RE: Somewhere far away, yet very close! — Ink drawing, A5 format.
If only life were that simple. Just roll out of bed, sit on a bench outside, enjoy the view and wonder what you’ll do with the rest of your day. Then suddenly you’d have all the time in the world – but reality is different. There’s washing to do and washing-up to sort. Food needs to be sorted – whether bought, foraged or harvested from your own land. In summer, it might be lovely and warm outside and cool inside, whereas in winter that log cabin will need to be heated too. Which means that summer is all about getting the house and home ready for winter. And then you still have to wash and get dressed, and torn clothes need mending or replacing.
When it comes to drawing and painting, I do think we have as much time as we’re willing to devote to it. Over the past month, I’ve mainly been painting in the evenings and at night, and indeed, I’m a bit tired at the moment and am sorting out the mess and catching up on overdue work. I did do a bit of drawing yesterday, but only on the train on my way home from work. Perhaps I’ll carry on a bit more today; otherwise, I’ll post something in a few days’ time with a few more prompts – that’s fine too. What matters to me is that I’m being creative every day, preferably without being disturbed.
My great-grandparents lived just the way you described... were they foolish, or am I just weak for not being able to live like that? People are capable of living happily without the comforts of modern civilization, but they’ve been convinced that life outside the city doesn’t really exist. That was the view held and imposed by the Communists, who insisted that the proletariat was the "superior" class, while rural folk were something inferior—not even "second-class," lol. I had no idea this notion was also popular in Europe! :)
I still live in the way I described, especially when I’m in Hungary, where I spend part of the year. It looks as though I’ll be spending the coldest months of the year there again, so I’ll be setting off soon. Everything has its advantages, and even in the Western world, life in the countryside is viewed negatively; I see that in the Netherlands too. In the Netherlands, there are plenty of market gardeners in the areas between the cities – we call that the ‘Green Heart’ – whilst the farmers are concentrated in the outlying regions, such as the North, the East and the southern part of the country, and they’re looked down upon there as well. But let’s be honest: if nobody is a farmer anymore, what on earth will we eat? During my stay in Africa, I’ve noticed the same thing: people look down on it, and everyone wants to be a shopkeeper or a taxi driver because there’s money to be made in those jobs, especially when tourists come along. But the same applies here: if nobody is a farmer or a fisherman, what am I going to eat? I find it even more shocking that children in the city seriously think a chicken is just a frozen thing lying in the freezer. No one stops to think that there’s also a butcher, or someone who breeds all those chickens; the same goes for eggs – nobody gives much thought to the animal that lays them either. In that respect, I do believe things are getting increasingly daft. People in Curaçao are shouting that farmers should clear off because they’re spoiling nature – they have absolutely no idea how the world works, and that’s an absolute lie… the only polluter is humankind: the people who keep buying, the people who keep building – at least, they’re the ones who keep polluting.
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You know, I once told an acquaintance of mine—a native Jamaican—how his ancestors used to prepare "jerk" chicken (which is completely different from how it’s made in Jamaica today, even though it still goes by the same name). It turned out he had no idea how his ancestors managed to survive when they escaped from slavery—lol! It’s the same with other aspects of life: people often consent to their own enslavement. And what do slaves need? They need food, comfort, and entertainment—all the things a city provides. A slave will never admit to being a slave—not even when the whip strikes, which they might even accept with gratitude... much like people in the USSR, who gratefully accepted the Iron Curtain, the chronic shortages of goods, and total submission to the authorities—all while shouting at demonstrations and parades: "We are not slaves!" :)
I know that the languages in the Netherlands are very difficult to learn... and Hungarian is considered the most difficult language in the world—or at least somewhere near the very top. I guess you’re not looking for the easy way out, are you? :)