Tag Archives: environment

Get out.

Posted on
28
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Even with the door shut I can hear the wind whirring and buzzing and swirling outside. But it’s not normally that easy. Most days I have to stand in it to hear it. To hear the quiet around me that helps echo back the words that are in my own soul. Today, I can hear it from inside.

But only because I made a conscious choice to listen. To stop the noise and listen. And what I heard today? Get out.

Just like that.

Get out.

Get out of the noise and clamor (don’t you love that word) of everything that’s drowning out my own thoughts. Get out into some wide open spaces, meadows, that have no rush of cars or people or conversations, but only have the slow stir of the breeze around me. Get out into these wide spaces in my own life and let myself think. Let my soul breath some clean air. Get out of the stale. Get out of the stuffy. Get out of the noisy.

I haven’t written a song in a while. And on more than one occasion, I’ve had the distinct thought that there are no more songs in me.

None.

Because right now I can’t hear any.

So I’m going to get out… Get quiet… And listen. Maybe it’ll be the beach. Maybe it’ll be the back porch. Maybe it’ll be the little nook in my kitchen where I have a clean shot at the coffee pot and bird feeder.

But I know that my soul needs to get out very very soon.

Where do you go to get out?

**Note: I wrote this over the weekend. Yesterday, I did exactly what I mentioned here. I pulled away for some chunks of time. And, you know what? I wrote a song. And it may be one of my best. Maybe… Maybe I’ll sing it for you soon and you can tell me if it is.

Run, Water, Run

Posted on
12

We keep frozen chicken in the house. And we have to thaw it before cooking it (surprising, I know…). And I don’t usually do that energy-efficient thing where you leave the package sitting out for a few hours and it’s perfectly chilled but not frozen.

Yeah. Because I forget to.

So most of the time I will let it sit under warm running water for a good long time.

And I’m ashamed to admit it.

I found myself using an inordinate amount of running water yesterday as well, when I rinsed out paintbrush after roller after paintbrush at work.

And I’m ashamed to admit it.

I also have a bad habit of running water while I’m brushing my teeth.

And I’m ashamed to admit it.

Did you know that the average person uses 69 gallons of water per day–granted, most of that is literally flushed down the toilet? (from h2oconserve.org) We can change that by simply updating our toilets with lower water capacities and buying conservative shower-heads. We can turn off the faucet and find other ways to thaw our chicken.

Let’s admit it. We’re a wasteful society. And we forget that good clean water is a rarity in today’s global experience. Wars are fought over water. Countless illnesses and birth defects are caused from bad water. And we are fast depleting our natural sources of good water in America. We may not directly suffer from it, but it’s possible that our children oneday will…

But I still believe we have the power to change that.

This blog is a submission to blogactionday2010.