Monthly Archives: January 2011

Awareness, Journal / Gripes

Back to Baggies

OK, so I am hung up on the plastic bags. Since we are the plastic fantastic generation, I want to wonder why we can try to clean up the air, the country, the cows and their food, but not our own usage of wasteful plastic. Was reading a blog elsewhere and found the following info:

According to the EPA, more than 380 billion plastic bags, sacks, and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.

  • Americans go through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually.
    Four out of five bags handed out by grocery stores in this country are plastic.
    (why can’t they at least offer paper?)
  • Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales, and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.
  • Plastic bags are among the top 12 items of debris found in coastal cleanups.

Are you aware that it takes over 1000 years for the ” biodegradable plastic bags to decompose, and that is only after it is broken down into toxic gases first.

That styrofoam cup you grabbed to have a coffee on the run, a 500 year half life in the landfill.

Come on people, an enviro-friendly tote, they are cute, serve many purposes besides hauling groceries and TP, and it is just the right thing to do. Join the “BYOB Brigade.” I’m not saying I am totally enviro-friendly yet, but this is a good place, an easy one to start.

Think how nice it will be if we didn’t have to see plastic “kites” flying down the highway from varied litterbugs, or escapees from the truck bringing in the trash.

Still with my resolution, no plastic unless I need to clean up after the dog.

Hey, we can’t all be composting and perfect!

Awareness, Journal / Gripes, Motivational / Inspirational

The art of being great

“Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes, and most true heroes are unsung. You don’t have to be a Martin Luther King Jr. to serve the world. As he noted, “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” Each of us has our own particular talent or ability. What is your greatness?”

Adapted from Practice Random Acts of Kindness, by the editors of Random Acts of Kindness (Conari Press, 2007).

Today, we can all reflect upon what makes us “great.”

I believe in my dreams, that I am a great friend, a great mother. I find greatness in the little things, the dog wagging her tail, the smile when I pick my kids up from school, the extra hug, the nice checkout girl at the store.

We are all capable of greatness, and can achieve it through kindness. I heard a story that inspired me, of a mentally challenged individual, who lives on his own, works at a fast food place to support himself, and shows kindness to all he encounters. It seems that he lives in a low rent apartment complex, but greets every tenant by name. He helps out whenever he senses a need, even if it is by pushing someone’s child on the complex swing set, so the mom can sit for two minutes and grab a breath. How inspiring, it seems that this simple fellow has captured the hearts of all who know him, and how? By practicing kindness.

I believe that if we all begin to think more kindly, to practice kindness, what a better world we will live in. It doesn’t take much to hold open a door, smile, say hello to the elderly person you meet at the park, etc. Our greatness can be in learning to coexist peaceably, cooperating and working in harmony with the the rhythms of society and of the world at large.

My greatness is in my dreams, my outlook that things CAN be better, that there is a rainbow of hope in everything. Maybe I am being childish in this view, however, if we all look back to our childhood we will remember the kindnesses and pleasantness of the world around us.

I am great because I am an individual, and though I may not have the power to change or inspire the whole world, I can change MY world.
So today, be inspired, be the force of change, practice random acts of kindness. Your gesture may be the turning point for somebody in the world, and that is the start of something wonderful.

Journal / Gripes, Motivational / Inspirational

Self Image

Since it is the start of the New Year, I figure I’ll go back to idea of resolution. Today I realized, that to succeed, I need to stop redirecting myself to the idea of my self image. it is not what defines me, nor is it what boosts my self-confidence or ability in any way. The ideal self-image, is all the things that I defend as what make me unique and, quite frankly, “me.” All the negative aspects of “me” do not exist here, no fears, no guilt, nothing to threaten my sense of self, no matter how I feel, or how lost I feel I am from my “self.”

Deepak Chopra believes, and shares the premise that “to really feel good about yourself, renounce your self-image. Immediately you will find yourself being more open, undefended, and relaxed.” What a great idea! If I do not believe that I have anything to live up to, then the stress of achieving more than what i can is no longer present. What I mean to say is, I spend a lot of time trying to keep a positive spin on my sense of self, and who I am, and who I want to be. I think that in general, people all try to turn a negative self-image to a positive one, but that the right choices are not always clear. Every time I (or  you) try to reshape self-image, it reminds me of who I was, my self-image cannot possible be the same as when I was 12, 17, 25 or even 40. Each year it changes, sometimes due to outside influence, sometimes, because life happens.

As time passes, I realize that the important things about how I perceive my self, are not so important anymore. The idea of self is based on a lot of memories and experiences, and though I cannot or will not deny their existence or that they have shaped my person, I do need to free myself. If I begin each day with a fresh outlook, one positive spin on my “self,” either in appearance, belief, or confidence, then I am choosing to be my self for the first time.I will stop being ruled by self image when: I feel what I feel, not what society dictates me to feel, when the little things no longer offend me to the point of anger, when I can stop judging others, whether consciously or not, and when I can stop obsessing over things that are beyond my control.

I will be at my most comfortable, at peace with my “self” when I can keep a changing palette of my self, one that mirrors what I feel, how I feel, not how society wants me to feel (or be or look).
Motivational / Inspirational

Pep Talk

Today is all about organization. From the closets in the house to the files in the mind. The start of a new year always makes me feel auspicious, I can change!

No resolutions, but a promise that for today, everything will be in an ordered fashion. The laundry folded, work cleared off my desk, new tasks set in motion, kids kept in line and on time, etc.

Organizing your life is as easy as organizing a cabinet drawer, it just needs a little extra shove to get started. So to all my friends in need of a good spring cleaning- take out the trash, literally and figuratively, and start the year off in the right frame of mind. A positive outlook and a little decision making will help get you on the right track. Today I am organizing my goals for my lifetime, a work in constant progress, it must be given time to evolve. Just as the bread needs to rise, so too the random thoughts and ideas in my head.

Starting to realize my potential in all aspects of life is what I am about, for today.

So to all of you out there – let’s organize, prioritize and make this a great year!8

Awareness, Journal / Gripes

Plastic fantastic

Today I am bothered by plastic. Plastic shopping bags to be exact. Bravo to California and the few miscellaneous towns that are banning plastic shopping bags. I keep thinking of the legacy we are leaving to our children. Landfill after landfill, plastic bags rotting, releasing their petroleum based origins into the earth and the atmosphere.

How hard is it really, to use a reusable shopping tote. Keep them in the car, after unpacking at home, leave them by the front door, so you can put them back into the car. I remember when I was back in college, how the city I lived in was super eco-friendly although it wasn’t yet the “in” thing. I toted my canvas bag to Sun Foods when I bought my groceries, garbage went in clear plastic biodegradable bags, recyclable items in the clear blue recyclable bags. They were so stringent that if a single item was in the wrong bag,you had no garbage pickup for the week.

So I ask the all important question, why is it so hard for people to want to save the environment. These are little things, that can become habit. I read that it takes only three weeks to form a habit, so if all the people where I live would commit for three weeks to use recyclable canvas totes at the store, and to sort their trash into the bins that Waste Management provides, we can start leaving less of a carbon footprint on the earth, and leaving a legacy our kids can be proud of.

So back to the plastic bags. If you are going to utilize them, taking them home from the store, perhaps the store should levy a tax, much like the reward system at stores like Target and Whole Foods that give 5 cents back for each non-plastic bag you use.

I think it is time we all take stock of what is important to our selves, to the earth, to our future. Let’s leave a cleaner, greener earth for our children. Ban the bags (plastic that is) and let’s move into the new year with new hopes and reinvest in the future of our planet.

Awareness, Journal / Gripes

A new beginning

This year I am ready. No resolutions. Every year I make a resolution to change something about myself or my way of life that never comes to fruition. I thought about it, and realized that most of the new year’s resolutions that people make are ones that shame, that make us want to change something visible to others. This year I am resolving to make changes in my life that will affect not only my personal life, but that of others. I will see every day as a new beginning, a new chance to start over or change my mind about a resolution.

This year I resolve to be more green,at home, at work, in my life. I resolve to take the time I need for myself, to change the things about myself I want to change.

I am going to learn to be tolerant of the world around me and those who are in my immediate orbit.

I am focusing on the positive, on spiritual well being, as opposed to the physical need to be thinner, prettier, etc. I will not make resolutions that will deprive me. I resolve to find ways to soothe my soul, and to honor my spirit.

Here’s hoping that everyone finds what they need this year. Peace and prosperity to all.