Be thankful.
I used to take modern life for granted. I never gave appliances, the telephone, or much else a second thought--until I watched a PBS series that changed my mind.
“Pioneer House” explored what it would be like to put three modern families into 1883 homestead cabins in Montana for five months. The families dressed the part, took no modern conveniences, made their own food and did their chores every day for their survival. It was maddening and entertaining to watch, because the families had a hard time adjusting to 1883. I watched the show when it was originally broadcast; a few weeks ago I rented it over Netflix and watched it again. I came away with some important life lessons and good advice about simply living, and living simply.
Lesson number one: Your family and the experiences that you share with them are the most important memories that you will have. Forget about TV and video games and movies; just sit around and talk or play a board game. Engage your family members in conversation over a group chore outdoors or over dinner. Don’t let the ease of modern technology and distractions come between you and your loved ones.
Lesson number two: Food is valuable, and meat doesn’t just appear. Be grateful every time you chew a bite of fresh vegetables out of season, or when you’re grilling a steak. Some animal gave its life to nourish a human, and when the act of raising and killing livestock isn’t a part of daily life, people become removed from just how difficult it is to find nourishment. An important tip to keep in mind in this regard would be to not name your animals. The children on the show became attached to the chickens and the pigs. They didn’t understand that the animals would be used for food, for their survival, and it was difficult to kill them when the time came to feed the family.
A garden was one of the most important survival tools in 1883, and most veggies were not available year-round. You ate what grew at a particular time in the growing season, and either jarred or stored the rest in a root cellar over winter. There were no Ding-Dongs or Twinkies, no Triskets or Cheeze-Its, and no Dr. Pepper or Coke. Eating healthy was easy because that was all you had to eat—fresh produce, meat, and whatever you happened to bake that day.
Lesson number three: Get down on your knees and thank God or whatever higher power you believe in for modern appliances and conveniences. The washing machine, the cooking range, the refrigerator, and indoor plumbing have done more to free up time for other pursuits than any other advancement in recent history. These technological housekeeping miracles have given women as much freedom as birth control pills and should be worshipped and adored as often as possible. Imagine having to stoke up a wood stove to cook, then having to bake your own bread. Imagine having to scrub your clothes in a bucket with a washboard and soap. Heck, imagine having to make your own soap. Then imagine having to collect your own water. Having clean drinking water come right into your home, as well as a toilet, is one of the greatest things to happen to people, ever. And I haven’t even begun to extol the virtues of toilet paper, tampons, napkins, and paper towels. None of these items were available in 1883. And you were usually dirty most of the time.
Lesson number four: Compete with nature for your survival, not your neighbors. There was one woman on the show that was obsessed with what the other families were doing, if they were adhering to the rules of 1883 living, if they did or didn’t do the work they needed to do to feed their livestock, or whatever. If she wasn’t doing her work, she was whining about the neighbors, and generally making life difficult for her husband with her disdain for him if she felt he wasn’t keeping up, so to speak. Living in 1883 was dangerous. People died all the time from something as simple as a deep cut that was infected or a broken leg. Winter in Montana was life-threatening if you didn’t prepare and have wood chopped and hay stored for your animals. Most of us don’t have those problems living in today’s world, but the lesson here is still the same. Don’t waste your time worrying about what the neighbors are doing; just make sure you have your house in order and offer help when it’s needed.
Lesson number five: Insects and rodents can ruin your day, as well as hungry dogs. I don’t know much about living with a constant barrage of mice and bugs, but I can imagine that it was just another problem to deal with in 1883. And you had to keep your food out of reach of your dogs, otherwise they would eat it. Keeping you home clean and secure from vermin was hard to do in 1883. It’s not so hard now.
Lesson number six: Living in the 21st century is stressful. It’s a different stress from the survival of 1883, but it’s just as dangerous. At the end of the show, the participants were re-interviewed in their normal lives. They all had trouble adjusting back to modern life. One man said there ought to be a support group for living in the 21st century because there are so many choices, and it’s hard to decide what to do when your life is so freed up from chores and just surviving. I suppose the cure for this is simply making quiet time for yourself, and making sure you spend time with your family without any distractions. I think people were so busy just surviving in 1883 they didn’t have time for introspection or pondering their navels. They were also so tired at the end of each day that they went straight to bed so they could get up and do it all over again. Today, we have television, the internet, cars, and all sorts of things that make living easy. Maybe these things have made it easier to worry about little things, instead of big things. I am grateful for these modern conveniences, but maybe they make it too easy to devolve into self-pity and unhealthy desires.
I think we could all learn from 1883, and be grateful for the things that have freed up our time and our consciousness. Modern living should be respected, however. It is a double-edged sword that also allows for too much too fast. The modern lifestyle could use an infusion from 1883—like growing a small garden, or taking time to learn how to bake bread from scratch, or working on your yard with your children when you have a chance. Sitting down to a meal without television or music and just talking with your family should be done every day. Saying a word of thanks for the food you have should be done sincerely; we have it so easy compared to what people used to do to eat. At least we didn’t have to kill a chicken and remove the feathers and entrails just to have dinner. And turning on the tap to wash the dinner dishes, or putting them in a dishwasher, is a miracle of the first order. Perhaps we would live more happily with more of 1883 in our lives; that way, we wouldn’t take our cushy modern life for granted.
“Pioneer House” explored what it would be like to put three modern families into 1883 homestead cabins in Montana for five months. The families dressed the part, took no modern conveniences, made their own food and did their chores every day for their survival. It was maddening and entertaining to watch, because the families had a hard time adjusting to 1883. I watched the show when it was originally broadcast; a few weeks ago I rented it over Netflix and watched it again. I came away with some important life lessons and good advice about simply living, and living simply.
Lesson number one: Your family and the experiences that you share with them are the most important memories that you will have. Forget about TV and video games and movies; just sit around and talk or play a board game. Engage your family members in conversation over a group chore outdoors or over dinner. Don’t let the ease of modern technology and distractions come between you and your loved ones.
Lesson number two: Food is valuable, and meat doesn’t just appear. Be grateful every time you chew a bite of fresh vegetables out of season, or when you’re grilling a steak. Some animal gave its life to nourish a human, and when the act of raising and killing livestock isn’t a part of daily life, people become removed from just how difficult it is to find nourishment. An important tip to keep in mind in this regard would be to not name your animals. The children on the show became attached to the chickens and the pigs. They didn’t understand that the animals would be used for food, for their survival, and it was difficult to kill them when the time came to feed the family.
A garden was one of the most important survival tools in 1883, and most veggies were not available year-round. You ate what grew at a particular time in the growing season, and either jarred or stored the rest in a root cellar over winter. There were no Ding-Dongs or Twinkies, no Triskets or Cheeze-Its, and no Dr. Pepper or Coke. Eating healthy was easy because that was all you had to eat—fresh produce, meat, and whatever you happened to bake that day.
Lesson number three: Get down on your knees and thank God or whatever higher power you believe in for modern appliances and conveniences. The washing machine, the cooking range, the refrigerator, and indoor plumbing have done more to free up time for other pursuits than any other advancement in recent history. These technological housekeeping miracles have given women as much freedom as birth control pills and should be worshipped and adored as often as possible. Imagine having to stoke up a wood stove to cook, then having to bake your own bread. Imagine having to scrub your clothes in a bucket with a washboard and soap. Heck, imagine having to make your own soap. Then imagine having to collect your own water. Having clean drinking water come right into your home, as well as a toilet, is one of the greatest things to happen to people, ever. And I haven’t even begun to extol the virtues of toilet paper, tampons, napkins, and paper towels. None of these items were available in 1883. And you were usually dirty most of the time.
Lesson number four: Compete with nature for your survival, not your neighbors. There was one woman on the show that was obsessed with what the other families were doing, if they were adhering to the rules of 1883 living, if they did or didn’t do the work they needed to do to feed their livestock, or whatever. If she wasn’t doing her work, she was whining about the neighbors, and generally making life difficult for her husband with her disdain for him if she felt he wasn’t keeping up, so to speak. Living in 1883 was dangerous. People died all the time from something as simple as a deep cut that was infected or a broken leg. Winter in Montana was life-threatening if you didn’t prepare and have wood chopped and hay stored for your animals. Most of us don’t have those problems living in today’s world, but the lesson here is still the same. Don’t waste your time worrying about what the neighbors are doing; just make sure you have your house in order and offer help when it’s needed.
Lesson number five: Insects and rodents can ruin your day, as well as hungry dogs. I don’t know much about living with a constant barrage of mice and bugs, but I can imagine that it was just another problem to deal with in 1883. And you had to keep your food out of reach of your dogs, otherwise they would eat it. Keeping you home clean and secure from vermin was hard to do in 1883. It’s not so hard now.
Lesson number six: Living in the 21st century is stressful. It’s a different stress from the survival of 1883, but it’s just as dangerous. At the end of the show, the participants were re-interviewed in their normal lives. They all had trouble adjusting back to modern life. One man said there ought to be a support group for living in the 21st century because there are so many choices, and it’s hard to decide what to do when your life is so freed up from chores and just surviving. I suppose the cure for this is simply making quiet time for yourself, and making sure you spend time with your family without any distractions. I think people were so busy just surviving in 1883 they didn’t have time for introspection or pondering their navels. They were also so tired at the end of each day that they went straight to bed so they could get up and do it all over again. Today, we have television, the internet, cars, and all sorts of things that make living easy. Maybe these things have made it easier to worry about little things, instead of big things. I am grateful for these modern conveniences, but maybe they make it too easy to devolve into self-pity and unhealthy desires.
I think we could all learn from 1883, and be grateful for the things that have freed up our time and our consciousness. Modern living should be respected, however. It is a double-edged sword that also allows for too much too fast. The modern lifestyle could use an infusion from 1883—like growing a small garden, or taking time to learn how to bake bread from scratch, or working on your yard with your children when you have a chance. Sitting down to a meal without television or music and just talking with your family should be done every day. Saying a word of thanks for the food you have should be done sincerely; we have it so easy compared to what people used to do to eat. At least we didn’t have to kill a chicken and remove the feathers and entrails just to have dinner. And turning on the tap to wash the dinner dishes, or putting them in a dishwasher, is a miracle of the first order. Perhaps we would live more happily with more of 1883 in our lives; that way, we wouldn’t take our cushy modern life for granted.