In the first 25 pages of " 7 Days of Simplicity" by Jen Hatmaker, I was given the not
In her chapter on fashion, Jen admitted to the ridiculous number of items in her closet... a grand total of 327! Really? I made that a personal challenge and counted what was in my closet (know that I have no drawers...all my clothes are in my walk-in closet on hangers or shelves). I have 149 pieces of clothing, not including socks and underwear. That is less than half of Jen's wardrobe and still too much.
Another thought from this book that captured my attention was some 20 year old statistics. Today they are magnified exponentially.
"Socially and economically, we (our country) have created great disparities of wealth. As a minority of the world's population (17%) we consume most of the world's resources (80%) leaving almost 5 billion people to live on the remaining 20%. As a result, billions of people are living without the basic necessities of life - food, water, housing, and sanitation."
Not to rehash the entire book, I found it thought provoking on so many levels. A few points I intend to ponder are:
- How many different places do I spend money in a one month period?
- What pieces of clothing can be eliminated (thrown, given away, recycled) from my wardrobe?
- Can I get rid of all my 'plastics' and replace with glass?
- Can I stop buying processed foods? At least not more than one meal a week.
- Do I have enough quiet time in my week?
- What activities create stress in my life? Can I find fruitful ways or alternative ways of handling them?
- Can I be more intentional in my daily life?
And finally, I am ever grateful that I was born in the 50s and got to experience my early years with no computers, cell phones, iPods or Bose headphones. I was recently without electricity for 21 hours. It was glaringly apparent how addicted I am to technology. WHAT!?! No internet? No lights? No TV? No washing machine? No oven?
Relax Linda.... I settled in with a living room lit by candles and a good book. Blissful, cozy and personal.
Addendum:
Today I began keeping track of how many places I spent money each day (today four).
Also plan to buy glass food containers (1 or a set) each week when grocery shopping.