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jenettWelcome to our eighth salon discussion thread. Wander in, invite a friend to come along, and chat! (Not sure what's going on? Here, have a brief FAQ.) You can find previous ones in my salon tag. Please take a quick look at the reminders at the bottom of this post, too.
Quality of life: what does it mean for you?
I was thinking, walking home from work the other day, that there's a lot of different kinds of things that make up quality of life, the "This is a good day" and "I like how I'm living".
In my current job, I don't make much money (especially given the amount of education required). But I live half a mile from work, in a gorgeous rural New England town where pretty much every view could be on a postcard. (And that's before you get to anything significantly scenic.) There's a downtown grocery store with local produce, and farmer's markets, and all sorts of other things.
I have a job that I mostly leave at work (I mean, I keep thinking about technology and libraries and information pretty much all the time, but that's because I love it, not because I have to bring work home). I have the world's most endearing and adorable cat.
But I also know that these things aren't necessarily what other people would choose (or what I'd choose at other points in my life, or if I lived in a different place, or had more money to play with.)
Things I'm watching: I'm currently rewatching season 3 of Doctor Who (I've been a fan since before I knew you could be: I grew up watching Tom Baker from under a chair in the living room.) Tonight, I'm going to go see the Joss Whedon Much Ado About Nothing for the second time so I can go with a friend (and because, on the whole, I would like to encourage people to do more projects of that kind.) What're you watching? Why is it interesting to or fun for you?
(This means I'll be out from 5ish until 9:30ish tonight. I assume you can all manage in my absence.)
Quick reminders
-jjhunter did a great guide to following conversations here on Dreamwidth. Also a roundup of regular Dreamwidth events.
- If you want to post anonymously, please pick a name (any name you like) that we can call you - it makes it more conversational and helps if we have more than one anon post.
- Base rule remains "Leave the conversation better than you found it, or at least not worse". If you're nervous about that, I'd rather you say something and we maybe sort out confusion later than have you not say something. (I've heard from a few people who worry they're going to say something that's going to be taken weirdly. If it helps, I am usually around and if there's a thing you'd like to get out in the conversation, but you're not sure how, feel free to PM or email or IM me, and I'll nudge the conversation that direction.)
- The FAQ still has useful stuff, and I added some thoughts about getting conversations going a few weeks ago.
- Comments tend to trickle in over the course of a day or two, with a few nearly a week later: you might enjoy checking back later if you're not tracking the conversation.
Quality of life: what does it mean for you?
I was thinking, walking home from work the other day, that there's a lot of different kinds of things that make up quality of life, the "This is a good day" and "I like how I'm living".
In my current job, I don't make much money (especially given the amount of education required). But I live half a mile from work, in a gorgeous rural New England town where pretty much every view could be on a postcard. (And that's before you get to anything significantly scenic.) There's a downtown grocery store with local produce, and farmer's markets, and all sorts of other things.
I have a job that I mostly leave at work (I mean, I keep thinking about technology and libraries and information pretty much all the time, but that's because I love it, not because I have to bring work home). I have the world's most endearing and adorable cat.
But I also know that these things aren't necessarily what other people would choose (or what I'd choose at other points in my life, or if I lived in a different place, or had more money to play with.)
Things I'm watching: I'm currently rewatching season 3 of Doctor Who (I've been a fan since before I knew you could be: I grew up watching Tom Baker from under a chair in the living room.) Tonight, I'm going to go see the Joss Whedon Much Ado About Nothing for the second time so I can go with a friend (and because, on the whole, I would like to encourage people to do more projects of that kind.) What're you watching? Why is it interesting to or fun for you?
(This means I'll be out from 5ish until 9:30ish tonight. I assume you can all manage in my absence.)
Quick reminders
-
jjhunter did a great guide to following conversations here on Dreamwidth. Also a roundup of regular Dreamwidth events. - If you want to post anonymously, please pick a name (any name you like) that we can call you - it makes it more conversational and helps if we have more than one anon post.
- Base rule remains "Leave the conversation better than you found it, or at least not worse". If you're nervous about that, I'd rather you say something and we maybe sort out confusion later than have you not say something. (I've heard from a few people who worry they're going to say something that's going to be taken weirdly. If it helps, I am usually around and if there's a thing you'd like to get out in the conversation, but you're not sure how, feel free to PM or email or IM me, and I'll nudge the conversation that direction.)
- The FAQ still has useful stuff, and I added some thoughts about getting conversations going a few weeks ago.
- Comments tend to trickle in over the course of a day or two, with a few nearly a week later: you might enjoy checking back later if you're not tracking the conversation.
Tags:
housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 02:32 pm (UTC)Things I look for in a place to live that have a big impact on daily quality of life:
- light & sense of interior space / air: I gravitate toward places with windows, higher ceilings, light-colored walls, wood or tiled floors (such materials reflect rather than absorb light), and (especially where I'd sleep) literal height from the ground - I love being more than one floor above the ground outside.
- location: easy access to public transit, esp. rapid public transit (subway, etc.) & bikeability / walkability (walkscore.com is a great tool for figuring this out); proximity to trees / green spaces and/or water when possible; also strong sense of local community / history if possible - what often gets referred to as neighbor 'character'
- roommates: people I enjoy building things with; they don't necessarily need to be close friends, or even people I would normally seek out as friends; rather, people who are financially responsible, able to operate interdependently AND independently (both are important), and sufficiently self-aware to communicate easily around maintaining their own (& respecting others') personal boundaries.
What sorts of housing arrangements do you value in terms of quality of life? What types of spaces, locations, and inhabitants (or lack thereof) add rather than detract from your day-to-day sense of wellbeing?
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 02:46 pm (UTC)I agree entirely about location; in terms of inhabitants, I tend to be much more comfortable living with people it's okay for me to ask for care from - people who won't be upset/dismayed to find me immobile and horizontal on the kitchen floor, for example, but will be okay with getting me a glass of water and meds I request and then leaving me to get on with it (or maybe staying in the room to do their own things, but not making a big deal out of aforementioned horizontal & immobile). Being able to cook with or for people is a really big deal for me; feeding people is super-important. Strongly agreed on the boundaries front.
-- oh, yes, and sloping ceilings! And topography, preferably with igneous bedrock. I grew up in a swamp (seriously: Cambridge, UK), but home is the Austrian Alps (in an ancestral sense), and having serious topography on the horizon just-- it just. Suddenly things are more right.
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 03:25 pm (UTC)Not topography! Anything but topography! It's pretty to look at and all but I learned to drive where it is flat. I went to visit friends in Pittsburgh last month and had a minor anxiety attack every time I was required to drive on Pittsburgh hills. Fortunately not while I was in the car.
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 03:37 pm (UTC)One of many reasons that I am delighted that I (a) am not ever going to be allowed to drive and (b) get free public transport any place I actually live...
I am very glad you survived the topography, but in spite of the above have love &c on the topic of the panics.
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 03:49 pm (UTC):)
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 05:22 pm (UTC)I used to live in an odd narrow valley between two ridges, but the high point on Manhattan Island is only a few hundred feet above sea level, and I was effectively at sea level, and watched the tides come in and out in the park across the street. At the time, I thought of Inwood as hilly; after moving here, I realized that living there it wasn't a bad warm-up for Bellevue.
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 08:47 pm (UTC)But it's so very different from Minnesota.
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 03:20 pm (UTC)And then people built on extensions, usually between the house and the barn, because that way you didn't have to go outside to feed your animals when it was cold out. Or raining. Or both. And you had more storage for pantry goods. And a mud room for coming in when it was miserable out. (This is New England: there are many varieties of possible weather.)
So my apartment is the second floor of one of those extensions (with a little entry space and closet under the stairs and bit of storage on the ground floor). It's up under the eaves, which means there's all sorts of interesting angles, and for light, they put in a skylight in the kitchen. I have a bathroom and a kitchen and a nook off the kitchen and a living room, and a bedroom, and an absurd amount of closet space. And snow removal fairies.
I did not know I wanted a skylight in my kitchen until I had one. (I've been living there just about a year this week, and it's much better than the apartment I moved into when I moved cross country.) But I adore going through the kitchen (to the bathroom, or to the fridge to make ice water, or whatever) and seeing the stars through the skylight.
Other things I care about:
- I have not lived with other people in about 6 years now, and unless I take up a serious relationship in the future, expect to keep doing that. It does limit where I live (I could not, for example, live in much of the Boston area easily without roommates on what librarians generally get paid.)
I like my time alone too much. I like having it be dark when I want it dark (and generally, I almost never have lights on except the shining pixels of my computer screen once it gets dark.) And I like having it be quiet. I usually have headphones on, but still, there's something about having it be just me that I really like.
- The cat. Cat vastly improves my quality of life. Especially a cat who basically rolls on her back and exudes loving adoration whenever I look at her, and purrs her heart out.
- I really like being as close as I am to work. (There's practical reasons here: higher speed internet is a lot more shaky as you get out of town), but I love that I can walk to work (half a mile), walk downtown for minor groceries, walk for a sandwich or several other kinds of food. We're not actually all that walkable by Walkscore's criteria (only about a 55), but for actual daily living, it's very nice.
Also, my commute home from work is all of 4 minutes if I drive. 5 if I hit the traffic light wrong. Compared to times when I had a 45 minute commute, or there were errands I just couldn't do without going way out of my way, it's lovely.
(There are things I'd have to drive to: but even then, the hospital and medical office complex is only about 5 minutes.)
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 03:39 pm (UTC)I keep thinking about mammalian pets. And then I get antsy about being allergic to cats and vegetarian and how I wouldn't actually feel okay feeding a dog a vegetarian diet.
Probably I should sort myself out to both acquire more pet-owning friends, and visit those I already have more often...
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 03:47 pm (UTC)Visiting pet-owning friends is an excellent option. I have a friend (who may or may not chime in here) who's volunteering for her local humane society, and part of her job is playing with the animals and helping socialise them.