My Affluenza: Part 2

My Affluenza: Part 2

This is the film that sparked the idea of my project:  http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/affluenza/

I completely love the website: http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/diag/what.html

How do you know if you have Affluenza? (a nice little quiz from their website and my answers)

1.I’m willing to pay more for a t-shirt if it has a cool corporate logo on it. (only if it is KSU)2

2.I believe that if I buy the cocktail dress, the cocktail party will come.(nope)1
3. I have a shoe collection Imelda Marcos would envy. (definitely not, but I could stand to get rid of those shoes which hurt my feet and do not make me feel good)2
4. When I’m cold, I take my clothes off and turn up the heat. (I am very cold sensitive, so I do have my apt heater set on 80, granted it is on that in the summer time, so hopefully that negates that a bit)2
5. I’m willing to work 40 years at a job I hate so I can buy lots of stuff. (no way, if it is not meaningful, then I do not want to do it)1
6. When I’m feeling blue, I like to go shopping and treat myself. (I like to eat.)2
7. I want a sports utility vehicle, although I rarely drive in conditions that warrant one. (nope)1
8. I usually make just the minimum payment on my credit cards. (no, paid off in full every month)1
9. I believe that whoever dies with the most toys wins. (no)1-13
10. Most of the things my friends/family and I enjoy doing together are free. (no)2
11. I don’t measure my self-worth (or that of others) by what I own. (sometimes, I am trying to get over this feeling)2
12. I know how to pinch a dollar until it screams. (yes)0
13. I worry about the effects of advertising on children. (of course, because I know how it affected me)0
14. To get to work, I carpool, ride my bike or use public transportation. (no)2
15. I’d rather be shopping right now. (no)1

My score:20 I am on warning!

For questions 1-9 and 15, give yourself 2 points for true and 1 point for false.
For questions 10-14, give yourself 0 points for true and 2 points for false.

If you scored:

10-15 No dangerous signs of Affluenza at this time. Watch Affluenza to help build immunity.

16-22 Warning: You have mild Affluenza. Watch Affluenza to help prevent a full-blown case, and see our handy tips for squishing the Affluenza bug.

23-30 Cut up your credit cards and call a doctor! Memorize our list of bug-beating tips. Watch Affluenza, and then watch it again.

So here are the tips for beating Affluenza on the website:

Try these handy tips for beating Affluenza!

1. Before you buy, ask yourself:
Do I need it? Do I want to dust (dry-clean or otherwise maintain) it? Could I borrow it from a friend, neighbor or family member? Is there anything I already own that I could substitute for it? Are the resources that went into it renewable, or non-renewable? How many hours will I have to work to pay for it? (Note: Before you do this, you may find it useful to figure your real hourly wage. Take your annual net income and subtract your work-related costs like clothing, transportation, child care, parking and lunches out.

2. Avoid the mall. Go hiking or play ball with the kids instead.

3. Figure out what public transportation can save you (time, money for gas and parking, peace of mind).

4. Become an advertising critic. Don’t be sucked in by efforts to make you feel inadequate so you’ll buy more stuff you don’t need.

5. Volunteer for a school or community group.

6. Splurge consciously. A few luxuries can be delightful, and they don’t have to be expensive.

7. Stay in — have a potluck, play a game, bake bread, write a letter, cuddle a loved one.

8. Make a budget — know how much you are earning and spending. Each dollar represents precious time in your life that you worked. Are you spending money in ways that fulfill you?

9. Pretend the Joneses are the thriftiest, least wasteful people on the block. Then try to keep up with them.

10. For even more ideas, watch Affluenza.

What really strikes me is how this movie and book really point how your life should be based upon what the goals are in your life, such as financial security, maintenance of health, good relationships, and how you want to spend your precious time on earth.  But it also kind of a downer in that you realize that if you are of the same socio-economic class that your parents were, that you might not be able to afford what they could, because we consume so much more now.  One of the things that is covered in the book is how much we spend on gas, now I have an E85 compatible large sedan, so I did a little experiment.  I took two trips to KC with each kind of fuel and discovered while I can get 260 miles out of one tank of immediately used E85, but I could get 330 out of a tank of regular gas, so what does that mean?  Looking at the cost of how much gas it would have taken to get to 330 miles, my saving in buying E85 was negated.  E85 also has a tendency to evaporate out of my gas tank more.  I also realized I was wasteful with my energy consumption in my home.  I put the things that are regular drains to my power on power cords and just unplugged the power cords when I left in the morning, this lead to an almost 40 dollar savings from the previous month power bill, which granted was a colder month.  I am sure that is in part, so I accidently do not leave something on all day, and it helped.  Plus it helped me start paring down my “possession overload.”

I just for giggles I started making a list of simple things that I really enjoy and one the first things on that list is how much I enjoy the light in my apartment, but it could have something to do with the nine windows in it.  But what a simple thing…light.

My Affluenza: Part 3

My Affluenza: Part 3

Your Money or Your Life

http://ymoyl.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/video-vicki-robin-on-the-new-your-money-or-your-life/

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you have enough money?
• Are you spending enough time with family and friends?
• Do you come home from your job full of life?
• Do you have time to participate in things you believe are worthwhile?
• If you were laid off from your job, would you see it as an opportunity?
• Are you satisfied with the contribution you have made to the world?
• Are you at peace with money?
• Does your job reflect your values?
• Do you have enough savings to see you through six months of normal living expenses?
• Is your life whole? Do all the pieces — your job, your expenditures, your relationships, your values — fit together?

-Your Money Or Your Life

I have to admit I am in the process of going through health issues that I hope you never have to deal with, and I am very glad I prepared for the worse in a sense, because I would not have had the safety net that I do, if I had not.  Health issues are a significant factor in the cause of bankruptcies, and are overwhelmingly something women will have to deal with more than men, because women are the caretakers in our society.  Part of me, thought this book was going to be a bit of a crock, because I am not really too much of a shopper.  Of course I have to caveat I do have some status stuff, that in retrospect I kind of regret getting (sometimes).  However this book did make me see how much I did spend on things that were not “retail therapy,” but are a kind of social community thing.  For example, I had spent over 300 dollars on going out to eat in the month before this project was started, which is definitely over-consuming.  Granted, some of this can be counted towards medical (comfort) expenses because it was when I was transitioning back and forth, but still it was a lot.  So, I put myself on a no going out to eat for a month, and it has been hard, I violated it once for a quick Panera run on my way home (I had not had any food for more than ten hours) and quite frankly got so sick that I really became hard core about packing “safe” food for me to take.  Furthermore, after some of the class readings I think it is best if I prepare my food anyway, so I can make sure and get organic, etc.

Your Money Or Your Life really points out how are you spending your life energy.  Is what you are doing working for you in that it satisfies you, brings you joy, and fulfills your life’s purpose?  Granted, it can be distressing to know how much your life energy is worth (well at least what others are going to pay you for), but it is necessary to know in that it helps you answer the question is this really how I want to spend my life energy.  I had not realized that for a well-paying for my degree post-college job, actually paid me less than minimum wage for the amount of hours I put in.  It is a pretty freeing idea to think about if I did not have to work for a living is this what I would be doing?  I can actually answer this question with a yes.   But I also wanted to know how to make my money work more for me.  So the book included this checklist:

Checklist: Think Before You Spend

• Don’t shop.
• Live within your means.
• Take care of what you have.
• Wear it out.
• Do it yourself.
• Anticipate your needs.
• Research value, quality, durability, and multiple use.
• Get it for less.
• Buy used.
• Follow the steps of this program.

-Your Money Or Your Life

Plus, I also know several women who have started doing this couponing thing, so I went with a friend over to the local recycling center on a Monday (we did not have to spend money on a paper this way), so we could pick up at least four packets of coupons from Sunday’s paper, and just in my first week I trimmed off $14.00 from my weekly grocery bill (and that was mostly organic stuff, except the TP).

In doing the graphs for some of the exercises in the book I did realize that I spent about $400 a month on non-covered medical items, just when I thought my entire medical was covered.   That was not something that the book really talked about, but it is something that I should have realized sooner.  Granted, we cannot all do what Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin have done, good luck finding a six percent or higher guaranteed investment according to the research I have done around Manhattan (such as a CD), but a lot of the tools that they use are very applicable.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/what-would-jesus-buy/

(I am not a super religious person, but I think this is a neat little documentary film that is related to this topic.)

http://www.thesimplicityforum.org/

A Forum that I thought was really cool.

My Affluenza: Part 5

My Affluenza: Part 5 Wrap up!

“What would you do if you only had a year to live?”

As I am getting rid of the stuff I do not want, need, or love which is much more difficult than I ever thought it would be, although giving stuff to people who will enjoy it as much as I did makes it easier.  I find myself asking is what kind of legacy do I want to leave behind?  It certainly is not stuff, granted I do not have children and I am not sure if I ever will, so legacy had a more societal issue for me.  Although part of the problem is that I know how much life energy went into what I have and there is a strong part of me that says “waste not, want not,” but it also feels like a weight on me, and quite frankly I am heavy enough.  Unfortunately, this is not just an intellectual exercise for me, but something I need to be prepared for, as my health situation is not great, but it could always be worse and I need to be ready.

There is measurement about how you spend your life energy and it is not necessarily about money, but more about is what you are doing a way you would want to spend your life energy on.  Because I only have so much energy I am very conscious of where that energy goes and how I spend my life energy.  Which is the point of Your Money or Your Life, is how is one’s life energy spent and is it in line with your values and life purpose?  Spending money on things that will take your energy just in the fact you will have to clean them is no way to live your life.  Granted, part of going to school is to make more money, but for me it is also about learning about things that enrich the quality of our lives, granted that might make me a life-long learner (which is not a bad thing), but I want to be able to wrap my brain around things that will allow me to make the world a better place.  Because the more I think about it that is the kind of legacy that I want to leave, rather than stuff.  I think Thoreau made a good point about not living a life of “quiet desperation,” you want to have enough money that you get satisfaction out of your life, but your life should not be just about your job.  Furthermore, I think we all want our work to enrich our lives not only monetarily, but also work that enriches our spirits.

I once overheard a woman describing being on long term chemo, is “like having an abusive husband, it takes your energy, your money, your youth, and it may even end up taking your life, and kicks the crap out of you in the meantime.”  You have to find the fire and passionate purpose to get through it, and as a result you have little tolerance for wasting your time or money, and it does help sort out your priorities, especially ‘how you spend your spoons.”      http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory-written-by-christine-miserandino/

This project has definitely helped me more sharply define how I am going to live my life from here on out.  Granted, I am sure I will fall a little short here and there, but the ideas of voluntary simplicity truly appeal to me, and are definitely something I am going to carry on.  I really do like the taste of organic better, and certainly keep on that, because we do not know the long term effects of all the chemicals we are ingesting (we are what we eat), so I am just not going to gamble on that.  I also will not be going out to eat as much, as I was before this project, because that is just not good money management.

“Humanity does well, when women do well.”  -Unknown

My Affluenza- Part 4

My Affluenza Part 4

The 100 thing challenge!

Dave Bruno. The 100 Thing Challenge: How I Got Rid of Almost Everything, Remade My Life, and Regained My Soul (Harper, 2010)

http://vimeo.com/22716909

I read about this when researching voluntary simplicity and Dave’s challenge is to get all of his things down to less than 100 items.  I know I cannot do this at least not yet, but I know I can get rid of at least 100 items and go on a buying freeze.  This means nothing extraneous, no movies, no going out to eat, no buying 31/Tastefully Simple/Scentsy/etc. because I was invited to a party (this is very difficult for me because I feel a need to support women who are raising children and are trying to make money staying at home), no internet shopping (being “a not off the rack size” I tend to shop online (malls have a tendency to make me feel like a fat freak who should only wear big and tall men’s clothing, because they do not make or carry it in women’s clothing in my size, tying this back to a violation of gender norms is to be a big woman) and I have to be mindful of sales, and if it something that is actually nice it tends to disappear quickly, and because I generally have to tailor a significant amount of my clothing which makes it more expensive, sometimes I wish I lived in a bigger city that I could just have my clothes especially made for me, rather than having duplicate work done on it).

What amazes me is this book again touches on the principle of purposeful work, and making sure if you are working outside the home that it really needs to be worth the life energy you put into it.  Needless to say the author was not getting this, so he stopped his “more” lifestyle and stopped consuming and started paring down his possessions.  His stuff, like mine, feels like more of an “expense and distraction then it was a pleasure.”  So I started by counted my clothes, for example I have over 40 pairs of socks (when did that happen?) 16 of which I have never used and were still labeled in ziploc baggies so I can pull them out when I need them.  I kept twenty.  Granted, he made exceptions for books, but I find that I have so many that is just not something that is going to work for me, because the last time I moved I realized I had over six hundred books and need to pare down.  So two full tubs of books, that I never unpacked, went to my friend, and another tub of old textbooks I shipped to a friend overseas (I am aware that I could have sold these things, but for the betterment of the universe I gave them away, and absorbed the cost as a school expense for my project).  I should mention my brothers bought me a Kindle last Christmas, so I could have digital copies of things, however I fainted on it last week and now it no longer downloads (thank goodness for black tie guarantee), and so I have been doing really well on not buying books for my kindle (and really there is a reason why libraries exist).

What I do find interesting is the stuff that he regrets getting rid of he can replace like a camera, sports coat, and what I find myself regretting getting rid of is my Mother’s stainless steel mixing bowls, granted they are replaceable bowls, but it is the sentimental factor of they were a wedding present to my parents (GUILT!!!) way back in 1970 that is getting to me. But I do not love them, need them, or use them, as I have two great sets of Pyrex mixing bowls with the all-important lids and space is a very important commodity to me, because the more space you take the more it costs to maintain it.

But, the author’s father posed a powerful question in that if we all did the living with only 100 things would it ruin the world economy?

(I do not know, but I agree with the fact that very few people in the United States who are working adults could do the 100 things challenge in the manner in which he did it, unless forced to.)

I do like his two question quiz: Are you bothered on a daily basis by the fact that you have too much stuff? Really?

As tornado season starts I am struck by a post from a Facebook friend when she is worrying about replacing her 5,000 dollar wardrobe, and all I can do is laugh, because 5,000 dollars is a drop in the bucket when compared with medical costs.

I did manage to get rid of over 150 items so far, but this must continue!

My Affluenza- intro Part 1

I have been in the transition to a healthier lifestyle for the last several years, and quite frankly I have realized I have too much stuff.  It is amazing how clutter accumulates.  I became rather poor after having suffering some losses, so it became very difficult for me to release my stuff (such as clothes that do not fit, stuff with sentimental value, etc.).   I have a two bedroom apartment and one of the bedrooms is full of boxes of stuff, from paperwork to china.  Plus, I have a storage unit that has cost me over 3,000 dollars in rent over the past couple of years.  I would like to get back down to only needing a one bedroom, because I really like this idea of voluntary simplicity.  I feel so weighted down by all my extraneous stuff.  I have really reached a saturation point, in that I simply cannot keep taking in more stuff, without getting rid of something.

I have started my quest to get rid of my Affluenza started this past Wednesday as I believe there is a betterment factor to releasing my stuff so it can benefit others, and I want to improve upon my healthier life changes.  I am also not going to buy anything that I do not need to have during this time, because that would defeat the purpose of getting rid of my stuff.  I have also realized I spend way too much money on eating out so I am giving that up, but this is difficult for me because I do not generally know what I can tolerate from day to day, but I am tired of getting sick from wait staff that really should have stayed home.  Plus, I cleaned out one of my kitchen cabinets today and found that I had expired powered soup.  I do have a tendency to get tired easily and sometimes the amount of stuff is just seems overwhelming, so I hope that 15 minutes a day is enough to at least make progress, so I do not get too tired.

How to Be Eco-Tight, lesson one.

Yo what up blogosphere?  I’m Juergen, and this is How to Be Eco-Tight.

You might be wondering about the title of this blog, or why I sound like a tool so far.  It’s modified from a hilarious but inappropriate series of videos in which the main character is the epitome of douchbag . (don’t watch if you’re easily offended)

In my month of walking the talk, I will strive to become the epitome of eco-friendly, without being an eco-douch.

My plan is:

• I will not buy any products other than food, beverages, and medicine.
• I will meditate with nature.
• I will partake in a weekly day of silence where I don’t use a computer, cell phone, TV, or music player.
• I will  I will try to use the library or engineering building for doing homework since their lights and computers are already on.
• I will decrease my showering.
• I will only flush for number 2s.
• I will buy as much food as I can from the farmer’s market (if it opens during this project).
• I will look at my food to see where it comes from and try to minimize my food miles.
• I will eat more organic whole foods and food with minimal packaging.
• I will only drive when absolutely necessary and try to carpool and/or do several errands at once when I do.
• I’m basically vegetarian right now, but I will completely cut out all dairy and eggs on top of not eating meat (as soon as I use up the milk and cheese in my fridge).

I started the project a couple days ago, but I’m a huge procrastinator so I’m just now getting my first post up.  In my first week, I will meditate in nature once, do a half day of silence and take four showers throughout the week.  Next week, I’ll meditate in nature twice, do a full day of silence, and only shower three times.  In the remaining two weeks, I’ll increase my nature meditations by one each week and decrease my showers by one each week but never do more than one day of silence per week.  As I go along I’ll try to think of more ways to be green.  Let me know if you have suggestions!

That’s the end of the post, chill.

Gardening The Future.

I have now presented my poster to the class about my window farm. Thanks to everyone that stopped by to learn about window farming. Showing my window farm to people gives me an opportunity to educate others about creative gardening and producing/buying local organic food.

I was asked many times today about what I was going to do with window garden now that the class project is over. My garden will live on so do not worry. My window farm will be moving with me to a Boy Scout summer camp that I run. There it will hang in a window in the dinning hall. With this prime location I will have around 1500 people walk by it during the summer and I am sure that many of them will stop to take a look.

The possibility of having 1500 people learn about local food is an exciting idea that I cannot turn down. Exceptionally sense most of that 1500 will be middle school kids. Teaching kids at a young age is the easiest way to make meaning life changes.

And after camp the garden is moving with me to Chicago where I hope to expand it.

I hope that many of you are think about making your own window garden, and if you do please let me know. Here are a few things that I have learned from making my own can could help you.

First, herbs are the best to plant in a window garden because many of them do not grow to big. This style of gardening is not good for large plants. Also herbs allow you to continually harvest them without completely killing the plant.

Second, do forget to water them. The bottles themselves are not very big and with that they cannot store a lot of water. I have to water my garden every two days or it will quickly dry out. I learned this the hard way and my lettuce has not fully recovered from it yet.

Last, come up with a design of your own. You could simply build one close to mine or you could be creative. Being creative with your garden makes this project such a fun to do. A good friend of mine is now making one out of old sections of plastic plumbing of different sizes. Some of the pipes even have right angles in them so he can be even more creative with the design. He is planting wild flowers in his.

Over all this has been a fantastic project. I have truly enjoyed designing and building my garden and learning about environmental issues at the same time in class.

I’m Ready!

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

            According to my handy-dandy study Bible the apostle Paul wrote this sentiment in his letter to the people of Thessalonica in 51 A.D. – clearly, the notion of living simplistically is not a new one. Paul is considered by many to be the father of modern Christianity (aside from God and Jesus, just for clarification…) and a theme of living in a simplistic manner to please God can be found throughout the 13 epistles credited to him in the Bible. In Catholicism, avarice, envy, gluttony, and pride comprise the bulk of the seven deadliest sins of all, yet those are the principles upon which our culture and economy in the U.S. are founded. If Christianity and Catholicism, the most prominent and influential faiths in the U.S. and most other Western “civilizations”, advocate a life lived simply, why didn’t this become our standard of living? When did so many people agree that the pursuit and accumulation of STUFF, a stuff whose supply is limited and finite and whose production indelibly oppresses a silent majority for the comfort and benefit of the powerful minority, was the ultimate in human accomplishment and the answer to achieving satisfaction?

            I bring this up because I have spent a lot of time exploring my faith this semester. This class has been extremely challenging to me on a personal level because it has caused me to turn a critical lens on myself and my egregious over-consumption and wastefulness. Through this project of imagining how my life would have to adjust should Manhattan be affected by peak oil and global climate crisis I have discovered that I am capable of learning the necessary skills to lead a more simplistic existence. However, while a peak-oil crisis scenario is looming and may very well become a reality someday soon, right now my reality is that continuing a pattern of lazy over-consumption and wastefulness is the most convenient option, and despite all that I’ve learned, convenience is still too powerful a temptation for me to resist. I found that I needed another motivator, something to make simplistic living seem worth the trouble. I know that sounds terrible- the fact that I’m helping the environment and ceasing my participation in a violent and oppressive globalized capitalist system should be motivation enough, but it’s not. I have to alter my mindset, stop thinking of transitioning to a life of simplicity in terms of what I would be losing or sacrificing, but in terms of what I’d be gaining. Recently, it hit me. I’d be gaining an opportunity to rely more on my faith for strength and comfort.

            So, in the last leg of my project, this is what I have been working on. This wasn’t originally part of my plan for my project- working on my spirituality wasn’t on my to-do list at first, at least not for this class, but it ended up becoming a natural and necessary by-product of my explorations. I felt like I needed something to replace the sense of satisfaction I used to get from buying things, from driving for hours wasting gas, and from going out to eat every other night- again something that would make the “sacrifice” worthwhile. I decided to turn to faith, which I am learning leaves me so much more fulfilled than any of this other junk. After a while, my mindset is starting to shift and some of the other benefits of living simplistically are becoming more apparent and appealing:

Health: avoiding restaurants, especially fast-food, and processed foods shipped from who-knows-where will inevitably lead to healthier eating habits. Additionally, reducing my use of my car for transportation means more exercise and a happier, healthier heart.

Community: I have had to rely more on the people around me when I wouldn’t allow Target and Walmart to be the answer to all of my needs, which gave me the opportunity to get to know and find new appreciation for people in my life, like my house mother and cousins who raise goats and the interesting people who come to the Transition Manhattan meetings at UFM. Growing up, I never know my neighbors. You didn’t need each other so you just ignored each other. Looking back, I’m sad about this. Now, I’m so excited about the prospect of being connected to a community!

Time: As has been pointed out in class, living simplistically is actually quite time consuming. However, it gives you a chance to spend your time purposefully so you get more enjoyment and fulfillment from your daily activities and responsibilities. This applies too to the leisure time you are afforded. When I’m consciously working on living simply, reducing my energy usage, my free time activities are much more rewarding than staring blankly at a television screen or scrolling mindlessly through my facebook newsfeed.

Spirituality: As I said, this has been a big one for me. It has offered me a motivation and incentive for working to give up those things that are not only destroying the planet and oppressing millions of people, but also distorting my sense of purpose and self worth. I can re-examine what is truly important in the short time that I’m allotted and I can see how the pursuit of stuff becomes a huge distraction in living how I want to live and being who I want to be.

            Here at the end of my project, I’ve learned how to maneuver Manhattan with limited vehicle use, to sew and mend, and to cook from scratch. Now that I have the knowledge and I know I’m capable of learning the skills, now there is a matter of choice. I don’t want to wait until Manhattan HAS to transition to adjust to a crisis- I’m ready to begin transitioning myself, little by little. It’s a scary prospect, but I’ve found the motivation I need to start. I am in a place where I truly believe I could be happier living simply than continuing on the wasteful pursuit of stuff, and I’m excited about that.

For GREAT information on transition initiatives, visit http://www.transitionus.org

Why is the shortest path the most difficult journey?

…and by that I mean why is there a much higher level of convenience in finding processed foods that have traveled hundred and hundreds of miles instead of locating the local produce, grown within 50 miles?

and why do my tastebuds reject that which it knows is best for them?

I wondered these things as I drove the 10 hours down to see my boyfriend in Waco, TX. Traveling and eating fresh produce is difficult enough, traveling and eating fresh local produce is ridiculously difficult.  My local food diet was in shambles eating m&ms, pretzels and whatever food I could find on the road. When I ate a burger it wasn’t native buffalo, the cheese wasn’t fresh made in a creamery down the road. It was produced somewhere foreign, shipped to a distribution center, shipped around the country, and somehow it made itself into my hand, driving 70 miles an hour down I-70. It’s also difficult to find out what plants grow natively and how to find them in different states.

Originally, the game plan was to eat organic only for my final week.  However, further research showed that organic certification didn’t mean that the plants were local, and organic plants (while not processed) may still have the same economic footprint as non-processed foods. Next came eating local produce. I figured that local produce would have a lower carbon footprint, for the transportation section alone. Readers, I did not fair very well.  Call Hall provided some on-campus locality, but coldness, Kansas, and a picky eater do not bode well together when trying to only eat locally. And, I love me some Panda orange chicken from the Union.

However, I have learned from this project that there is local produce available to me. There are even local diary and meat products. I feel fortunate to live in the breadbasket of America, I am still to this day working on appreciating the delicous splendor of my local land.

Simple Things

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything new on my blog and no, I have not forgotten about it.  I needed some time to contemplate and to figure a few things out for myself and where I am headed.  I could have hashed out some half-assed blog a long time ago, but for my last one, I wanted to make it worthwhile to me and my readers.  This is not going to be a blog filled with technical facts and other such mumbo jumbo, but a continuation of what my blog has become.  I did not set out to create a journal of my Tech Blackout experiences, but my blog evolved into it and I kind of like it.  I always imagined a journal being sort of wimpy, but the more I journaled/blogged, the more I enjoyed it.  Because my blogs were personal I would like to end my blog on a personal note.  Anyways, it is obvious to anyone that human reliance on and the usage of technology is growing at an unprecedented rate so why beat the dead horse.  Everyone knows it and I am sure that we have all heard the stories of Korean gamers dying from playing computer games for 24 hours and such, true story, no lie.  Check out the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm Anyway, I feel that personal stories are the real breadwinners when it comes to changing people’s minds and ways, not hard facts.

There are several reasons why I am posting this blog out so late after I have finished my little experiment.  1. Being that the weather has been really nice outside and I have used this as an excuse not to sit in front of a computer, 2.  I wanted to read up on and learn a bit more about the voluntary simplicity movement, 3.  To see if I could continue on with bits and pieces of my Tech Blackout experiment day to day without thinking about it.  What I mean, is that I knew going into my Tech Blackout that it would one day end and I knew exactly what day it would end too and so far my results are varied.

I have been asked continuously by my readers in their comments if I plan on taking my Tech Blackout beyond the scope of my little six week experiment.  The answer to that question is…yes, sort of.  I am not going to go on specific days without technology, nor am I going to give up specific technological devices.  I know I have said this before, but it would be impossible to cut oneself off from technology without becoming a hermit, which is a possibility.  I am not going to abuse technology.  I am not going to go back to my old ways of vegging out in front of the television or playing video games all day when I am bored or have no motivation to do anything.  I have rediscovered too many simple pleasures to go back, who would give up free time, pleasure reading, or more sleep??  I am not!!  I mean, one of the reasons why I had not gotten this blog out so quickly after my experiment had finished was because I was OUTSIDE enjoying the sun and warm weather and not INSIDE procrastinating by watching TV or playing video games.  For this summer, I have partially constructed a reading list for myself, I say partially because I haven’t written anything down, but have formulated in my head several authors and books that I would like to read for the summer.  One author I wish to start reading again is Ellis Peters and the Brother Cadfael series.  They are interesting stories of an English Monk/detective set in 12^th century England.  I want to read Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  I have watched so many vampire movies, yet I have not read the book that really started the vampire craze.  I would also like to read some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books.  As I said, I have a partially constructed book list, but if it is partially constructed it means nothing is set in stone and thus flexible!!  I do promise you I will read more than I sit in front of a TV, game console, or computer this summer.

I wanted to learn more about the voluntary simplicity movement before writing this blog.  I wanted to know more about the movement and all it entailed.  I mean, is there a signup sheet and do I have to be a card carrying member who pays $15 a month to title myself as a member of the voluntary simplicity movement?   What I found out in my reading and research is that the voluntary simplicity movement is wholly flexible, catering to each individual person’s needs and wants.  “Simplicity is the razors edge that cuts through the trivial and finds the essential.  Simplicity is not about a life of poverty, but about a life of purpose.”  (These quotes are from the article, “Choosing a New Lifeway: Voluntary Simplicity.”)  That passage and the article “The Garden of Simplicity” by Duane Elgin have given me motivation to continue on with my own personal voluntary simplistic movement.  I want to continue to de-clutter my life and get rid of a lot of the detail.  I don’t know what the end result will be or even if the end will ever come.  I doubt there will be a nirvana like moment, but hopefully my use of less technology will lead me to branch off and simplify my life in other areas.  I have just remembered in the past few weeks by walking home and enjoying the smells and sounds of the world, the Lilac bushes in bloom smell marvelous.  I haven’t enjoyed the scent of lilacs since my childhood.  Oh… the simple things in life.

Thanks for reading and I hope this jumbled mesh of sentences makes sense to someone. Later