In this post Patrick argues industrial civilisation radically limits us, and he offers some responses to the predicament of hyper-domestication and safetyism.
Listen (9 mins),
or watch.
We’d love to hear some of your life jacket removal hacks in the comments.
Thanks so much for this, Patrick. A central topic for me, living on the second floor of a small block of flats w/ no prospect of moving anytime soon & surrounded by deeply civilised folk. I never heat the space (it’s Sydney: mild as!) & swim throughout winter despite chilblains: small price to pay for the high. I often walk long distances, even w/ loads, because I feel stifled on buses since the windows don’t open, avoid air-conditioned spaces as much as possible, wash clothes by hand & as seldom as possible, buy most of my veg from organic market stalls, choose all food for nutrient value (trusting instinct over research) & keep it as unprocessed as possible. I don’t own a car or a mobile phone, nor do I want to. I’ve taken pharmaceuticals once in the last few decades: refused antibiotics after a hernia op, but the surgeon came on so heavy about the need for pain meds to heal properly (!) that I felt intimidated enough to take some, but stopped early due to gross side effects outweighing ‘relief’ (like, that’s the best Science can do?). I feast my senses on trees, ocean, skies & old decaying things as often as I can, since so much else in the urban world is bland, soulless &/or grotesque, but also observe & listen to my surrounds. And I jaywalk (once got run down on a brightly lit pedestrian crossing: so much for rules). All of which isn’t much, but helps me stay sane. As does listening to voices like yours & your kin. Thanks again.
This was a magical little walk alongside your beautiful life, Shane. Thank you for sharing so richly here.
Hi Shane, thank you for sharing a window into your life so honestly. My daughter has moved from a rural place to the city to study and she has taken much of her rural skills with her. Growing food in the shared garden (with permission from other flat dwellers) setting up a food share box in the hallway and striking up convos with old ladies in the park (who are now teaching her knitting.)
You’re both showing that it is possible to live a free-er life in the city if you can take the blinkers off.
I always look forward to correspondence from you Meg and Patrick. Yes, in regards to temperature, I am so pleased to have travelled my way through the menopause experience to a point where I can manage myself on a hot night with wet towels and wet hair no electricity needed!! and am back to riding my bike in 28 celsius. At 57, I have ditched all supps except for Magnesium and am working on that.
To keep myself from being sucked back in by consumerism, I am investing in a year long supportive group program with an alternative life coach who lives a permaculture style nomadic life out of a converted truck.
I’m excited to be supported to achieve goals such as saving money for life enhancing decisions such as a second-hand Toyota van to travel for permaculture volunteering and for extended time in natural settings.
Thank you for sharing your ideas and serenity with us.
Thanks for giving the care to share this Karen. Wonderful to hear a little of your reclamation journey. Each reclaiming story joins up with others and we co-create a morphic field of transformation, beauty and possibility.
yes to this exploration dear pa – trick… some of my tricks and hacks might just be ways … i love to wash my morning face in dew drops, the first thing that i put in my mouth and belly for the day to be foraged bush tucker … currently sap and the last of the so so sweet mistletoe berries, the first of the cherry ballart.. (late season here)… it connects me to Country…Djaara Country .. maybe some pig face or heath berries if i get to the coast… catching the dawn light on a morning wander sets up the day to honour Country and wonder…
low lighting, sleeping all year with the windows open, eating breakfast out in the hills pretty much every day… often a mixed feeding flock comes by… its lovely to be part of that… singing at dawn… catching the end of day light also brings delight.. noticing the seasonal changes cos im out so often, noticing different mini ecosystems in different parts of the landscape…
I guess for me id rather know im a part of the magnificent cape of the land, or the land’s cape… i like the word life jacket,,, it feels like something id carry my tricks and tools in… with lots of pockets and feathers and maybe even a tail or two at the back! probably lots of tales too…
I also love playing with words!
with love… Trace Balla
ps.. turning left at traffic lights on a bike is often way safer when its red! so I do!
Thanks Trace, we’ve always admired your morning rituals and journeys.
ditto! except yours are way too cold for me!!!! xx
🧡
My lives-jacket is very old and full of patches, each hand-sown patch different, each patch full of memory of times good and bad.
My lives jacket has, in this part of it’s life, no particular pattern. It travelled wherever it is taken, where the inner forces take it.
My lives jacket has ended up in my childhoods dreams of nature and natural living.
The lining is soft and full of changing colours.
Thank you, Patrick for sharing yours with us.
Beautifully put Patrick.
I’ve spent a lot of my career in and out of cold water, in fresh air, teaching people to risk assess so they can step outside of their comfort zone.
Five years ago I had to give up my outdoor guide career to care for my wife and kids while her cancer diagnosis took a turn for the worse.
She is still with us and takes care to fill herself with good nutrition and herbs whilst going through conventional medicine.
My point is I guess I have become more domesticated as I say at home, by that I mean less risk more comfort. I’ve had to actively engage in cold water bathing, growing food and fixing bicycles to stay wilder.
Thanks to your family for inspiration over the years and for the New Peasants film.
Kevin
Thanks for sharing a little of your story, Kevin. Meg always says one of the wildest places she visits daily is her fermenting table in our kitchen. A trillion microbes transforming our food into medicine with a daily practice of courting the wild twin in relationship with the wild inside the sphere of the domestic. Wishing you and your family much joy in 2026.
Beautiful, thank you
Thanks for the words Patrick. Love a little bit of life jacket removal. Sometimes I even neglect to put them on. Literally. Not through a careless disregard for safety, but through a reasonable assessment of ability and risk. And of the perceived rewards.
I just spent 5 weeks in Tasmanania camping with my partner and two boys (5&12). We spent a lot of time on rivers and lakes paddling and swimming. Not a life jacket in sight 😉 My kids never used flotation devices when learning to swim, so removal was never an issue. But we assess risks together. And on one occasion on the trip I wasn’t even comfortable with my younger son being on the banks of a river by himself, as it was fast flowing and high risk. Didn’t stop me from jumping in and flowing down, and gaining a few bruises for my troubles. On a different river, I sent them down rapids on boogie boards. Not because it was risk free, but because it looked fun, and I thought there was a very good chance they’d be ok.
Life jacket removal in a less literal sense…
We camped in places without toilets. Small tents as the only refuge from mosquitoes and midges. Cold water bodies as our only means of washing. Often no phone reception. Jumping off rocks and bridges. Swimming naked. Swam at a beach that the lifeguards tried to say was closed (In a friendly sort of way). Ignoring signs and rules we assessed as not useful or relevant. Cooking directly on the fire. Kids making fire. Kids using knives (get some looks sometimes when my give year old is wielding a knife 😉
This has all become pretty natural to me, including many of the other topics you mentioned. I guess I do have some hacks related to bringing other people along. Kids are easier, as radical openness is often more accessible to them.
I’m lucky enough to work with kids, most often 10 at a time (scale is important to this conversation I believe), and I follow pretty much the same philosophy with them as I do with my family. Minus the nudity.
I find that modelling helps. Let them see you enjoy it. Strong encouragement, but trying to keep things their choice. And giving repeated opportunities to join in over time.
I’ve had a whole groups bathing in snow melt in the high country with our swimwear frozen solid in the morning and ready to do it again. But if they were with their parents on the beach, and there was a little wind, they might get told that no, it’s not a good idea, is too cold.
Kids openly question why. So just being open to discussing why in depth. Giving different perspectives allows them to see that ideas aren’t fixed and opens up possibilities for them to be and act in different ways.
Talking through your considerations of risk with them. What could happen?
What would we do if it did?
The kids know I’m fairly open to risk, so occasionally they’ll try to push it past my limits of comfort, and I’ll give a solid no. This is an important aspect of the learning. Some risks aren’t worth it, and everyone is going to assess that differently. I’m just glad that I’m in a community whose risk tolerance is greater that the wider society, and their willingness to step a little outside the confines of norms, rules and comforts is also greater.
Thanks for keeping the conversation going and for bringing these ideas to more people
PS. Just got a notice to comply from the council community safety officer… My edible vegetation needs to be 2.4m above the footpath.
I’m going to comply, as there are many worse things that they could pull me up on, and they said they’ve been out to inspect, so are probably aware of some of them.