Everyone’s talking about it!
I’m not a big TV watcher, but today I watched two shows. The first one was at the gym, Ed Bagley’s green planet I think it was called, and Oprah. Everyone is talking about how to conserve, how to change our lifestyles, how to save money. The statistics on Oprah was that we in the US are 5% of the world’s population and use 25% of the resources. (I wonder if it’s really more.) Oprah gave challenges to typical American families to spend one week doing the following: take a shower in under 5 minutes, not use disposable anything, not to eat out, not to buy drinks out, not to watch TV, do computers or video games for more than 1 hour/day and not to waste or throw away food!
What happened was people freaked out the first 3 days. Like addicts, walking around in shock, miserable, having temper tantrums. Yet, each family, kids also, admitted they got closer, talked more, spent more quality family time together. One dad admitted, and we KNOW he’s not alone, that the kids would come into the room to talk about their day or ask for help and he’d shush them up so he could watch TV.
I am proud of us Americans. We got really far off track here in the last 20 or so years. And the need to start saving and watching our money, the loss of jobs, changes in the economy, have blessed us with a new recognition of what is important. Wow, these tough times are transforming our take take take culture back into one of respect of nature, the environment, integrity with money, living within our means, and connecting with others, family, friends, and neighbors.
For me, I’ve been eating out way less, eating leftovers rather than throwing them out, taking more time for connecting with other people, and not doing any impulse buying (well, very little impulse buying and instead saving for an item I want).
What will you do? What are you doing differently? What are you learning about yourself? Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear!
Blessings,
Lori
I agree that trends in our culture are towards an artifical dumbing-down of sorts, which definitely feeds-upon itself via “reality television” and in materialistic spending.
So, one way in which I counteract this sense of cultural negativity, is by using a pre-existing trait of mine…searching for other ways of doing things.(the story behind the story, cooking, reading, buying) Like listening to the alternative media, the best way to learn and in life is worth the effort of searching because that journey is its own best reward. For me, these gifts come in the form of finding true answers for everyday problems that everyone seems to be throwing money at with no positive results.
Researching within the field of alternative and energy medicine is one way I’m learning to live better and even thrive in today’s um, times. One finds other people, who them themselves are trying to get their voices heard. So it’s community-building through common interests. For instance, who knew that a 9-volt battery via a proven Dr. Clark Device could eliminate my cold, viruses, bacteria, etc within hours as opposed to my experience trying a week of antibiotics? (my opinion, no medical claims made…) Talk about non-materialistic, one could give the gift of health for 25 bucks…?
Generally, I feel that with the way ‘things’ are getting with the economy, healthcare(and Obama DOES NOT have the cure) and in the hollow voices of talking head television…the best success is in avoiding the mess and continue ‘the search’. It’s rewarding in every step of the process. Anyone, once their mind is open, can enjoy the search for knowledge when they realize that it can be applied to improving everyone’s very existence.
Todd Schoenlank
June 25, 2009