Month: April 2014

Unblocking

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“They” say that the best way to push through writers block is to write.

Let’s see if it works…

It’s not that I don’t have ideas for posts, I am just feeling deathly resistant to buckling down and putting them in writing.

It’s been pouring the April showers for a few days now and I’m trying to embrace the coziness of it and use it as an excuse to catch up on some (writing) projects and drink tea and anticipate how deliciously green everything is soon going to be.

I have a touch of the Spring angst.  Everything is happening so quickly.  The natural world needs no time-lapse video this time of year; you see things grow practically with your naked eye and I think it’s common to want to keep up with the growth and change and shifts.

Yet I feel a little stagnant.

My semester at the college is coming to a close and with it the regularity of getting in the dance studio.  I still teach exercise classes during the summer but it’s totally different than being in my dancing body and mind.

I also feel excited, almost giddy with anticipation, but for what I’m not sure.  Perhaps it’s just that throwback to childhood when Summers were full of nothing but fun; sleep away camps and camping trips, watermelon seed spitting contests and hours of jumping off the dock into the pond…which reminds me of that post I wrote a few years ago, This is the Summer…

Spring is one beautiful dichotomy.  I am stuck and inspired.  Bored and curious. Energized and exhausted. There’s only one solution, to revel in the moment.

 “It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”
― Mark Twain

 

5 Simple Solutions to Reduce Consumption

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Happy Earth Day!!

I was in DC over the weekend and noticed that in this fine city recycling containers are as ubiquitous as trash cans and there is information everywhere about the positive impact of recycling.  This is great, I’m a life-long recycler and big fan of the idea, however, recycling is the third R, the last eco-friendly resort, after REDUCE and REUSE.

Here are 5 simple ways we can reduce our impact on earth

  1. Buy in bulk less packaging, less trips to the store. This can apply to dried goods like nuts and grains but also to yogurt and sauces and beverages.  
  2. Use plastic grocery bags as trash bags they are the right size for bathrooms and good for kitchens too; maybe a smaller bag will help you generate less waste! Or, Bring re-usable bags to the store with you DC charges a $0.05 bag fee for paper or plastic.
  3. Host a clothes exchange call it a Naked Lady, Grab n’ Gab, Clothes Toss or whatever you want, the premise is another woman’s awkward fitting, twice worn anthropologie top is now your treasure.  Most of my wardrobe is from clothes exchanges and it’s a simple, very fun and rewarding way to reduce your consumption. 
  4. Make your own kombucha, yogurt, pickles, salad dressing, kimchi all these things require a lot of packaging if you buy them from the store.
  5. Make beans from scratch rather than buying cans beans freeze really well and than there’s the added bonus that a full freezer is more energy efficient. Plus, no BPA concerns if you freeze in glass jars.

This list is by no list comprehensive, I was going to ones that I’ve included in my daily life and that are so simple that you won’t even have to go out of your way to make a big change. Please share your own ideas for REDUCING our consumption of goods and resources!