How would you describe a good, sustainable life: A life that you could live, contentedly, day after day, year after year?
My spouse and I left corporate jobs years ago, aided by layoffs and cross country moves, and are now living our sustainable lives, with two kids, in Austin, Texas. We’ll blog about how we focus on the essence of what we care about, remove the waste and sustain ourselves in our green bungalow, with electric vehicles and targeted self-employment.
We didn’t start our journey here- we spent years lacking focus and living too wastefully. Hurricane Katrina hitting my home town of New Orleans, while we were expecting our first child, was a wake-up call that our choices and impacts mattered. Building sustainable cities that can withstand regular natural disasters matters. Raising our children to respect and protect the planet matters.
Growing up in America, we’re constantly bombarded with messages about what we should want, what and who we should care about, what our “American dream” should look like, along with so many more “wants.” And so many of us comply as consumers; we buy things that look so magical to us, that are marketed to solve all the problems and fears that we didn’t even know that we had.
But what if we didn’t comply? What if we stopped watching or listening to advertisements, and focused on what we care about?
Can you name the top five things that you care about? It could be different for everyone. Perhaps it’s your family, a healthy planet, a passion job in renewable energy, hiking in the woods….or perhaps it’s getting another degree because you love to learn. Or finishing a marathon because you love to challenge yourself. Or volunteering in your church to help those less fortunate than you.
Spend time thinking about the absolute top things that you care about. Now ask yourself: Is this where you’ve spent the bulk of your time this past month, or this past year? If you care about family, the environment, marathons and reading, do you spend most of your time with your family, working towards healthier environments, training for marathons, and reading books?
Or are you spending all of your time, as the saying goes, working at a job you don’t like, to buy things you don’t need, to impress people you don’t care about? We need to strip back the routines, and redirect our energy until we are all living our sustainable lives. Don’t waste your precious hours living someone else’s dream. Don’t do things that you’ve always done, without questioning why.
Join us as we question everything, and focus on how to live a deliberate, sustainable life.