Individual Consumption

As we approach arguably the most consumer-driven holiday in our nation, one of the most impactful and important things we can do is be aware of time and money. How is it being spent and what is it being spent on? There are countless resources - books, documentaries, the internet, articles - that can help educate us, change our perspective, and awaken us to realize what really matters to us in our life.

• My favorite book for a macro view of our capitalist economy way of life: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins.
• Book recommended to me that is highly relevant to consumption in our society today: Living Well, Spending Less, by Ruth Soukup.
• Internet research tips; beware of your sources, always double check facts, search slightly different terms to bring up more diverse results (ex. 'sustainable living' / 'eco-friendly lifestyle' / 'how to be less impactful' / 'how to be more conscientious').
• Relevant documentaries to consumption (though there are great 'docs' on countless topics, just beware of special interests and alternative motives behind the film): Consumed, What Would Jesus Buy?, Status Anxiety

The point, and my goal with this blog, is to urge each individual to realize that every decision we make has significance and really can impact our future. All of our choices add up, they come with conditions, they affect others, they have consequences. Especially when it comes to commodities and consumption. It can be eye-opening and hopefully inspiring to learn about exactly where our resources (food, water, air, electricity, etc.) and material possessions (houses, cars, clothes, accessories, toys, and everything in between...) come from and at what cost. Who/what is benefiting from what is being consumed and who/what is being harmed? What happens to it after we've consumed it? Is it sourced locally, or imported and from where? We must dig deeper than the surface level. Our minds are easily capable of finding answers to these questions. We can EXERT CONSCIENTIOUS OPTIONS by putting some extra thought and effort into our routines, in order to MAKE A DIFFERENCE that can eventually change the world and how we live in it.

This holiday season we should all consume a little less and share a lot more of what is abundant, fulfilling and sustainable like love, positivity, smiles, laughs, hugs, good deeds and happy memories!

**Put It Into Practice**

Let's start the mindset shift this holiday that takes us into the new year. Awakening to the fact that we always have a choice and realizing the power of our choices. We may be socially and economically conditioned to want a lot of stuff or to own possessions that reflect high status but we don't need tangible things to thrive and be happy. To live we need little more than clean air, fresh water, natural foods, human connection, and love. We're slowly losing these vital things due to our consumption of endless stuff we do not need. The best choice for the long-run might be the more difficult one to make in the moment, but we must rise to the challenge. Striving to overcome our instincts of convenience, consumption and disposal, we can think and act more conscientiously and sustainably - this can be our gift to life that keeps on giving.

Part of the solution, or the problem?

We've touched obscurely, briefly, on deeper ideas of working on the self and allowing inner happiness to affect interactions with others in a positive way. Now, most importantly, ultimately, the goal is an attempt to cultivate our individual and combined capability to fulfill an obligation that is bigger than all of us. A vital shift of mind to a more heightened level of awareness and conscientiousness. We must make a commitment to ourselves, our species, and our environment. We have a right to secure our future.

Human impact on this planet is undeniably inevitable but we can effectively EXERT CONSCIENTIOUS OPTIONS to MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Five basic ways to begin living more conscientiously:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/coping/5-tips-for-conscious-living.htm
(Googling 'how to be eco-friendly', 'conscientious living' and other related terms are ways to find more info.)

Our individual choices - every time we decide to think, say or do anything - are highly relevant in the grand scheme of our fragile species and its survival in the long run. Our actions are not just our own, they ripple and multiply through the other 7.4 billion people we share this earth with, affecting our ecosystem and us all. Seven billion inhabitants and counting (exponentially - see first entry) collectively coexisting on a planet containing a very finite amount of space and resources. Limited essentials for life such as fresh water, land, food, trees, oxygen. Our existence here is based very much on a balance, down to the basic elemental mixture allowing us to evolve to our current state of being.

All of us together are throwing off that balance slowly but surely. We must acknowledge it regardless of divisive differences, because we are all human and we must all take accountability. The planet perfected its delicate state of equilibrium long before we got here, even the first humans coexisted within nature's ebb and flow for a long time. But right now is a different time, a unique time. It's no longer the past and it's not yet the future, we need to recognize our role now. Each one of us should bear the responsibility of (not to mention take pride in) the inseparable bond we share with this planet that gives us life. Without it, there is no us, so why aren't we each trying harder? Why are we not eagerly striving to sustainably coexist?

Don't make justifications for your negative actions or lack of positive action. Even seemingly insignificant effort matters, for better or for worse. Some may argue that only one person's actions won't make a difference, or that we need not individually take action because everyone else will. When people use one of those two excuses, they become part of the problem instead of part of the answer. We are too knowledgeable of a species for that. Did humans evolve to this point just to be selfishly destroyed by a few generations who couldn't shift their mind and thought process to secure their future? We are a highly intelligent species but we are letting our advantages, securities and conveniences get the best of us while also taking for granted our primal roots.

We can change. Because we have to start doing things differently than we are now. We make these decisions every day, no matter what, and we can practice putting certain priorities, like our future, ahead of trivial details that are only superficially important.

**Put It Into Practice**

Conceptually, we can find a way to satisfy the self and aspire to more effectively interact with others, so we all make conscientious choices individually and together that ultimately benefit ourselves, others, the planet and our future. Put effort toward making informed, conscientious decisions that defy the status quo of convenience and inspire you to think outside of yourself. Be an example of someone content enough personally to make selfless choices based on what's best for the future of the planet as a whole. Go ahead, try it, challenge yourself with each new choice, start now!
An informative article to help get the action of change started:
http://greatist.com/happiness/ways-help-environment
(Don't stop there, keep researching, learning, growing, creating, and teaching!)

Opportunity, Not Opposition

Once we've begun to define and revise our relationship with ourselves, we can also start to examine our interactions with others. How do I treat them? How do I act and react? What are my expectations? What can I learn or gain to help myself grow? How can I make a connection? There is always something to be learned or taught, but we must be aware and conscientious of it. It's time we start to give ourselves and everyone else the benefit of the doubt...some credit...a chance...to improve ourselves, our relationships, and the planet. We are capable. We are varied. Our idiosyncrasies are unique and extraordinary, they define us, but they should not divide us.

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships/effective-communication.htm
(Helpful, basic communication information)

Who says differences separate? Must disagreement lead to argument? Or can we make diversity our strength by choice? Human interaction, communication, judgement, love, hatred; these are simply ideas, not bound by laws or limits except those our minds create. We can move past these notions of separation and division to focus our lives around a common goal, like that of preservation and sustainability. To strive for, as a race, lessening our impact on our environment and prolonging our time here. Working together, despite any difference, and in cooperation with nature's rhythm of evolution, in order to understand how to proceed living without wreaking havoc on our ultimate home.

It begins with individuals; we create our own reality. We must be authentic and not let society's 'norms', nor the things we know, limit or dictate our thoughts and actions. With this freedom our possibilities are infinite and varied, and the power of choice is easily utilized. We can lead by example, allowing even the most stubborn minds to know that it's possible to break through blockades like fear, expectations, and insecurities. We can each start an individual movement, that grows exponentially, by exercising our right to EXERT CONSCIENTIOUS OPTIONS, MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

**Put It into Practice**

The goal is to work on ourselves as individuals, to truly know and love who we are so we can connect with others who are similar, and learn from those who are different. These relationships between us, both exploring similarities and attempting to understand differences, they are essential to creating a positive dialog and things like empathy or support. Clear up misunderstandings, ask questions, be an active listener and a conscious communicator because we are all capable - we may just need to work on it. It's about doing. Practice makes perfect so use every interaction as a chance to open a new realm of possibilities.
http://www.austincc.edu/colangelo/1318/interpersonalcommunicationcompetence.htm
(Basic communication information for interpersonal relationships)

Cultivating Conscientious Choices

One of the most basic ways to begin thinking more conscientiously toward others and the environment, is to first figure out who you are. To understand and love yourself is fundamental for understanding and loving anything other than yourself. The Dalai Lama said, "Our life depends on others so much that at the root of our existence there is a fundamental need for love. That is why it is good to cultivate an authentic sense of our responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others."

As humans we are set apart from other species with the advanced evolutionary gift of cognitive thought. What we do is ruled more by our conscience than by the savage sentiment of survival which our ancestors bore. We are intelligent, we're capable of comprehending our place in this world, of reflecting on our own thoughts, of communicating with each other in exceptional ways, and with this capability we inherit a responsibility to utilize what we've been given,  to inspire to our full potential as a species, and to help the earth thrive.

Within our thoughts, choices and actions - we have power. Every individual has what it takes. In vast numbers we have strength to influence. Together, humans possesses the capacity to create necessary change. For this planet, for the other lives on it, and for ourselves - it is absolutely essential that we change our ways.

The point is; this vital shift humanity requires can be achieved, in part, by a movement of people who EXERT CONSCIENTIOUS OPTIONS, MAKING A DIFFERENCE each in their own way. Every choice we constantly make, be it a decision about ourselves, the way we treat others, the resources we use, or anything in between, they all add up. We live in a world of 7 billion humans (and multiplying more rapidly the higher that number gets:
 http://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/exponential-growth-tutorial/bacteria-exponential-growth.html)

It's long overdue that we all understand every action we take is either part of a sustainable solution, or part of a pragmatic problem.

**Put It Into Practice**

Connecting with who we truly are and who we want to be in order to discover what really makes us happy, allows us to base our decisions on what we feel is conducive to our personal fulfillment. If we can practice into habit the act of consciously considering what we feel and make decisions from that awareness, it will become routine. Eventually, we can become conscientiously content in all areas of our lives; with ourselves, our relationships, our environments, etc., basing decisions on the consideration and welfare of all life.