FINAL THOUGHTS FROM THE AUTHOR

I hope you have found something useful from this book. I understand it covers a lot of topics in a very condensed way that may seem lacking at times. Many of these topics are long discussions in their own right, but I hope this format gives an idea as to what the Novum Carta is. I thought it prudent for outsiders to test the waters before they dove into the pond and why I added this author section as well.

I created the philosophy of Novumism over the course of 20 years. I walk this path every day as this is how I live my life. My fascination with philosophy, anthropology, theology, cultures, mythology and esoteric knowledge as a hobby morphed into something more during the Covid-19 pandemic. I decided to embark on a quest and write my philosophy down and publish it.

The path I walk may seem eccentric to many people and honestly, it’s borderline asceticism in some regards, but it suits me rather well. I lean further toward that end than the Middle Way asks of anyone else. I was born into a wealthy home, went to a decent college, and fell into a good profession. My life, however, lacked any sense of meaning. Let alone purpose.

I looked to all subtleties both minor and extreme in politics and lifestyles to fill a void in my soul. I’ve been a part of the New Atheist movement, the Skeptic movement, Occupy Wall Street, and others. Then one day, I called the electric company and had them shut off my electricity. There was something I wanted to test: whether I needed it as much as I thought. I lived in my home with no electricity and I felt fuller than I had in a long time. My family urged me to turn it back on. I complied and conformed.

I fell back on the tale of the Buddha that I had read about as a teenager and recalled his journey into the ascetic life that helped lead him to nirvana. So, as a twenty-something, I began to sleep outside in my backyard under a tree every night when I came home from my job. I later ventured out of the backyard to wooded clearings around my home. I would sleep under the stars, wake up in the morning, walk home, take a shower, and go to a $60,000 a year career.

When I got married those days were over. When I had children, the simple life I dreamed of became complex. But the animal inside me was eager for a simpler life and it gnawed at me. As these things go, others usher you away from what your soul desires. For me, freedom from the worldly system that modern humans created is what I desire.

I have found my travels and time in the wilderness alone and in the urban jungle, that a snake is just a snake. It doesn’t want to bite you, it just wants food and for you to leave it alone, but will strike if threatened. In the concrete jungle, a human is infinitely more complex, and their needs often juxtapose yours. The half dozen times I encountered a snake in the wilderness that tried to harm me was zero, but I can count, with more than two hands, all the times a human tried to rob me, break into my home, mug me, or assault me in the street or in a car. It’s this philosophy for why I haven’t fallen into the trap of misanthropic thought.

Having been born before the internet and old enough to remember a world before it, I can’t but feel as though something was robbed from me. Taken from me without permission. I don’t see the world created today as progress. I see it as sickness. The Welsh call this emotion hiraeth which loosely translates as “homesick over a place that no longer exists or perhaps never was.”

Regardless, today I live a good existence, but I have an abundance of anti-materialistic and non-conformist views. I live a weird reality of both financially existing in the now but preparing for the human or environmental complexities of tomorrow. It’s hard to maintain a marriage when one spouse wants to own a half-million-dollar home, while the other thinks living on the street could be adventurous and build virtue. I do not take comfort in modern society and appreciate very little of its convenience because to me, it brings me further away from how humans should exist within nature.

If I were to pick a period where both a balance between modern comforts and an equilibrium existed in nature it would be between western civilization 1600-1700. I would choose this with the modern medical gadgetry, the ability for mass production of food, and all the civil rights enacted at this time. However, this is pure fantasy in my lifetime, but maybe in the future, it won’t be.

In the meantime, I enjoy my existence with only enough things to enjoy moderate creature comforts. Simple living. I enjoy this life immensely and it’s not just for the things I own but for the people I encounter day in and day out. Over a beer or two, I tell them about my life’s philosophy and there is often a primal understanding of what I am trying to achieve: meaning in the chaos of modern life. This philosophy written here is that meaning for me and maybe you will find it as well. Best of luck on your journey friend.

Find out more at www.novumism.com