Small is beautiful in our world. The fact that our home, office, workshop, and studio is just 50ft long is a clue to why small is something we treasure. Not everyone can have or would want to have a micro home, a tiny home, but everyone can have micro moments in their day that add joy and delight.
I’ve been thinking about what makes our tiny home so special to live in, what it is about living this way that brings such joy and positive energy. Living afloat isn’t for everyone, living in a space this small isn’t for everyone either, but it is has many elements that combine to make it an experience for us that is both special and valuable. Many of those single elements are available to everyone, it’s just that here, we have them in close proximity and intensity.
At this time of the year when it is absolutely miserable outside, rain lashing the windows as I write and wind moaning around us, it is such a treat to feel bathed in heat from the wood burning stove. We are cosy inside, at different moments of the day dreamily watching the flames rise and fall, flicker and form in moving shapes behind the glazed door. In the evenings the flickering light from the fire joins the dancing flames of candles. Every mug we cup in grateful hands brings instant warmth and a glow to fingers chilled from being outside, from moving the boat, walking the dog, collecting shopping, or foraging wood.
These delightful moments happen multiple times a day, and perhaps because they bring a momentary pause to our days with comfort, calm and relaxation, they are mini recharges, little mood boosts. Moments the Danes would call hygge perhaps. Moments that make us grateful. They are not earth shattering moments, but together they combine to make us feel good, and that is invaluable.
It also appears that we are indulging in niksen and ukiyo ( who knew?)! Both are good for us, and now I know what they are, I concur. Both appear daily in our floating lives with great regularity. Niksen is the Dutch concept of doing nothing, and I mean nothing. Doing absolutely zilch. Ukiyo, on the other hand, is the Japanese concept of living in the moment, removing yourself from struggles and strains of life. [Interestingly given that we live on water, ukiyo-e apparently means the floating world, a transitory, pleasurable world remote from responsibilities. Initially, it referred to the hedonistic escapism of brothels and courtesans. It became the focus of an art movement captured in wood block prints that are famed today. Perhaps the most iconic is the Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa, which features Mount Fuji dwarfed and framed by a huge arching wave sweeping from the left of the image.]
We combine ukiyo (living in the moment) and niksen (doing absolutely nothing) regularly in our days too, with obvious benefits (boatdog does it particularly well). Whilst one of us may be steering the boat, the other can be found doing nothing productive, nothing that leads to a set outcome, impact or result, but happily gazing, utterly focused on the swan gliding past, or the ducks splashing in our wake, watching clouds or reflections.
Minutes of peace are invested watching water moving ahead and beside us as we move slowly on our way. Moments of doing nothing but watching, listening, feeling and smelling the air around us and living in the moment where we find ourselves at that given time.
Those who spend their days researching such things have identified that moments such as these are invaluable for well being. We are fortunate to experience them multiple times each day. This morning I probably had hygge, niksen and ukiyo combined as I lay in bed in the darkness of the early morning. snuggled down enjoying the warmth beneath the covers contrasting with the chill of my nose. I was transported into another world, by the dawn chorus. Such pleasurable moments are indulgent treats, gifts to oneself, and a wonderful way to start the day.
The dawn chorus seems louder and more joyful in these quiet times when the increasing light begins to extend the days. Between rain showers, from the hedge next to the towpath, robins, blackbirds, chaffinch, blue, coal and great tits, thrushes, sparrows and goldfinches all celebrated the arrival of another new day. We have a ringside seat, as together they create the best way to be woken.
It’s not a time for conscious thought, for conscious meditation, but a time for just focusing on the musicality in a hedge beside our window, a time to just enjoy, just be still and just listen.
The early morning offers mists and sunrises. The evening offers sunsets and moonlight – both times to soak up in awe the beauty around us. Times to stop, to stare and appreciate what is around us, to mindlessly stroke boatdog as she sits beside us and not to worry about what we needs doing. Everything that needs to be done will get done in time.
It is often nature that allows us to experience many of these special moments, and living as we do with just a sheet of metal between us and nature is a joy. This week it’s even brought us closer to that other famed relaxation experience – running water. In this case water running into the boat from a leaking swan hatch! Not quite as soothing as experts indicate, but thanks to a repurposed coal sack installed in the pouring rain we are dry inside once more and will furnish a more permanent repair eventually. For now we’re busy getting back to the business of feeling cosy, relaxed and as ever, feeling very glad we have chosen to live and work like this.
Pickingupducks 