Laundry go-lightly

So this weekend we reduced our projected potential power use for the summer by dramatically reducing the need for one of our big energy consumers, the dryer. A~ has set a goal for the summer to reduce our power use dramatically. She has said by 50%. I'm not completely sure about that number, but as she is home more often than I, and is the one who uses most of the big power consumers I guess I'll just have to take her word for it and keep doing my best to enable her goal by doing things like hanging double clotheslines for her. I was honestly surprised to see how quickly the clothes dried on the line. I seem to remember my mom hanging clothes when I was a kid but otherwise, I have little experience with it. One more small step toward lightening our footprint and depending less on outside power.

P~

Chemical Sensitivity

What a difference a year makes? Well, almost a year anyway since A~ and I decided to make the move from chemical based cleaners, paints and home accessories. I've mentioned before that I feel like our general health has been better because of this, and I think so even more today. Our oldest son C~ who had missed nearly 3 weeks of school last year from asthma and allergy related problems has missed approx 3 this year thus far and only one of those days was because of respiratory problems caused from a classmate spraying a chem-based air "freshener" in the classroom. This alone makes the changes worth it.

Yesterday I noticed an interesting thing though. I too have become used to living in a cleaner environment. I've worked as a military mechanic, a printer and in various service industries that use a lot of chemical cleaners so I've been exposed to a lot of chemicals in my day. I've never had any real reaction to them at all. Yesterday however, half of the building that I work in was being repainted and Ugh, the fumes! I had such a headache toward the end of the day that I left an hour early. It was the weirdest thing. I've never had that problem. After getting outside and breathing some fresh, albeit very cold, but fresh air, I felt much better.

I guess I've become spoiled by a clean environment. My challenge to you is to take the opportunity to make a few changes in your habits this year and see if you don't feel healthier too. I thought that in order to clean with non toxic products that we would need to buy a bunch of hard to get expensive organic cleaners and such. YOU DON'T! (Although I do really enjoy some of the green products that my sis sent to our family for Christmas. That was the most well thought out and thoughtful gifts I think she's ever given us.) We use a vinegar and lemon based cleaner for our everyday spray and wipe stuff, washing powder instead of bleach in the wash, baking soda with essential oils in our baths instead of chemical fragranced bath products, and a pot with a little water and fragrant herbs boiled to add a little scent to the house to name a few. The products are cheaper, they work as well or better, and are absolutely non-toxic.

Give your home a once over and see where you can make a change that won't impact you too terribly and give it a chance. Then when you get used to that one, take on another. Little by little you'll see that it's really not hard and you'll feel better in the long run.

P~

Resolutions begin - extreme simplifying

In my resolutions I said that we wanted to downsize, eliminate clutter, and simplify our life. A~, my wife, and I spent a goodly part of the weekend going through our basement, garage and storage totes to pick out what came up to be enough to fill a parking stall in the garage with "Stuff". These are things that were "great deals", or are things that we have used in the house, that we just don't have a reason for anymore. We have been toting a lot of stuff around for years that we basically just said to ourselves, " if we haven't used it in the last three years, we can live without it!".

We are having some relatives of my wife's over, that are just starting out on their own, take a look at what we have and we will be giving it to them if they want it. The rest I think we will post of Freecycle for a week and see if anyone needs it, or it will be donated to the local charity store. We thought about having a garage sale. I'm sure that we could make a 150-200.00 if we did. We have been the recipient of a lot of help from both family and the generosity of others throughput our time together, and we want to give back a little if we can. Someone out there will appreciate the stuff that we no longer need.
The other side of this simplifying is that we have made a commitment to each other to not purchase any new junk this year. There are things that we have determined that we will need; a chair for the front room that is not fabric (allergy issues...), a cast iron pot for bread baking, and essentials like clothing of course. The main idea is that we will talk purchases over before we make them, identify whether or not it is a need or a want, and make a slow decision as to whether it is something we actually want to purchase. I hope to have this change of thought process help us to reduce our consumption, simplify our lives, and save us money.

I'll keep you posted as we finish and have more info.

P~

TurnOff, Tune Out, Be Happy (Recovery)

Yesterday I told you about how I found my self becoming unhappy. It wasn't something that I was conscious of, it just came on me. I was lucky enough that the same fates that brought me to this point, presented me the opportunity to change my course.



The Recovery:
When earlier this year I started to blog, one of my primary reasons, honestly, was to have a place where I could rant about all of the things that I was so angry about. I had things to say about politics, world issues and the downfall of society… you know real happy stuff. I found that it was much harder for me to make the time to actually sit down and write out my opinions when they came from anger than I had expected. I’ve always enjoyed writing and it’s also always been something that’s been able to help me organize my thoughts. When I write I have the opportunity to look back and read what I’ve said. It gives me perspective on what I’m trying to convey rather than just spitting it out. I guess reading my own words helped put in perspective how I was thinking. After realizing that there were so many wonderful blogs out there dealing with things that I was passionate and interested in like gardening, homesteading and alternative energy for example, I began to focus more on these things. I began to find my voice again and it was a positive one. I moved to Blogspot as my host in roughly April, and adopted the title “A Posse Ad Esse” or “From Possibility to Reality”, in order to remind me to focus on the possible in life. Not long after I moved the blog, my wife and I also made the decision to cancel our cable subscription for the summer since we would be gone for 3 weeks on vacation and saw no reason to pay for it. These two things, vacation and cancelling cable, combined to thrust me into a cold turkey withdrawal from the news and a strange thing happened; I was happier. I wasn’t walking around with a perma-grin on my face or anything like that, but I was certainly happier. I decided to explore this further and began to earnestly avoid the things that I found causing me unhappiness. I found that even the local news became a mental drain as nothing makes the news like death, misery and misfortune, of course they’ll always throw you that little fluff piece at the end to leave you feeling good so you’ll come back again tomorrow. I made the decision to tune-out of the talk radio and listen to music again and found that I arrived home with a smile more often, and was in a better mood overall. I decided that I may never be able to get the small hobby farm I dreamt of (the dream persists, but not at the expense of today.); but I do have a beautiful home on a ¼ of an acre that I wasn’t making the most of as it was. I began to spend my time in the yard as though I were on my farm. I planned and worked it, composting and tending. My obsession with what I didn’t have became one of gratitude for what I did. I took part in a “Low Impact Week” challenge put on by another blogger that encouraged me to try a new way of daily life. I began to ride my bike to work, consume less, and eat a more local and primarily vegetarian diet. My wife and I began to wean ourselves off of chemical cleaners and started using home made natural ones. All these things, each one small in on its own, began to move me towards a more simple way of living. I began to feel more in tune with my community, and more connected to what I was doing. I was thinking again.


As you can see, making decisions and taking action, combined with focusing on the positive things in life and a little lucky opportunity helped me to dig myself out of the mire. We can all do it, life is a choice. Tomorrow, the last installment, Today.



P~

Happiness

Everyday, every one of us is searching for something. It’s something that often seems just around the corner. We just know that it’s something we can “get”. We almost have it, or we know we will when ___, you fill in the blank. What is it that consumes so much of our lives? What is this elusive thing that we all crave?
Happiness. When was the last time that you really felt happy? Not just alright, or okay but really happy? I guess before I can go much further I need to explain what I mean.
Most of the time, I am pretty happy with my life. I have a beautiful wife, great kids, and live in a nice home. But is that happiness? For that matter what is happiness? Is it a long term situation or one that comes and goes like the wind? I have tried to define happiness many times in my life. As a child I thought happiness was getting what I wanted when I wanted it. Later, in High School, I thought happiness would be making my own decisions and charting my own course. Yet later in life I thought happiness was something that came from what I had; cars, job, money, fun. Looking back on it, the one common thread I see for myself was the constant association of happiness with some thing “out there”, something that I didn’t have or didn’t have enough of.
I guess to define happiness one would need to define what happiness is not. Rather a Zen perspective I know, but bear with me. Let’s assume that happiness is not something that’s conveyed through acquisitions. We can also accept as fact that happiness is not a constant state of mind, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation would we? The dictionary defines “unhappy” as 1) Sad or sorrowful; and 2) Not satisfied; displeased or discontented. Either way the unhappiness or state of being “not happy” as I see it is from not accepting the current situation. I was not a great student in school; I wasn’t a dunce mind you, but I had an aversion to homework and this landed me in summer school more than once. During one summer of pre-algebra, I was lucky enough to have a teacher who imparted to me the phrase that I have referred to more times than any other. "Happiness is being where you are." This simple thought has over time grown on me and become very much one of my core beliefs. When you are wanting, wishing, hoping or just thinking about the things you want that you don't have, or the places you want to be that you are not at, you are not being where you are. When you live in the future, or dwell on the past, you are not being where you are. These are, for me anyway, the times that I am the most discontent or unhappy. I try to not indulge myself in this thinking too often, but hey, I ain't perfect. Remember that thought though, and hold it in your mind on those times when you can feel the blues creeping in. We all have some blessings in our lives. Whether that is health, family, passion, or profession. Happiness is being where you are. Hold dear each moment you have, and when it passes, enjoy the next.
Namaste.
P~

Keeping Life Simple

In the sping, even before you can get your hands into the dirt, you will be tempted to buy all manner of specialty items...DON'T
~ paraphrase from "Keeping Life Simple"