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 21st century.
We have read the classics such as Thoreau and 21st 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!
