baby steps

It’s funny how changes happen. All slow and invisible like. For a while I’ve been making subtle changes to my living practices but I didn’t really notice how much I’ve changed until I went away this weekend to stay at the lake with my family. Normally, I would be a trail of chip bags and coke bottles. I would use the holiday weekend to eat every puffy, crunchy and/or gooey treat that passed in front of me but this weekend I realized that the desire for those things was pretty minimal. I passed up pastries from the local bakery and a buffet of goodness at the yacht club. And other things came easily too. I instantly made sure we had a recycle bag. I managed to meditate twice a day. I didn’t drink alcohol at all because I didn’t really want that groggy, blah feeling that always follows and instead I had a blast playing with my kids and my cousins who are my kid’s ages.
The cool part, too, was that my family, unbeknownst to me, has been making changes as well. My aunt, who now drives a hybrid, shared her boiled cage-free eggs and Wasa crackers with me. My other aunt, who just had a baby, showed off her “G” diapers and KleenKanteen bottles. We enjoyed long talks about the great books we’ve been reading (What to Eat is excellent, as is The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and how we wonder if the recent flooding of Iowa would make the cost of high fructose corn syrup go up so much that we all go back to drinking water. We can hope.
It’s interesting to see how shifts occur. For me, there are so many things I’ve “been meaning to do” or ways that I still see I could improve that I forget to pat myself on the back for the things I’ve already gotten a handle on. So far I’ve:
- joined the Oklahoma Food Coop (www.oklahomafoodcoop.org)
- started shopping at the Farmer’s Market
- buy very little processed, artificial foods and buy organic where I can
- recycle all paper, glass and plastic offered by the city
- keep a Sigg, non plastic, bottle full of water with me almost all the time
- use reusable bags when shopping (mostly)
- switched all my cleaning products and most of my bath products to non-toxic natural versions.
- meditate for 15 min. 2x per day
The last one has I think been the anchor of it all. I’m amazed at the things I realize about myself when I get quiet. I learned a few things from the recent mediation workshop I went to in L.A. (www.getselfcentered.com). Max said, “only 3 things will happen when you meditate: you’ll think a lot, you’ll fall asleep or you’ll drop in to your authentic self.”
The cool part is that any of those are fine and having had those “drop in” experiences sometimes I get mad if I spend the whole time thinking. But the real benefits of meditation come when you’re off the mat. When you have a greater ability to notice your
thoughts and therefore choose them more carefully.
So, of course I’m still working on living more mindfully but when I step back and observe the changes over the last few months I notice that incredible things happen when you put your intentions on something. I wonder what would happen if we all put our intentions on something, all at the same time!