In this blog, I plan to explore ideas about living a cleaner life, which is to say, a life that functions and flourishes within the realm of balance in the natural world. Balance is a key theme that I come back to because it seems to be the primary mechanism that keeps life in all forms and contexts thriving. This applies to topics like nature vs. culture, modern vs. traditional, sustainability vs. economy. Those are some big, meaty topics, and this blog would be quite a feat to break them all down. So I can't promise that I will be able to succinctly pick apart all of these big ideas, but what I do want to do is draw from them and talk about them as they relate to everyday choices and the context we make them in.
This is intended as a way of keeping track of everything I'm learning in my undergrad, and life in general, as it applies to my personal development and my understanding of the environmental and social issues that are important to me. I hope that through this little adventure of mine, anyone who follows these posts will maybe find some useful and/or interesting information and ideas that they can take away. It's partly a personal journey, but one that I hope will be helpful to others besides myself. The umbrella idea is to discuss the evolution of a personal philosophy and how it gets applied day-to-day.
In the past (and the present), I've been inspired by thinkers and writers like Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle), Janine Benyus (Biomimicry), David Suzuki (The Nature of Things), and Michael Pollan (The Omnivores Dilemma) to name a few. Books and ideas like Your Brain on Nature, which discusses the relationship between time spent in nature and good mental health, The 100-mile Diet, and holistic and innovative growing practices in agriculture/gardening are also central. Other sources like Paula Begoun's The Cosmetic Cop is one I value for it's breakdown of the many dubious and cryptically-named ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products, aimed at informing consumers about what we're purchasing and putting on our bodies. All of these things (and more) touch on aspects of life that are important to be informed about in a consumer-driven society dominated by efficiency, mass-production, and marketing/advertising campaigns so commonplace they show up in every segment of our daily lives. Being a savvy consumer is as crucial in my mind as being aware of current environmental issues and initiatives for those of us who feel change is needed in order to eek out a sustainable lifestyle. They are part and parcel because if we aren't critical and skeptical of the marketing efforts we encounter daily, and the effects of living in a culture where it's desirable to want to want things, then we lose a critical part of our individual power to determine what's available to us. I've been informed by these people and others, and will be informed by a whole lot more as I complete my degree and continue exploring these issues. Now, as I engage with this process, I want to start compiling what matters to me, and where I want to go with what I have learned.
None of this is to say that to follow this blog, or any particular set of ideas touched on within it, you should feel you have to subscribe to a particular viewpoint. My goal personally and for this blog is to explore ideas and discuss the ones that feel important to living life in a positive way.
Topics I plan on exploring here will include things like:
- sourcing healthy food
- learning to be a savvy consumer (who doesn't over-consume)
- sourcing healthy personal care and cosmetic products
- ideas from homesteading that may be old-fashioned, but still totally useful!
- environmental issues and initiatives
- the central role of time in nature for maintaining good mental health and general well-being
I think now I should leave it at that - I've set out some pretty lofty goals and parameters. Let's just take it from here and see how this goes.
This could get messy.
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