artwords

simple living is rich living

the week one conclusion is that simple living is actually richer living than consumer living.  go figure, i'm discovering all of these resources, realizing how much i have, and getting more chances to express my creativity in day to day life!

rich indeed!

side note:  i received 3 seed catalogs in the mail yesterday.  i can't wait to peruse them and plan and determine and organize and dream....i've devised an idea for a porch garden that i can't wait to try out this year-it involves some "shelf" building all around our front porch....so if anyone has resource to cheap/reusable wood, containers for raised bed planting, and so on:  let me know!

lenten day 4

and i am noticing something.  maybe i shouldn't have told people what i was doing for lent.  but i've had to give some sort of explanation other than "no thanks" so many times-as to not make people think i don't want to spend time with them...it's getting tricky and it's only day four.  it's handy for me that i can just say i can't spend on nonessentials because it's lent.  much handier (though probably weird) than saying "sorry i can't, i don't have the money."    the problem is, when i say oh no! i can't for 6 weeks!  and make dramatic motions and facial expressions to lighten the mood, people want to buy me things.  someone wanted to buy me a diet coke at lunch on thursday.  then i was offered the purchase of a gallon size glass jar so i could start making kambucha (a tea-ish thing that a friend at potluck friday was talking about, and i wanted to try it)....i know these are little things but i don't want to cheat. 

i promise you, i'm not mentioning this to make people want to buy me things, no matter how small.  nor am i mentioning my lent fast because i want you to feel bad for me.  I don't feel bad for me! 

i mention it, because i don't want people to think i'm not interested, either in them or their ideas, and other than lying i've found no way around it.   though i am getting creative on my solutions:  instead of meeting for coffee with a friend tomorrow, we're going to meet ahead of time at church, find a nook or cranny, and i'm packing a tea time!  i'm really looking forward to packing us a tea time to be had in a secret little corner-it seems so much like a child's afternoon!

simplicity, i am finding, is very enjoyable.

i realized this morning that Diet Coke is not an essential/necessity purchase.  i have 2 cans of diet coke to last me for all of lent. 

this could either bring rioting in my head, or it could finally get me to drink more water like i've been trying to do anyway.   diet coke may be the true test of my sticking to my lent decision.  diet coke and i take care of each other.   diet coke (coca lite) is one of the few cravings i got for american food when i was in Barcelona.  diet coke has gotten me through some stressful times.

the thing about this is, it really is making me feel Rich.  when i have to look around for how i can creatively do what i need to do without spending money, when i can finally see my can of diet coke as a luxury, not a necessity, i end up feeling Rich.

which i am:  i am, in comparison to other humans on this earth, rich.  so it's about time i started feeling that way. 

day one lenten season

i am listening. 

this conscious decision to not make non-necessity purchases for 40 days has heightened my awareness to so many things.  i sit at my desk and eat a granola bar and i realize how decadent it really is, not necessity at all.  i wonder what it would be like to eat solely for sustenance, for good health, to be conscious of what i consume in Food.  but this time, i am being conscious of what i consume Economically, so i move on. 

i have a conversation with a major donor fundraiser at work, and find out that he lived in latin america for 10 years, that he has spent his entire life since the age of 17 focused on poverty alleviation.  he says how recently his journey has allowed him to appreciate beauty, to see the value in beauty and not see it as a frivolous, and therefore immoral, thing to give value to.  i tell him that the same battle goes on in my head, and if any of it leaks out people might think i'm a crazy hippie socialist.  he says calmly,

"that's ok.  they can think that."

i desire his calm lack of worry over the idea that someone might think he's crazy.  i wonder what it would be like if i was honest with people about my ideas and beliefs, all of them not just the ones that are different but still in the safe realm. 

i receive two wonderful stories of another's journey in simplicity.  i am encouraged by the fact that others work these things through not only in their heads but in their actions as well; to know that others are acting in both small and extreme ways to consider the affects of how they spend money, makes me not feel alone.

i am keeping my eyes and ears and mind space open for the clarity i seek, to clear my head somehow while learning more, during these 40 days.  i am so much calmer already after only half a day.  i wasn't so much calm a few days ago.   i'll save sharing that for another moment.  remind me to tell you about my freak-out later.

rough day

i'm feeling out of sorts.  having to explain to people what i am doing for lent and what does non-necessity spending mean, it's wearing me out.  trying to be politically correct and racially correct and constituency-correct, it's drowning me.  trying to not look like a crazy hippie socialist (which i am not, at least i don't think so) and then in the next instance not wanting to come off as a crazy rightwing conservative (which i am not for Sure) depending on who my audience is, makes me limp.   attempting to feel Normal and not overthink Everything seems unsurmountable, as the culture shock hits me again, reminds me that i'm not over my re-entry period.  i think about living in burundi:  it sounds good to me, in glimmering little part, because it's not the western world and the western world pricks the back of my spine and makes me ache with too much thinking.

it's one of those days when i want to escape away to a thatch-roofed home along the beach and sit with the grandmother who lives next door and just stare at the sea.   or go back home, crawl into bed with lots of covers, and pet my cats for the afternoon.  that's about all the emotional energy i have left today.  i am tired.  out of energy.  out of sorts.  everything annoys me; everything that annoys others seems like such a waste of negative energy to me, so their being annoyed in turn annoys me....and that is why my door is closed to my office today, that is why i cut my lunch short, that is why i will not be very good company tonight, that is why i am trying to figure out what it is that i need to do to rejuvenate, to get back in there, to feel positive.

figuring out lent part 2

so chocolate sacrifice is a pretty small thing to give up for lent, especially in comparison to, say, giving up your life via torture and death on a cross.  i mean, it's almost an insult to say you're preparing to understand someone else's suffering of such magnitude by not eating chocolate for 40 days.  difficult though such a thing can be for some of us (no nutella for 40 days?  perish the thought!).

what would happen if we took something quite significant, and gave that up for lent?  what would happen if we gave up, say, fossil fuels?  food outside our local area?  what if we gave up entertainment?  (no tv, no internet, no movies, no games, no fiction books...)  what if we did something that was real sacrifice, not artificial (albeit painful for our selfish selves) way?

perhaps my decision of what to give up for lent is also easy.  or surface.  or an insult to my Lord.

but i'm guessing at least not the latter.  and i think it will be more than surface for me, at least.  i hope it will go deep, will change fundamental ways of living in a consumer society for me.

for lent, i'm giving up all non-necessity purchases.  this means no lunches out at work.  no movies rented unless they're from the library.  no books (this one will be tough) purchased.  i will aim to make meals that use what we already have in our cupboards.  i will purchase no coffee shop coffee, no end cap target items, no online shopping, no shoes, no clothing, nothing.  nothing that isn't a basic need being met.  granted, i don't think (at least right now i don't think) i do that much unnecessary shopping anyway.  but i do think about it a Lot.  is it okay to buy the nicer computer if it's the one that has that we want a computer for in the first place?  can i justify buying this shirt that's on sale for 6 dollars?  it consumes my thought space.  it distracts me.  it becomes the thing, instead of the result of the thing.  (the thing being ethical living, and thus also spending, in a way that is a blessing to the world)

lent is a time to un-distract ourselves, to focus on the upcoming celebration of God's gift of grace.  i'm going to, as best as i can, un-distract myself from consumer society.  i'm going to really want a little shopping trip the day after easter.  or maybe i won't:  maybe (this is my hope) i'll be transformed and freed and at peace, finally, with the thoughts of ethical spending that swirl constantly in my tired little brain.

and i'm going to take notes, because i have a feeling i'll be learning some things that i don't soon want to forget.

interesting.

during lunch today, i was antisocial, took my lunch back to my desk, and wandered around the internet.  i became really excited to spend more time in my journal and with my camera.  i found lots of nifty items and thought i would share a bit of my wandering with you:

http://www.43things.com/  this is very intriguing.  manic, or ocd or something, but intriguing.

http://www.kerismith.com/blog/index.html  as always, i love her.  i want to play with paper and glue.

http://www.all-consuming.com/  again, so focused it borders on some kind of mania.  can't say i'm far behind him though.

http://www.paperlanternstore.com  don't you just Love paper lanterns?  don't you just wish you could have all your lights be paper lanterns?  wouldn't your home just positively Glow if that was all your lighting source?  go here if you answered yes to any or all of these questions.

http://www.superherodesigns.com/journal/  put it on p.  such a simple, deep concept.  which is what i've come to expect from the superhero.   

try to explain lent

yesterday i had to explain to my husband that strange habit some of us christians have of giving something up for 40 days before easter. 

i did a bad job of it.  it's weird.  a strange concept, giving up chocolate to give yourself a sense of Jesus' sacrifice of his life.  i mean really, that's pretty lame.  but the strange thing is it works.  that little sacrifice makes us realize how selfish we areally are. 

and how selfless our Saviour is.

in chicago

we're in chicago this weekend, visiting friends.  sadly, one friend we couldn't visit with because he's sick, and we love you steve but i catch every cold within a 2 mile radius and i have no time to be sick right now. 

we took massi to the uber-american ed debevic's for lunch.  fabulous blue moon burger.  what can i say, i'm a fan of blue cheese, onions, and hamburger meat all in one bite.

this was husband's first trip to Downtown chicago, the miracle mile and all that (this is his fourth trip to the city but first time for anything remotely touristy).  we went into the north face and drooled over a $700 tent (among other sundries).  we went into crate and barrel and drooled over fancy dishes and a beautiful bright green panini grill.  we frustrated ourselves with these expensive lovely items that we can't morally agree to purchase but want. 

at the top of the hancock building, sitting in the bar and drinking a pretty little bevie in order to sit and look at the city, we talked about how hard it would be to really live a simple life here.  rob said he basically lives a simple life, but it is hard because there is so many fabulous things to buy, and do, and they all cost money but that temptation is always around him. 

tonight we go to have dinner with jason and annie, who from what we can tell have figured out the secret to simple living in a big city.  i can't wait to talk to them about it, and discuss my quandries regarding how we spend our money...because i know they will have pondered it themselves and come up with wise thoughts to chew on.

i enjoy the city, don't get me wrong.  there is so much life on the streets.  so much going on.  grand rapids will seem so small and quaint to come back to tomorrow.

i can't wait.

email book exchange today.

so in my new job, they asked for a little blurb of a bio for our newsletter, and here it is, with my "fun facts" that i submitted towards the bottom:

"Holly Bechiri is the latest addition to the CORE team-US. She started in November as a temp for Church Relations. As of January 1, Holly is full-time, working as Church Relations Coordinator, doing lots of logistics and hospitality for our ministry partners. Fun facts for Holly: She lived for nearly three years in Spain, deplores her lack of time to cook (because she loves it!), is an artist and writer in rare free time, and continues her childhood habit of carrying precariously tall stacks of books home from the library."

que emocionante, no? i'm a real adult in a real office. scary but true.

so today someone else in my office dared ask me the question "what books do you like to read?" and here's my reply:

"i usually have about five books going: a cookbook or gardening book, a fiction book (classics, literature, not pulp fiction or nytimes bestsellers usually), a theology or philosophy book, a social justice book, and an art book. that way no matter what mood i'm in, i've got good reading material to accompany it! i just finished a book called "radical simplicity" by dan price, who created little tiny itty bitty homes out in a meadow. good challenging stuff. i'm reading right now: freedom of simplicity by foster, a continuous harmony: essays cultural and agriculture by wendell berry, the end of poverty by jeffrey sachs, the road to hell: the ravaging effects of foreign aid and international charity by michael maren, and i think that's it for actual invested reading right now. so that's it. what i Didn't put in my little bio is that i fill crazy little journals-it is my insanity window, or rather the thing that keeps me sane. i just started number 48 i believe, since i started doing them my freshman year in college, and they are filled with drawings and writing and collage....so i go back and forth between reading books and filling books.... and you? i am always looking for good suggestions, especially fiction since i hate to waste my "guilty pleasure" fiction time on things not well written or trite....though i admit i do love some chic fiction! ha!"

so now i ask you, my little group of folks who peruse my sadly not-oft posted upon blog: any books you would suggest? i could use some good fiction suggestions especially (though definitely not limited to!)