BE LIKE PETE SEEGER

Ever get a kick in the pants from an unusual place? 

Tonight, I got one from watching a PBS documentary on the life of Pete Seeger. It is shocking how far I've fallen away from being a rebel, and an actionary, and someone who cares enough to do something.... about things that need doing. I've become jaded, and frustrated, and convinced that all the shouting, and protesting, and letter writing is futile.... it falls on deaf ears, and blind eyes, and mouths that are wrapped around something that is injected with chemicals.

I still do more than the average joe in my own life. I still care enough to recycle, and buy less, and not drive a car, and compost, and grow some food, but I've closed myself off from the greater struggle because I believe it is useless.

When did I let them win? When did I let them take away my power? When did I let them drive me to lock my door and only try to make a difference in my own little world? Fuck me for giving up.

In as much as I promised in my last post to stop buying, and I've been pretty successful in that endeavor, I promise right now to care. To fight injustice, to protest against this war that seems like another Viet Nam, and to be more like Pete Seeger. I know what's right, I just got lost, for a number of years, and now it's time to find my voice, and put it to use again. Not just here, on this blog that never gets read, but out in the world that Pete and others left for me to take care of..... we all have to do our part. 

moratorium on stuff...

I have been an avid consumer of stuff for the last couple of months. Something I've not been guilty of in many years. All of my furniture, except for a recently purchased bed frame, is something used. Stuff I picked up at garage sales or flea markets. Even my computer was a castoff from some office in California. I feel good about my lack of true consumerism. Even my clothes come from clearance or secondhand. I stopped using paper towels ten years ago and parked my car and started riding my bike or taking the bus two years ago.

Then, I got a windfall of cash. I went out and bought new stuff. A computer, a Tiffany silver necklace, an HD TV, three phones, two different ipods, two digital cameras, and a video camera (in my own defense, some of that stuff was presents for other people). Even though I could have purchased that stuff on Craigslist, or an outlet, I chose to do it in a way that's left me feeling a bit bad about buying in to the whole consumerist society again. I even bought three new t-shirts and some other little stuff while on vacation recently. I haven't been on a vacation for more than six years, so I guess I can give myself a pass on that stuff. I'm way behind the rest of society on that one.  

Today, while surfing the net, on my new MacBook, I came across this simple video about what an impact our consumerism is doing to our planet. You have to understand, I've been recycling like a madwoman, using biodegradable cleaning products, carrying my own shopping bags to the grocery store, and using compact fluorescent light bulbs since the 80s.. I buy organic vegetables, free range meats, and sustainable fishes. I try not to buy plastic bottles, or bottled water. I even grow some of my own food. I finally cancelled all my magazine subscriptions, don't buy newspapers, and buy used books whenever possible. But, I am guilty of being bad sometimes.

So, in order to pay my part of my karmic debt, I promise to stop buying anything other than things I need to survive. No more clothes, cds, dvds, jewelry, watches, or stuff like that there. Just things I need, like food, and natural medicines, and earth friendly cleaning products and toilet paper. 

I wonder how I will do, and if I will fall off the bandwagon. I have Netflicks for movies. I can read magazines on the web, papers too. So, I guess the computer was a good purchase. I can do lots with one thing. 

Read this: www.storyofstuff.com and maybe you will be changed by it and do what I am doing.... giving my consumerist self a rest and remembering why I started being Hippyish about things way back in the 80s. I lost myself for a couple of months, but that little online movie brought me back to the side of mother earth...... won't you join me?