"When the State Abandons You — Chop Wood Haul Water"

Seneca wrote that we should occasionally practice discomfort — sleep on a hard floor, skip a meal, feel the cold — so that we know we can survive it. I don't practice it. I live it. I'm 60 years old, in rural Bulgaria, and last winter was tough. No central heating. Inadequate insulation in the walls. No damp course. Bulgarian houses are thrown up fast — comfort is optional. And since we can't afford enough wood to keep the burner going all day, cold isn't theoretical. This film follows a morning in the woods — scrumping, chopping, and stacking — with a narration that moves through memory. The coalman who came every week when I was a child. My dad riddling the fire at 11pm so we'd wake to a warm house. A freezing morning in France when my son was twelve and we gathered wood together. And the truth of being 60, having paid full contributions, and being told by the UK government that the rules changed — pension at 67, not 60. The Stoics called it Amor Fati — love of fate. Accept what you cannot change. Work with what you have. Nothing in life is an accident. www.inkygarden.com Should you wish to support my work you can do so via this link: paypal.me/inkygardenxx Thank-you ever so much! xx