STUFF! To Have or Have not…

Do you have a lot of stuff? Are you trying to find places for your “new” stuff, but are having trouble due to so much “old” stuff being in the way? Does dealing with your stuff take up a lot of your time? You have to get it, sort it, carry it around, find a place for it, clean it, and finally get rid of it! Notice that we hardly ever actually repair our stuff anymore. Except for cars and houses,most stuff is disposable, and in fact – becomes undesirable to have around due to the nature of the snazzy newer stuff that we would rather have…

Your stuff has a story.

The story of your stuff and my stuff starts with the Earth, the free bounty of which is extracted by someone who knows that you want more stuff. These natural resources- from iron for cars & stainless steel bottles to silver for jewelry and photos or trees reaped from precious forests to make paper & lumber are transported and transformed so that you can have your stuff.

Coal taken from dynamited mountainsides, oil extracted from threatened habitats are used as the energy needed to make the stuff we all consume.

The story of our stuff ends with waste–the stuff we tire of and eventually toss-the “waste stream”-which ends up in landfills, incinerators, or someone else’s backyard where they must deal with the messy, dangerous and deadly consequences of our wastefulness.

There are ways we can do better–for the planet and for our future.

I am currently very aware of my stuff because I am moving out of a home I stored stuff in for over 14 years! It is a big house, and somehow over time my stuff expanded to fill all the spaces allotted for stuff. I confess that much of the stuff is hard to get rid of. It might come in handy when I find my next house. It might even be original art, craft – or is certainly good looking & usually of very high quality. It is filled with history and indeed – has a story to tell. Yes,these are the reasons I am now packing dozens of boxes with my stuff. I am of course – not going to be like those people who rent a storage unit only to find that after 10 years they have not looked into those boxes, used much or even any of their stuff,and yet – must hold onto it!

Ok, so I don’t know how this will turn out – perhaps I will let you know later, or maybe I will be so embarrassed by my lack of ability to deal with these of piles stuff that I will never reveal what has happened to my boxes of stuff. What I do know – is that I began to NOT buy any more stuff several years ago. Somehow I found out I could do without more stuff. I have been wearing the same clothes and shoes, using simpler and older versions of techy stuff, fewer tools & kitchen stuff, and generally getting by without new stuff! Oh, yes – I fall off the wagon occasionally – especially when I smell the scent of a bargain or sale. But, I am a recovering Stuffaholic and want to hear your story too.
Starting today, you can rewrite the story of your stuff. Tell me what you have done to reduce your stuff, help me out here!
And – more importantly – let’s celebrate Earth Day together by not buying any stuff at all – Including gas for our cars. Now – that is a great way to begin making our future – a future beyond stuff.
Happy Earth Day!

RETIREMENT v.s. LIFESTYLE – for BOOMERS ONLY!

It is time to ask ourselves….What is our beloved work? I am talking about beloved work at an enjoyable pace that offers time for some community service, time for family and friends…
An enjoyable pace of new and interesting work, or something we have “always wanted to do” can substitute for the fast – disappearing retirement we were promised so blithely those many years ago.

<> Who knew when we were 20 that in order to retire someday that we should get a “County Job” or a Corporate Job with a safe ( haha) Pension Plan? Now it is clear that the silver threads among the gold are not made of the real stuff. The pending recession is on everyone’s lips, in all media and I for one – a small business owner who is seeing a very real concerning downturn – will seemingly never “retire” to the front porch, or the back garden – unless it is to grow my own “local food”.

How did so many of us screw this up? Was it a screw up? We became entrepreneaurs and uniquely created new visions, jobs and businesses from the changes that the ’70′s and the booming ’80′s wrought on our world. Seems likely that we would have done that – and we did. Now things are changing – fast. I am repositioning my imported costumes with reusable, reclaimed fabric organic bags, and finding some commercial interest in my obsession with replacing personal plastic water bottles, but only time will tell if any of it is a pipedream or a real opportunity…not wanting to make a fortune, just find a right livelihood that gives me pleasure as well as a simple living. What next? I’ll let you know!! I think I’ll go out and plant some peas…

<>Anyway – Happy Earth Day! That is a comforting and stable date we all have each year, now isn’t it? I am still working for the future of our 7th Generation, how about you?

PS – Since I wrote this post – I found a great new site – about recreating yourself in later life…very cool!    http://www.rebootyou.com/index.php

in celebration of the earth

This is an incredible poem in celebration of the earth – appropriate for earth day! I love Rafael’s poetry!!!

If We Do Not Speak

If we do not speak to praise the Earth,
it is best we keep silent.

Praise air
that fills the bellow of the lung
& feeds our heart’s blood;
that carries light,
the smell of flowers & the seas,
the songs of birds & the wind’s howl;
that conspires with distance
to make the mountains blue.

Praise fire
that lights the day & warms the night;
that cooks our food & gives motion to our wills;
that is the heart of Earth, this fragment of a star;
that burns & purifies for good or ill.

Praise water
that makes the rivers & the seas;
that gives substance to the clouds & us;
that makes green the forests & the fields;
that swells the fruit & wombs our birth.

Praise earth
that is the ground, the mountain, & the stones;
that holds the forests & roots our sustenance;
that is the garden & the desert sand;
that builds our bones & salts the seas, the blood;
that is our home & place.

If we do not speak in praise of the Earth,
if we do not sing in celebration of life,
it is best we keep silent.

© Rafael Jesús González 2005

<>Si No Hablamos

Si no hablamos para alabar a la Tierra,
es mejor que guardemos silencio.

Loa al aire
que llena el fuelle del pulmón
y alimenta la sangre del corazón;
que lleva la luz,
el olor de las flores y los mares,
los cantos de las aves y el aullido del viento;
que conspira con la distancia
para hacer azul el monte

Loa al fuego
que alumbra el día y calienta la noche,
cuece nuestro alimento y da ímpetu a nuestra voluntad;
que es el corazón de la Tierra, este fragmento de lucero;
que quema y purifica por bien o por mal.

Loa al agua
que hace a los ríos y a los mares;
que da sustancia a la nube y a nosotros;
que hace verde a los bosques y los campos;
que hincha al fruto y envientra nuestro nacer.

Loa a la tierra
que es el suelo, la montaña, y las piedras;
que lleva los bosques y arraiga nuestro sustento,
que es el jardín y la arena del desierto;
que nos forma los huesos y sala los mares, la sangre;
que es nuestro hogar y sitio.

Si no hablamos en alabanza a la Tierra,
si no cantamos en celebración de la vida,
es mejor que guardemos silencio.

© Rafael Jesús González 2005