3 posts tagged “lifestyle”

I'm stealing this quote from Jane's Goodreads page (hi Jane!):

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." — Albert Einstein

I've been thinking a lot lately about how much more connected we are to one-another, to nature, and to the air we breathe than it is easy to see from our little isolation pods.

Think about this: take any object or food item or article of clothing and figure out what it is made of.  What are the raw materials used to make this thing (including its packaging)?  How and where are those resources extracted from the earth?  Who extracts them and what is life like for those people?  Are there bi-products created in the process? Are other natural resources (like water) needed from elsewhere to facilitate this?  How are the raw materials processed and combined to make the final product and who does this?  How is it distributed and who does this?

Even a brief exploration will reveal a vast web of people, resources, and money needed to create and distribute a single thing.  Even something as seemingly simple as a wood table needs lumberjacks, mills, glue manufacturers, varnish and paint manufacturers (extracting pigments, etc), manufacturing of tools like saws and drills and screws.  That's a lot of people, even if the table was built by only one person.

So simply by living and wearing clothes and using furniture and eating we participate in a complex global economy that touches the lives of people all over the world.  Does this participation support the continued demand for quasi-slaves in poor countries?  Does it increase pollution and carcinogens in the environment? Does it support profits  for unethical corporations?  Yes, probably.

I shop at Target sometimes, and I usually walk out with $100 worth of "stuff" and some good ol' liberal guilt for buying cheap goods manufactured using questionable ethics, probably somewhere in the  environmental time-bomb called China.  I refuse to shop at Walmart, but I know people who do and don't think of them as bad people.  They need to stretch their dollar.  Walmart is cheap.

Does it matter?  Are we causing global warming? Isn't the industry good for poor countries?  Maybe we're not causing global warming, but it is proven that high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere equates to higher temperatures.  All over the world we have been experiencing record high temperatures (up to 125F in places) in the summer and totally bizarre weather patterns all year.  Stronger hurricanes. Droughts. Floods.  Climate change is obvious to anyone paying attention, and even if we are not the cause we have the opportunity to slow it down.  To take advantage of this opportunity we must stop participating in the way we have been.  In the US more than anywhere.  There are lots of changes anyone can make, small and large, and they add up.

In order to make these changes we must first become aware that every individual is part of the web.  No one is off the hook, and if someone is homeless because of floods or abused in a sweatshop it is not  their problem. It is our problem. And it's one I like to believe we can solve.  We're not stupid enough to continue as we have been.  Here are just a few practical changes most people could make if they haven't already:

• If you can live without a car, do so.  There are car sharing programs, rental cars, public transportation, bicycles, feet, and friends or family with cars you can borrow.  It's not practical for everyone now, but in a few years driving may not be affordable for most people and it is better to look for solutions now than to continue to nurture auto-dependency. If you do drive, go easy on the gas.  There's no need to rush.
  
• Live in a community.  Nobody likes to move, but if you find yourself with the necessity use it as an opportunity to  find a place where you can walk to the grocery store, cafe, drug store, and hopefully work.  Help build urban communities.  Help build rural communities.  Help turn suburbs into villages. Become a member of the community and step out of your isolation pod.
  
• Shop local. Avoid the big box mega stores and try not to buy anything that was shipped from more than 1000 miles away.  Visit the farmer's market or look into organic produce delivery. Buy bulk foods instead of packaged foods.
  
• Use less electricity.  Switch a few light bulbs to  compact fluorescents (Australia is already putting a ban on incandescent bulbs).  Turn off the lights when you leave the room.  Turn down the heat.  Turn down the AC.  Unplug your phone and laptop chargers when you're not charging.
• Support carbon offset programs. Buy green power if you have the option.
  
• Bathe less often.  I know, I know. You're not a hippie.  Neither am I, but I've found that I can wash my hair a couple of times a week and limit my showers to a few minutes most of the time.  I even skip a day here and there.  I don't feel deprived in any way... and I get out the door faster.
• Wash clothes in cold.  I have been doing this for about 2 years and I have noticed no difference in the outcome whatsoever.
• Recycle recycle. And compost.
• Buy recycled clothes.  I find quite nice things at my local clothes recycling shop, consignment shops, and even thrift stores.  There's no shame in it.  If you buy new make sure it was manufactured in a country with sound environmental and labor laws.

It works best if we all do it, but even if only some of us do some of it... we could make a big difference in carbon emissions and help stabilize the climate and shift the economic structure.  Also, if you haven't seen it, watch Manufactured Landscapes.

I have the rare privilege of working with a client I like on my current project-from-hell.  She's about my age, has a sense of humor, is willing to actually make decisions without a committee, and is 100% on top of anything I request from her.  She has a satisfying habit of yelling at the other agency while we are in earshot about how crap their creative is.  She's Australian and does not attempt to use American vernacular.  She's intelligent but likes to show us lolcats from that 'can has cheezburger' site.  She also has a potentially lethal case of workoholism.  I've received emails from her at 3:56 a.m. and had a meeting at 9AM last Sunday when she was supposed to be going to Mt. Rainier with her husband.  I've never seen anyone with this much devotion to work before.  Last week she found out that her step-sister is dying of cancer and her step-father died of a heart attack upon hearing this news.  Maybe they weren't very close...? I can tell you that if that was happening in my family I would not be flying to San Francisco to "deal with the marketing agency."  I'm seriously concerned about her mental state. As I sit here writing this blog I am receiving an email from her every two minutes on average.

Is it really worth it?  She has given her life and soul to a career that can have very little reward apart from monetary.  Although I can see some basic similarities between her and I, there is something fundamentally different about us.  I could not live that life.

My friend Binky is visiting from Paris.  She used to be an executive producer at a major multinational advertising agency.  We met when she took a Creative Director position at an agency I used to work for.  She decided to leave Seattle shortly thereafter, but we have remained friends.  We have both dealt with a lot of mental illness and we relate in a lot of ways most people would not even get.  She is now living in Paris and making art.  She has been living on her savings for a couple of years, and now she's planning to supplement her income by teaching yoga.  She's in her mid-forties and has been single for many years now.  She may not have the security of her former career, but she is much happier. 

Lifestyle choices are all about choosing to be yourself, or not.

I don't do Spring cleaning like I don't do New Years resolutions.  If one wants to clean behind the fridge or quit smoking, do it on October 4!  Why not!

Due to a lack of coordinated effort toward heavy cleaning and a general disinclination to clean at all... I haven't really had a good housecleaning... Um, I'm not sure when actually.  I clean up when I move.  I clean some areas on occasion and then proceed to mess them up again in short order.

On January 1 I quit drinking alcohol.  This could be looked on as a resolution of sorts, but it's really more of a major lifestyle change.  So why not try Spring Cleaning this year too?  Another major lifestyle change perhaps.  I've made a list and plan to start as soon as I finish writing my final essay for my undergraduate career at the UW on Saturday.  I plan to finish the Spring cleaning list as well as a weeklong detox sometime before I go to the hot springs on the 27th.  I am generally a lazy and weak-willed person, but when I decide to do something I DO IT. We'll see if I come back moaning and making excuses at the end of April.

I have been thinking quite hard about my lifestyle and my values lately and the ways they don't exactly sync up in many ways.  I am taking a hard line with my finances and coming to terms with just how much I have over-spent on nothing. I don't regret any of my travels, although they were not necessarily fiscally wise, but I do regret how I have learned to spend to try to make myself feel better.  Very few of the shoes and clothes and cds and nights out have turned out to be worth the price, especially the price I end up paying for carrying a balance on my credit cards.

I am going to make a difficult and humiliating admission.  My credit card debt is nearly $30K and I honestly can't think of more than a couple of things I have to show for it.  A nice bed... Yeah, that's about it.  I was about to launch into my usual rationalization but why bother.  There's nothing wrong with me that isn't wrong with many others.  We get sucked into the lifestyle that costs just slightly more than what we make.  My checking account is currently overdrawn and I am making about twice as much as I ever have before.  I always spend just slightly more than I make. So, another major lifestyle change.  I'm going to start acting like I only make half as much as I do and get out of debt.  It means no lifestyle upgrades or  world travel.  It means cooking  for myself and bringing my lunch.  It means skimping on Christmas gifts and wearing the same clothes for another year.  It means simplifying.

It's hard to give up bad habits, but somebody's gotta do it.