Journal

Journal

Best Incense

Best Incense I’ve used. Great fragrance….lingers….burns a long time.

I like burning incense. I like essential oils. Herbs. Spices. Things like that…

Journal

A List of Thoughts

How you are (what you do) in each moment of every day is your life.

If all tomorrows look the same as today, nothing will change.

Human beings are exceptionally malleable.

The current civilization allows psychopathy to prosper.

Given the malleable nature, how would this be exploited?

Where is energy and support given unconsciously? What do I help to Prosper?

It’s within my power to be disciplined with my thoughts and emotions. I can manifest my being, my state of mind. I have a choice in these matters. I put worthy effort into this & ask for help, guidance, and ability. This is good news. I didn’t always practise this. In my youth I experienced feelings as a chaotic flood. I dwelt in suffering. No more. I want to believe this is possible for all humans.

I’m seeking underlying peace. I don’t want to occupy myself with discomforts, anxieties, and inauthentic actions.

Journal

Relaunch

Which version of Civilization are we on at the moment? It feels like it’s time for a relaunch. A serious purge of what doesn’t work and intelligent, spiritually mature redirect of our knowledge to upgrade our entire existence.

Who’s with me?

I frequently ponder Civilization. How might life look if humans edited out that which is doing more harm than good? What if we encouraged everyone from early on to revere the raising of consciousness and maintaining health & well-being? What if we put the kind of energy into it that we do into getting money, buying things, or entertaining ourselves?

Did we make a wrong turn somewhere in the past? Or was it necessary to go this crazy to learn what we need to learn so change can happen, humans can pivot, and reform the world by the actions of each individual choosing love, not fear?

I accept this reality. I look it square in the face. I see it all. The world that humans are in and the world that is beyond that. There is an intense and Holy beauty of which I am part. That’s the world underneath the one people are living in. I’m motivated to stay connected with this. It feeds my inner peace. I repeat behavior that enhances this connection for me. I do my best to minimize those that do not.

In doing so I become more and more myself.

Journal, Poetry

Line Dried Laundry

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

Confucius

Pursuit of Simplicity

I dry my clothes on a line, in the fresh air and sunshine.

I do this more often than not.

My mother did it.

My grandmother did it.

I do it.

It’s simple.

It’s effective.

It is a meditation.


Simple has qualities that go beyond being easy. Living simply is a sophisticated and nuanced way of being. Often it’s healthier.


It might be argued that throwing your laundry into a drying machine right next to the washing machine is simpler.

But is it? Maybe it’s just easier for you.

Don’t forget that extracting resources from the earth and turning them into clothes dryers is not easy or simple? The complexity of this process is immense.

And generating electricity that can reach every house? This also is a monumental feat.

Is it easy to work to make money to pay for the electricity the dryer uses? Is it simple to get parts and do repairs on the dryer when it breaks? Can’t fix it? Now you need a new dryer. Where does the old “broken dryer” now go?


I’m living in Mexico with no clothes washer or dryer.

Not awful.

Wash by hand in the kitchen sink.

Keep clothing minimal and easy to care for. You can get by with a few good items.

Fast-drying materials.

Line Dry.

I think it’s simple and beautiful to use the air and sun.

SIMPLICITY.

Journal

Art WIP: Painted Goat Skull

I’ve been spending time making things.  Some of it art.

The picture:   It’s a weathered skull I found years ago.   I’ve been painting it and the skull has been done for some time.  But I’ve been working on a way for it to be displayed.   There was a moment when I thought it might be finished.  But No.   I’ve decided I must change the mounting board.  So that’s one of my current projects…I feel good about it.

Board for Painted Goat Skull

If you’re a maker maybe you’ve struggled with knowing when you’re really, truly done…..like for real.

 

 

Journal

I love this place.

Castilleja – Paintbrush – wildflowers in Texas

“Keep Texas Beautiful” was written on a sign we passed by. Traveling down hwy 84 between Mills & Coryell Counties. I agree, let’s keep our land beautiful not because it’s Texas, but because we value the wealth of health and beauty. Why not prioritize an environment that honors the gift of this creation? Peace. Sense. Honor. Intelligence.

The Irony of this world is not lost on me.

Journal

A List of Things I’m Doing Differently

LIST-

  • I make a less toxic and economical laundry detergent using Borax, Washing Soda, bar soap, & Water
  • Purge pointless things:  Sell on eBay OR donate to charity/others
  • Make shower “gel” – using bar soap scraps boiled down with water + add my own fragrance
  • Grow food whenever possible.
  • Cooking from scratch.  
  • Buying whole foods (very few highly processed things).
  • Reduce wardrobe & commit to not buying clothing needlessly.
  • Very infrequent eating out.
  • Stream music and videos from the internet.
  • Digitize everything:  Documents, photographs, records.
  • No pesticides.  No herbicides.
  • Concentrate on what is truly important…..eliminate/reduce all else.
  • Think of “Ease of Cleaning” when deciding how to arrange/do stuff in my household.
  • Eat mostly whole foods (non-processed/refined/pre-packaged/etc)
  • Choosing free or low-cost activities for fun, hobbies, entertainment.
  • Taking better care of the things I own – Appreciating what I have.
  • Refine possessions down to a minimum.
  • Wash laundry with cold water – do full loads.
  • Hang clothes on a line to dry.
  • Turn off electrical equipment (such as CPU) whenever not in use.
  • Reading, learning, writing INSTEAD of watching movies or TV.
  • Canceled all non-essential services.  Eliminate.
  • No debt – remain debt-free.
  • Eliminate junk mail, catalogues, magazines, paper bills.
  • Making things myself.  
  • Fixing things. Reuse. Repurpose. Recycle.
  • Bartering with real people instead of corporations.
  • Cooking on a twig fueled rocket stove.
  • No air conditioning in summer.
  • Cutting my hair.  Cutting Dave’s hair.
  • No more hair color or hair products, gels, lotions, and potions.
  • Glasses instead of contact lenses.
  • We’re cooking for our dogs now instead of buying commercial dog food.  
  • Small fuel-efficient car.
  • Shopping local.
  • Using the internet to research before buying & getting the best deal.
  • Multiple income streams/passive income.
  • Staying out of the traditional workforce/ employer/employee relationships.

My YouTube Videos About Minimalism

Journal

Essentialism

“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience.”

From Walden, by Henry David Thoreau

Journal

Happy End of the World Day….again. (journal)

An ode to January 1, 2000

In case you missed it, today is predicted to be the end of the world.

I’ve made it through several ends of the world.

Maybe you have too.

What I like best about the world’s ending is the day after.

The new beginning.


Here is what I should be reminded of:

Every day, when I  wake up, I think today I am fortunate to have woken up.

I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

Sure it’s risky.  Sure there will be suffering.  Sure it is not perfect.

But it is all I have and I can choose to believe in my worth.  I am worth choosing well for.

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