So, here I am enjoying my part time life in Santa Barbara, taking a 3-week respite from my life in the San Francisco Bay Area caring for my mother; relaxing, reading, eating, contributing & enjoying life even in the midst of Covid. As a matter of fact, it gave me continued permission to do life at a slower pace as I have been enjoying for the past 2 years after retiring from 40+ years of working! Of course most consider my slower pace to be more like the hare than the tortoise~or so the story goes...
I woke up today, doing my new normal routine~ P90X remotely with friends @8:30, brekkie, creating a rough to be/do list around my current 6 current values (Wellness, Work, Write, Connect, Cook & Care), doing some media/email catch up & letting the day unfold. As I was CONNECTING, I came across a YOUTUBE link to the GREAT REALISATION by Tomfoolery. At that point, Tom's post had received 2 million views~as I watched, I was touched to my soul! I watched the 4 minute video 4 times before I pulled myself away from the screen. I sat, tears rolling down my face knowing that the feeling I have in my gut since Covid began (and actually since I was 5 years young) was that we are ONE. How this pandemic was unfolding for me and many others was an opportunity once again to remember our commitment to being a part of the ONE & being a citizen of & for the world!
In many countries immense suffering was happening, yet the care for others outweighed their own and community came together to resolve the threat. My experience in the U.S. felt a little more disjointed~our collective humanity (including our leadership in the White House) was still in the mindset of "what's in it for me"and was not aligning with my beliefs that we are ONE people (the entire earth of people, not just the ethnocentric view we mostly have as a nation in the U.S.). I was also struck with the positive & proactive approach of some of our leaders both locally in California (shout out to Governor Newsom & London Breed in San Francisco) and in the world! Examples of female world leaders seem to stand out to me of being the mindful leaders of the WE & ONE.
AND so, here I am, 62 realizing my life goes on, day in and day out with incremental shifts here and there, now without the spark & spank my life that I use to count on to get up to everyday! I have intentionally known that I have been in between two chapters of my life~my life of work and now my life of coming home to mySELF. In the next moment, I decided that I have a say in how the rest of life looks, creating a life for mySELF & others that will make a positive difference in the WE. Perhaps even leaving a legacy of my contribution to the planet. I initially do not see dramatic changes & changes none the less~the second half of this extraordinary life was about making a difference and giving back! I want to be an example of someone in action, not sitting & complaining and watching the world go by. I can see & hear the larger lessons the universe is providing for many of us. I am clear where I am sitting is a place of privilege & I am not one who has lost a job, or has other life challenges that have created hardship at this time. I still know that each of us can do our part in making life for the WE better in our own way! We know our own capacity and I say it may be time for that to turn to action. So, I said to mySELF (and of course always invite others to play with me), are WE ready?
So, I pulled out my journal and started WRITING. I started by meditating and quieting my whirling dervish mind! When I begin contemplating on something that has been staring at my soul all of my life...who I am going to be, as a Citizen of the World, what is going to be my stand for making a difference and my contribution to the ONE world, my mind starts whirling with ideas, actions & ways I can rework the station back to channel ONEness! This has gotten me into trouble more times than I can count, as I sometimes get ahead of mySELF & others! So I slowed mySELF to a space where I can create ENDS IN MIND that are S.M.A.R.T. goals, not just frivolous ones that die on the vine after 2 weeks!
My first soul thought after my contemplative state was repeated to me again as it has many times before, WE ARE ONE, interconnected & together as individuals and as we need to be working together to create a world that works for everyONE~I have been known to call this 'being' state, the BIG I (Intertwined, Interconnected & Inlove)! I have known this in my soul for a long time, having navigated through it, up & down, in & out for my 55 years of knowing. The BIG I is another blog post, coming soon! And from this place, my world works in alignment with the larger world~beautifully synchronized into melodic moves! So, if I know this to be my truth, how do I want to this in my daily life and create actions from there?
When I look, the first soul answer is Mother Earth~forgetting about us as a whole human race for a hot minute, I need to take a look at how I have been using (& in some cases abusing) her generous gifts! I have done some work with my negative contributions in the past and decreased my CARBON FOOTPRINT significantly. Clearly I had fallen asleep a bit on my level of consciousness. With Covid, watching her renew herself so quickly after only 40 days, it became clear again what our collective human abuse was doing, taking its toll on her and in some cases to a point of no return.
So, I decided that I wanted to reclaim my connection first to Mother Earth by stepping up my game.
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My first area of focus will be PLASTIC and my first action was: I will not longer purchase plastic products, including food, baggies & the like. Once I said that, I took a hard look at where my current practices were and after 5 days I was shocked! This was going to take much more work on the front end than I realized. Here is a picture of just the plastic containers (albeit recyclable) I was throwing into recycling~JUST ME! So, I have recreated my commitment to say:
I WILL REDUCE MY PURCHASE OF PLASTIC PRODUCTS BY 60% within the next 365 days!
~This one action then lead to 4 smaller actions I took on this week:
I WILL RE-COMMIT TO COMPOSTING. I already had a compost pail (being stored in my attic), a roller composter in my yard & with my new green garden going in this week, it was perfect move.
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| no longer buying |
~I WILL RECYCLE & REUSE ITEMS~While throwing away most of these containers, I made some decisions of products I will no longer use because they are either in non-recyclable plastic or just not sustainable over time and will look for creative ways I can reuse an item indefinitely.
~I WILL PURCHASE ITEMS LOCALLY~ Most products can be wrapped in paper, in a reusable bag or bought in bulk. It also decreases my carbon footprint of items needing to be shipped.
~I WILL COMMIT PART OF MY TITHINGS towards people making a difference around this effort. One such organization is Jack & Kim Johnson's KOKUA HAWAII FOUNDATION. Hawaii has always been my place to 'retreat' from reality, taking vacations there at least 3 times a year with my family! When I read & heard about their work, I felt called there first! Check out their commitments!
~A final piece will be to find new items as I use up ones I have already purchased. The following are items that have moved the dial towards being 40% plastic free already, & some new ones that will move me toward 100% within 365 days:
*Beeswax food wraps to replace plastic wrap from Trader Joe's,
*Silpats from William Sonoma~I bake a lot and use to use tons of parchment paper-I have mine for 8 years now & use them every week!
*Dishtowels instead of paper towels from William Sonoma. I have not used paper towels for over 8 years!
*Compost pail from William Sonoma~this makes it easy to have in my kitchen to then carry out once/week to my composter.
*Small Composter (similar as one I bought 7 years ago) from Home Depot. If you need a bigger one, I would google best composter to see what are the latest & greatest. Mine is simple, sweet & small for 2 people's worth of compost.
* Glass containers from Costco to replace plastic containers.
Here are some items I am starting to look to replace before I run out~please send any resources you may already know: * almond milk * alkaline water * Shampoo * Lotion in bulk * toothpaste *
I will track all of my plastic use, new products & ways to decrease my plastic purchases on my IG feed. This will keep me conscious & accountable in the year to come. This is a big start and will surely keep me going! Thank you for reading this longer muse about my return back to mySELF in this new transition of an extraordinary life.
*I am working out ways to connect my blog to my current social media links. For now, I will put it out through FB & IG and here on BLOGPOST.com. Feel free to read older posts from my travels around the world at Ro on Land & Sea.
Next week: Water ~ reducing, reusing, resourcing & remembering...
Authentic Connections~committed to a world where peace, passion and love are present for everyone as they transition gracefully from one chapter of their lives to the next.
