What is Natural Living?
Natural living has a nice ring to it. There are many organizations, businesses, web sites, articles and people that are into natural living or natural health in one way or another. There are also many ways of practicing it.
Nutrition: Consuming it; Producing it
Health: Alternative medicine; Herbs; Antioxidants; in natural form or supplements
Environment: Eco- consciousness; Active participation; Recycling; Reducing waste
Energy sources: Solar; Wind
Lifestyle: Family; Consumer
Sharing, writing, working, filming, talking.
There are many ways of looking at natural living depending on the degree of involvement, participation and even creativity.
The interesting thing is that it is a fact of life today because people are aware of it; there is a positive attitude towards nature and our relationship with it; it is an emotionally charged subject; there is fear of "nature's revenge" if we continue the way we do.
At the same time we have to accept that synthetic development (to coin a phrase) has brought material quality of life and is an economic consideration in our society.
Having said all that, what do we mean by "natural" and by "living"?
Natural: "free from artificiality;" "in accordance with nature;" "relating to or concerning nature;" "functioning or occurring in a normal way;" "existing in or produced by nature;" "not artificial or imitation"; "being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes;"
Living: "pursue a positive and satisfying existence;" "the experience of being alive;" "the course of human events and activities;" "condition of living or staying alive;" "inhabit or live in;" "be an inhabitant of;" "lead a certain kind of life;" "live in a certain style;" "in its natural state and place (not mined or quarried);" "still in existence;"
Natural living would have to take into account these definitions, but above all it must come under the umbrella of "Harmony" and "Balance".
So after all that, how does natural living sound with this definition?
"Pursuing a positive and satisfying existence, in a style that respects and seeks to achieve harmony and balance with nature, ourselves, and the future".
