Sometimes it is hard to tell whether our actions are making a difference. Yoga would have us do it for the sake of the action, not the result.
Today I ordered my first batch of postcards to reach out to voters in swing states: https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards-faq/ in addition to giving additional contributions to my regular monthly support.
May what we do bring more happiness, safety, and health for all.
About a week ago, maybe even a little earlier in the month, daylight savings time started feeling artificial. My body started insisting on sleeping nearly an hour later, and I found that I wasn’t really using the hour of light at the end of the day. It was time to go inside and cook or read or otherwise move inward. When we change the clocks this weekend, I will already have shifted, and the clock will feel as natural as living by a clock can feel. Part of the refinement of a deeper yoga practice is learning to pay attention to such subtleties, to learn what is most optimal and when, both time of day and time of year. This applies to asana practice (i.e., when to emphasize forward bending v. backbending),what we eat and how much, and what kind of activities we choose.
My walk in the neighborhood led me to Eastern Market this morning although I was not looking for anything in particular. A small group of people were standing at the four corners of 7th and C Streets Southeast, standing vigil for the children in Gaza and asking for ceasefire.
I asked if I might join them and they offered me a sign. The demonstrator next to whom I was standing was most curious about what led me to be supportive of Palestine and we mostly talked about Quakers and Quaker emphasis on peaceful and fair solutions.
How could I not, in this small way, not add my voice and add my physical presence when I imagine how much more brave to be speaking out and how much more painful for those with friends and family and familiar places under siege.
As the child of Depression era parents, I was taught to use every bit of the food that we bought. I was an impoverished scholarship student for the first eight years I lived on my own. I also started paying attention to environmental issues early on; in high school, I worked to bring awareness of energy and water consumption and recycling in connection with the earliest Earth Days. Having gotten into the habit of being resourceful and creative with food early on, I never got out of the habit–though many of my law school and better off friends thought I was weird or cheap.
With the recession continuing (and only likely to deepen dreadfully for my lifetime given the tenor of the debt negotiations) and thankfully growing interest in being kinder to our environment, it is becoming fashionable to be more mindful of waste of any kind. Here is a great article on how to savor more of your food and diminish your trash output (which, by the way, also lowers your carbon footprint.)
As I was doing my laundry yesterday, most of which I line-dried, I thought about the fact that I have not been to the dry cleaner in nearly a decade. This is one of the small things I have chosen in order to be a little kinder to the environment.
Some of my clothes, especially things I bought several years ago, say “dry clean only.” This includes knits made of wool, tencel, modal, or rayon (all of which are natural fibers) and linen and silk unconstructed clothing. All of these do fine with hand washing (or on the gentle cycle in the washing machine) and being hung up to dry (this also applies to cotton, button-down shirts). Of course, if it doesn’t say to dry clean then you definitely don’t need to dry clean.
Always believed the label? How was clothing made of natural fibers cleaned before there was such a thing as a dry cleaner? Think they look better or it is easier to get them dry cleaned? Think about the solvents, the plastic, the energy for the cleaning method, and whether you drive to the dry cleaners. Then make a decision.
Most things do not need to be cleaned by use of poisonous solvents (just because a solvent is “organic” or “natural” doesn’t mean it is good for the environment) and then wrapped in non-recyclable plastic to take home (many dry cleaners will take back the hangers, but will say they need to use the plastic wrap because their premises are too dusty for your clothes to stay clean outside the plastic wrapper).
So look for clothes that say “gentle wash, line dry” instead of “dry clean only.” If it says “dry clean only” think about whether it really applies. It will not apply for a wool sweater, most knits, or unlined clothes. A business suit — yes, it won’t keep its shape unless you dry clean. Do you really need to wear a business suit? Will a choice not to wear a suit impact whether some people think you are truly “professional”? Possibly. If you decide you need to wear a suit regularly, how many times can you wear it before taking it to the dry cleaners?
PS. Don’t experiment with things that are new and expensive. Try it on older clothes and discover whether you need to believe everything you read.
