The End Is Near

It is hard to believe a week ago I was getting ready to embark on this experiment. While some parts of the experiment have come easily there have been areas I have struggled to even start. But overall I have learned a great deal from this experiment. I have learned what it means to be a globally aware individual and understand the repercussions of my actions. I whole-heartedly tried (when I remembered) to stick with my experiment. But as we all know saying you will do something and doing something are two separate things.

            To conclude this blog post I want to explain what I have learned by breaking each section of the experiment down. Hopefully after reading my posts it will have caused you to question your own daily choices, or it has intrigued you to research about consumerism, the environment, technological advances, and the bigger question in life, how to find/be happy? So, this is it. Thanks for letting me ramble to you for the last week; it’s been fun!

Transportation: Not once did I walk from main campus to Tenleytown. I am slightly disappointed in myself. However, I have learned a lot about my values from this failure; I learned that I value time over emissions. But that is life, we all live on a time schedule. We are always running to get somewhere and once we are there we are thinking about where we need to be next. I have said this before but I think the only way to get around this excuse is to make time in our schedules to take the more eco friendly choice. Even though this experiment is ending I still hope to, at least once, walk from campus to Tenleytown. I don’t want to keep adding to rising emissions. I need to stop being a hypocrite and practice what I preach.

Food: This diet has been a breeze. I think it has something to do with the fact that I did it with out much thought. That sounds weird. But rather than stress over all the foods I wanted, like a gluttonous ten year old, I focused on all the foods I have never tried within the restrictions of this diet. This part of the experiment became a game to see if I could stay on track and resist temptation, especially chocolaty, cold, sweet, ice cream temptation. While I had thought I would keep this diet up I don’t know that I will. Rather than being as strict as I was with myself I want to introduce some of my favorite foods back into my diet. But, I would like to keep my meat intake to a minimum. It gave me the sense of having a clean conscious knowing I was not possibly eating an animal that was genetically mutated, abused, and then killed just to feed me!

Consumerism: This weekend I bought a new dress for $35 and spent $13 for a night out on the town. Even though I spent money, I feel it was money well spent. I bought a dress made in the U.S. by a local designer, and ate food from a restaurant that only buys from local farmers. Rather than the alternative which was to eat at Z burger where the chicken patty I was eating most likely came from an 80 day old chicken that was pumped so full of hormones its body was to big for its legs to support, so they broke. And I could have bought a 15-dollar dress from forever 21 that was most likely made by a 12-year-old Chinese girl earning a penny for every dress she makes. I concede to the idea that our consumer system is corrupt but I believe it is the consumer’s job to research before they retail. I hope that as a culture we do a better job of this, but I have doubts that anything will change. Which makes me think, what will it take for people to take responsibility over the products they buy? I don’t have an answer. So, I will leave it to you, what do you think will change consumer culture in America?

Technology: Facebook and YouTube are a double edge sword. You cant live without them and you cant live with them (at least not for hours on end). The reason I say they are a double edge sword is because Facebook and YouTube are meant for you to connect with people all over the world; to socialize and meet people you never would have met without traveling. But when you spend an excessive amount of time on these sites it lessens the amount of time you spend with those closest to you. So while you are building international friendships your local ones are withering. At the same time if you don’t own a FB account or don’t use YouTube you are out of sink with the rest of society. And to be a valid part of society you need to use modern technology forums.

            What is the right amount of time for social media sites in our daily lives? While they defiantly have a place in our lives, I believe it is up to the individual to decide based on their own lifestyle. Personally I have learned the less time on these sites the stronger my immediate friendships become and the more time I have to dedicate to schoolwork. In conclusion I plan on keeping up with minimizing my time on FB and YouTube.

Positive Impact/Political Action: In the past week I have become a registered voter and obtained an absentee ballot! I have had great success in this aspect of the experiment and I am excited to vote in the upcoming elections. But, it would be a lie to say I am impressed with our presidential candidates. I understand we have screwed ourselves; and any candidate would struggle to fix our problems. I am not looking for a president who will fix everything; I am looking for a leader that can communicate with the people of the U.S., someone who is built on the morals of the Constitution, and the Declaration. I am not looking for a baboon that is using the election to undermine the foundation of the nation and certainly not someone who plans on implementing their own personal agenda to help themselves or a small minority of idiots. I feel the only person who should be in office is president Obama. While I know not everyone will agree; I challenge those who know nothing about the candidates to research before you vote. Become an informed voter; your vote COUNTS!

Health/Happiness: I wish I had started taking these walks a long time ago. In August I had tried to implement a routine similar to this; but failed to stick with it. But now I cant get enough. These walks help me de-stress, hang out with friends, GET OFF CAMPUS, and reflect. The reason I really enjoy these walks is because they help me sleep. When I go to bed my head hits the pillow and I am out. Before my mind would race, making lists of all the things I needed to do, making it nearly impossible to fall asleep. I can defiantly say that these walks will be a part of my routine.

Well readers, this is it. Maybe this has inspired you to do your own 7 days, 7 nights experiment. So now, I wish you good luck; good luck with whatever you choose to do, I doubt you will need it but just in case, GOOD LUCK! 

Sorry Kids Mom Did It Again

Well, I have made it half way through my experiment. I am not sure whether to refer to it as an experiment or a lifestyle change. The longer I continue to partake in this experiment the more I become accustomed to it. I suppose this is like anything new; confusing and foreign in the beginning but as time goes on it becomes normal and routine. While I am fully embracing some parts of this experiment there are other areas I am struggling with. Lets just say, I took the Tenleytown bus, AGAIN! I know I know and if you didn’t like my excuse before your not going to like this one. I am still averaging around a B+ due to my little bus incident. But as always, you be the judge. Here is what I have been up to over the last few days.

Transportation: F- Oops I did it again… ha-ha but all jokes aside I took Tenleytown bus again. Excuse number two of the week, I genuinely forgot not to take it. It was such an innocent mistake. But, sometimes innocent actions can have nasty impacts. As I am sure it did because my extra weight on the bus led to emissions that could have been avoided. My last excuse was time and now this one was forgetfulness. What will the next excuse be? I am frustrated. Why is this the only part of my experiment I am struggling with? Do I not care? No, that’s not it. I like planet Earth; I hope someday my kids wont have to wear oxygen masks because their idiot mother forgot to walk rather than take the bus. But, as of my current actions I guess I should start apologizing to my kids now. So here’s an advanced sorry to my future unborn children!

Food: A-

Breakfast: a banana with peanut butter (not sure if I can eat peanut butter?)

Lunch: Fruit salad and raw vegetables

Dinner: Salad with an assortment of vegetables

            I am rocking this new dietary plan. I feel better about myself and my energy level is high all throughout the day. Rather than lagging at around one or two in the afternoon I am wide awake. It is a great feeling. I am not hurting any animals and I am not feeding my body modified foods. This has been an easy change and I feel an immediate gratification as I follow my plan.

Consumerism: A- I am FREAKING out. Why? Well, because I have a friend who is coming to visit this weekend, and I need to buy a new dress, and we have made plans to go out to eat. Now, I know I don’t have to DO either of these things. But, I am going to. So, I am breaking the rules on Friday night! Forewarning now folks, the debit card is coming out! And you know what, I don’t feel guilty. Want to know why? Because, I have done my homework. I have found a boutique online that offer dresses made and produced with the idea of fair trade. And as for food, the restaurant we are going to is called Farmers. They are establishment on the principal of using only local farmer’s produce and meats to prepare their dishes. This means local, small, family farmers with non-modified meats, vegetables, or fruits! I am still freaking out though. I wonder how I will feel Saturday morning: remorseful, guilty, and sad? I guess we will find out!

Technology: A- There is a first time for everything. And my first for this week has been completing all my homework before dinner, which is promptly at 5:30 every night or as my friends and I call it, the grandma special. What I have noticed is how much time I have wasted over the last five years of my life. What could I have accomplished without wasting all that time on my computer? A weird side effect of this technological challenge is that I feel as though my personal relationships are prospering. Rather than only having time to quickly message my Facebook friends, I now have time to actually see them, and not through a computer screen! This has been a surprising side effect I am rather enjoying!

Positive Impact/Political Action: A- No, I do not like Gingrich any better! But first, let me share my debacle over obtaining an absentee ballot. So, I get in contact with the person who is supposed to deal with Ohio’s absentee ballots. But, then they directed me to another office, that sent me to another office, and then back to the first office I originally called. But, I have made progress. So tomorrow (Friday) I am filling out the forms I found online to get this darn ballot. So close, yet so far!

            Now onto Gingrich, I strongly hope he is not elected president. In fact, after realizing I dislike everyone running for president, other than Obama; I stopped researching. I am done! So, second warning. From now on, the only political figure I am going to write about is Obama. So, I apologize if you like Newt or Rick, because I don’t! We will just leave it at that for now.

Health/Happiness: A- For the last two nights I have recruited friends to come with me on my nightly walks. I have found I like it better when I am in the company of them than by myself. Sure, I liked my solitary walks but my friends are like bouncy walls, I can throw my feelings or ideas out there and get a third parties opinion. During these walks I have found nothing is off limits. It is especially nice to be off campus even if it is only 700 feet away. Getting off campus makes me feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I feel like I can breathe and vent freely about my feelings. These walks have not only been good for my physical health, but also for my mental health. 

And so it begins....

            What exactly have I gotten myself into? When I first got this assignment I though it would be a check on the to do list. Sure, I was going to put effort into it but, I dint think this little experiment was going to change my mind. Especially not in, its infancy of, 24 hours. What I have found is that it is easy to change and while sometimes I epically failed to change; my failure has me thinking as to why I didn’t stick to my commitments and what was more important that I didn’t or couldn’t. Overall, I am enjoying this experiment and find that I learn the most when things challenge me rather when they are easy. To make this blog easy for you to see my progress and for me to be honest with myself I am assigning a letter grade to every section of my experiment. So far I say I average a B+! But you be the judge!

Transportation: F- Day one and I have failed at walking from main campus to Tenleytown. My excuse is that I was in a time crunch and needed six-dozen flowers in 30 minutes, while in heels, and professional dress. But I am angry with myself. I am not the type of person that says one thing and does another. I understand that under certain circumstances you are obligated to break the rules, especially if others are depending on you. But, I feel like I am a cop out. Even as I write this, I feel the need to convince you all that I had no choice. But the truth is, I did. However, in this situation time was more important to me than the environment. I guess my question is; when will time never be a factor in my decision-making? It is ever present, constantly ticking away. Instead of saying I have no time, I NEED TO MAKE TIME!

Food: A-

Breakfast: a banana and an apple

 Lunch:  salad with carrots, spinach, peppers, and eggs

 Dinner: the largest fruit salad I have ever made

             I thought that changing my food habits was going to be the hardest part of the experiment. But, I was wrong and am enjoying this change. I feel pure or clean; I feel like the death of an animal or an animals flesh is not rotting inside of me. Furthermore, I have noticed that I have more energy. Which, I attribute to the lack of processed foods. Overall, I feel confident I will be able to stick with my whole foods diet and think it might be something to continue even after I’m done with the experiment.

Consumerism: A- I have not bought anything for almost 24 hours. Sure, I can live without spending. But, I constantly feel like there is an angle on one shoulder and a devil on the other.  And while the devil is louder the angel has won or at least for today. But, I am struggling with this aspect of the experiment. This sounds bad; but I have never needed to worry about money. This is not to be taken in a spoiled child sense. Just, I have always saved and spent my money on things I really want or value. I don’t spend to spend. Which, is why I am struggling. Because even without this experiment I thought I was spending smart. But the truth is, I’m not. I need to look at who is making my products. I don’t want a slave child to pick my coffee or chocolate beans, a women to work eight hours a day in a dark lit room with dirt floating in the air, and I certainly don’t want to keep consuming genetically mutated foods. But, this does not mean I wont stop dropping hundreds on designer labels. It just means; I need to research before I retail.  

Technology:  A- Surprisingly only going on Facebook and YouTube for an hour is easy. I have found having this experiment has given me an excuse, a reason to not feel the need to message people right away or watch hours of stupid videos. Rather, after one day I have finished my homework early and instead of a 20-minute walk at the end of my day, I went on an 80-minute walk. Minimizing the time I use on social media has allowed me to make time for other parts of my life. I feel like an efficiency machine. I hope to keep up my enthusiasm for the remainder of this experiment.

Positive Impact/Political Action: A- I am now registered to vote in the state of OHIO! Well, technically it takes 3 to 4 weeks for them to send you official documentation. But, I registered online and it feels great! What is not so great, however, is attempting to figure out how to acquire an absentee ballot. The amount of BS that one must go through to acquire this single piece of paper is astounding. But, non-the less it will get done.

            As well, I researched Santorum Tuesday and today (Wed.). What I was hoping to find was a man that did not live up to his Facebook memes. However, what I found was a man much worse than the Facebook memes. In fact, the memes were generous. Here are my top three reasons for disliking the man.

1.     He does not believe in the complete separation of church and state. (Sorry buddy ever heard of the constitution. Have fun trying to amend that.)

2.     He does not support same sex marriage. (I am speechless.)

3.     His economic plans. (People say he mimics Reagan’s idea of the trickle down theory. But, I think his plans sound counteractive. And he is messing with something he should not have his hands in; sort of like a five year olds dirty hands in a cookie jar. Its just wrong.)

Furthermore, after watching several YouTube interviews I find him to spew false facts and information. If he is knowingly doing this, he is an idiot and if he is unknowing doing this, I shutter to fear him having presidential power. Hopefully, I will like Gingrich better; but I have my doubts.

Health/Happiness: A- I love these nightly walks. These have given me the perfect time to call my parents while I get off campus and take in fresh air. In fact, I have enjoyed them so much they have become hour walks rather than a brisk 20 minutes. This has been the easiest change to implement and helps me work out my daily thoughts and compartmentalize my day. I am confident I will have no problems continuing my walks every night. 

The Challenge

Who in the heck is writing this blog and why?

Hi, my name is Monica. I am a freshman in college and currently enrolled in a lit. class that is focused on the idea of living deliberately in the 21^st century. We have read the classics such as Thoreau and 21^st century authors, Colin Beavan and Jonathan Foer, uncovering the struggles of the past and present. These books have questioned issues such as the environment, consumerism, technology, food production and the idea of happiness. These authors have made me question many aspects of my own life and how I choose to live. As part of my class we have been challenged to live an alternative lifestyle. So, you are probably wondering what am I going to change? What is my current lifestyle? And, how will I go about changing my lifestyle? Well, these are the things I am going to change and here are all the answers to your questions.

Transportation: How do I get around? Luckily, my life revolves around a very small amount of terrain, a college campus. So, I walk everywhere. And, as I live in a metropolitan city I use the metro too. But, to get from campus to the metro I take a bus provided by my university. This shuttle has saved me many bad hair days by avoiding the rain, staying warm from the cold and most importantly time. But these benefits do have a cost and they have come at the expense of the environment. So, my change is to walk from campus to the metro. This change will first, give me an extra 20 minutes to myself to reflect but it will also cut down on emissions.

Food: I eat everything: meat, vegetables, fatty foods, grains- I mean everything! So, I am going to challenge myself to try a whole foods diet. My mother has always been a crusader for a low diet of processed foods. So we will see if processed foods are as bad as she says they are. I think this change will allow me to see if I feel a difference when I am not on processed foods and eliminate the consumption of meat, or in other terms “tortured flesh.”

Consumerism: My friends just challenged themselves to something they called “free February.” This is going to be my challenge. This will produce a lot less trash, as I quite often consume drinks from coffee locations around campus and purchase foods from delicious eateries such as Z-Burger, Panera, and Whole Foods. Furthermore it will challenge me to live on the basics; by not purchasing luxuries I don’t need…like fatty fries and forever 21 clothes.

Technology: And the truth comes out! I spend hours a day “stalking” sites such as Facebook and YouTube. As part of my experiment I am going to challenge myself to spend only one hour on both Facebook and YouTube. I feel that if I am able to reduce the amount of time spent on these sites I will be able to go to bed earlier or dedicate it to my end of the day twenty minute walks. Hopefully this change will end my addiction!

Positive Impact/Political Action: I live in one of the most politically active towns in well, THE WORLD! And, I am not someone who is heavily invested in politics like my counterparts in SIS or SPA (two politically active schools at my university). In fact, I am currently 19 yrs. old and am, sadly, still not registered to vote. FAIL! As elections are coming up next year I will register myself to vote and then attempt (ha-ha attempt) through what I am sure is a very complex system to get an absentee ballot. But how can I vote if I know nothing about the candidates? Well, this will force me to also take a look at both parties candidates by researching their platforms for twenty-minutes day. This will hopefully, fingers crossed, lead me to make an informed vote next year.

Health/Happiness: I am generally happy; I always have a smile on my face. I stay upbeat by working out every morning but it is always rushed. While I wake up at the lovely hour of 6 a.m. so that I can work out until 7:30 a.m. my mind is always racing with what I have to do that day, studying notecards or reading while working out. I don’t spend that hour to reflect on myself. To give time for me to think about myself, I have decided to go on a twenty-minute walk at the end of every day. This will give me twenty minutes to listen to music and tune out or just reflect on ME!

HA-HA this should be easy, right? Well, I guess we will find out. Stay tuned!