Life in a Bubble

On Sunday there was a family get-together for my mum's birthday. It was the first time I had seen my eldest sister for some time, as she lives in Wales and travels quite a lot and our paths don't seem to cross too much. We do speak on the phone though so I have an overview of what her life is like.

Although I love her and think her philosophy on life has some merit, she always manages to get to me. This time, I felt myself getting really angry at her 'downsizing' theory which basically boils down to 'everyone can work 2 days a week and manage financially'.

While I agree to some extent with her views that if we are just wage slaves and then we die we haven't lived, I think she is so out of touch with other people's lives.

She sits in this little bubble in a big house with her big organic garden and works 2 days a week (earning about £50 an hour at a guess) and she has had her mortgage paid off for her... and she seems to thinks this is normal! Doesn't it occur to her that if we could afford to do it we would? Not to mention all the trials and tribulations lots of ordinary people have such as redundancy, unemployment, homelessness...

I don't know why I let her bother me, only that it is just her lack of failure to see how privileged she is. If she was saying 'this is my life, that is yours', then I'd say fair enough. But she isn't - she is saying we should all live like her. AND while pontificating about we should only eat(preferably home-grown) organic veg. and spend lots of time in the fresh air, and be aware of the environment around us, she drives around the country in a camper van and flies abroad on regular occasions. There is something wrong with her view on the environment I think, even double-standards. I suppose I shouldn't be so judgmental. After all, I am in no way perfect myself. But I guess that's it. I know I'm not perfect, she seems to think she is (or at least more perfect than the rest of us!) so perhaps that’s why it annoys me so much. I guess I should let her get on with it.