Table of contents for Fighting Litter

1. Fighting Litter Through Psychology – Part 1
2. Fighting Litter Through Psychology – Part 2

Yesterday, I started this series with the first 3 of 6 reasons why I think people may dump trash. I don’t know why individuals do, but I’m taking a guess at some of the excuses and coming up with ways that we can work to solve this issue by confronting others’ beliefs.

4. They Figure Someone Else Will Do It

Why was there more trash within steps of the parking lot than ½ hour into the forest? Surely taking the 20 steps back to your car instead of tossing your trash isn’t that terribly hard?

When I first started going to Panera Bread, it wasn’t clear whether we were supposed to clear the tables ourselves or have someone else pick it up. This was confused by the fact that sometimes an employee does offer to take your tray. I had the same confusion at Fudruckers, where you are actually supposed to leave your tray for someone to pick up.

However, I feel guilty whenever I leave behind trash I could have thrown away myself. There must be others who don’t feel this way. Many restaurants clear the table for you and if you eat out frequently, I imagine it isn’t that difficult to carry the same mindset to the rest of your life. There are also those who are arrogant who deliberately leave trash for someone else to pick up, as if throwing away their stuff is beneath them.

This mindset is hard to justify when out in the woods or on a parking lot, but unfortunately, it’s true. There will always be someone else who comes behind to pick it up. My suggestions from Part 1 apply to the person who leaves trash for someone else. I also encourage you to instill a sense of responsibility in your children, so they too will grow up with the same sense of guilt that I have when I leave trash for someone else.

5. They Are Protesting The Lack Of Trash Cans

Do people think that if you throw it hard enough you get more points? Is the world a better place if your soda can gets three trees away instead of just off the trail? What’s up with that?

This excuse is arrogant and spiteful. It doesn’t help anyone except the person doing it, and it doesn’t make sense when you can take trash with you to a trash can. However, in the spirit of seeing things from another’s perspective, I can see that this would apply to teenagers or those who aren’t mature. The feeling that common rules don’t apply to them and anarchy is cool could very well lead someone to throw trash for fun.

So, what can we do? Remind litterers to throw away their trash. Appeal to the “saving the environment is cool” vibe that, to me, seems stronger the younger you are. Ask teenagers if they need help?

Here’s a true story. A year or so ago, there were some kids in my complex who would hang out and play. No big deal. However, there was one girl who screamed. Over and over again. Not the yelling to stop tickling her or pushing her or whatever, but a scream that should be reserved for injury. So, one day, I got sick and tired of hearing it over and over. I walked outside and asked them if someone was dying. They of course retorted with a snarky comment, complete with fainting theatrics. However, I persisted. I said, “Seriously, do you need me to call an ambulance? With screams like that it sounds like someone is in pain.” The answer was of course “No.”

Well, I’m sure I became the crazy lady up the street, but guess what? I never heard another scream. The point of the story is that teenagers, or preteens, as these kids were, will listen. No matter who you are, if you say it the right way, they will take notice. If only because they don’t want you interrupting them again!

6. They Don’t Know That Littering Is Wrong

I’m going to give my readers the benefit of the doubt that you are smart, caring folks who take your trash with you if there is no can, or put it in the can if there is one.

This is just sad, if it’s true. However, someone who doesn’t know this, I hope is young enough, or disabled enough, to have someone who does know around to do it for them. If that’s not the case, all I can think to do is sigh, grumble if you have to, and throw away the trash. Then, be thankful that it’s just an empty cup or fast food bag and not something worse (of course, something worse I wouldn’t touch!)

By no means do I consider myself perfect or claim that I don’t do things wrong sometimes. However, I promise that I deposit my trash in a trash can or other recepticle. Unfortunately, this is not always the case with others. While I don’t know what they are thinking, I’ve done my best to come up with the excuses that they might give me if I was to confront them.

We all know that ditching trash anywhere but a trashcan isn’t right. But so many people get away with it. It’s up to the rest of us to take up the slack. So, I hope you will join me in gently setting others right and if you can’t then doing the right thing yourself. We all thank you.

Photo Credits: Maid by unusualimage; Teenagers Playing by tinou bao; Newborn baby by bf5man

Table of contents for Fighting Litter

1. Fighting Litter Through Psychology – Part 1
2. Fighting Litter Through Psychology – Part 2

Trash ticks me off. Not the fact that it exists. No the fact that so many lazy, shortsighted people don’t bother to take a few extra minutes to put it where it belongs.

Thus began the very first post on this blog, entitled Trash Ticks Me Off. In this post, I got angry at the number of people who leave trash everywhere, not bothering to put it in trash cans or take it with them out of the forest and off the hiking trails. While getting angry can make for good writing, I suspect this is a rant that people have heard before. But, I wondered is there a way to understand why people do these things?

There is always another side to any story; it’s in the nature of being human to regularly only see things only from our point of view. So, I deliberately worked to imagine the scenario from the litterer’s point of view. I can think of 6 reasons why people would dump trash; none of which are anything but excuses. My first post was full of anger, but I wonder if there is perhaps more value in protesting the behavior from the point of view of “you get more flies with honey than with vinegar?”

Today I will discuss the first 3 of these reasons, and some ideas I’ve had on how to combat those who have these ideas. Tomorrow, I’ll finish up with the last three.

1. Litterers Don’t Care

We passed all kinds of trash on our hike: paper cups, soda cans, old clothes, plastic bags, empty bottles of motor oil – I kid you not – beer cans, cigarette wrappers and butts.

There are a significant number of people in the world who think only about themselves. This is unfortunate. As we all know, this attitude is anything but helpful. However, I wonder if the folks who are seen as being self centered are really as arrogant as they appear. After all, many of these folks have families and friends, so they can’t be that way all the time.

If these folks truly don’t care, perhaps they don’t have time to bother, there must be a way to appeal to them. Mention the fines involved, but that may not work, because it is unlikely that they will be caught. Instead of detailing the negative consequences, perhaps appealing to their self centered nature is the better way to go.

One of my favorite lines from Ghostbusters is where Dr. Venkman appeals to the Mayor by saying, “And, Lenny, if I’m right, you will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters.” Self centered people care about their image. Tell them that by picking up litter they are making themselves look good. Tell them that they will be seen as clean and neat. Compliment them on their desire to help out society (even if you suspect they don’t have such a feeling.) I don’t know if these strategies will indeed work, but I suspect they have a better chance than railing against being a litterer and having them tune us out.

2. They Get Distracted Before They Have A Chance To Throw Trash Away

Yesterday, my husband and I picked up a discarded fast food bag and cup and walked them to the – wait for it – TRASH CAN – only 2 parking spaces away.

This excuse may not be that far fetched. I know several people who get distracted on a regular basis. They forget where they put their wallet; it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that they might forget to throw trash away. This doesn’t explain trash deep in the woods where it clearly was thrown, but it might explain random cups on parking lots. Maybe they started out on the roof of cars and fell off as the person drove away.

If you know the person with the trash, it’s easy to say something along the lines of “don’t forget to dump your tray.” If you don’t know the person, this isn’t as easy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it anyway. If you do decide to go this route, do remember to keep your tone light and positive, almost joking. No one wants to be yelled at or made to think that someone is nasty. Most people I know don’t mind a stranger’s comment when said in a friendly manner.

Another option, especially if you work somewhere that has a trash problem, may be to post a friendly reminder. Again, they should be worded nicely. I like jokes better than directives. Maybe pick something totally off the wall, like Hello Kitty or Sponge Bob Squarepants asks you to throw your trash away. True there will always be someone who thinks this is stupid. However, I bet they grouse about the sign, but still throw their trash away. Of course, this will go better in some offices than others, so it is up to your discretion.

3. They Are Having A Picnic And The Wind Blows Away Items

We’ve been back to hike several times since then, and each time we bring a trash bag. Just this past weekend, we took 3 bags of trash out of the forest and back to “civilization.” We would have brought more, but a lot of it was hard to reach.

More than once, I’ve been dining outside when the wind has lifted something from the table. Then, a chase ensued to capture the plates and napkins before they could escape too far. I know there were probably a few here and there that didn’t get caught. I know I’m not the only one who has this problem.

There are of course many ways to avoid this. Clips are sold to hold down tablecloths. Napkin dispensers come with a weight, or you could switch to cloth napkins. Use thick plastic plates instead of foam or paper. Since they can be washed, the environment will thank you too. Or, you could use rocks picked up at the site to weigh things down. Bring paper weights from home or use toddler toys.

This is perhaps the most forgivable of all the reasons trash ends up somewhere other than a trashcan. However, that doesn’t excuse not running after windblown items. I find that most people don’t want picnic items to blow away, if only because napkins can end up on burgers or plates flipped onto the front of shirts. I would encourage you to help other picnic-ers if you see them struggling and to use weights yourself when picnic-ing.

Some of the “solutions” above seem very silly, but I don’t mean to make it sound like the dumping for trash is not a serious problem. I am willing to be silly or polite, or helpful if it will keep my world cleaner. I certainly hope there are others out there who feel the same way.

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss the last 3 reasons I came up with why people won’t put their trash in proper trash cans. In the meantime, I look forward to reading your comments below.

Photo Credits: Opposite signs on tree by Dano; Empty Podium by merfam; Trash Sign by billy verdin; Picnic by theogeo

Photo by davelynne

In college, I took a philosophy course. Although the philosophy credits were a requirement for my degree, the topic of each class was up to the professor. The class I ended up in had as it’s topic: Meat and Metaphor. I did not make that up – that really was the topic. We discussed society’s view of what constituted humanity by reading Frankenstein. We also discussed the processing of meat as a metaphor for the ills of society.

The obscure topic as well as the eight am time slot combined to leave me with very little recollection of the class. However, I do remember the accounts we read of chickens packed into multilevel tiers of roosts as well as more horror stories of the treatment of beef cattle. Many of my classmates were appalled by these facts and vowed to join the professor in vegetarianism. I, on the other hand, craved a cheeseburger.

Feeling Helpless To Change Anything

Before you think that I am crass and uncaring, let me explain why I had this reaction. The treatment of animals that humans consume for food is disgraceful. However, I truly felt hopeless to stop these practices. I knew that if I decided to stop eating meat and only eat salads, these practices would still continue. One person changing their mind was not going to matter one bit. My craving a cheeseburger was actually sympathy for the animal – I didn’t want their suffering to be for nothing.

As I read now about the destruction that humans are doing to the environment, I feel much the same way. I am only one person. If I drive less, that’s not going to make my neighbor drive less. Sure, I can opt out of Christmas and all the buying, but the malls are still going to make a killing next December. The scariest thought of all is the thought that it may already be too late – that maybe, even if we did change, it really and truly won’t make a difference at all.

These thoughts are very, very depressing. They make me wonder what value I bring by living. Wouldn’t the world be a better place with one less American consumer? But then I realize, just as I did with the chicken farms, even if I stop consuming, it won’t be enough. One person changing will never be enough.

So, Why Do It?

Which leads me back to simplicity and the question I opened with: what is the point of environmentalism? I can’t answer this question for everyone, but my answer may resonate with you. As I explained above, it seems as if my efforts won’t make a difference. But – this may not be true. I know that if I ran off to a third world country, or went to the extreme of suicide, that definitely won’t make a difference. So, since I really don’t want to die, my only option is to keep on doing my best. There are lots of stories of people who have made a difference. Individuals who gathered enough other individuals to have a significant impact.

So, why will I fight for the environment? Why will I decrease my consumerism? As hopeless as it feels, I can’t know for certain that my efforts are a waste of time. In fact, it’s likely that my efforts will make a difference, even if I only get one person to follow me. Maybe they will change the mind of one other person. Even if this continues at the rate of only one person at a time, we will add up. And if one of the people in the chain actually influences more than one person, we expand even faster.

Here’s another thought – what if I change the mind of someone who is in a position to change millions? It’s said that we are a maximum of 6 degrees removed from everyone else in the world. Theoretically, that means that the chain of change only needs four others between me and the president of the United States, or someone else with vast political power. Perhaps it will take even less people in the chain.

In the end, the answer is simple: I must act. I must do what I can, no matter how small.

Have you asked yourself the same question? If not, I encourage you to do so now. Please let me know what your answer is in the comments below.

Photo by *L*u*z*a*

As much as it would solve my problem to give up this website, it also feels like a cop out. Telling myself that the topic isn’t working can be seen as either an acknowledgement of the truth or an excuse designed to avoid the hard work of settling into a writing groove. There is no easy answer.

I have a vision of this blog being great. I don’t believe I’ve been working on that vision, however. I’ve been muddling through, and as a result, my topic has been muddled as well. A few months ago, I drew up some guidelines for myself when writing content. The first guideline was: No self help articles! Yet so many of my posts have been about personal change.

Personal Insight and Ripples of Improvement

While I believe my story is interesting, it is very one sided. Talking about myself is fairly simple, but it doesn’t leave room for others to express themselves. I also wonder if my stories are teaching anything? Are you just learning more about me, or are you learning more about being a human in the 21st century? I hope the latter is true, but I suspect it is the former that is more often the case. Since I want this blog to be great, I must change this.

I am one voice among many, but I am willing to be an example for others. I firmly believe that the only way the world can be changed is if each individual takes responsibility for themselves first; in a sense modeling the way society should function on our individual efforts. A significant portion of my own change has been from admitting that I am responsible for so much more than I previously acknowledged.

I was speaking with a friend yesterday about my difficulties with writing for the blog. He was surprised because he said I don’t have any problems talking; I can keep a conversation going without difficulty. This helped me to see that observations about myself and those close to me can serve as not just good stories, but lessons by example. I do have a lot to talk about, what I need is a consistent approach that applies any personal story in a larger context.

Environmental Activism and Ripples of Improvement

I’ve mentioned environmental activism before and even talked about my plans for the future with regards to the environment. However, the future isn’t soon enough. Helping the environment is not something I can put off until the conditions are right in my life; I must do something now. Therefore, I need a new definition of activism. As the HGTV motto has been recently, I have to “start at home.” Before I can dedicate myself to helping others, I have to be sure that I am able to help myself. Any way that I can improve my life to use less resources, whether that is fuel, health care, water, or something else, is a bit of environmental activism.

Consequently, my version of environmental activism doesn’t look like the traditional. Yes, it includes reducing, recycling, and reusing. But it also includes a huge dose of personal change and personal responsibility. Some day, I hope to volunteer full time. But, until that day, I can’t put aside my responsibility to change – both myself and my dealings with the world.

Clarifying What Ripples of Improvement Is About

Ripples of Improvement is a little bit of self development and it’s a little bit of environmental activism. But, it is all about waking up and taking responsibility for our own actions and how they affect the rest of the world – other people, other life, and the environment as a whole. I choose to write about this from a personal perspective, providing myself as a model for others. However, I want this site to be about more than just me. As I’ve mentioned before, while only I can change myself, I will need help to change the world, and I will also need help in convincing others to change themselves and their lives in ways that honor their personalities and their unique place in the world.

As part of reaching this goal, I will continue to tell you about my life, but I will also encourage and invite everyone reading this to become contributors as well. Please, leave me comments. Or, pitch post ideas – either topics you would like to see me cover, or if you have a great idea for a guest post, I would love to hear it.

I’ve been stumbling through the last 5 months and this site has been stumbling as well. However, the future is an open book and I’m writing it for myself and Ripples of Improvement. I hope you will join me!

Photo by emdot

I’m worried about money and I’m worried that my worry is going to overwhelm me and depress me. Sales tax went up in my state and I worry that it will undo me. I fantasize about having my debt paid off and having the freedom to make big decisions. My husband is planning for an advanced degree, and so it has occurred to me that we may even move to a different state. So, of course my mind wonders where we could live and how much it would cost. Forget about the paint that needs to be scraped, the bills that need to be paid and the debt hanging over my head. All of these things are NOW and I don’t want to live in the NOW.

That has always been a problem for me. Call it impatience, call it avoidance, the truth is, I’ve always been a dreamer and thinker. It’s probable that this is an escape from the pain of some things in the here and now. But all of my worry and all of my avoidance are bigger when extrapolated to the future. So, just great – I’m making it worse, but I think I’m making it better!

One thing I’ve said numerous times before is that this is a process and I’m still changing. I’m sure I will say it many times in the future. Well, I guess we are always changing, aren’t we? Sometimes that change is just more painful and immediate than other times.

In November 2006, I started a journey of personal transformation that I’m still in the thick of. I set out to get to the root of my emotional eating and ended up on a process of overhauling my whole life. Several times since that decision, I’ve had events happen in my life that made me feel like my world was turned upside down. I’m slowing righting myself, but my world still has a sharp tilt.

Photo by SMN

But, how many times can I write a blog post that says, “This is hard!” and have people still care? How many times I can say, “I’m tired of all the changes, but I can’t go back now?” before I’m branded as a whiner? How do I explain all the swirling thoughts in my head while still maintaining some privacy? How do I say everything I want to say when I worry about who is reading this?

Do I care that someone I don’t know in my offline life reads my blog? Not at all; it’s an opportunity to make new friends. But what if a potential employer reads this? Will they hire me if they know I’m hoping to leave in a few years and my heart’s not really in it?

Maybe that’s what this post is really about then: How far can I push the envelope and still be comfortable? I will be 32 and the end of April and I haven’t done nearly enough in my life that pushes that envelope. I have let my fear overwhelm me and hold me back. I let other people decide for me how my life was going to go. Not consciously, but I internalized so many messages over the years that I marvel I’ve managed to make it this far.

So, yes, this is really, really hard. Yes, I’m still changing. And, no, I’m not trying to whine, even if it appears that way. What I am doing, in my own, unique and messy way, is overhauling my life, bit by bit. Everything from my eating habits, exercise, and job, to household and finances is getting a makeover. But, most importantly, my thought processes and my ability to maintain emotional balance is getting a makeover as well. When it comes down to it, that’s the part that is the hardest. That’s the part that needs the most change. Thankfully, since that’s also the part that matters the most, small changes have a big inpact.

It has been made official that I and my husband will be moving in May. My grandmother owns a house that is split into two apartments. She lives in one and rents out the other. We will be moving into the other apartment when the lease on our current apartment ends. However, before we can move into the “new” apartment, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. The whole apartment needs to have old paint scraped, walls spackled and repainted, the hardwood floor needs to be refinished, and there is some plumbing work to be done. A family friend owns a small contracting business and has been hired to do the work. Most days he is working by himself, but over the weekend, I joined him for a few hours to scrape paint. I knew that it would be hard work, but there is a little money to be made, so I was up for earning some extra cash.

What Others See As A “Good Job” Doesn’t Fulfill Me

As I was scraping paint, I was thinking that it was pretty difficult work. The walls are in bad shape and depending on the spot, I was scraping paint, or paint and wallpaper, or paint, wallpaper, and a bad spackle job combined. All those layers took quite a bit of elbow grease to free. While it certainly wasn’t glamorous, and it was tougher than I thought it would be, it brought a new perspective. I thought about how working with my hands was, in a lot of ways, more honest work than selling insurance.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are lots of honest insurance agents. In fact, of the dozens I’ve worked with, only a handful were less than honest. What struck home for me was how, even though I was there for money, because I was working on the apartment that will become my home, I felt this work was inline with my true self. I am able to bring a lot of my skills and talents to my insurance work, but it has rarely touched that deep, authentic part of me. However, working in insurance is a “good job” that comes with “good pay” which to the outside world makes you a more desirable type of person than someone who works with their hands all day – no matter how ridiculous that perception is. When the times comes that I can be a full time activist, I have no doubt there will be many that don’t understand, and immediately judge me lacking for quiting that “good job”. Last week, this idea bothered me a bit. Today, it has a lot less sting.

I’ve Still Got Work To Do

When we broke for lunch, my grandmother brought up a cup of coffee and some cheese on crackers for the contractor. She didn’t know I was there, but when she saw me, she was surprised. Which I thought she would be because I hadn’t told her I was coming over, and in fact, I was hoping to avoid telling her.

I’ve been trying to figure out why I didn’t want her to know. Part of it may be that I’m afraid she’ll try to give me money if she knows I’m working for some extra cash. I may also be afraid that I’ll have to fight her to take rent for the apartment when we move in. I don’t like conflicts and would rather just avoid a confrontation with my grandmother, so that may be part of it.

I may also not want her to know because I don’t want her to feel obligated to me somehow for helping out with the work. Or maybe I think she’ll judge me for helping out; maybe a part of me is ashamed for doing the work. This is probably the biggest reason, the same “doing work by hand means you’re a lower class citizen” attitude I talked about above. No matter why I have it, my fear sends a big message. It shows me that I as much as I tell myself that I’m a good person, I still fear what others think of me. I also still have work to do in believing in myself.

While I know that overall, I’m gaining confidence in myself and moving forward toward my dream, sometimes things happen that show me that I still have a way to go. They help to humble me and show me limiting beliefs that are holding me back. Two steps forward and one step back still means I’m making progress, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.

Have you had an “ah ha” moments lately? Have you had the opportunity to see things from a different perspective? Please let me know your thoughts on these questions, or any other comments below.

Photo by jenn_jenn

When eBay first started, I remember it as a great way to find anything you might be looking for. Everything I can remember buying on the site was to add to one of my collections. Therefore, it was older stuff that I could no longer find in the stores. Now, a lot of the listings are from dealers and the site has become a way to shop for new stuff, similar to purchasing from Amazon. Back when eBay was mostly older stuff, it was a good way to get a bargain. Now, the new stuff from dealers may not even be as cheap as Amazon.

However, eBay is still a way to find older things that can’t be bought in the store anymore. And, I’ve recently read that the site is undergoing renovations to make navigation easier for the buyer, thereby moving away from the emphasis on the seller. It seems to me that this can only be a good thing – taking us back to the day of the online yard sale instead of the modern online mall.

As Your Money or Your Life is about changing your relationship with money and simplifying your life, it’s bringing the consumerism mindset into even higher magnification for me. I liken it to a microscope – I was looking at 10x power last summer. Christmas brought it up to 20x power and now, I’m getting up to 50x power. Our “modern society” is about buy, buy, buy. We buy offline at malls, convenience stores, and discount stores. We buy online at Amazon.com, Overstock.com, and eBay.

I own several pairs of fancy shoes, books, CDs, and knick knacks that are “mint” or “like new” condition. Getting these items out of my life simplifies my life and helps me repent for being on the consumerism treadmill. I could donate these items, and some I may. Others items (like an old laptop) are so old that I will be forced to trash/recycle them. But, the rest I would really like to recoup some of the cost I’ve sunk into them. eBay sounds like a great place to do this. In a way, it’s taking advantage of the system. But, in another way, it’s helping someone else to live a lifestyle similar to mine. The person who purchases my shoes on eBay won’t buy them directly from a catalog (like I did.) They save money, the shoes are repurposed, and a little less trash ends up in the landfill.

Do you think I’m twisting the issue? Or, is this a good strategy? Do you have any experience with selling items on eBay and can offer advice? Please leave me your comments below.

Photo by Lady-bug

Last night, I looked up Downshifting, otherwise known as Voluntary Simplicity. Before doing this, I had an idea that this lifestyle was simply living as naturally as possible, curbing excess spending, living frugally and trading the purchase of big ticket items for financial security. I pictured a lifestyle that was debt free except for a mortgage, with working on paying that off early. This would be a lifestyle where I would not purchase anything unless I had the money for it, in other words no credit. It would be a lifestyle where I was contributing fully to a retirement plan and saving each month for vacations and large ticket items like a new house. I pictured growing some veggies, and buying the rest at a farmers market. I pictured cooking at home and brown bagging leftovers.

What Downshifting Really Is

However, what I found out about Downshifting is that the lifestyle isn’t quite like this. Most Downshifters have left a high paying job in order to get a more fullfilling, but usually lowering paying, one. Yes, they are frugal, and some even move to another country to lower their cost of living. Some live totally on food they grow or raise – including goats and chickens. Well, this doesn’t appeal to me.

Although leaving a higher paying job was one of the criteria for one of the studies I read on the lifestyle, this didn’t include folks who had found fulfilling work that replaced their income, but allowed them more time. This is what J.D. at Get Rich Slowly has done. He’s an inspiration to me for the way I would like to live, the way I pictured before researching Downshifting.

This is also the way of life that Yaro Starak of Entrepreneur’s Journey strives for and teaches with Blog Mastermind, which I am a member of. Yes, it is true, I plan on earning money with this blog, although I promise I will carefully weigh the value of any ads before allowing them on the blog. The readers come first, and my commitment to being an activist is always on my mind.

How I plan To Start Downshifting

That said, my knowledge of Downshifting has changed, but not my implementation of it. For years I’ve been getting rid of “stuff” and doing my best not to purchase more. I’ve cut down on the number of magazines I subscribe to. One of the few I kept is Body + Soul Magazine (Amazon Assoc.), which is dedicated to a more natural, in touch, way of living that benefits the body and the soul. I really like this magazine as it highlights natural beauty products, cleaning products and offers tips to live a more green life, among other subjects. I also like that it views “soul” in a spiritual, natural sense, not a religious one. The message is about getting in touch with your true self through mindful living; they emphasize small changes, not radical, become a monk type changes.

So, I’m not quitting my job, moving to the woods, and starting to raise goats and chickens (although there is nothing wrong with such a thing if it works for you). However, I will be simplifying my life by consuming and spending less. I will also be spending more time with my family and friends and less time worrying about getting the perfect gift for Christmas or birthdays.

There are several reasons why this way of life appeals to me:
1. It is more cost effective. I buy a lot of stuff I don’t use and the regret purchasing. By making the effort to only buy stuff that I need, instead of lots of stuff that I want, I’m saving money.

2. It helps the environment. I’m not going to stop buying stuff. And I don’t see myself as the kind of person who will get all of her possessions at thrift stores, although I might get some. Rather, I will buy when it is really needed, which will cut down on the amount of energy used to produce the stuff I buy and the amount of trash I generate from using the stuff.

3. It will improve my quality of life. If I don’t buy when I want something, but instead think about it, and save for it, I will train myself to purchase quality instead of quantity. Certain purchases I haven’t regretted: a new entertainment center to house my TV and DVDs. Many more I have: books, candles, knick knacks, more books. If I had waited before purchasing the books and thought about it, like my husband and I did with the furniture, I would be happier. I would have less stuff (I’m going to be getting rid of books) making the stuff I do have that much more relevant to my life.

4. It helps my health. Both my mental health because I’m not stressed out by all the stuff, as well as my physical health. One of the frugal principles I plan to incorporate into my life is preparing my own meals. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but that’s because it is a huge step that I’m psyching myself up to do consistently. By preparing my own meals, I get to control what goes into the food. Therefore, no chemicals, no high fructose corn syrup, etc. Healthier, better tasting food, makes for a healthier body as well. Even if I purchase the ingredients and don’t grow them myself, I’ve still saved money and helped the environment as well as made myself feel better.

I went to the public library today (books I didn’t have to pay for and don’t have to make room for – yea!) I was happy that they had many of the recommended books about Downshifting/Voluntary Simplicity. But, before I read them and get a better idea of how, exactly to do this, I wanted to record my initial thoughts.

Now, I’m going to stop talking and open the subject up for discussion. Have you tried Downshifting, or something similar? Do you have any tips or tricks? Do you think I’m getting in over my head? Please leave me your comments below.

Photo by ndrwfgg

The first drawback is information overload. I want to know everything I can about the subject and I want to know it now. Fortunately, I’m a fast reader, and I’m also good at retaining information in the short term. Combined with good note taking, if the subject is focused enough it will only take me a couple of days before I’m reading the same information over again and not finding anything new. However, the environment has many problems, and I’m finding that it’s difficult to get a clear focus on one topic. Even though I’ve narrowed my focus to one geographic location, there is still a lot of information and I often find myself overwhelmed.

The second drawback is that with this information overload, I get so many ideas for what to do, that I’m not sure where to start. And, when I do start, I wonder if maybe I should have done a different step first. The first seeds of doubt take root and sometimes they grow big enough that I stop completely.

The third drawback is that I get excited about taking action and then get expectations that I can fix things or radically change everything with just that first action. Since this is rarely the case, when the truth sets in, I tend to get enormously disappointed.

Sometimes, I’ve Been Warned

I also tend to overlook the warnings that I’ve read about how difficult the task I have set myself will be. Part of the reason is because I do pick up on things very quickly, although I often overestimate my abilities when the new task is different than anything I’ve ever done before. I’ve done that with blogging about becoming an activist. I’ve never been an activist before, and I’ve never blogged about a new project either. Although I had this idea at the start that I wouldn’t be that hard. After all, I like to write and I like to research, right?

Another part of the reason I overlook difficulties is because, as a visual learner, I can’t picture something I’ve never done before. I had a picture of me as an activist, but I didn’t have a clear picture of how I will get there. I also didn’t have a clear picture of the blogging aspect. I could picture myself writing because I’ve done that before. However, in the past, I haven’t had the deadline of posting regularly on a subject I’m still learning about. It’s closer to writing a mini research project every day than anything else. I didn’t have that picture, so I overestimated my ability to do it easily. As I’m finding being an activist and blogging about it every day isn’t easy. It’s not difficult, exactly, but it requires dicipline and effort that I hadn’t originally anticipated.

Successful Candidate Will Possess Patience

It also requires patience and I’ve never been a patient person that I can recall. Over the past several years, perhaps as part of spending lots of time with my niece, I’ve learned some patience. Although on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being totally patient and 1 being totally impatient, I’ve gone from about a 3 to a 5 (or maybe 6). Better, but certainly a lot of room for improvement.

It’s slowly seeping into my brain that in order to live my dream, I need to cultivate patience. The more I learn about the environment, the more I realize the problems are more complex than I initially thought. I’m also becoming aware of the amount of work that will be required to fix the problem. When I wrote my eulogy, I had done some research and I thought the main thing holding back progress was lack of cooperation. While I realize now that may still be the biggest problem, it’s not a simple problem and there are hundreds of other factors that I wasn’t aware of. This problem is bigger than one person can tackle alone, especially one person who is gung ho one week and out of energy the next.

Behavior Change

One of the main steps to living my dream is changing my behavior. It involves becoming more physically active, which will improve my health and my outlook. It will also give me energy go keep working and desire to visit my local park and keep picking up trash. It involves cutting down on my spending. This will help my finances, as well as the environment because I won’t be buying as much, or producing as much trash from packaging.

Not only is changing behavior hard in general since adult brains resist change for any length of time, but it’s doubly (or even more so) hard when you’re an impatient person. I’m realizing that my feeling brain, that part of me that reacts instinctively as if I was only 4 years old, is leading the show. She (my inner 4 year old), just stomps her feet and says, “I don’t want to!”Instead, I need to let my thinking brain, the adult part that “gets” logical arguments, run the show. She (the adult me), can smile and say, “I know you don’t want to, but sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do. Besides, it might be fun…” For instance, the idea of cooking from scratch makes a lot of sense. But, it wasn’t until I remembered how much fun I had cooking with my husband instead of alone, that the idea actually appealed to me. Otherwise, heating up prepackaged food is more appealing.

Keeping On Keeping On

Dealing with a 4 year old can be very trying at times. However, it can also be very rewarding and downright fun. I’ve found this to be true not just with my neice, but also with my inner 4 year old. The more fun and lighthearted I can make a task, the more likely I am to do it, regardless of how practical the task is. And, the more fun something is as I go along, the more I will stick with it. So, what I’m finding is that patience isn’t just the ability to wait things out, but also the ability to stop and reframe a difficult task into one that is more fun to do. Granted, this isn’t always easy, or possible, but more often than not, reframing works.

It’s said that patience is a virtue. While I can’t say that I’ve got loads of the stuff, I’m definitely learning to be virtuous and have come a long way. Being an activist is a long road and patience is needed to keep going as well as for the activist work itself. Therefore, I’ll keep moving, even if it’s only a little bit at a time.

Photo by Mr. Delgoff

Don’t get me wrong, I can talk for hours. And I’ve got lots of ideas. I’ve got visions, and dreams, but that’s all they are. I set out to do something different:

1. Live my dream

2. Tell others about it, to inspire them to either live their dream, or join me with the activist portion of my dream (or both!)

First problem – how does one go about living a dream? Second problem – how do you tell others about how you are doing something you’re not actually doing?

Resolutions And Goals

I made New Year’s Resolutions before the New Year. I even wrote about them. Evan commented that he hoped I wasn’t too driven. I responded that I saw some of these goals as being steps to reaching a larger goal. Looking back, I wonder if my response was simply arrogant, or if I was showing my ignorance. Either way, I was wrong.

When I made those goals, I had this idea that I could do them all. It wouldn’t be that hard, I thought. Although these goals are mine, and not society’s “shoulds” I was still overextending myself. I did have a driven mentality. I must achieve all these goals and there is no room for failure.

But what happens when I don’t reach all these goals? Because chances are, I won’t reach them all. What happens? I guess what has happened for the past couple dozen years – I think I’m a failure and actually achieving something feels farther and farther away.

The Inner Critic

The ball dropped in Times Square, we counted down the seconds at the party I was at and the old depression swept over me. All those goals? Overwhelming. The funk hasn’t really lifted in the days since. My inner critic started explaining, at length, how I couldn’t possibly do all that stuff. He was kind enough to point out all the times I’d failed in the past and asked me why I thought this time would be any different?

Until now, I wasn’t really sure what to tell the critic. He is right about so many things. But, this past year has been unlike any year previous. I had several extremely stressful events happen in the past year, all of which have sent me through the wringer. It’s really no wonder I’m not more depressed! New Year regrets can’t be unique.

Now I know what to tell the critic – I don’t have an undo button for the past. I can’t change it. Nor can I guarantee that this year won’t be worse than last year. But – and this is important – I can admit that I made mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes. I said the wrong thing on several occasions. I made wrong decisions. Some of them last week, some of them years ago that I’m still paying the price for. But I don’t believe it’s too late to start over.

Starting Over

So, today I sat down with pen and paper and thought about what I really want to accomplish this year. I realized I have lots of little goals that lead to two major categories of big goals: my health and my finances. These are intertwined, but still separate. The thing is, I’m afraid to focus too much on one and neglect the other, but at the same time, I’m afraid that if I try to do both, I’ll end up doing neither.

Despite all these doubts, one thing become clear. The first step to living my dream was to take action. To define the next step and actually take it. For me, that meant admitting that I was overwhelmed and can’t do it alone. With regards to my health, I need medical assistance. I wish I didn’t, but I’ve been “trying” on my own for a few years. However, as Yoda said, “Do or do not, there is no try.” I was doing not. I’m scared of the response from the doctor. I’m scared of a dismissive attitude. But, I overcame that fear and made the appointment. That was the first action step.

With regards to my finances, I can’t do that alone either. My husband doesn’t want to talk about it, and I really don’t either. But we’ve also been doing not with them too. There is a need for action there as well.

The Big Picture

What does this have to do with Ripples of Improvement? Perhaps nothing on the surface. However, everything under the surface. I said above that the first problem was I didn’t know how to live the dream. I’m still working on that one. The second problem was how to tell other people about something I’m not doing. This isn’t all sweetness and light; living a dream is very hard work. Some of it physical, much of it mental.

The struggle to take action with my finances and with my health is the same struggle to take action with activism. It’s all my struggle to change my thoughts and change my actions. I woke up one day and decided to become an activist. I decided that I wasn’t going to do the same thing any more.

Ha! If deciding was all that it took, people all over the world would living their dreams. It’s not that easy. Not by a long shot.

Today, I took two more steps towards my goals: I admitted I was wrong. I admitted I need help. The picture I have of me as an activist is someone who believes in herself and doesn’t have the fear of what others think of her. Or at least, if I still have the fear, I do anyway. But now, I’m still at the fear stage. I do care what others think of me. I care so much it’s kept me back from asking for help. I’ve been slogging along, alone, thinking I could do it all. Not true. Today, I was able to put aside a little of that fear and reach out. It can only get easier.

I wonder what step I’ll take tomorrow?