Look Newly!

So things are moving at a rapid pace. The Fortune Cookie is going to be delivered here on August 24th! In the interim, I feel as though I am waiting for my life to begin. I keep catching myself sort of holding my breath.

I am excited about starting up with a CSA again and composting. I catch myself contemplating my budget and planning ahead. I am moving into a housing situation where we act as a community and everything is wonderful.

Well, I was excited about all of these wonderful things... until I stumbled across a blog post by Sally Hope that hit me close to home.

"I want to tell you something. I know you have a dream. An idea of something you’ve always wanted and never thought you could have. I know it lives in your heart, not your head. And I know that it’s been in there for a VERY long time. I’m here to give you permission. You can HAVE it. You CAN do it. NOTHING is impossible. But you must, make a promise to yourself that you will go out and try to get it. And don’t leave any room for fear to take over. Stand strong in your desire. See it clearly in your head. DECIDE it is going to happen. And then leave the house. And close the door. So that you may open another one. Also. I love you."

I have a friend I was estranged from for quite some time, we are slowly working towards strengthening our friendship again. She has known me since I was 12. We did not get to hang out around my birthday, so at a function we both attended this weekend she chases me down with my birthday present.

This present was really quite epic. I have wanted to travel most of my life. Furthermore, I have wanted to road trip extensively since I was quite young. She found a sketch I did when I was 13, give or take, of the interior of a converted school bus I had designed to be an RV. Now, nothing is accurately to scale on this drawing. It is comical, but that floored me. I have spent at least half of my life dreaming of being on the road. I even have framed and beautifully matted proof of this now.

Needless to say, it is high time I get my ass in gear. To make this feasible, I realize I am partially back to square one. I need a good tow rig and a way to make money on the road. I would love to think that my awesome blogging skills would pay my way, but that is not happening quite yet. [insert exaggerated wink here]

So, I am off to brainstorm again.

Seeds of Change

I have been lucky with my roommates. Many of the people that rolled through my house were friends. One of the most influential and inspirational of these was a couple, we'll call them Aaron and Sarah.

A & S are very planet conscious, green-minded folks. They avoid eating packaged foods, shop at the co-op, went shopping with their own containers, the list goes on. They introduced me to such material as No Impact Man. They also were the first people I had personally seen take being green to a level that was proactive, not just reactive.

Due to that inspiration I started implementing changes in my own life. I started buying local and organic, going to Farmer's Markets, I subscribed to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), I began researching ways to use natural items for cleaning. (Michael DeJong has a great book series I recommend highly The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing)

These type of changes have a way of changing the way you look at things. I found myself then wondering what else I could do, while keeping up the status quo of a house and a corporate job.