I have been giving alot of thought recently to living more simply, as a Christian I feel I have a duty to tread lightly on God's creation but I don't do it well I think. As I was reading my Bible the other day I happened to read a verse that jumped out at me..."Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom." Psalm Ch 90 v 12. In the Message version of the Bible it reads ...."Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well"I saw this as a call to live more slowly and more deliberately. I do quite alot of home/hand-made stuff already but feel challenged to do more.
I can cook, sew, knit, clean, but although I have been taught or have learnt to do these things I don't use them enough and I'm not an expert in any o
f these skills. I only work 2 days a week now although whether they are day or night shift they are 12 and a half hour shifts, which is pretty tiring sometimes.So....I made a list of things to do myself and therefore hopefully be less materialistic and less consumer driven.
-cook from scratch
-make bread
-make cakes/biscuits
-make jams/chutneys,etc..
-make dog food
-Use up left overs
-Sew stuff to sell for India
-Volunteer
-Make cards
-Do garden for 15 mins a day
-Declutter
-Compost
-keep Chicken
-Shop less
-Use library
-Source firewood free/cheaply
-Make tablecloths/tea cosies/bedding/curtains/dish cloths/clothes.
-Stop landline phone and use a mobile
-Watch less TV
-Store water for the garden
-Put up solar panels for hot water
-Use slow cooker more
-Ditch dishwasher (I hardly use it anyway)
-Never buy a tumble dryer
-Don't buy newspapers and cut down magazines
-Think small, don't need a BIG house, BIG TV, BIG holiday
-Make menu plans and only but what you need
-Don't buy snacks or bottled drinks
-Repair stuff
-Have a 'No-spend' week
-Have an 'Eat out of the freezer' week.
-Walk more
-Make Christmas and Birthday cards
-Grow vegetables
-Grow flowers for cutting
-Grow/sew and make gifts for presents.
Well I know I won't achieve all that and indeed my better half may not agree to some of them, and to be fair I already do quite a few of these things.....but I will try to live more simply.
Last week I spotted this painting of a dog on a gate to warn people I presume....so perhaps I'll try to paint Wrecks on our gate! !!!!
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1 comment:
Ah that is a good list. I do a lot of them too. :-)
But there is always room for improvement. I like simple and sometimes think I was born in the wrong century!
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