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| embracing the changes |
There are some things that we all need to be prepared for, in terms of lifestyle changes. I'm not referring to the recent issues with the stock market and the economy either. I'm talking about certain unavoidable realities of existing on a living, breathing entity whose resources are not limitless and for whom we will all have to start being more responsible.
I was thinking about this during my luxuious, warm and rather lengthy shower this morning. Generally my showers are pretty quick and I absolutely hate the cold, yucky feeling of standing there soaking wet while I shave my legs and then turning the water back on as needed. But I also recognized that I was wasting a good deal of water at a time when we are all VERY close to the days of water rationing. Since most people are not even making a slight effort to cut back on water usage, that day will come sooner rather than later, as will the time when we have to confront the fact that the finite resource of oil has been tapped out and we have to restructure the global economy.
Now that's all big and scary, yes, but it's also a time where we can return to blissful simplicity and start to connect with the joys of conscious life. What I'm planning to do in terms of conserving water is to not only drastically shorten the length of my showers, but to skip them altogether on days where I don't need to wash my hair. Now before you imagine me running around all stinky let me just clarify that I WILL be bathing daily as always. But I'm going to revive an old fashioned and lovely practice; using large bowls of fresh, clean water to wash up in the morning. With a nice large ceramic pot of warm water, a washcloth and good natural soap you can easily get clean top to toes with a gallon or two of water rather than a 5 minute shower, which uses about 20 gallons of water on average.
I'll admit I still love my showers so I won't be ditching them altogether. But by shaving with the ceramic pot of water I'll cut shower times down dramatically and since I can easily go for days without washing my hair (and it actually looks and feels better that way since it's thick and wavy) I will only need a longer shower a couple of times per week. I could easily save 100 gallons of water or more PER WEEK just by being mindful like this.
And you don't need to join me in the Victorian era washcloth bath either to make a difference. If you keep your showers to under 5 minutes you'll save a considerable amount of water. And where I'm going with all of this is to find a way to joyfully embrace some very drastic lifestyle changes that will be universally inevitable in the coming years; I mean MUCH sooner than most people would care to think. Americans will likely feel these changes most of all because a) we're spoiled as could be, and b) our lifestyle is quite luxurious, even in the lower middle class populace, compared to most of the world. But rather than groan, kick and scream our way into a new way of living on this planet, why not start to acclimate now, which also saves those resources so they last longer?
Take shorter showers, turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, hang laundry to dry whenever you can, walk around your neighborhood and see how long you can make one tank of gas last, do clothing exchanges with neighbors and friends (even better than thrift store shopping, which is considered to be quite stylish and smart), fix things when you can rather than tossing them out, reuse food containers that can be washed (never have to buy food storage again!), use natural soaps for everything (better for you, your clothes and the ecosystem and Planet brands or Dr. Bronner's soaps last me for ages), buy glass water bottles to reuse and invest in a good tap filter for your daily water intake...think of all the little things, seemingly simple, that we can all do every day to be a bit more self sufficient and far less wasteful.
I used to observe myself lugging out bags of garbage every few days and marvel at how one woman and 2 cats could produce so must waste! Now I literally make it into a sort of inspirational game; how low can I keep my trash output, how long can this tank of gas last, what things can be multifunctional that I'm not taking advantage of? Living this way is actually fun and rewarding. You feel good about yourself and it calls upon some basic ingenuity that stimulates the mind.
In a very short time, we won't have a choice. So why not embrace these changes now, to ease into them from a place of willingness and joy rather than waiting and being pushed to do our parts? Your daily choices and lifestyle are far more powerful ways to effect world change than worrying about what's on the news today, folks.
Each of us has all the power in the world to shape things into a fantastic future that synthesizes aspects of modern technology with ancient and beautiful ways of living. Intention is everything, it's the most powerful creative force in the universe, so make changes in your life from an intention of love, joy, sharing and healing.
Try it and just see what happens, inside and out. ;)
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Posted by marathongal on 2008-10-01 15:07:07 | Rating: | Views: 31
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