by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
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Slow down
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Live more in tune with Nature (again)
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Reduce your impact on the environment
When we live deliberately we (start to) become more attuned to everything around us and we begin to live more in tune with Nature and also with our fellow man.
To live (more) deliberate also means to slow down and that means slowing down in all things. Life today simply is too fast and this leads to stress, to anxiety, and to other issues. Everyone is, it seems, in a mad rush. The question is only “in a mad rush to where and why?”
We really need to slow down in all things and learn to live (more) deliberate, instead of just rushing about – like proverbial headless chickens almost. Let's slow down again to a more human pace and approach things differently. The rat race is nothing to aspire to.
However, most people are like hamsters in wheels or rats in the proverbial rat race, getting nowhere necessarily fast but getting stressed out on the way. Stopping this treadmill will enable each and everyone of us to life a happier and more fulfilled life, and also give us time and energy to connect with others and with Nature.
We must stop competing with each other and instead learn to cooperate honestly and ensure that everyone makes it. It is not a war, a race, a competition.
Next we come to living more in tune with Nature (again) and I do say the again in fact deliberately – pardon the pun – as we have gotten so far removed from Nature, our Mother, that it is almost unbelievable.
Our children and young people have no idea where their food comes from and in more that one instance I have heard of children being presented with vegetables with soil still on them replying that on no account would they eat those as “there is dirt of them”. They have little to no comprehension that potatoes, carrots, and all other vegetables grow in the soil or out of the soil, what they call “dirt”.
Get in touch with Nature. Go for a walk in the park or the wood and also do a little food growing by way of gardening. Even on a balcony it is possible to grow a fair amount of fresh food yourself. If you have a yard even better for you can grow still more and can thus become to some degree self-sufficient in food production. You will be amazed how much good food you can grow in even a small space. There is nothing better than being able to put food on the plate that you (and yours) have grown.
Reducing our impact on the environment is also a result and an aim of living more deliberately. If we chose not to drive, for instance, and chose to walk or use the bicycle instead our environmental footprint is considerably reduced and even more so if we consumer less and live with what we have rather than buying new all the time. In addition to that it keeps us fit, gets us closer, in many instances, to Nature, and saves us money too.
Giving up on the bottle water madness also is part of living deliberately and, once again, will save us money and is good for the Planet, and not just by reducing the amount of plastic bottles that go into landfill. Get a reusable water bottle and fill it up with tap water.
Ditch the one-way coffee cups at the take-out coffee joint and take your own coffee shop machine usable reusable coffee cup instead, such as Australian designed and made, with the exception of the silicone band, KeepCup. While there are many reusable coffee mugs out there that can be had most do not fit under the machines and thus the barista will have to use a throw-away cup with which to fill up your reusable mug.
Furthermore pick up a book – or several, but one after the other only – and read and I do mean here real books, the paper kind of books, and also learn to make things with your own hands, be this knitting, sewing, woodcarving or what-have-you. This all connects us with what is important. And, whenever possible spend the time with people in the real world and not – only – the virtual one. You could also do some volunteering.
© 2014
