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“How to be Useless” and “Going Slow”

Popularizing Eastern philosophy for practica life experience are a couple of recent articles. Online magazine Psyche offers a short piece on Taoism : “How to be Useless,” with the byline: “Follow the Daoist way – reclaim your life and happiness by letting go of the need to produce, strive or serve a purpose.” Another article is “Going Slow” in Daily Philosophy, discussing the “rhetoric os slowness” found in Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist texts.

URL: https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-wander-free-and-easy-through-life-by-being-useless and https://daily-philosophy.com/kidd-going-slow/.

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Marcus Moon, Scotland hermit

Marcus Moon of the Scottish village of Lybster, a hermit living off-grid, without power or running water, recently self-published a book in tribute to Mobius, a goat he befriended and kept in youthful years when he was an itinerant busker with horse and wagon — and goats. Settling in the small rural spot, Moon assembled his house himself and planted gardens, trees, and an extensive orchard . He hopes that the native trees will become a forest.

Marcus Moon with the book he recently self-published about his travels with Morbius the goat. Picture: DGS

Moon tells the John O’Groat Journal and Caithness Courier that his book celebrates “a way of life that has been lost … It’s about a way of life that was community based and where everybody knew their neighbours and things were produced locally. That way of life has just been thrown aside. A lot of the old style of community has been lost – that is a big theme of the book.”

URL: https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/pictures-lybster-hermits-book-is-tribute-to-morbius-the-go-261331/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

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“River Dave,” NH hermit – Update

Among the many news sources covering this update to the life of hermit Dave Lidstone of New Hampshire is this update from WCVB television in Boston; the story title: “Former hermit ‘River Dave’ arrested after returning to live at New Hampshire cabin site.”

When Dave was first arrested for squatting on the land of a particular millionaire owner, he spent the night in jail, and in the meantime a hireling of the owner set about to disassemble Dave ‘s cabin. The hireling burned the cabin to the ground, supposedly an electrical accident. But a shed was spared, and eventiually Dave made his way back to the property and took up residence in the remnant shed. That return was discovered, Dave was arrested again, and the entire issue has returned to its original conflict. Meanwhile, old residents of the area, friends of Dave, continue to promise more permanent quarters for Dave come spring.

URL: https://www.wcvb.com/article/evicted-new-hampshire-hermit-river-dave-arrested-january-4-2022/38668845

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Agafia update – electricity

Agafya and her new satellite phone

The Mirror (UK) offers this headline and byline. Headline : “Hermit woman, 77, who lived like 18th century peasant gets electricity for first time.” Byline: “Hermit Agafya Lykova, 77, lives in a remote timber home 100 miles away from anyone in Siberia and is only now getting a solar panel, which will power up a satellite phone and allow her to connect with people. ” Agafya, who has lived alone in Siberia all of life, also received a new house to replace her old one, placed by volunteers.

URL: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/hermit-woman-77-who-lived-25637

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Socotra Island hermit

The BBC Travel series includes an entry about Ellai, the hermit resident of the deserted island of Socotra, under the jurisdiction of Yemen. The article describes Socotra precisely:

“Marooned between Somalia and Yemen where the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean meet, the Socotra archipelago is one of the most isolated continental fragments on Earth – a piece of Africa adrift at sea. The high proportion of endemic flora here have led some to label this Unesco World Heritage site the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean”. More than one-third of Socotra’s 825 plant species and 90% of its reptile species don’t live anywhere else in the world, and gazing up at the islands’ surreal, umbrella-like dragon’s blood trees and down at thousands of bright blue and red freshwater crabs that scurry in the twilight, it can feel like you’re on another planet.”

Ellai depends on fish and sea creatures for food. He lives in one of thirty caves in the vicinity. The inhabitants of Socotro dwell in a few villages, but Ellai has chosen to remain where he lives as a hermit.

URL: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20211209-the-hermit-of-socotra-islands