Northern Planner

This is my bike

This is my bike.

It was my father in law's, but he's long past going out on the road. I wanted to get back into road biking, so he gave it me. At that piont it was still his. Basically, it was a frame that needed building back up.

But now it's mine.

I wanted to do this partly because this is the year of not buying anything, so I couldn't buy a new one anyway.

But it's more than that.

This is a Raleigh bike. That used to mean something, when they were made in Nottingham,like this one, rather than a factory somewhere abroad. I grew up with Raleigh Strika's and Grifters. I love Raleigh.

My father in law loved cycling, still does. When the Tour De France comes through Yorkshire, he'll be up at 4am to make sure he gets a good spot. He loved this bike and seeing it come to life means something to him.

And if I'm learning anything this year of not buying what I don't need, it's that you can't buy happiness. You get out what you put in. I could have bought a bike, but I wouldn't have loved it like I love this one. Because I've helped build it back up. It's mine in a way a brand new one never would be.

Cycling to me is freedom. So much of it now is about aesthetics and having the right gear. That's not what it is to me. It's something simple and real. Road biking just seems like the purest expression, the level of wind, the breathtaking speed. It's real.

Now it's been a while since I was on a road bike. My legs are killing me, by back isn't used to that crouching position yet, but the sense of velocity, of being out there by yourself...and being able to go so far on your own steam is pretty special.

And doing it on a bike that, in so many ways, feels like 'mine' makes it feel more special. Because we all feel more attached to stuff that has required some effort, things we've had a hand in making. Stuff with history and story.

So when I'm on this bike, I'm not just riding with my father in law, I'm riding with all those craftsmen in Nottingham, I'm riding with the blokes in the little independent shop that helped me restore her, I'm riding with 10 year old self on a Raleigh Strika, a 15 year old me with racket bag on my shoulder, haring through town on my racer,to play tennis, a 20 year old me whistling through the streets to get to lectures or make swim training in time. 

In fact, this bike might be 'mine' but you could say it's 'ours'.

Noticing today

As you might have noticed, I'm in midst of the Year of (nearly) not buying stuff. Some of this is to do with saving, lots of it is a need to notice everyday life a little more.

So I was putting together a photobook of my little boy's first two years, and the act of editing and putting together that story made all so vividly real again.

It forcibly reminded me how special it all was. There were no pictures of shopping bags, new clothes or any such things. It was all times spent together, that we barely noticed then. We were too busy looking forward to the next thing, rather than just 'being' and enjoying now.

Which is why I'll edit and play with photobooks more, they remind me to smell the flowers while I can.

On that first two years. Will won't remember any of it. Which is at once said and really great. There will be a point when he doesn't want to be with us much, he'll have his friends, his ideas, his own stuff.

But we'll have our own special time when there was just the three of us. He was all ours, we meant the entire world to him. The fact he won't remember that means we own it. It's our little secret together.

Which reminds me to focus on our one and half year old little girl that little bit more. When there's some bloke (or girl!) she'll replace me with eventually, but I'll remember this time when she was all ours, that for her never even existed. There's little more sad/wonderful than that.

Change what you can. Accept what you can't

So last week, I ran with the velocity and tunnel vision of Forest Gump (run Forest, run)to catch the train home from sunny Newbury.

 

Only to find it was delayed.

Of course, I could have sulked, or melted like warm Nutella into an incandescant rage.

But the Year of Not Buying Stuff is about appreciating the present for what it is, being happy with what I have and not fussing about what I can't change,

Because, funilly enough, it's not changeable.

Also, usually, it doesn't matter that much and can present all sorts of good stuff -  if you look at it right.

So instead, I got to appreciate 20 minutes sitting outside in the fresh air, on a nice sunny day watching odd southerners.

New shorts

The Year of Not Buying stuff precludes purchasing objects for 'want' rather than 'need'.

Decency forbids me showing you the state of my gym shorts. Falling apart, with holes in the most innapropriate places.

New shorts have been needed for more than a while.

The problem has been that I hate long shorts and the fashion police have decreed that sports shorts need to be long.

I haven't found any short enough that are also a jersey material. Fussy me.

This tendency to 80's style sports apparel is nothing to do with a specific style choice or the desire to look overly camp (already a colleague has decided to christen me Camp David).

 

It's simply that I when you train at any decent level, your legs sweat and soggy material against your thighs is not a turn on.I just don't see the point of long shorts when it comes to sport.

So thank God for American Apparel for saving me.

And all hail the new shorts.

Make do and mend

I love this leather rucksack/satchel/bag thing, it's just worn in enough to feel like mine.

But the other week, the buckles broke. In days of yore, that would be an excuse to get a new one, but in the new 'not buying stuff' regime, I took it to a traditonal cobblers and got new buckles fixed.

For just over a tenner.

Not only is nice to keep it now it's reached a great level of patina, it feels more mine than ever.

Good this.

 

The reading list

I never know what to ask for Christmas, so I usually just share my Amazon wish list.

Ta da.

In the year of not buying stuff, books won't be an issue, for a while at least.

The year of not buying anything (nearly)

If there's one thing that having kids has taught me, it's the difference between happiness and pleasure.

Being woken up at 5.30 am by a half crazed three year old, bashing you on the head with handmade birthday card, the one he simply can't wait another second to show you, is happiness.

Gently stroking the hair of a one year little girl, to get her back to sleep at 2am is happiness.

So is swimming so hard the pain in your arms makes you want to cry.

Even rehearsing for a pitch at 2am is happiness.

Because the things that make you happy (as umpteen pyschology experiments show us) are rarely the easy things. And it's certainly not buying stuff for yourself.

Giving makes us happier than recieving, be that buying for people or doing for people. Experiences always win over goods,especially doing things with others, because the memories they provoke last much longer than stuff we buy - and our basic trait of seeking out novelty makes us bored with new stuff really fast.

We also need to feel valued and to flourish, like you've accomplished something, or feeling like you're making a difference and it's doing something for a higher purpose than yourself.

In addition, we're saving up for a extension on the house, not just a shared task which is already good, but something which will create more space for the kids playing upstairs and more family staying more often. So saving more money, not my greatest skill, would be good.

So for an entire year,I'm not going to buy anything for myself I don't need.

I have more than enough clothes (and don't care about fashion), enough CD's and DVD's to last a lifetime,I have a pile of books that will last a year and I don't give two hoots about gadgets.

This doesn't preclude subscribing to Spotify, going to the cinema, holidays or downloading a film of course, and food and drink. All are rich source of experience for me.

But I'm going to buy something, I already know that getting stuff for Mrs Northern or the kids just makes me feel better, but even then, not as happy as doing things with them.

Of course, if my bike packs in, our TV needs replacing or my winter coat falls apart, then NEEDING is different to WANT.

So I'm going to find out how much happier experiences not stuff, plus giving rather than recieving, makes me over a year.

Naturally, I'm aware this is not original, but I'm not doing this to be get a book deal or anything. I'm doing this because I'm curious, I want to teach myself to be better with money and I already know what makes me happy, so I want to try and do more of it.

Let's see what happens.