Jane's household philosophy

We moved to the Isle of Lewis 18 months ago, seeking an escape from materialism. We hate the trend of living to work. We can’t stand the greed of society. Modern society is all about upgrading your car, upgrading your home, getting a promotion, the list goes on. But here on the island you can just live a simpler life. Material things like clothes and the latest gadgets are not important to us. Neither is having a show-home. In my book you make do and mend. It’s such a wasteful society. No-one throws anything away here and we mend the things we have. The fashion statement in this house is a boiler suit and wellies.

Bill and I have a democratic relationship. There’s no specific male or female roles within the house, we just all get things done when they need doing. We see our marriage as a partnership. There are lots of married couples who say they are together, but they live different lives. That is not the way it should be. Both of us cook, clean and parent our children equally. We feel very strongly that the children are not our possessions. We don’t own them, so we don’t tell them they have to wear this or join that activity club. We want them to be responsible for their own actions and be as independent as possible.

We respect the islanders and how things are done here. On Sunday, the island pretty much comes to a stop in observance of the Sabbath. It’s a family day. All shops and some pubs are closed, playgrounds have signs up requesting people not to use them, and you shouldn’t hang your washing out on the line. People speak Gaelic and most road signs are in Gaelic. English is the second language here. Everyone stocks up food and supplies here as sometimes the ferry doesn’t sail and the shops run out and we have power cuts. We love it here. No traffic, no noise, just isolation and back to basics.

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