( silver falls state park : february 4, 2017 )
Hello again. It snowed this morning. As much as I love winter, I admit I am ready to be warm again, to see more sun again. I'm ready for days spent outside with my hands in the dirt. I'm ready to feel a warm breeze on my arms and grass under my bare feet. I'm ready for a change.
I don't know about you, but I became a total news junkie in the year leading up to the election, and have been since. I obsessively refresh the news on my phone more times a day than I can count. I'm definitely feeling news fatigue, and this over-stimulation of news often fills me with sadness, anger, and worry. I want to do something. But I am not an organizer, or someone who can eloquently energize others into action, or someone who wants to be on a big stage. So, I've been thinking a lot about what I can do, however small, to make my corner of the world a better place in ways I care about. To start, I've taken these small steps:
* Picking up trash. For some reason we never started the practice of picking it up when we moved back to Portland. T and I used to do it every week in Salem together. He recruited neighborhood kids to help, and it was so great to see them care, too. It is time to resume this small yet big act of stewardship.
* Have you seen True Cost? I resolve not to spend simply to spend this year. I am aiming for a no-spend year on brand-new things I can buy second hand or make myself. This won't be a huge change from last year, but I'm hoping to sew more this year. My husband fixes things around the house instead of buying new. He will more than likely go without if he can't fix something, but he can almost always fix things. It all takes more time, but less money, and we feel good about less waste.
* I am trying to eat as close to vegan as I can. I physically feel better. It is also a conscientious choice to not participate in the suffering of animals by being a consumer. I've watched Earthlings, The Ghosts in Our Machine, and many of the other many documentaries out there, and I can't forget what I've seen and learned.
It feels good to make a positive forward motion on things you care about. I know these might seem like trivial things, and yes, there are much, much bigger issues out there, but these are my small steps right now.
Hope you are well. ♥