Akorn Hollo: The Unauthorized Autobiography

How, pray tell, can an autobiography be unauthorized? Isn’t it I who has the power to write what I choose in this virtual public forum? Yes, however I haven’t decided if I’m going to allow myself to air my dirty laundry to the world quite yet. I’ll keep you advised.

Actually, the only dirty laundry topics you’ll find on this newborn blog will be about organic cotton and homemade laundry detergent. Akorn Hollo, as the tag line above says, is about the “gentle art of cottagery.” I’m not sure, but I think I invented the word “cottagery.” I’ll notify Merriam and/or Webster later.

In our modern times, things race by us pretty fast. We don’t get enough sleep, we rush to sit in traffic on the way to work, we have looming deadlines, we multitask like demons, we inhale lunch from a vending machine, we rage at traffic on the way home, we fall exhausted into bed after setting our alarm clocks and planning to reenact the same scenarios tomorrow. We are unhealthy, we are unhappy, and we take most of our life for granted.

My mind often wanders back to my favorite Disney classic: Sleeping Beauty. My most vivid memory of that movie is seeing the soft, small cabin in a woodland glade, animals lingering around, a giant black kettle bubbling in the fireplace. How simple and peaceful life seemed to be back then, before we had gadgets, mechanical “helpers” and distractions running our lives. Something as simple as buying shampoo now requires an exhaustive, time-consuming search: we have to see what type of each brand name matches our hair format, we have to decide what scents we like, and we have to see which one is most economical at which store. Oh no! We just found out that our chosen shampoo has nasty chemicals in it that not only poison the environment, but cause rashes, hair loss and possible disease! Now, take this disatrous scene and multiply it by everything that you buy as a necessity. No wonder we need Prozac.

In an unrelated story, I began to grow herbs in tiny clay pots in my kitchen, since fresh herbs were not only expensive in the supermarket, but probably laden with pesticides. I got a big, beautiful book on herbs instructing on their care and tending, as well as their myriad of uses. I can make furniture polish that smells as good as Lemon Pledge with my lemon balm plant? I can use mint in a facial steam? I can make hair rinses, conditioners, facial creams and masques, body lotions from herbs and simple ingredients?? A whole new world opened up to me. I started to do more research on herbal uses for household, beauty and health. I learned that you can clean your entire house using lemons, baking soda, and vinegar-natural things that won’t poison your family or pets!

I started to learn how people who lived before the advent of industry and factories lived, and imagined a day in the life of Sleeping Beauty, with no television or radio. I realized that our modern lifestyle has lost its genuinity and appreciation of meeting our daily needs. Instead of watching our garden vegetables grow, harvesting them, and using them to nourish our bodies, we plunk a frozen dinner into the microwave, and complain that it takes five whole minutes to cook. Instead of knowing which herb leaves to pluck for an insect bite, we slather on expensive creams and a plastic bandage, worrying about how “gross” it looks. We believe the advertisements on television that we need to be tanned, skinny, and young at any cost, with no regard to building our character or life experience.

This is what cottagery is about. I am not suggesting we get a little life on the prarie, but take some steps decluttering, destressing, resimplifying our existence for the sake of the Earth, our communities, our families, and ourselves. The things you earn are the things most important to you, like buying your first car with your own money, or eating a slice of bread that you mixed, kneaded, and baked yourself. Right now, Western culture is an addictive system, needing more and more, better, louder, faster, sicker, wilder everything to keep sated. Cottagery is taking life and actually living it instead of bolting through it.

Each week, I’ll be posting observations, home care, recipes, seasonal activities, and suggestions to simplify a hectic life. It isn’t just about home maintenance, saving money or green living, it’s about consciously being in the moment, savoring it, and when you’re ready, moving to the next moment.

Thanks for having me. See you next week!