Oh the guilt

I think through the course of this blog I have made it pretty apparent that I have problems (way more than Jay Z).  Freud's head would probably explode if he had ever met me.  I get that we all have problems, no one is immune, but my greatest problem lately (I say laltely b/c I live in denial) is guilt.  The guilt, I hate to admit it, plays a large role in my life.  Now whether that is good or bad (probably bad, great now I feel guilty) I do not know.  But it does become a driving force.  Now this is not to say I am doing a bunch of bad stuff that I feel guilty for, quite the opposite (see there is that denial again) it is rather that I feel guilty because I feel like I should do more.  
I am not growing all my own food, ahhh the guilt.  I am not living off the grid, oh my this is crushing me.  I still have plastic crap in my house and the other day I threw it away because I could not recycle it, insert loud sobbing noises here.  And then to top it off I feel guilty about thinking mean thoughts that other people do not feel guilty enough.  What is their thought process, or lack of, that just lets them toss things (and unfortunately people and animals too) aside and not worry about them anymore.  Is no one else thinking about how to make the future planet a happy place.  Yes by all means enjoy the present, and be present, but make sure every moment moving forward (time is weird like that) is worth enjoying too, for yourself and others.
Where is all this coming from and where am I going with it?  Well this is coming about for two reasons one, I have been away from the blog and I feel guilty about it (but I have a million great excuses) and two we just got back from a camping trip and I for sake of convenience threw away something I shouldn't have.  For the rest of my trip (and beyond apparently) I was kicking myself for my lazy attitude.  But the guilt became too much to bear and now we have this post, you can thank me later.  On the positive side of this situation I (and my support system) made sure to bring home anything that needed to be recycled or dealt with in a less lazy manner.  
Look I use this blog for two reasons therapy (aka to whine) and as an attempt to bring about world peace by sharing ideas, like Leftover Love and the plastic bag petition.  And although lately I have been using the therapy option a bit more, I think that good ideas can come from therapy.  I think that if we could not so much as to guilt people into doing things, but rather get them to think and remember concepts, like there is no away, then we can change some thought processes, and just might bring about world peace from the so many bright people out there, who just needed a whiner like me (have to try and get some credit) to spur a brilliant idea.  We have to be aware of consequences that arise from issues like the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh or the rhino's slaughter in Mozambique.  They may not happen in your backyard, but being as interconnected as we are they will have an effect on us.  We have to not be weighed down by guilt, but share our concerns so that people unaware become aware and create solutions.
I will end with this quote by Nelson Mandela that a friend (not family member) posted online the other day (for totally unrelated purposes, but I still think it applies), it said

"I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death."

Let's get over the guilt, stay away from excuses, or whatever else may be holding us back, and use more positive forces to drive us forward to solutions.  Step one read my blog, omg I kill me sometimes, but I love to end with a laugh, ok a smile, ok a smirk (what ever I will take it) :) 

Weeds

A friend of mine posted the below statement on Facebook, and I thought it was so very well said and definitely worth sharing.  So here is Erin W.  Enjoy!

I have been thinking about this for some time. Who, or what, determines a weed? Is it something once decided and never questioned again? Is it decided only by what the grower wants and what he doesn’t? The clover, with its fragrant white flowers and lush green is a persistent nuisance, and attracts bees which make honey. Yes, bees make honey. Dandelions, tall and lanky, sprout tall and require more frequent mower passes. Honeysuckle can take over a yard. It is also sold in many stores for its hardiness and unmatched scent. Before we spray these away with poisons that will eventually head for our soils, our foods, our water supply, and rainfall, do we wonder why we spray? Do we reconsider pulling these up by the root? Do we consider the benefits of the natural-grower, the loose-springer, the hardy-climber? Or do we only want regulation and control – a lawn where every blade is identical? 

I have seen the relentlessness of periwinkle, and have watched honeysuckle thwart daffodils. I certainly appreciate the maintenance required of keeping all vital threads in check. But, as our lawns take over this wild world, we must consider the significance of the wild world we are replacing. If you’ve ever tasted a fresh blackberry, you know there is purpose there.

This is no mere plant defense. As we increasingly communicate and receive information through our systematic intelligence sources – our devices, our google - what wild thoughts are dying for the poison we are pumping? Just as dandelions and blackberries seem to spring out of nowhere, so do some of the most valuable thoughts, the ones that could heal our minds, and thus our world, if we would allow them to breathe. When you simply be, it is incredible what “comes” to you in the quiet that is never quiet. You begin to see the strength and resourcefulness of the human mind, released from the distraction of entertainment. You begin to reconsider your priorities. You wonder what determines a valuable thought and what determines a weed.

Patience

First I would like to take a brief second to apologize for being away for so long.  We took a trip recently, and it appears that as I get older it takes me so much longer to adjust and get back into the swing of things.  Anyhoo I am back.
Anyone who knows me knows that normally my patience is attached to a pretty short fuse.  I have been working on that over the last few years and feel  like I am making significant progress, in my oh so very humble opinion.  Whatever the reason, baby or the wisdom I gain every day that I age (which is only ever other day, aging every day is just too fast for me and I am ok being less wise because of that) I do have a lot more patience that I used to that is for sure.  I guess getting older has provided me with some good qualities, I just cannot remember them (on fire with the old jokes today).  But still the fact remains that on certain issues I have little to no patience.
Here are some items that keep my fuse pretty short.  I read the other day that the last of the black rhinos in Mozambique were killed, on a national reserve.  The current estimated date for extinction the rhino is 2015.  Let me check, yep that is less than 2 years away.  So angry, no patience for that.  And what makes it even worse for me is that I feel helpless in trying to correct the situation.  But please note all remaining wild rhinoceros out there, people do care, and not everyone wants that giant finger nail (which is what the horn is) on your face.  Looks way better on you, honestly I could never pull off that look.  It would unbalance the two horns I already have on the top of my head.
And on the trip that I mentioned above I also witnessed plastic pollution that I really could never have imagined was still possible in 2013.  Plastic bags literally covered a major road in a city of 3.5 million.  I do not mean a handful of plastic bags here and there, but actually lined the street.  And of course this large city is right on a major body of water, awesome.  For that I am not patient   And why should I have to be?  There is an easy answer, stop throwing the plastic out on the street or better yet stop using it.
The common link between this two situations is the need for a quick buck.  What is missed is that fast money is so shortsighted and temporary.  I have no patience for that.
I am fully aware that I am far far from perfect, exhibit A lack of patience.  But I do try to either make the world around me as nice a place as possible, or at the very least not make it any worse.  I know that may not add up to a lot when you know animals are being wiped off the planet for a horn or waterways are being clogged with useless plastic.  I have a friend that writes a blog about her kids, and without knowing it she always offers me a gentle reminder that when I am tired or frustrated with my little one (or anyone else in my family for that matter) that I need to remember that that time is limited and will soon be gone.  So I gain some patience back and enjoy the moment (or the next one) rather than complaining about (even though I still do that too, shame on me).  But I do hate to think that these moments are all many of us, rhinos and oceans included, have left.  I will try to be patient with the people who are shortsighted, who do not seem to care, and are so easily bought, but I cannot guarantee how long that will last.  In the meantime I will be calm and patient as possible and continue to try and change the world one small action at a time.  I owe that patience to the planet, because she sure as heck has been patient with my breed for a long time.

Plastic Bag Petition

Resistance: Proactive vs. Reactive

Resistance is a normal part of life, at least I would assume, since recently it has become a very familiar part of life for me.  And maybe it is my own fault, I tend to oversimplify ideas in my head, thinking that all the great and wonderful things I want to happen will just, well,  happen.  Instead reality slaps me across the face, and I find bureaucracy, resistance, and a lot of "no's"   But guess what people, things do not have to be so difficult, you can say yes sometimes.  And you know what, the more I here "no" the more determined I become to find a yes.  And when you do hear a yes, it is all the more sweet.  So what the frick am I talking about?  The plastic bag ban, this is what is bringing so much resistance into my life.  I have recently started an effort to get a plastic bag ban or fee ordinance implemented in my current city.  And so far it has been a very slow moving process.  And I honestly do not get it.  Unless you have some stock in making the plastic bags, I see no reason why you would put effort into a fight against it.  Taking your own bag is not that hard, I know because I do it.  And trust me when I say if I can do it ANYONE can do it.  I am a lazy lover of convenience, so it really cannot be that difficult.

The most shocking thing to me so far though in the process has been the resistance from people and groups that you would assume (and we all know what assuming does) would be obvious supporters.  I have been told over and over again that everyone hates plastic bags, but that the bags are not the problem.  Rather these resisters point the blame at the people who litter them as the problem; or that getting something like this accomplished is too difficult because it is more of a cultural shift rather than a change in ones shopping bags; or the best,  what will I pick my dog poop up with?  So lame.  Seriously?  

Here is the cultural shift I see, not going from plastic bags to reusable ones, but rather going from a reactive culture to a proactive culture.  We know there is a problem, and here is an easy solution, a source reduction.  Reactive activities are great, like organizing litter clean up days, I am in full support of that.  But if there was a way to cut down on litter and the amount of junk that one of those cleaners had to pick up wouldn't that be a good idea.  Now I get that being proactive would be huge cultural shift, one that I could not even imagine trying to undertake, because lets be honest it would take ages.  But taking your own shopping bag is easy, and should happen, in the grand scheme of things, relatively quickly.  I get that being proactive is difficult insomuch as you have to be fully aware of an imminent problem, which as mere mortals we are not always fully in the know.  But when we are, issues such as pollution we should do something about.  Isn't there more economic value in forward thinking rather than a quick, fast buck?

I just think that with all the resistance I have come against, it proves that taking your own shopping bags when you go out is not really the issue at all.  Rather it is a cultural shift changing from reactive to proactive thinking.   If we are always reacting when will we start moving forward.  So at this point I am not going to tackle an entire paradigm shift, but I can try to change part of it, with my handy dandy bag ban (or fee, which I have heard is more socially acceptable).  So come on lets try being proactive with a bag ban as a solution to reducing plastic pollution. 

 http://www.change.org/petitions/plastic-bag-ban-in-charlotte-nc-stop-the-use-of-plastic-bags

Plastic Bag Ban Petition

http://www.change.org/petitions/plastic-bag-ban-in-charlotte-nc-stop-the-use-of-plastic-bags

Please feel free to sign in order to help spread the plastic bag ban movement.

Thanks a bunch.

"Click image to see a larger version or to grab the code to share on your website or blog

Tired of Slander? via Factory Direct Promos - Reusable Bags