Glamping and Gleaning. Its not just a girl thing !

We all know what glamping is right?? (Camping with glamour!) Then guess what gleaning is?? And its not cleaning with glamour! (Can you ever clean with glamour other than wearing your little black dress, stilletoes full make-up and hair done??). And its not a new word either! Europe, inparticular, is into this, or should I say NOT into gleaning. It (basically) means taking more than what you really need, like harvesting and then reharvesting to make sure you didnt miss any bits - Gleaning is something you should NOT do, so maybe we should call it 'Non-Gleaning'. Its a term used in the Old Testament of the Bible, which way back then there was no centrelink/social security/pension for people who were poor and couldn't/didnt work. The people were told not to glean so that the poor were able to go collect/harvest the left overs and have it. It was their way of being able to eat.




If you've seen any of those English shows like Time Team, Grand Designs or something similar you may have seen that people can have alotments of land that they pay a little rent for so that they can grown their own veggies, flowers or (in some cases) dump their junk on. The alotments aren't huge, nor small (some can be 10m x 20m). It is their way of sharing what they dont need to those who do need it or could use it. And in many places there is a waiting list to get one!




So why aren't us Aussie's good at non-gleaning, but good at gleaning? Is it because our history comes from convicts - who took what they could because they didnt know when their next loaf of bread came from, or needed to blow their nose and didnt have a hankerchief (like my great, great, great, not so great grandmother who got done for stealing a hanki - true, although Im not sure on how many greats to go back!!). So instead of taking what we CAN, take what we need (ok, so the convicts got done for stealing probably because they needed bread or whatever, but thats a different argument lol).




We can avoid gleaning every day pretty much! When we go grocery shopping do we buy a whole celery because we can or because we need a whole one? Why not leave it there for someone who needs it and buy a half celery stick? And just because the apples are cheap does that mean we buy more than usual because we can or because we need to? And what about going to those 'get a box of groceries for $5 if you have a health care card/pension card'?? Do you go there and reap the benefits because you can or because you need to?

Can you see whats happening?? It is an attitude!! And it comes back to living simply. Buy what you need, dont buy because you can. And fighting the retail therapy urge is hard! All that advertising is there everywhere we turn!! The radio, magazine, facebook, tv, even my fridge magnets include advertising (and on my fridge purely because they serve a purpose!). And have you noticed that NONE of that advertising includes looking in your home for what the latest thing is that you should be wanting or needing to make your life better? So many times Ive gone on a spending spree with my Christmas money or birthday money, only to buy MORE clothes, MORE shoes, MORE handbags, and yes its nice to spend money on myself without wondering if I should be using it to pay bills (although plenty of times I have done this!!). Like the old saying goes 'you never hear an elderly person say they wish they bought more items, worked harder or shopped more, they always say they wish they laughed more, hugged more and spent more time with family and friends'. How true is that hey!! At the end of our lives, what are we going to regret? Im sure living simply isn't going to be one of them.




And university, tafe, school - its all there to teach us how to earn a living (which is essential, dont get me wrong!) but they dont tell us how to live. Living life well is not something you can buy, swap, graduate in, its something you make yourself - its home-made, something that can be passed down from one generation to the next (because children learn what they live!!). There is no one-size-fits-all with life. My mum and dad LOVE to travel, every year they go to some exotic place (this year is Cambodia, again!) because they love to, they love meeting the people there, living within that culture for a couple of weeks but its not something I would do (give me Australia any day!). I have friends who love to work as volunteers with Home Care, others who travel the world for work, traverse our amazing country so they can tell stories, pass on knowledge to others. The list of differences is extensive. Us humans are all different, we tick differently, what creates happiness for me is like torture to someone else. But one thing that we can all do is live simply. Finding happiness isn't the only thing to make our lives simple, its a stack of little things and non-gleaning is one of them.




Non-Gleaning - its one way that we can all contribute not only to our own lives, but also to others (because being selfless is part of living simply!) Who cares if the other person is going to appreciate it or not! You never know what they may think, they may actually appreciate that there is a whole celery stick there because they need it.




Im taking the reins, Im getting back into control and Im living simpler than ever before. And boy, does it feel good!