The legend of the 100th monkey is a myth based on a research study done in the 1960's... Wikipedia it, okay? Anyhow, the theory is that once a specific number of the population make a change in behavior, the rest will quickly follow suit. I first heard this idea in a documentary I watched called "Collapse", it was the big wake-up call I needed to start changing my way of thinking and living. I have always been more environmentally conscious then most Americans; having spent a large portion of my childhood in northern California where sustainable living has been in vogue for quite some time. We had no TV for the 5 years we lived there and looking back now I credit much of my intelligence to that. I spent my time listening to music, creating art and exploring the woods; hands-on experimentation and learning by doing. The problem was I would go to my father's every summer and live the typical consumer lifestyle. I felt some strange comfort in the highways, malls and amusement parks; maybe I associated these things with "father" and "security", or maybe it's just human nature....
Anyway, when I became and adult and had my own family to decide how to raise I chose what seemed to be a balanced path; a conscientious consumer lifestyle. I recycled and didn't buy a lot of processed food.... that's pretty much it. This was also largely due to being married which made me feel I needed to compromise my personal values in many areas.... if it wasn't for my 3 beautiful daughters I'd most fully regret those years. But now, feeling truly autonomous for the first time in my life (well, even still not entirely because I have to justify my decisions to my children, whether now or 20 years from now), I am figuring out who I am and what I want to stand for.
It amazes me that every American, all having the ability to do something, does not feel compelled to take action to save our planet. WE LIVE HERE PEOPLE, WE HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO LIVE. We have become so disconnected from the earth that we barely admit we live on it anymore. It seems like a no-brainer to me; we have got to live responsibly with respect to our planet or we will cease to live AT ALL.
In the last few months I had revamped my resume and was making plans to abandon my humble career at the birth center and get into medical sales in hopes to make more money so I could afford the lifestyle I feel me and my daughters deserve. Then, I saw this documentary, and "deserve" started to take on a new meaning. My children don't deserve "things"; things don't make you happy, relationships do. What they deserve is a mother that spends the time to teach them the basic skills they need to survive and thrive. A mom that teaches them about mother nature and human nature; that which you can't control and that which you can and how to find a healthy balance between the two. Something just clicked and my priorities completely shifted in a matter of one week.
So one of the things I'll be blogging about is this journey into living a more simple and authentic lifestyle. I would love to be a catalyst for change on a small scale; influencing the people I come in contact with in hopes that it will continue to spread to the people they know, and so on. This is not something people can "buy into" (you can't sell self sufficiency, haha) but an idea and way of thinking that requires you to rid your mind of all that consumer brainwashing and "tap into". You can do it, I can help!! I hope you will see that these changes are fairly painless and very rewarding and will be encouraged to "tap in". I wanna be the 100th Monkey!!
Please see my new blog related to green living, The Green Bike Blog
