Adventures in Ethical Living: A Search for Harmony in Health, the Environment, Relationships and Morality
The start of a journey of discovery of what it means to live well

This year, I turned 28 years old, the age my mother was when she had me. It is a funny feeling to realise that in one generation, not only are you nowhere near the marriage-and-children life your parents led, but you’re also nowhere near any of the other kinds of stability their generation enjoyed. I don’t own a house, and I have barely begun a stable relationship. I’m not so far out of education. When I’ve broken down because my rental home starts falling apart at the seams — or worse, I’m kicked out abruptly — I’ve often berated myself for not ‘rolling with the punches’ enough. But the reality is that it isn’t all that easy. I’m a major depressive who lives in London. The pressures both internal and external take their toll.
With this in mind, I set out this year to re-establish a connection with myself and the world around me. It’s all very millennial, I know, but why do you think that is? We are the generation without stability, without security, without any real sense of a positive future. Things aren’t necessarily getting better, though most of us still hold out hope against the odds. It seems as right a time as any to reassess — what are we doing, how are we acting, and why?
Logically enough, I have to start with myself and the little slice of the planet immediately around me. I have undertaken a series of health, relationship and moral experiments in an effort to find out what works. Self-help gurus across the globe preach self-love and radical acceptance and whatnot — I engage with those things too, in the spirit of open-mindedness. Sometimes (not always!) straight up psychology, science and philosophy is much better than the new age rendering. But I aim to find a balance. I believe that the world is not so black and white — we take what we can from the teachings of many spheres of influence, new and old alike. I can’t solve everything with pure facts. After all, we’re in a post-truth, post-fact world.
Supposed ‘solutions’ are handed out as truths, and they are often very black and white — go vegan, go country, stop this, do that. But life isn’t so clear cut, there are often additional factors to consider, and ultimately, we can each only do as much as we can do — what we put our energy into should be considered, not merely repeated action mandated by the ‘in’ crowd. I wanted to take a chance to stop and think things through, for myself.

What I’m looking for is harmony. Between what I am as a physical being, a mental and emotional being, a spiritual being and a citizen of the planet. It’s a lot to take on, but the Socratic question never loses its sheen for good reason. How do I, as a female-identifying human in the 21st century, live? And live well?
I want to break this down into sections: Health, the Environment, Spirituality and Relationships. It’s a simplification for sure, but I’m a stickler for organisation. I aim to address each of these in turn.
The books I’ve read and things I’ve tried fall under each of these categories, and what I aim to do is to give you an insight into the pros and cons, the successes and failures, the things to consider and keep in mind, for each attempt at growth. It’s all a journey, and there will be ups and downs. I hope by sharing this process with you, that it helps answer some of your own questions about the fabric of everyday life. Even if it’s a tiny detail, I hope we can have a discussion and grow together.
Let’s begin.
