables. Maybe have some chickens, swim in a lake, go fishing. Living the simple life without all these modern day stresses. Find a job in town that would address my meager monetary needs.

No fancy watches, no expensive first dates, no flashy cars, no subway, no tight deadlines, just less pressure.

What would your philosophy be:

-Medicate and continue the hectic city life or
-Move out and be all natural??
 
Hectic, fast paced has different definitions to other people.
What kind of work do you do?
I recently moved to a much "better" location. Different socioeconomic status/multicultural/more industry/better weather. I moved from a border town on Lake Ontario to Central Gulf coast Florida. I found a good psychiatrist and take xanax.

What are you looking for as an answer from other Bl members? There situations simular to yours? There experiences just relocationg?

Are you ok taking prescription meds from a psychiatrist like an anti-anxiety treatment such as the narcotic xanax or a simular non habit forming pill? I dont think that just a pill would change your lifestyle into one more seemingly managable or that living a "simple life in a new locale w/ meager earnings would get rid of your anxiety either. It was hard for me and Ive heard from others that without a support system, you can feel alienated, isolated, stircrazy.
 
I work in public accounting. Long hours, dry work, cold NY weather. Docs gave me Xanax and a ssri. I would rather flee the city and change my lifestyle than be a lifelong ssri taker.

I am looking for any BL members that can relate their own situations.

And thank you for your response beagle boy, Hows the beautiful weather in FLA?

You might be right, running away to a rural setting may not help anxiety. It's been years since I've gone away on vacation. That might be the recipe.
 
Why don't you try finding another job? I'm serious.
I love living in the city - much more than where I grew up (in the middle of no where with all those farms and stuff). I could NEVER go back to that. Soooooo boring!!!!!
Vacation could help - I definitely agree with that.

But really - finding another job? Something more low key. As for money - you could try finding a cheaper place to live? I live in a city (not as big as NYC but still, pretty big) and my rent is pretty high BUT if money was tight, I could easily find a decent place for cheaper. Yeah, it wouldn't be super amazing, but it would work. Perhaps decrease your money problems.

I personally strive in the big city environment. That being said - I'm not low on money (I'm not rich by any means but I am comfortable) and I'm not in the dating scene since I have a boyfriend, and I love my job (even though it is stressful, time sensitive, etc.) so that is a bit different, haha. I think it's all about finding what's right for you. Maybe you won't be able to do that in the city. BUT try out the country FIRST before moving there completely. Some people love the country (like my parents) but I was VERY unhappy there. Definitely do your research and definitely try it out before making that huge commitment.

Maybe something like the suburbs might be better for you. Not the big city but not the middle of no where. Still a possibility.
 
Wow llama thanks for your response. First off I have to say I am so glad I came across bluelight. This place is awesome!

Growing up in the country wow. Did you milk cows growing up lol?

You make some great points. It might be good to try some happy mediums before making an extreme move to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Maybe a less hectic city, or the suburbs, or a job that I can personally identify with. And maybe put less pressure on myself to find the perfect significant other. Just take what life throws with gratitude.
 
However, I have always had a desire to move out of the city to a rural area to work on some land and live the simple life. I would grow lots of organic vegetables. Maybe have some chickens, swim in a lake, go fishing. Living the simple life without all these modern day stresses. Find a job in town that would address my meager monetary needs.
Click to expand...

This idyllic simple life is going to cost more money than you think. You will need a job that pays more than meager to support this lifestyle.
I would start by renting vacation homes in country settings and see if that reduces your anxiety.
 
I went from city to "country" and it is a whole 'nuther expense load. As I got older, I preferred trees for neighbours instead of concrete but it does not come cheap.
 
Harry, country life can be alluring for sure. It is best if one is self-employed. Remember that typical salaries will adjust based on local cost of living, so it may be hard to find work that pays enough when living in bumfuck. Also remember there is a large cost of commuting--for work or groceries, etc.--if you rely on a car or truck. One can't assume that living rural will equal to less money spent in the long run.

That said, do what makes you happy.
 
Man owning a rural property and all the work to maintain it is nuts. Hardly the utopian lifestyle one might picture. Even a little house just outside of some big city where you've got 4 acres of land is a huge time investment to look after. Stress is based on how you structure your life. The idea that city life = stressful and rural life = chilled out is such a myth.
 
tkarr said:
Stress is based on how you structure your life. The idea that city life = stressful and rural life = chilled out is such a myth.
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VERY true

yet

for those nature loving freaks or introverted weirdos, living in the country can help facilitate a slower/more comfortable pace of life. if one likes mowing acres upon acres, dealing with shrubs/trees dying on your property, wild animals, blah blah. just kidding sort of.

in my mind there exists a happy medium, somewhere.
 
Yea I think I am glamorizing mowing 10 acres of grass vs. the work I do now -- finance. Caring for land and milking goats isn't exactly intellectually stimulating in the long run. Though I do think it is more spiritually stimulating.
 
with a profession like that, i'm sure you can find a company and/or city that offers a better work-life balance (for a little lower pay). i'm a quant at a regional bank (top 20 by size, but not top 5), and have good hours without a ton of stress. i could be making more elsewhere, but the cost of living here is low enough that i'm still very comfortable.
 
Yes maybe a cleaner city with a lower cost of living (not NYC) would be a nice choice. Good hours without a ton of stress sounds like a dream!
 
Rural is only what you think it is, if you have the knowledge and skills to live off the land, the resources to get fertile land, the determination to make it work, and produce enough to pay the bills (property taxes, the works, living out in the country isn't cheaper per se than city life).

I live in the middle of bum fuck nowhere, but its a beautiful place in the mountains. Small town dealie, but you seriously have to spend years learning to "live off the land" to actually make it work, and thats only if you are diciplined to teach yourself, or are lucky enough to find someone willing to teach you. I still work a typical job with all the stress/shit associated with that, and while living out in the boonies is nice and all, its far from what most people imagine.

Farming/agriculture is a high art, which requires years of training and lots of practice/fuck ups to be able to be self suffucient. And even then, its a full time job maintaining a farm. Not to discourage you, but be weary of the false idealism that comes along with that dream most people have at one time or another. Alot of people come here with that in mind, and end up working at jobs they hate, just to survive, and are just as unhappy as where they came from.

Theres some quote i can't remember, but it says something about how theres a big misconception that changing your location, will make your life better/happier. Its you that has to change, and thats the hardest part imho. I grew up rural, with intentions of what you describe, and find myself working for a corporate grocery chain in the region entering management in the produce dept. I don't hate my job, but know its a business where the employees are used up and thrown away, unless you sell your soul and climb the management ladder, and the bottom line is proft, like any other job. Which often is associated with more stress/shit to deal with. At least thats my expirence.

Just know its prob going to be one of the hardest (but eventually worthwhile) things to do, if you do decide to follow what i call the "wendell berry" path, and take up agriculture on a small scale. Its a path worth walking though, once you realize the fragility of the centralized systems our society is built upon, and how fucked up it is, on too many levels to think about without getting depressed.

Speaking from the perspective of food retailing/distribution, its unsustainable, and the only way foreward is backwards, living a simple life and producing your own food, just like how we used to live. You have the right idea, and are on the right path, but its a damn rocky road, that is all too often overlooked by those not willing to think about our future in a sustainable manner. IMHO, mass agriculture will fall apart, and the small sustainable farmers will be the winners years down the road, so start now, but be prepared for a rough couple years, and a lifetime of hard, but soulfull and fufilling work you can be proud to do without any reservations.

And then think about how crazy people will get when the system falls apart, and how you'll be essentiallly sitting on a big valuable sought after asset, and without rule of law, most likely will be isolated and defensive towards everyone else who can't produce, and are willing to do nasty things, even kill to get what they need. Animal instincts and shit.
 
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The quote is, ehm, 'wherever you go thats where you are'
Fucking hate that quote with a passion. There is some truth to it.

But for me going somewhere besides the rural south will make a hell of a difference.

Id like to wonder through the Amazon until death
 
HarrytheHead said:
Yes maybe a cleaner city with a lower cost of living (not NYC) would be a nice choice. Good hours without a ton of stress sounds like a dream!
Click to expand...

google up what you could get in a medium/large southeastern city for the rent you're paying in NYC now. there are plenty of accounting jobs down here, and it's not all racists and wal-mart.
 
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