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| "I exist as I am, that is enough." - Walt Whitman |
How about some anti-consumer, pro-freedom affirmations for the new year? How about: "I am enough. I have enough. I do enough."? How liberating would that be?
In order to sell you an endless list of things, advertisers and big business constantly tell us, "You are not enough. You don't have enough. You can never get enough." Enough money. Enough stuff. Enough skinny. Enough fame. Enough fortune. Enough love and admiration.
The bosses tell us constantly, "You don't do enough", the whole "do more with less" thing. But they sure can sell us stuff to make us feel like we have enough... temporarily, because according to them you won't have enough for long. Just until the next shopping binge.
How do we counteract that message that is funded by billions of dollars and centuries old cultural arm twisting all aligned against us more strongly and desperately every year?
It is simple. We need to tell ourselves the truth, and that is, "I am enough, just the way I am. I have just enough, and I do enough."
Make 'enough' your mantra for 2017 and you may just get out from under the oppressive thumb of the merchandisers. While you are at it you will transform yourself, your family and friends, your neighbourhood, place of work, and indeed, the world.
Go even farther to make you and the world a better place by saying, "YOU are enough" to everyone you meet. Love unconditionally.
What synchronicity! One of my teenagers has a birthday soon, and I was pondering what to write on the birthday card. What I had decided on was exactly the message you have just talked about - that she is 'enough' just as she is.
ReplyDeleteFinal year of school is looming, media and social media exert endless pressure on kids to be what they are not (and it all costs so much money to keep up) and my thought was to somehow let her know that she is enough as she is, and should just focus on being herself and finding what is meaningful to her.
The idea of 'enough' is one I have been pondering a lot over the past few years, and am certainly thinking about it every day as I begin to replace the useful items lost in our recent fire. How many dishes is enough? How many wooden spoons, towels etc? I would like enough to do the job efficiently, and not a bit more.
Gregg, I'm hoping you and Linda, or your readers can help me with a decision I need to make. Insurance covers the rebuilding of your house as it was. My bathroom had one of those fans that sucks the steam out when you shower so that you don't end up with mouldy walls. We did not have this when I was a kid, we just opened a window! But I now live in a very cold climate and opening a window while showering would not be pleasant! My reason for not wanting this device is the plastic in it, and the electricity it uses. Thanks in advance!
Madeleine.x
Madeleine,
DeleteI love synchronicity. It happens so much more when one is living a low stress, simple life that has time to discover the weird ways in which the Universe works. Children, especially, need to know they are enough just as they are. So much pressure to be MORE these days.
I think that some sort of bathroom fan is part of building codes, so you may not have a choice. The house we live in now has a whole-house heat recovery ventilation system that works quite well. You might be able to incorporate something like that in your new home as they are more efficient than simple venting fans.
It is really hard to avoid the plastic part of things, though, as our system incorporates some plastic parts. It is a trade off, I guess. Good luck with some of your difficult decisions. You are certainly asking the right questions to get the job done.
Happy new year to you and your family.
Happy New Year Gregg, to you and Linda, and thank you for your thoughts on the fan.
DeleteI've also been agonising over replacing the bath tub as most baths these days are acrylic. Sadly, I discovered that the alternatives - wood, copper etc...are only for the extremely wealthy. There is an old cast iron bath tub in my vegetable garden which I've used to grow herbs, so my thought is to have it re-enamelled and reuse it. It will depend on whether I can get someone in my part of the country to do it.
As far as the laundry goes, I've decided not to add the standard melamine cupboards, and to use what we have available, and then use some reclaimed wood to make shelves. I think I will be able to make the house beautiful and functional again without too many compromises (but oh, how I'd love a wooden bathtub!)
I will be taking a holiday from screen time for a while, I'll see you on the other side :-)
Madeleine.x
I was considering having the word enough tattoooed on me. Haven't ruled it out yet...
ReplyDeleteFITV,
DeleteI don't have any tattoos, but if I were looking to get one, "enough" would be good. 'Enough' is the secret to a good, sustainable life.
Madeleine, First, I'm sorry to hear there was a fire. You ask a very good question about the fan. I too resist as much plastic as possible. It seems highly likely that you will have a lot less plastic in the rebuild because you are so mindful. It seems impossible to avoid all plastic.
ReplyDeleteA question I find helpful is: "How did we do this before plastic?" If that is a reasonable and possible solution, then I go with that. In the case of the fan, what we used to do is not have them in our bathrooms. But that was before showers. So do we go back to taking baths eliminating the need for a fan? Do baths use less water than showers?
I'm commenting late and know you are off screen and the decision on the fan will have already been made. I'll miss you. Breaks from screen are nice though!