This is part two of the series: Think Big, Choose Vintage First, Steward the Planet. This one is about Choosing Vintage First.

First, my definition.

Take your age today and subtract 60. Whatever you had at that point in your life is vintage. Its time has gone. Think fashion, design, colours, cars, homes. If you’re not yet 60, subtract 60 from 2026 instead. Anything before 1966 falls in the vintage category.

I have no intention of whitewashing anything that was in existence in 1966. There was no equity for women to brag about. Smoking was still recognized as a fine thing to do. The truths about white sugar, the birth control pill, and gender health differences were still buried. And too many households had a very unhappy, unsatisfied, and depressed partner tending the home fires.

The year 1966 is famously remembered as a massive turning point in the counter-culture movement, groundbreaking space exploration, a surge in iconic television and music, and escalating global political tensions. It was also the last days of one-car and one-television families, shared bedrooms by siblings, and leaving the doors unlocked all day long.

I am suggesting

You put more emphasis on the good things that were very much in evidence back then.

Be a good human first, and everything else follows. Exercise. Walk daily. Eat real food and get off the ultra-processed bandwagon. Have little attachment to convenience, because humans pay for all corporate profits one way or another.

Spend real time with the people in your life. Be the best friend, spouse, and parent you can, without putting yourself on a pedestal of perfection. Look out for the older neighbour, the shut-in, the mentally ill. Choose natural over synthetic when you can. Buy less, appreciate more. Set a budget and don’t overspend. Make do rather than make debt. Don’t measure yourself against an impossible standard.

The truth is that we are only here for a short time.

Our mind is the most valuable real estate we’ll ever own, so fill it with wisdom, philosophy, art, and creativity, and watch what happens. What you believe, you tend to achieve. The only thing you can’t control is the timing.

Notice what’s missing from that list. No inane reality TV. No TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram. No politics, no religion. Just people connecting with people.

It isn’t perfect.

It asks for a more equal sharing of the work of raising a family and running a home than many households have settled into, and that part hasn’t caught up yet.

But it doesn’t say keep up with the Joneses. It doesn’t say be as good as your neighbour, or better than everyone else. And it doesn’t say be loyal to your employer either, because loyalty in one direction only is just another form of extraction.

None of that matters.

What matters is the relationships you build, the connections you make, and simply being a good and healthy human.

What else would you add to the list?