Be the Change

So much in my life has changed in the past year, and I find myself living some of the greatest philosophies even without noticing.

A few months ago, my mom went on a rampage about how one of my friends slighted her. I told her that while I was very sympathetic, I couldn't get involved, that this was my friend she was talking about and if she wanted a resolution, she would have to seek it herself - though I would be happy to help facilitate any communication that lead to a positive resolution. My mom's response to that was incredulity that I would keep being friends with "this kind of person". I asked her if her best friend had done something similar, would she respond the same way by cutting her friend out of her life and not giving her another chance? My mom's surprising answer was "Yes, what am I supposed to do, turn the other cheek?" I found myself replying "Well, yeah, weren't you the one raised as a Christian anyway?"

It occurred to me that somewhere along the line, I'd started living the changes that I wanted to see in the world.

I want everyone to live harmoniously and love each other. So I made it a life goal to eliminate all hate, fear, and animosity from my heart and only harbor love and happy feelings.

I think we are too reliant on consumerism and that some products we don't even need, we just think we do. So I stopped washing my hair with commercial products and am letting my scalp readjust from over-producing oils, and letting it get back to a truly natural and healthy state. I also made a long-term goal to slowly replace my entire wardrobe with things I have made, instead of bought already made (with a few exceptions allowed, I certainly can't make decent shoes for one).

And I've been thinking - I can make even more changes with my knitting. I've been thinking about all the yarns and tools I wish I could buy right now, but simply don't have the money for. My yarn stash is dwindling, and I've never had an abundance of needles or tools.

And I really want companies to be held accountable for their practices - they should be environmentally friendly, generous to their employees, and follow Fair Trade policies. So when I've finally scraped together enough pennies to go make a craft related purchase, I'm going to start right off the bat by only purchasing from companies that live up to my standards.

Eventually I want all my money that is spent (not just on yarn crafting) to go to only companies of the highest standards, but this is probably going to be a slow transition. It's going to take a lot of research to find out who's record is as clean as they claim (gas for the car is going to be a nightmare - but hey, more incentive to re-fit my engine for home-made bio-fuel!). And if I can't find anyone selling what I need, then I'm just going to have to make it (like the bio-fuel).

Obviously this is going to be a very long-term project, but I'll be starting off with yarn and knitting supplies, and I'll be sure to blog about the challenges and my successes. It seems I'm not the only one with these ideas . . . it seems we really can be the change we wish to see.