Like many New Zealanders, I took a camping break with my family earlier this month.
Each of the last four years, we have gone to Motuora Island in the Hauraki Gulf with some friends of ours who also have a boat and young children.
It is the best two weeks of the year for me.
Why? Because it’s so SIMPLE.
As the crow (or in our case Tui) flies, it is only about 5km from the vineyard and from home. But because of its’ simplicity and because it can only be reached by boat, Motuora feels like a completely different world.
Not for us the trappings of swimming pools, organized activities, nearby shops or electrical gadgets.
The sum total of facilities available on Motuora (check out www.motuora.org.nz) are – long drop toilet x 2, cold water tap x 1, cold shower x 1.
That’s it, not even a wharf to tie up to!
So, why on earth do we go there?
Apart from the kiwis wandering around at night, the penguin mother & chicks snuffling & squawking just 5 metres from where we play cards, some lovely walks and a beach that looks like a pacific island postcard, it is the simplicity & self-sufficiency created by temporary isolation that most attracts us.
When you strip away the clutter of modern life and the relentless rhythm it seems to force on us, you achieve remarkable clarity.
Clarity about what (and who) is important to you, what you want to achieve, what you have and what you really need (as opposed to what you THINK you need).
I can tell you if you haven’t tried it before, that camping with no power for two weeks helps you to realize how little you really need.
Personally my top needs seem to be – friends & family (though I need a lot of ’self time’ as well), books, fishing rod, shelter (read ‘tent’), BBQ / food, some games and of course, wine.
Would I choose to live in a tent on Motuora for a whole year? Probably not.
Could I if I HAD to? Actually, yes.
So, if I COULD live simply with great clarity on an island with next to no facilities, why can’t I or don’t I, ‘back on the mainland’?
Well, sitting here in my office at the vineyard, I have a new determination to simplify my life along the lines of those things I mention above. More family walks, less TV, more cooking, more reading, and more exercise. These are actually locked into my calendar now along with some ‘close to home’ family breaks and some physical challenges I have set myself for 2009. I have learned that if I don’t lock things in, they don’t seem to happen!
There will be less alcohol this year (OK, my goal is only 3 ‘alcohol free’ nights a week but it is a start!) and I will be much more careful about saying ‘yes’ to those who put demands on my time.
So, here is my challenge to you.
What can you do to simplify your life?
If you were to strip away the gadgets, bling and those things & demands on your time that don’t really matter, how much better could your clarity, happiness and life be?
I am no guru, trust me, but I do feel very ‘different’ after this year’s break.
Where is YOUR Motuora?
It could be sitting on a bench at a beach for an afternoon or even lying on the grass for a few hours looking up at the clouds one morning (when was the last time you did THAT!).
It doesn’t really matter where, but I do think it needs to be somewhere ‘natural’ and outdoors, that being near moving water helps (I have no idea why), that it needs to be for a few hours at least, and you need to do it alone, undisturbed.
Why not program it in for once every month?
I’ll check back at the end of the year to let you know what these proposed changes have done for me and my family. I would love to know what they have done for you and yours!
Cheers
Darryl
Ps – I read an excellent piece in yesterday’s NZ Herald by Andreas Whittam Smith who writes for The Independent in the UK. It gives some better context as opposed to the economic media doomsayers. Have a look at http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/andreas-whittam-smith/andreas-whittam-smith-amid-the-gloom-and-doom-ive-a-small-piece-of-advice-to-offer-1242489.html
Welcome back Soljans! ……. our Motuoroa this summer was 16 days in Bhutan …cold showers, flat wooden beds with horse hair mattresses, no heating in the freezing nights but a cast iron stove with a pile of wood in your bedroom. Hot sunshine and clear blue skies every day, no TV, no accessable internet, no flash hotels, no good wine, very good beer, brown rice three times a day, yak cheese melted over hot potatoes, lots of vegs, not much meat, buckwheat pancakes and honey for breakfast, VERY HOT chillies every meal, miles of walking in the Himalayas in crisp fresh mountain air. 750 kms driving at an average speed of 18kms along skinny raods cut out of the side of sheer mountains ( white knockle stuff!) No unhappy people, no fighting,screaming children, no one runs, everyone smiles, and the cheerful healthy children have nothing but stones, sticks, string and home made darts to play with!! It is illegal to take plastic bags to Bhutan and they don’t measure the “Gross domestic product” they measure “Gross domestic happiness”. We too have come back and reassessed our priorities, and like you we feel totally refreshed.
Cheers
Ian and Ros