Beach in Costa Rica

“What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?”
- Henry David Thoreau

The last couple of weeks have been super busy for me. Stray Cat Alliance, the cat advocacy organization I work for, had its annual Stray Cat Club fundraiser this past Saturday night. I and many others put in countless hours and worked our butts off but our labor paid off. The event was a huge success and I’m so happy for the cats!

Needless to say I have not had much free time to do anything that has not been “cat” related in the last month. I did however manage to fit in a night with my husband and another couple we are friends with when we attended the world premier of Water is Rising at UCLA Royce Hall. Although very moving the content of this beautiful song and dance production did more than just entertain. It put a human face on the damage the more developed countries of the world are doing to our more vulnerable brothers and sisters. And it’s not pretty.

Water is Rising is performed by 36 artists from the tiny Pacific islands of Kiribati, Tokelau and Tuvalu. These islands are located where the equator meets the date line and they are remote, isolated and vulnerable to changes in the environment. These islands are elevated only 2-3 meters above sea level and climate change is wreaking havoc on them and there is the potential that the entire population may one day have to be relocated. Imagine having to leave your home where your ancestry goes back thousands of years because the rest of the world can’t get its act together and are consuming non-stop without any regard for anything except immediate gratification.

Water is Rising is an impassioned pleas for global awareness and social change. Despite all they are up against, the people of these nations deliver their message in a positive light and still manage to have a hopeful outlook on life. Thank God they are taking the high road and are delivering a plea for awareness instead of venting their anger (which I think would be wholeheartedly justified) at those countries who have disproportionately contributed the most to destroying our environment.

We all know excessive consumerism is taking its toll and that we can’t continue to live the way we are living without some serious consequences. Check out the website about this amazing project that is spreading awareness and asking us to all re-think and change our ways before it’s too late. We are all in this together and the earth belongs to us all. Mother Earth will survive and replenish herself eventually but we are a different story. The time has come to start showing her a little respect because we need her more than she needs us.

(If you’d like to read more about living simply and changing the way you think about wealth please consider reading my book which is available in paperback or Kindle: REDEFINING THE MEANING OF WEALTH: DISCOVERING PROSPERITY AND FORTUNE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.

Adelie aka Pippy hanging out on her post

We live in a culture that loves to give gifts. Although I don’t doubt that this practice comes from a place of love, I would argue that most of our giving is influenced by advertising and societal pressure to give gifts for almost every occasion under the sun. The list is ridiculously long: Valentine’s Day, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, bridal showers, baby showers, graduations, retirement parties, housewarmings, baptisms, confirmations, bar mitzvahs, bas mitzvahs, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Secretary’s Day, and of course the Granddaddy of them all- Christmas!

Christmas gift giving has always struck me as strange since you would think there would be a better way to celebrate the life of Jesus than buying your girlfriends another rose scented candle. Yes, very little is sacred anymore. We have managed to turn our spiritual and religious traditions into nothing more than a profit fest for the local shopping mall. And Christianity is not the only religion guilty of this.

Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the US economy. That’s a big number. No wonder we are made to feel like we have to keep spending. We have to keep the insanity going because God forbid we have a system that is sustainable and doesn’t waste the planet’s resources. No, we must all have excessive amounts of useless crapola in our houses so the stock market can continue to soar its way to oblivion.

Now I realize we do live in a world where a certain amount of conformity is to be expected and opting out of gift giving entirely can be hard. Can you imagine showing up at a wedding without a gift? And I confess that I would be greatly peeved if my husband did not remember my birthday with some sort of gesture like a bouquet of flowers or a mouth watering delicacy made with plenty of sugar.

I’m not against gift giving. I’m against the useless stuff we give each other that eventually gets stored away in someone’s closet or ends up in a bag for the local goodwill to pick up. Who says we can’t reinvent the gift giving game and play it a different way? And what better way to do so than give vanishing gifts.

What are vanishing gifts? Anything that vanishes. Yes, I know I’m being a bit of smart aleck but gifts that eventually vanish but leave us with wonderful memories  are the best of all. I still remember enjoying an incredibly fabulous bottle of French wine that a friend gave me a few years back.

Below are some other ideas for vanishing gifts that won’t clutter people’s minds or homes and more importantly are easy on Mother Nature!

• Charitable donations to a friend of family member’s favorite cause
• Local Wines
• Foreign or Domestic Wines
• Sparkling Waters
• Fruit Baskets
• Gourmet or organic foods
• Baked goods that you made yourself
• Organic Coffee
• Assortment of teas
• Fresh Flowers
• Plants
• E-books
• A subscription to Net Flix
• Body soaps, oils, and lotions
• Gift Certificates (maid services, pedicures, pet sitters, etc.)
• Experiences-plan a special outing with your loved one like a hike, picnic, visit to the beach, dinner, play, or movie
• Theatre or sporting event tickets
• Membership to a museum or other cultural institution
• A class such as a cooking class or art class
• Dancing lessons
• Membership to a yoga studio
• Massages, acupuncture
• iTunes Gift card
• Food treats for people’s pets

(If you’d like to read more about changing the way you think about wealth please consider reading my book REDEFINING THE MEANING OF WEALTH: DISCOVERING PROSPERITY AND FORTUNE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.)

Japanese Garden in Nikko

Western Culture is obsessed with ownership. George W. Bush talked about the Ownership Society as if it was some kind of holy concept that would save us all. However, he can’t take all the blame because all he did was mirror the consciousness of where the majority of people were at the time. Many were happy to be given the red light to chase the so called “American Dream” of ownership at any cost. We incurred too much debt and became slaves to our jobs so we could afford those goodies that we were told would make us happier.

Anyone who brought up community or sharing was pounced upon by those who worshiped greed as their god. You were quickly labeled a socialist, a communist, too idealistic or simply out of touch with the realities of human nature and there was no room for discussion. Case closed. We were encouraged to buy buy buy and go into debt debt debt. A lot of people got rich rich rich because we followed like naive cattle being led to slaughter.

The road of materialism is a dead end. What did it bring us? Is anyone any happier because of what they own? I mean really? Are we? We became out of balance and forgot about the concept of sharing. Human beings need each other and we are meant to share. We are social animals and the only way out of our current mess is to take care of each other and realize we are all in this together. There is no economic philosophy that will save us. There is no tax policy that will suddenly make everything right again. Our mind sets must change.

Jesus said you will be judged by how you treat the least amongst you. So many in the corporate and political power structures love to talk about Jesus and how they follow his teachings. I would ask those people; do you think that he is proud of how we treat each other? Do you think he would condone old people going without medical care and poor children going hungry? Was this his message? The Jesus I know about said nothing about Capitalism, tax cuts for the wealthiest or making excessive profits by grossly exploiting human labor and the environment. I also have a feeling that he would be none too pleased about the military industrial complex. The Jesus I know stressed sharing and taking care of each other.

How do we start to share again? How we do we create a world where everyone is fed, clothed, educated, and has access to health-care? We can’t wait for the politicians or business leaders or we will be waiting a damned long time. Life in the future is going to change and planning for it as if it is going to stay the same is pretty much impossible. The system is broken and it’s time to build something new.

Instead of a society that focuses on competition and individualism how about community and collaboration? This whole idea of sharing makes some people really nervous. They are worried that they will get left behind. They wonder will I get mine. Will someone take advantage of me? Will I end up being the giver and never the receiver? Don’t buy into the fear. Instead buy into the possibilities.

Start now by sharing what you already have with your friends and neighbors. You can start small if you are still unsure. Lend a book or a dvd or give it away if you no longer need it. Maybe a neighbor’s vacuum cleaner is broken and they could use yours if they can’t afford to replace their old one. You may find out that there are several other appliances that you can share with others. Ask around the next time you need something and see if someone is willing to share. Become more involved with your community. Go to a town hall or neighborhood association meeting. Volunteer for a cause you believe in.

You don’t need me to give you a laundry list of ways you can share. You know what to do. You know how to share. You were taught how to share when you were younger but unfortunately those teachings did not follow us into adulthood. We became fearful and brainwashed. We became afraid that if we did not look out for number one we would be left behind.

We can build a sharing society if we really are committed. Everyone wins when we share because everyone feels taken care of and part of something that is larger than ourselves. We are really hardwired for helping each other but we have forgotten this. Don’t believe me? Try it.

Experiment and make your life more about sharing instead of the constant pursuit of what only serves you. Then ask yourself how sharing makes you feel? How does it feel when others share with you? Seneca, the mid 1st century Roman philosopher said, “There is no delight in owning anything unshared.” Many centuries later these words still ring true.

(If you’d like to read more about changing the way you think about wealth please consider reading my book REDEFINING THE MEANING OF WEALTH: DISCOVERING PROSPERITY AND FORTUNE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.)

The Place I Call Home

After a rainy and unseasonably cool winter, springtime is finally in the air in Southern California. This time of year makes me want to clean, toss out the unnecessary, and create as lovely of a home environment as I possibly can for my husband and me and our small petting zoo!

Our homes are sacred places. They serve as a haven from a busy chaotic world and it’s up to us to make them as inviting as possible. Investing in our home pays off big time. We don’t have to spend money to do this. Time, energy, and creativity will do just fine.

I believe that our homes should make us feel peaceful and serene. They should serve as a place that allows us to rejuvenate and enjoy ourselves. Below are some simple and practical things that I’m doing to maximize the healing potential of my home.

Creating space:

I’m on a mission to create as much space as possible. Having empty spaces in our homes is easy on the eyes and it leaves room for possibilities. Not the possibility of buying more useless junk but the possibility of creating something new. I feel more creative when I have space around me and my mind is more open and compassionate.

Is it easy to maneuver around in your home? Allow energy to flow smoothly throughout your living spaces by making sure you can comfortable walk throughout your home without bumping into furniture or other random objects. Keeping the centers of your rooms as empty as possible is a great way to accomplish this type of fluidity.

Getting rid of toxic household cleansers:

The average household has way too many toxic cleansers exposing us to harmful fumes and God knows what else! There’s enough pollution in the city where I live without having to create more of it in my home.

I recently purchased a simple non-toxic liquid cleanser. It works for the kitchen, bathroom, and any other miscellaneous cleaning needs that pop up. A simple window cleaner does the trick for my glass surfaces and mirrors. I’m also finding that baking soda and vinegar can be very effective as well and I plan to experiment more with these types of simple ingredients.

I still have a few cleansers in my house that I’m not thrilled about such as a mildew cleanser but I’m working on getting rid of them. My goal is to have all my cleansers of the non-toxic variety.

Spring Cleaning:

Spring is the perfect time to do some deep cleaning. Cleaning doesn’t cost you anything but time and the payoff is enormous. We feel better when our homes are clean. Our homes look better, smell better and feel better.

How long has it been since you’ve cleaned your oven or the inside of your refrigerator? Wash your cabinets. Take out all your dishes and food so you can make everything spic n span. While you’re at it throw out any expired food or dishes that are chipped.

Consider cleaning the vents in your home and dusting those hard to reach places such as overhead light fixtures. Dust your pictures and bookshelves. The list of things to clean is endless!

Incorporate nature in your surroundings:

Instead of a bunch of knickknacks that take up space and require dusting, why not adorn your home with something from nature? Plants, fresh cut flowers, rocks, and shells bring a little bit of the outdoors inside.

Don’t forget natural lighting. This is the best nature has to offer. Open up your window coverings and let as much natural light in as possible. Natural light lifts our spirits and keeps us from getting depressed.

Create your own home sanctuary:

A space to call our own is important especially if we live with other people. This space can be a room or a small corner of a room. I personally prefer my front porch. I love to go and sit out on my front steps and enjoy my garden. Sometimes I just sit and do nothing in particular. I use this time to think, write, enjoy the silence, and sometimes do absolutely nothing.

If you’ve never claimed a space for you own, don’t waste another moment. Find a place in your home that you can go to when you want to be alone and get away from it all and make this place as special as possible.

(If you’d like to read more about changing the way you think about wealth please consider reading my book REDEFINING THE MEANING OF WEALTH: DISCOVERING PROSPERITY AND FORTUNE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.)

Challenging the Status Quo! Some think tables are for eating, not Hunter. He says they are for lounging!

“If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.”

~~Henry David Thoreau

Last week I wrote about status-quo beliefs that we rarely question. Home ownership, getting a college degree, and spending money thoughtlessly and how the beliefs we form around these subjects may or may not be right for us. This week I’d like to look at several more societal beliefs that put pressure on us to conform and don’t allow much room for alternative points of views.

You must save a certain amount for retirement. First of all let me be very clear. I am not against saving for retirement. My husband and I have several retirement accounts as well as a pension from the state of California that we hope (God willing) will still be around when we get older. Saving is smart but I don’t think one should fixate on a number and buy into the hysteria that you much reach a particular magic number or you’re doomed.

In my opinion, a great deal of the numbers we see about how much we need to stash away in our retirement savings accounts are driven by banks and brokerage firms who stand to benefit from us investing our money with them. Exorbitant figures in the millions come up when we use those little retirement calculations they provide. These kinds of numbers can put us into panic mode and that’s not a fun way to live.

I have no answers for anyone on how much to save for their golden years. The best any of us can do is come up with a reasonable amount of money to save each month and have a target number that we feel comfortable with achieving. Also keep in mind that our expenses will go down when we’re not working so we may not need as much as we think.

Personally, I’m not too concerned about retirement. The rules of the game keep changing by the power elite that run Wall Street and I’ve come to realize that much is out of my control anyway. Since most Americans have their retirement savings tied up in Wall Street, we are at their mercy to a great extent. Many Wall Street banks would be gone today without government assistance so they are really not the free market system they claim to be. The best I can do is save what I can without obsessing too much about it and pray that some sensible regulations will eventually be put into place so that everyone is taken care of in their older years.

You are what you drive. The automotive industry spends millions of dollars each year convincing us that our cars say something about us. They have done a great job in convincing us that our identities are represented by our cars so we must have the trendiest, coolest, most luxurious car available. It sounds silly on paper to equate our cars with anything having to do with our self worth but millions of people do.

Car expenses are a huge chunk of most people’s budgets. Gas, repairs, insurance, and in many cases a car loan or leasing agreement adds up rather fast. We don’t have to buy into this mentality of our cars defining who we are. Choosing the best vehicle for our budgets and circumstances doesn’t mean we have to drive a clunker but it also doesn’t mean we have to traipse around in a showy over-priced piece of metal. What you drive really says nothing about how wealthy you are. We all know people who are loaded that drive modest cars and people who are broke that have the latest sports car with all the fancy accouterments.

In some cases some of us may not even need to own a car. I live in one of the car capitals of the world but I’m noticing that more and more people are taking public transportation. I know some people who rent cars for special occasions because the expense and upkeep does not make sense for them. For those that sit in offices all day, a car may not even be necessary especially if you have access to public transportation. Some households may find that they don’t need multiple cars and can carpool. It takes a little extra planning but the financial savings and positive impact on the environment are great motivators.

We must all conform and look the same way. One of the things that I find so fascinating about humans is our physical diversity. We come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. There’s no right way to look but society sends us messages all the time, mostly in the form of advertising, which insists we all must look a certain way.

Not only should we look a certain way, but there’s a preferable way as well. And if you are so unfortunate to not look this particular way (which is 99.9999 percent of the population), never fear! Someone is waiting to sell you a pill, diet, product, surgery, piece of exercise machinery, etc. that will help you achieve this goal.

Keep in mind that most of the jabs at our so-called inadequacies are because someone is trying to make money off our insecurities. There’s a difference between being presentable and trying to resemble an airbrushed Vogue cover image. We’ve all heard of Photoshop and believe you me it and many other “tricks” are used on the people who supposedly represent what beauty looks like.

Celebrate who you are and play up your own unique features. If you think about it, the most attractive people you know are probably that way because of something that glows from inside not because they have six pack abs. I write a lot about yoga and the benefits I receive from this powerful practice. Acceptance of my physical self is no exception. I’m much more accepting of how I was created and I no longer care whether or not I fit some media ideal of how I’m supposed to look.

The great thing about letting go of status-quo beliefs is it cuts down on not only the physical clutter in your life but more importantly the mental clutter. Isn’t sifting through the mental clutter to a place of peace and equilibrium the primary reason we strive to simplify our lives?

There’s a lot of turmoil in the world right now but it’s also an exciting time to be alive. From Wisconsin to the Middle East, people all around the globe are questioning the status –quo and hopefully setting the stage for some positive change. Yes, the Status-Quo Mountain is crumbling all around us so this is the perfect time to challenge any and all beliefs that no longer work for us and replace them with something more empowering.

(If you’d like to read more about changing the way you think about wealth please consider reading my book REDEFINING THE MEANING OF WEALTH: DISCOVERING PROSPERITY AND FORTUNE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.)

Flowers from a Mississippi Garden

Frugal is finally in vogue! It wasn’t very long ago that many people didn’t even have the word in their vocabulary let alone were they practicing it. Even mainstream publications and news shows are offering tips on how to be frugal. Driving up to the UCLA campus the other day I saw a Best Buy billboard advertising electric bicycles that said “Major in Frugality”. Everyone is getting on the frugal bandwagon. Some because they are forced to and some because the spending party of the last few decades is over and they want to keep more of what they earn.

I started reading about frugality in the late 90s and was shocked at how careless I had been with handling my money. All the “necessities” that I thought I had to have like cable television and weekly manicures quickly made their way out of my life. I didn’t even miss them! Frugality became a creative exercise for me. I quit buying into the mentality that I needed all that was being advertised to me. I began to question all that society told me I must have and found out I needed very little after all. Frugality became fun for me and it still is to this day!

It’s fun to figure out how I can get the best price for something or better yet do without! There are still areas in my life that I struggle with (the latest being tech gadgets) but I have the frugal skills now to start reining  my desires in when I begin to get out of control. More importantly, I have awareness which is the most valuable asset of all when it comes to being frugal.

Many people think frugality is a fad and people will go back to their spendthrift ways once the economy improves. I have two things to say about this. First I don’t think the economy is going to improve and go back to how it was before. The so-called prosperous years were not what they seemed. Most of the wealth was abstract and not real. We’re moving into unchartered territory and we have no idea what economies are going to look like in the future. Too many people are tapped out and having a hard enough time just covering the basics. We may have to learn to live with a lot less which may not be such a bad thing.  More importantly, we will all have to begin to share with each other. We will have simpler lives but lives with more meaning and quality.

Second, once you start practicing frugality, it becomes part of your lifestyle. You wouldn’t dare pay for something without questioning it first. Did you get the best deal? Do you really need it? You begin to realize that frugality is not about being cheap. It’s about conserving our money and resources and not being wasteful. Frugality allows us to take control of our lives and get out of the debt cycle. Only time will tell, but I think frugality is here to stay.

Rorschach The Tiny Titan of Terror does not own a car. Thank Goodness!

The LA Times published an article this past Sunday on our nation’s growing unemployment rate.  Several people were interviewed about the hardships of long term unemployment. Most of these people talked about how they had depleted their savings and were worried about paying their bills and having access to affordable healthcare. Age worries were also of great concern since so many younger and older workers are having an especially difficult time in the current job market.

On the other end of the spectrum, a 33-year old man who had lost his $140,000 a year job in a Manhattan investment bank was profiled. He talked about how despite his MBA and law degree he was still unemployed. His situation had forced him to move back in with his parents in Malibu and trade commodities online from his home computer. Hey, if you’ve got to move back in with your parents, Malibu is not a bad place to be in my opinion. He stated this was not where he thought he would be at this time in his life. As I’m reading I’m thinking, yeah, I can relate because I’m not exactly where I envisioned myself being either. He then went on to say “I live with my parents and I drive a Saturn.” My first reaction after reading this was: “Are you kidding me? What’s wrong with driving a Saturn? And shouldn’t you have more pressing worries than the kind of car you are driving, like maybe getting a job?

After coming down from my high horse I began to put my judgment of him aside. He was only being honest about how he felt. However I still thought it sad that so many of us think our cars define us. Why is that? Well for starters, the car industry has done a big-time number on Americans. In addition to successfully making a large majority of our population dependent on cars for getting around, they have also talked us into the idea that our cars send out a signal to the world about what kind of people we are. If you buy (or in most cases go into major debt) for such and such vehicle, the car advertisers promise us we will be seen as successful or cool or sophisticated.

We have all at one time or another fallen prey to the “our car defines us” mentality. I admit that I have.  I’ve never been one to get overly enthused over cars and have been known to confuse a BMW with a Honda Accord.  However, in 2003, I purchased a used 2001 Toyota Hybrid Prius and boy was I excited! Not because I thought my car made me look cool or wealthy but because I thought it sent out a signal that I cared about the environment. Yes, I wanted to support this new green technology but I also wanted people to know I was a forward progressive thinker and doing my part to burn fewer fossil fuels. Ego is ego! I was still communicating some type of message about who I was and what I believed. So I really can’t fault Mr. Saturn Car Driver for wanting to send a message as well. His message may be different than mine but it’s all ego and if we’re really honest with ourselves-very silly!

I believe we are moving into an era where we are all going to be forced to lessen our consumption drastically. From the top down, downsizing and conserving will be the new norm.  We may not own as much and our possessions will be more of the practical kind and not for showing off.  When I lived in Manhattan in my younger years I did not own a car.  There were definitely times when I missed having one but looking back those years were pure freedom.  In many ways material possessions weigh us down and we miss out on life.

We are not our cars nor are we any of our other material possessions. Who we are has nothing to do with what we own but everything to do with what’s inside us. Are we compassionate people? Do we have love for our fellow human beings even when they are different from us? What we do defines us and I’m not talking about our jobs and careers either. Do we treat others with compassion? Do we help out others when they need us? What is our value system?

The next time you get into your car and start to feel either a bit cocky or “less than” because of what you drive remember your car has nothing to do with who you are as a person. Maybe you can let someone in front of you who is having a hard time merging into traffic. If someone does something really stupid that ticks you off give them a break. We all do stupid things from time to time when we are behind the wheel. Say a silent prayer that all those driving around you get to their destination safe and sound. Remind yourself that these kinds of acts of kindness define you a whole lot more than the big metal frame that surrounds you.

Big Bear, CA

Several weeks ago U.S. News and World Report featured an article titled “15 Things You Shouldn’t be Paying For”. I highly recommend it. Free computer software, drinking tap water, fee-free checking accounts, adopting animals from a shelter instead of buying from a breeder, obtaining books from the local library, and lots of other great ideas are discussed. Check out the article and see if any of the ideas resonate with you. 

Too often we blame high costs as the reason we are broke or can’t afford something. But if we are willing to shift some habits and in some cases trade our time for money, we can keep more of our hard earned cash. Somewhere along the way we have all been brainwashed into thinking expensive goods and services have more value than something that costs very little or better yet is free. Even though many expenses are beyond our control like healthcare (please don’t get me started!) there are still many things we can get for free or for very little money. I share some of my own ideas below:

• Why spend money on cable? Stream your favorite programs from the web.    Check out Hulu (great for TV shows)  or Crackle ( great for movies)

• Wash your own car instead of paying someone to do it. The summer months are a great time to play in the water and get a little sun. Washing your car is also good exercise.

• Read your favorite magazines and newspapers on line and cancel your subscriptions. This option also cuts down on clutter.

• Craving new clothes? Shop in your closet. I guarantee you’ll find at least one treasure you forgot you had.

• Entertain at home. Next time you get the urge to get together with friends and go out to eat, why not invite them to your home? Sure eating out is about the food but it’s also about the company. You can just as easily socialize with friends at home as you can at the latest trendy restaurant.

• Never pay for a credit report. Check out the Federal Trade Commission’s website for more info: http://www.ftc.gov/freereports

• Have you been thinking about buying an e-book reader but you’re not sure you want to delve out the money just yet? Amazon has a free kindle you can download to your computer. It’s a great way to check out this fun new technology before you take the plunge and buy one separately. Who knows, you may even find out that you enjoy reading books on your desktop or laptop. Many e-books are cheaper than regular books and Amazon also has free books you can download.

• Trade pet sitting services with a friend. Our pets are like family and we want them to have the best care possible when we are away from home. Team up with a friend or a good neighbor and help each other out when pet care is needed. The pets will come to know these sitters as family and won’t be so freaked out when their people are away.

• Vacation at home. Stay at home and be lazy. Better yet, be a tourist in your own town. Nobody loves traveling more than me but sometimes it’s nice to vacation at home especially if funds are tight.

• Send e-cards for special occasions. Many sites offer them for free and they are a great way to cut down on environmental waste as well.

• Don’t buy water at the airport. We all know that we can’t take liquids through airport security anymore but that doesn’t mean you have to pay for bottled water once inside the terminal. On a recent flight, I gulped down my last drop of water as I reached Security and the TSA guy encouraged me to save my bottle and fill it up once I passed the security checkpoint. What a brilliant idea, I told him. In the future, I plan on taking an empty water bottle and filling it up at one of the filtered water fountains that all airport terminals provide.

• Bring your own food to the airport. With the exception of some fruits and vegetables, most food is allowed through security checkpoints. Of course it may not be practical to pack a gourmet meal but snacks brought from home are much cheaper than buying them from the high priced eateries at the airport. I like to pack trail mix, dried fruit, blue corn tortilla chips, and dark chocolate.

• Can you borrow it? If you only need an item temporarily, why not borrow from a friend or relative? Offer to return the favor in the future with anything they might need as well. Appliances, tools, clothes, suitcases, serving trays and dishes are great examples of items we can borrow from each other.

• There is never any need to buy gift wrapping. Use an old brown grocery bag and decorate with markers, stickers, and ribbons you have laying around. Reuse gift bags. Just remember to remove any gift tags and make a new one. If you absolutely must buy gift wrapping, tissue paper is the cheapest.

• Entertain yourself for free. The web offers hours of free entertainment. U-Tube alone can keep one engaged for hours with music, crazy pet videos, and special interest stories. Check out your library or community centers for free lectures and concerts. Don’t forget enjoying nature. It’s truly the best show in town. Quit using the excuse that you don’t have money for entertainment. There’s plenty out there if you just look for it.

For me saving money is about freedom and taking control of my life. It’s not about being cheap or trying to get something for nothing. Saving more gives me the freedom to possibly work less, have an emergency fund (which gives me peace of mind) or spend my money on a really cool item or experience such as traveling. What about you? Why do you like to save money and do you have any ideas to add to the list above?

I like the Native American Philosophy. They view the earth as a living entity and as a provider, not a playground to pillage for monetary profit.   Harmony with the earth is  part of their culture and they are extremely aware of how certain actions can impact the environment. They believe the earth is part of us and we should respect it. It’s not something to use up nor is it here  to serve us. The earth is a great resource but we have to treat her with respect. We are part of her and there is no separation. All of us Non-Native Americans should take a lesson from their playbook.  That said, let me segue into the horrendous topic of the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill.

The recent BP tragedy in the Gulf is almost more than I can bear to contemplate. I purposely waited several weeks before I posted this piece. I figured at some point the story would gradually start to fade off the front pages and only be mentioned from time to time.  This story needs to be kept alive and all that continue to suffer need not be forgotten. I grew up in Alabama and my husband in Louisiana. The Gulf was a familiar fixture to us and even though we may not have lived within walking distance, she was still one of our greatest local treasures.

Many Americans have never had the chance to visit the national treasure we call the Gulf of  Mexico or “The Redneck Riviera” as it is often jokingly referred to by some.  There was a reason why many southerners chose to stay close to home when we wanted to visit the beach. Why travel to other exotic locations when Paradise was just a few hours away?

I remember going to visit her almost yearly. The sand was as white as snow and the water was a pristine blue or emerald green depending on the mood of the sun that day.  Many sandcastles have been built on her precious sand and many wonderful days have been spent by adults and children alike playing in her waves.

She has withstood hurricanes and various other acts of God because that is what she is equipped to do. Then some multinational corporation comes in and gets horrendously greedy and sloppy.  Now she is vulnerable to possibly being on the verge of ruin.

I hope she will one day return to her natural beauty and her plants, fish, and various other wildlife will once again reign supreme in that area of the planet. For the time being I can only pray for her safe return and for a change in consciousness amongst us all. The beauty of the earth and the natural resources we have been blessed with are a  huge part of our wealth.

We need to rethink the way we are living and have a serious discussion about our addiction to fossil fuels. Change is necessary or our quality of life is further at stake.  Yes, change is difficult and many will resist. But change is the only constant in this world. We will always have to adapt and change.  The sooner we get it through our thick skulls that real change is needed, the easier it will be to start the process.  Oh and Tony Hayward, if by some small minuscule chance you read this, I would like my life back too.  I  am no longer able to visit the beautiful beaches where I spent so much of my childhood. They are most likely ruined and will not recover in my lifetime if they ever recover at all.  I would like that part of my life back.

Zeitgeist

(from German Zeit-time and Geist-spirit)

The Spirit of the Time

Saturday, March 13, 2010, was the second annual celebration of the Zeitgeist Movement or ZDay for short.  The purpose of ZDay was to educate others about the movement and its concepts. There were 337 events in over 70 countries worldwide with the main event being held in New York City. I recently became a member of the Los Angeles Zeitgeist Chapter and I volunteered at the event.  It was great!  The movement is relatively new and already has over 350,000 official members worldwide. It’s growing every day. There’s also no telling how many people are with this movement in spirit but have not yet officially joined.

The Zeitgeist Movement speaks deeply to me and I’m passionate about this organization and its mission. Instead of just ranting and raving about how awful everything is, The Zeitgeist Movement presents ideas.  The ambitions are bold but the world is in dire need of a bold new direction. We are using up our resources at an alarming rate and our present model of society cannot sustain itself.

Below is a short Q&A about this movement and some links that I highly recommend you check out.  I know the concepts at first glance may seem a bit complicated to grasp. They may even seem a bit utopian and way out there. You may think they would never work.

Keep in mind, anything is possible. There were people who used to think the world was flat and people who never thought a man would walk on the moon. There was a time when the Divine Right of Kings was accepted as truth.  Slavery was once legal in this country and women were considered property. Think things can’t change? Think again! Also, the technology around us today would have been unthinkable even a few decades ago. One way or the other things will change. Change is constant and the one thing we can always depend on. Why not work for a vision of change that is empowering and leaves no one out?

What exactly is the Zeitgeist Movement? The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM) is a worldwide grassroots movement advocating social change, most significantly that of society transitioning from a monetary-based economy to a resource-based economy.  Filmmaker Peter Joseph founded the movement after creating the movie Zeitgeist Addendum. TZM is the activist arm of the Venus Project.  It is not a political movement and it sees all people as equal.

To View Zeitgeist the Addendum movie for free, click on the link below:

The Zeitgeist Movie

To find out more about the Zeitgeist Movement, click on the link below:

The Zeitgeist Movement

What is the Venus Project? The Venus Project presents a bold new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth’s ecosystems. The Venus Project offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which human beings, technology and nature will be able to coexist in a long-term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium.

To find out more about the Venus project, click on the link below:

The Venus Project

What is a Resource-Based Economy? A Resource Based Economy is a society without money, barter or exchange, with the awareness that Humanity is ONE family and where technology, science and spirituality is used to its fullest to develop and manage the planet’s resources to provide abundance for everyone in the most sustainable way.

What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~ Albert Pine