What can you do without?

A question for you.

When is a library not a library?

When you take away one book? When you take away a hundred books?  Or when you take away ALL the books – or is it, then, a library without any books?

You haven’t really lived until you’ve experienced what it is to live without.

Without, for instance, other people.  I live in the country.  All of my friends live in the city.  When my man (pictured above..well, more or less) goes away for a while, this is what happens –  first I get lonely, then I get used to it.  Finally, I get Strange.   I find that I don’t really need friends (until I do need them, that is).

Without washing.  I used to bathe once a week when I was a kid, once a day when I was a paper-pusher, and now I wash when I smell (which generally takes about four days.  Disgusted? Whatever.)

Without ‘the daily beauty routine’.  Trust me, it doesn’t make you any more beautiful (that would be impossible).  I don’t cleanse or tone and my skin is just fine. I slap on sunscreen and Sorbolene – set and forget.  Makeup is a thing of the past (but then, I don’t eat pizza either. If you eat pizza, makeup is essential.)

Without nice clothes.  I HAVE nice clothes, great overflowing chests of them – but you can’t wear a velvet dress to dig up weeds.  So I wear The Man’s jeans, instead (Levi 501s, as it happens).

Without books.  Actually, that’s a lie.  I can’t live without books.  (No problem for us, you say – but the world would be a desert without Youtube.)

Ok, so I haven’t yet had to live without things like legs, drinking water or a home – but such is the propensity of people to make the best of things that, if I did, I’d probably consider it instructive (if unpleasant – a bit like my highschool maths teacher).

But THEY don’t want you to do without.  The more you think you need, the more money you’ll spend to get it.  And make no mistake, I’m part of this evil empire.  I’m doing my best to convince anyone with a pulse that they need to read my latest novel.  They don’t (especially if, like so many people nowadays, they haven’t yet read War and Peace). But I need the money.

And that’s where living without comes in handy.  When you know you don’t really need it – whatever the latest ‘it’ is – you Have the Power! May the force be with you!

What can YOU do without? I’d love to hear.

Like my writing? Click here if you’d like a FREE copy of my new story collection, The Wyndham Werewolf – and don’t forget to let me know what you think of it (good or bad.  Go on, I can take it!)