Frugal by Any Other Name
If you do a search online for “thoughtful living” you will find a lot of interesting results. The thoughtful living I am thinking of has nothing to do with the metaphysical, fine wine or a class taught at the university. It is instead a change of attitude, eventually of mindset and ultimately of lifestyle that not only reduces the unnecessary in your life, but also impacts the world you live in.
They are two main aspects of Thoughtful Living
1. You have to slow down long enough to think about what you buying, why you are buying, do you really need it and is this something I need new. In essence you are slowing down the treadmill enough to limit consumerism impact on you.
2. You impact the world that you have around you. Whether you directly wanting to, or indirectly, effect the planet, the smaller your footprint is, the bigger shadow you will cast to those who walk behind you.
The two ideas are interlocked like a chain and together they connect the important pieces of your life.
When you buy fewer new clothes and make more trips to 2nd hand stores or yard sales, you not only are saving yourself money, but reducing the waste that would otherwise add to the landfills. When you consider making more food items homemade or reheating leftovers, you are not only stretching a dollar, but also fighting against the consumer mentality that says our lives would be happier if only we bought their brand.
In some ways it would be exciting to see a revolution of sorts with people buying only second hand, reheating left-overs, making things from scratch and saving items from the dumpster; instead of being another statistic among consumer research and how much money they have made. Perhaps instead they would measure gross product recycled (GDR) instead of gross domestic product (GDP)
Thoughtful living is by far the best way to live, because not only do you get your cake, you get to eat it as well. We being naturally selfish and self-serving people, we want to live prosperous lives, whether they be prosperous financially or of a quality of time. Living a thoughtful life not only allow us to do that, but indirectly allows us to become more community oriented, helping each other recycle more and that in turn helps others who are in need.
Let’s take it one step at a time, if we are already living thoughtfully and suffering burn out, look at the larger picture; who you affect and the smaller footprint you leave behind. If we are unsure about starting a thoughtful life, then consider the smaller steps that will take us to a future of greater success, either with money or quality of time.
This isn’t a 12 step program or a pill that will make things better. This is a change of attitude, mindset and lifestyle over the remaining part of our life. Through this we will make mistakes, we will go overboard in one direction or another, but ultimately we will find the balance that leads to a more content person, one might even say, happier.
The pessimist may see the flaws and reality in this, but the positive person will see hope and eventually, success.
Once you start living thoughtfully, too, things you thought you once needed–dining at expensive restaurants, lots of new clothes–not only seem unnecessary, but a downright waste. It’s painful at times, but any liberation comes with that process of having the tape ripped from your eyes!
I agree Audrey. The questions everyone needs to ask are exactly as mentioned in the article- “Do I need this?” “What purpose is this purchase filling?” “How did I get by before I considered buying this?” “Can I get away without it for a bit longer?”
This saves me time & again from buying more of the same clothes. I can’t tell you how many black tee shirts I have NOT bought this year- when I stop to think about the status of my black tee shirt drawer at home (which could put Simon Cowell to shame). And lo & behold- the “oldies” are still looking good- not degrading into grey oblivion because I’m taking care of what I own.
I’m also trying to get the kidlets to take a look at whatever plastic fantastic toy they want me to buy in the same way. My daughter Jayne is 7- and even she can see that a lot of the toys she wants are “repeats” when pressed. Case in point- she “needed” a new Bratz doll (ick- I know) because now they have the genie Bratz dolls. When we *really* looked at what’s in the package- same doll, now with pseudo Middle Eastern head jewel and clothes. Once she looked at it for that- she decided she’d rather work with me in the craft room and MAKE the head jewelry thing and the newer style skirt. She’s more than proud to show off how she figured out to make the same type of outfit without having to buy another doll.
I’ll add too that the more kids (and adults) don’t feel that they _need_ these props in life, the greater their self-esteem. Better to feel that you can make or move or create what you want.
I am just re-reading this post as I compile the carnival. I wanted to add to your thoughts on the footprint we leave by what we buy. I once read in a book – not sure if it was on sustainable living or simply a spiritual take on our interconnectedness — about how everything we consume impacts the world. Take for instance buying something as simple as a new journal or notebook. In one way, shape, or form, we impact the earth (it took a tree to make the paper, even if it is recycled paper it had to start somewhere at sometime), a business that cuts down the trees and hauls them to the mill, the employees of the mill (and the economy of the towns in which they operate), the manufacturer of the journals, and all the little distribution chain inbetween (delivery and transit, maybe a physical or virtual store we purchased it from).
Everything we buy, consume, or do has a ripple effect across the globe. So, as you say, “choose wisely and intentionally”.
Wonderful comments and additions! Thank you for your responses
“Thoughtful Living” – what a wonderful way to describe it – So much less confrontational than “Ethical Lifestyle” which smacks of hair shirts and sandals and vast amounts of chickpeas (although chickpeas are the food of the gods!!!)
My family and I have been living an increasingly “thoughtful” life over the last few years to the point where my kids say things like “We’ve been spoilt because we eat real food not prepackaged junk”, “I love cooking and gardening” and “why do people use pesticides on their food ours tastes OK without it?”
There is a distinct seachange in attitude out there, people are coming around to the idea that rampant consumerism is not the way forward – It still very small but its growing all the time
The biggest changes you can make with the biggest impact are living in a smaller house on less land (ideally an apartment), not having a car (or only one and a fuel efficient model if you have to have one), and thinking twice before flying anywhere.
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I think for any person you are going to have to weigh what works for your lifestyle and where you can cut back. For some people, traveling is part of their job and they like their job. For others, like myself, to have a home with a garden and other things that would be self sustaining would be much better than living in the city and in an apartment. Personal preference, but weighted with keeping the smallest footprint.
Absolutely – if you are growing your own food etc. that is something different from a big house on a big lot just to be far from your neighbors. But I’ve found people often have a distorted sense of what is sustainable or ecologically friendly. And for most people who aren’t going to be growing their own food etc. compact dense living is lower impact than the typical suburban lifestyle. Of course there is also what you see in countries like Sweden where people might live in apartments but have plots in a communal garden to grow food. But the bottom line is it is not ecologically friendly to live out in the middle of nature and commute back a long distance to a job. And though recycling/reuse etc. are good in the end it is the big lifestyle decisions of where to live etc. that have a bigger impact in terms of both land, energy, and other resource use.