008: Sit in Your Shack, and Your Shack Will Teach You Everything, Dialogues with Andrew Gingerich

by Swanson
The Andy Shack

Andrew Gingerich embraces a prophetic, contemplative lifestyle. Of course he would object to this description, because his pursuit is internally driven and extrinsic validation does not go far with him. At times he speaks like a modern-day Desert Father (in our conversation he unknowingly paraphrases one of the most famous lines by Abba Moses), with the winsome nature of Thoreau and the delivery of The Dude from The Big Lebowski. In this episode, I sit in Andy’s shack during a soft rain to talk about his years of minimalist living and the intention behind it, the integration of human imagination and material goods, the meaning of literally sleeping in your values, and unexpected lessons about community, neighborhood that only come from living in a shack.

Andrew ‘Andy’ Gingerich is a musician and urban designer. For more information you can visit Andy at his shack.

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES

Andrew Gingerich’s Academic Work of Note

Books/Organizations Gingerich almost mentioned:

People

  • Daniel Quinn
  • Desert Fathers and Mothers
  • Mennonites
  • Amish

Drinks Pairings

  • Whatever is closest

Contemplative Practice

  • Staring at the table (jump to 1h03m23s for Andy’s practice)

Highlights

1m30s Why do you live in a shack?
13m05s What thinkers or philosophers inspired you in this pursuit of shack living?
17m55s What did you learn from living in the shack that you don’t think you could of learned any other way?
19m38s How have girlfriends responded to your shack life?
23m45s How has the shack hindered or aided hospitality?
37m Does the shack have any connection to the idea of sacred space?
46m40s If you were a scholar from the future studying ‘the shack years’ of your life, how would you describe this period?
52m What advice would you give someone wanting to downsize their material goods?
57m12s What would you say to someone contemplating the shack life?

Photo credit: Andrew Gingerich