Bella Figura, The Tradition of Living Beautifully Dolores Alfieri Taranto

A reading of my essay, published on my Substack, “The Tradition of Living Beautifully,” titled “The resistance will not be televised.”
You can read more essays like this one at dolorestaranto.substack.com.

Things discussed in this episode:

Historical patterns of populations returning to old-world ways

The fickleness of modernity

Giving our children timeless skills

Learning to navigate the healthcare industry with slow living in mind

The importance of community

The importance of homesteading skills, even if you don’t live on a homestead

Doing things that challenge us in a world that prizes ease and convenience above all else

Elle-May Watson is a photographer whose work captures a dreamy timeless style that nods to a vintage past. A wife and mother of two, she is also the co-owner of 1924us, along with her husband, Christian, a petite branding agency dedicated to preserving the practices of the early 1900's in the fields of photography, branding, writing, design, and archiving, as well as the collecting of antiques. She lives with her family in the Australian countryside.

Emilie Toups began crafting skincare and makeup from her farmhouse kitchen after discovering how organic tallow, high-quality cold- pressed olive oil, and other quality, natural ingredients made a huge difference in her skin and her family’s wellness.

At Toups & Co Organics, they believe that skincare products that nourish and restore can come from simple, wholesome ingredients.

None of their products use synthetic chemicals, GMOs, toxins, fillers, artificial colors, or artificial fragrances. They support small, family-owned farms that are sustainable, fair trade, transparent and ethical.

Emilie lives on a homestead in Alabama with her husband and children.

With roots in New York and stints in San Francisco, Maui, London, Arizona, Austin and Nashville, Joanna Barbera’s wandering spirit shines through in her evocative folk tunes. Her interest in the ethereal and the divine, from religious studies and yoga to shamanism and energy-healing, has influenced her songs, which ask big questions about relationships, life, death and finding one’s place.

Joanna made the move to Nashville in the summer of 2014, where she wrote and recorded her latest EP, IMAGO. The song “When the Rain Comes” landed a feature on CBS’s Criminal Minds, while a new single, a cover of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown,” was released soon after. Joanna followed the song’s arrival with a European tour alongside Deer Tick to close out the year.