A nice Easter break – reflections

I had a wonderful easter break with my family, mainly consisting of being outside in the generous gardens we are lucky to have – weeding and planting to create a new and interesting garden from the overgrown mess that was left by the previous owners.

I find I can get very passionate about creating a woodland garden. I love woodlands and trying to plant the correct plants to thrive in the deep and partial shade whilst also producing some form of crop or wildlife benefit is really important to me. The book Plants for A Future is invaluable for this – as soon as you start thinking that every space can be filled with a productive plant, you have a completely different view.

I’ve been programming commercially for about 16 years now, and I have to say that if I could make a living being outside and working with nature and plants I’d happily drop it all tomorrow. There are parts of programming/consulting I absolutely love – creating new architectures, UI analysis and design, solving real business problems for clients.

However there is the insidious addictive quality of computers that has kept me in front of a screen for what is probably 5 or so years of that last 16 years since I’ve been programming. That much of my time sitting down typing. Its really ridiculous when you think about it. Think of the self-sufficient permaculture woodland I could have created in that time.

That is surely awful, and I think if I could engage myself in other constructive co-operative activities outside and the mental challenges those can produce, I would not look back to computers for occupation!

I do find it easier and easier to unplug these days, and my happiness has increased tremendously. At weekends I rarely touch my iPhone or laptop any more, and I barely use email now.

We all need to reconnect with the people and land around us.