53. What is the Good Life? Reflecting on a Decade with Sam Sycamore
“Sam Sycamore, how do you define the good life?”
“Well Sam, I’m glad you finally asked me for a change.
“For me, the good life is defined by interdependence. To feel needed by a group of likeminded people, and to rely on them to meet the basic needs that I can’t take care of for myself.
“To feel needed by the land around me, whether garden or forest, or some combination thereof, to manifest beauty and abundance wherever I go, and to draw my physical and spiritual sustenance through a direct co-creative relationship with the land.
“The good life is within reach, and I know, because I’ve felt it, I’ve tasted it, I’ve observed it, I’ve swapped stories with others who confirm my suspicions and validate my hypotheses.
“I don’t worry about what the future may bring, at any scale along any timeline, whether it’s social or political unrest, global climate disruption, the complete and total collapse of civilization as we know it, or any of a million personal disasters that could arrive in my life in the next moment, either as a direct consequence of the choices I’ve made or else as a purely random occurrence in a universe that’s ultimately indifferent to my temporal physical manifestation as a human animal.
“This moment is where the good life resides. As long as you position the good life in the future, it will remain there, forever out of reach.
“So please, if you take nothing else from my story here today, I hope it’s this:
“Make it now.”
* * *
In this, the final installment of the Good Life Revival Podcast for 2018, I reflect on my search to uncover the good life over the last decade, which has led me to exploring everything from postmodern French philosophy, to psychedelics, to Zen Buddhism, to plant ecology, to the skilled trades and seemingly everywhere in between.
Along the way I share some of the insight I’ve gained in ten years of walking this path, and explain how my search for meaning and purpose in life has led me to an intimate, co-creative relationship with the natural world, and how I’ve learned to let go of my desire to be the master of my destiny and instead trust in my intuition to guide me where I need to go.
Stream and download episode 53 above, or listen through iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.
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