Sunday, January 24, 2010

A New Old Paradigm



Our dryer broke. So I am taking this opportunity to give hanging laundry to dry a try. It has slowed me down considerably. I am finding out that this is not nesasarily a bad thing. Before I would shovel piles of clothes from one machine to the next and end up with mountains of laundry to fold and then put away. LAundry was always bulky and overwhelming. I think a lot of clothes that weren't even dirty would get tossed into the piles of dirty because it didn't seem like a big deal to have just one more thing in a load. But now, laundry is less about loads and more about items. Now that I have to shake and hang each item , each item becomes more valuable somehow- more cared for because I have the responsibilty of taking care of it. I think twice before throwing things into the laundry pile. I feel in touch with the week of clothes that as I remember the precious moment our family spent using these clothes. Our clothes will last longer. And I actually kind a like the crisp feeling of fabric air dried. I can't promise that I will always air dry all of my clothes. But I appricate the pace of this much more.
One of my goals this January is to move further in the direction of stewardship. Consume less, conserve more. I want to teach my baby girl to take care of what she has. Her clothes, toys, books, water, this earth. I grew up with a disposable mindset. We literally got rid of things simply because we had had them for a while and were ready for something new. In fact as a society it has been drilled into our brains that we must. But no more. I am now striving to live to honor the things in my life. I am thinking long and hard before buying things. I don't buy the cheapest one anymore. I buy the one that can fullfill its purpose the longest. I have finally realized that if I buy a can opener I would rather spend 3x as much on one that could last forever than the cheap one that is made with the intent that it break quickly so I will have to buy another. To me, at this point in time, that mindset is simply unacceptable.
I want to spend less time in stores. More time at home. Less time taking out the trash, more time taking out the compost in my backyard. It would be great to let the drive for needing to get rid of things turn into what other purpose could this be used for. We are not what we buy.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Amanda, I'm Elaine in Texas. I read your blog comment on Rhondas' blog and it made me smile. Then I went to your blog and literally choked up. Wow, you GET it! I wish I had at your age. Rhonda is my hero, I love her to death. Because of her, I made my first batch of lye soap...easy, peasy. I highly recommend her blog to my dil who needs the affirmation that housework is to be honored...like I wish someone could have told me when I was your ages. I guess what I mean is that the work you do has value, is vitally important to the family structure and cannot be bought. Oh, do you make your own laundry soap? I do, got the recipe on the Duggars blog and tweaked it into my own. So much cheaper and + satisfying.

    So you're a painter? Very cool, wish I could. I can cut stuff, like a chunk of wool and cut a chicken, lol, but can't draw it, go figure.

    I look forward to more, you smart little girl. Your mama must be proud.

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  2. wow!!! I just found this comment and it made my day- no it made my WEEK! Thank you I have just been re-inspired to keep up on this blog thingy. We are so blessed to have this powerful resource that is the internet. THANK YOU!

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