In episode 11 of House of Life, we explore begin with Tom's personal health journey — from post-viral fatigue to recovery through infrared light therapy. But what starts as a discussion about cellular energy quickly expands into a broader examination of how our efficiency improvements, from LED lights to modern medicine, may be creating invisible deficiencies we don't yet understand.
We find ourselves diving into the nature of viruses, challenging conventional understanding by exploring them not as living organisms but as "genetic pollution" — bits of code floating in our environment that occasionally find compatible systems to run on. This reframing connects to our view of personal and environmental health: not as a binary state but as a constant process of re-finding balance in an imbalanced world.
The conversation then pivots to examine abundance versus abstinence through both personal and systemic lenses. Travel choices become a case study in the complexity of sustainable abstinence in a world engineered for consumption. We explore how religious traditions understood the value of periodic abstinence for spiritual and physical health, contrasting this with modern consumer culture's manipulation of abundance and scarcity.
Once again though our conversation leads us to look at addiction as we wrestle with the central paradox of sustainability messaging: we ask people to abstain from things specifically designed to be addictive, while the systems creating those addictions remain largely unchallenged. The episode concludes by examining how inner abundance — a sense of spiritual and emotional fullness — might be the ultimate defence against manufactured dependencies.
Share your thoughts
We love hearing your thoughts so please do leave a comment on Substack or tag us on Linked in (Tom Greenwood & Asim Hussain).
Here’s some things to think about:
How might our optimisation for efficiency be creating invisible deficiencies in other areas of life?
What might change in your consumption patterns if you viewed them through the lens of addiction?
What approaches have you found to cultivate inner abundance in your own life?
