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!)