Never underestimate the power of small changes

Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on January 29^th 2025.

We celebrated our wedding anniversary this week, although perhaps celebrated isn’t quite the right word. In fact we both forgot about it entirely and only remembered when we got a card from Michael’s parents. Eighteen years of married bliss, and I say that with no hint of irony! We got married in Tasmania, just the two of us, and combined our honeymoon with three weeks exploring the island in a hired campervan, part of a longer trip to Australia. They were the best of days.

All those years later here I am sitting in a very simple (some might say primitive!) wooden cabin in France on a stormy day and never in my wildest dreams did I think that this is where I would be. Rainy days and being stuck inside tend to make one reflective and as I think back on the person I was then, and the person I am now, I can see huge differences.

The person I was then thought nothing of hopping on a plane and going off round the world. The person I was then was blissfully ignorant of so many of the consequences of her actions; leaving the lights on all round the house, wasting too much food, using too much plastic, buying things I didn’t really need and then not using them. Thankfully I was on the cusp of change, for that was the beginning of our small-holding days and the first baby steps on a long journey that would eventually lead to this off-grid cabin life and a different set of rules that we now choose to live by.

As I look at ‘old me, new me,’ there are two things that leap out at me.

Firstly, I said at the beginning that our time in Tasmania was the best of days, a very special time for us. Eighteen years later, in a different country leading a very different life, I feel I am still enjoying the best of days. Even more so, because living as simply as we do is more enriching than that old life ever used to be.

Secondly, life has taught me never to underestimate the power of small changes. My experience has shown that small, gradual changes can, in the right circumstances, add up to big, permanent shifts in behaviour and outlook. And this matters as never before because without change, the outlook for the human race is bleak.

I read an article at the tale end of last year which made a great deal of sense to me. It was called ‘Change by Degrees’ and promoted the idea of making one small change during each month of the year, something manageable rather than overwhelming. I found the suggestions interesting and thought you might like to see a potted version.

Jan – re-think your food: cut back on meat, buy local, reduce waste.

Feb – care for soil and plants, plant for wildlife, join/begin a community garden.

Mar – host a ‘what can I do’ party to help other people make changes.

Apr – reduce energy consumption

May – organise local swaps (clothing/books etc)

June – finances, look at ethical banking

July – embrace slow travel rather than flying

Aug – hassle your MP

Sep – eliminate single use plastic

Oct – bike or hike instead of car

Nov – ‘buy nothing’ month (that’s a scary one!)

Dec – conscientious Christmas – reduce paper waste and pointless gifts, do something for those in need either by raising money or giving your time.

One of the things that I liked about this list was how it can involve groups of people, of being sociable rather than just doing things in isolation. I love the fact that much of our year is of a nomadic nature but there are compromises in all things. For example, I would love to set up a community garden or a book swap but it isn’t practical at the moment – something to aspire to in future years if it fits into our lifestyle.

There are still plenty of other things I can do however and they don’t necessarily have to follow the order above. For January I simply set myself the goal of having less plastic in my recyling bin: I’m making cakes instead of buying huge amounts of biscuits and sweet things (a personal weakness!), nearly all of which come wrapped in plastic: I’m buying meat and fish from the butcher/fishmonger( wrapped in paper), switching to cartons instead of plastic milk bottles, cutting out fruit juices in plastic bottles and buying fresh fruit (loose wherever practical) instead. Four small and simple changes and they are making a difference. I feel absurdly pleased when I lift up the lid of my wheelie bin and see how empty it is! And that sense of achievement is spilling over into looking more critically at other food products and their packaging.

I’m toying with the idea of making February a ‘buy nothing’ month. I confess this leaves me feeling rather nervous. We live in the middle of nowhere so wandering around a shopping centre happens rarely, but there is always the siren call of online impulse shopping, and it’s too easy to press that ‘buy now’ button. Michael and I are currently discussing exactly where to draw our line between essential and non-essential and we haven’t worked it out yet! There are some grey areas, notably some DIY projects that we already had planned. I’ll let you know how we get on – or not.

We shall be on the move again for the next blog, looking after two dogs, one of them a puppy, (lots of cuddly puppy pictures coming your way) and two cats at a house-sit south of Carcassonne, travelling by bus and train. And hoping the sun might come out by then.

See you soon.

MJ