Thoughts
Woodstock Remembered
One week and forty years ago, I bought a ticket to a musical event which was supposed to be kinda special. The guy who sold me the ticket said he’d expected more than thirty five thousand people there. I though out loud, “Where are they gonna find thirty five thousand freaks?”. He said: “You’ll be surprised.”
Well, I’ve never been known for small mistakes. One week later, not only was I surprised, but so was the world, as four hundred thousand people made it to that small farm in update New York for three days of Peace, Love and Music, with another hundred thousand stuck on the New York State Throughway, which had, that day, become the largest parking lot in the world.
There were far more of us in the movement than I thought. In fact, we were a nation, as Abbie Hoffman called it, “The Woodstock Nation”. On that day, forty years ago tomorrow, as we shared what little food and water there was, in this impromptu city, the size of the population of San Francisco, the revolution was born.
We could change the world, we thought.
Flash forward forty years, there are still endless wars, massive poverty, and a corporate domination of politics and our lives which rivaled anything in our nightmares. Yet, you can hear Crosby, Still, Nash and Young oozing from the loudpeakers in the chain pharmacies and Jimmy Hendrix is frequently played in office elevators… and now, for the first time, we have our first multi-racial President. Whether we’ve changed the world in form, or essence, only time will tell, for like Dylan said: “the wheel’s still in spin.”
How ever it goes, happy anniversary to the Woodstock Nation. May your freak flag always fly.
Posted in Thoughts
Save Money at Home…part one
Save money at home
Plain living is the thought that helps me focus on what’s really important. In order to attain certain goals I try to keep it all plain and simple. Having a cluttered home clutters my mind and I’m not free to focus on what I need to accomplish. The more stuff you have, the more you have to take care of. It’s really all about freedom for me. I only take about 15 minutes every morning to clean up and my cleared surroundings give me the energy I need to reach my goals for the day-which usually have to do with finding ways to save money for the family.
I have seven main topics I work with and keep updated on a daily basis. Within these topics are what I call subtopics…for example, HOME can involve anything from saving on groceries to getting free clothing and ENTERTAINMENT can involve a night out verses staying in. I constantly ask myself “is this cheap and necessary?” This helps me to evaluate whether I can get it cheaper elsewhere, do without it altogether or find an alternative.
It’s taken a number of years for me to reach this point and I found the more you live in this constant thought of frugality, the more you want to do it and enjoy it. If I walk into a clothing shop, for example, I actually think of ways I can get clothes for free. Some of my favorite outfits came to me free for the taking or real cheap at second hand stores. So, with that having been said, I’ll just start off with letting you know some of the ways I save money on clothes and food.
In my area, we have lots of second hand stores, consignment shops, help agencies (free clothing offered) as well as church basement shops and even a garage sale store. Garage sales and or estate sales are good too. A local church up my street holds a monthly rummage sale at a separate location they rent out next to the island market and I got 4 next to new lawn chairs for 25 cents a piece.
If you can’t afford something, they’ll either lower the price or give it to you for free. I find dealing with most of the church folks is quite beneficial. Sometimes, if you bring in a bag of donations, they’ll trade.
I use the FREE CLOTHES CLOSET (a home set up behind a local Baptist church that gives everything away for free) as my clothing recycle post for the entire family. I bring in clothing that doesn’t fit anymore and get free clothes in return. Everyone wins and you’re helping the less fortunate in the community. That’s a double whammy for me when I can help others in need and save at the same time! When I bring in larger donations, the ladies stuff my bag with everything from toilet paper to toothpaste and shampoo.
Around the holidays, I usually give a small money donation or some coffee and donuts. I also barter for a lot of goods and services. There are new sites on the net popping up all over the place that deal with bartered goods. You can even get a car through bartering.
These are extremely hard economic times and I have found that for me having kept my life simple is actually better. I don’t have investments, I own both my cars, my children attend the best public schools in the area and I rent a home in an exclusive neighborhood.
The house was originally 2 bedroom 2 bath, but I realized after seeing the home for the first time, that the large back sunroom was actually enclosed with central air and made that my son’s bedroom. I live among millionaires in the safest neighborhood. My rent is extremely low compared to other rentals because I turned a room into a bedroom and fixed the place up in trade for lower rent.
We mow our own yard…that saves us about 100.00 dollars a month or more and get the benefit of exercise. If something breaks, my husband will try to fix it himself-and that goes for the cars as well. My dryer stopped working several months ago and after taking it apart, my husband found it was a 20.00 stable roller. The time before that it was a 5.00 piece That saved us the cost of initially having a technician come and check it out (that’s the first initial cost…like paying some one to put your car on a machine just to find out what’s wrong with it) and then pay for time and labor… not to mention THIER parts are usually more expensive.
If you have the mindset that everything is about money and you can do it yourself if you really tried…you’ll find you accomplish a whole lot more, save money and feel self sufficient and in control. I’ve just grown tired of giving money away. I don’t make much and can’t stand the rat race. It’s all about getting free. You don’t have to own land, grow your own food and build your own log cabin to be self-sufficient and save money. I know there are ways to do it anywhere you are.
I don’t want to set rules or offer guidelines. Some of the simplicity and frugality books out there can actually be more confusing and ridiculous. This is common sense stuff that has actually worked for me. I’m not going to have you separating toilet roll squares or reuse every single plastic baggie. I want my time, freedom and money. I am in the world but not necessarily of the world. Well, it’s getting late and I’m exhausted. I will continue with more on home life and savings tomorrow.
Later,G
Posted in Frugality, Save Money, Thoughts | 
Tags: daily basis, save meoney on repairs, Save Money, save money on clothes
Money and Frugality
Some thoughts on money and frugality
Economics comes from the Greek word meaning ‘household.’ We have to come to the realization that frugality and plain living originates in the home, and should focus on the well being of the family, and raising our children as well as influencing other members of extended families and households to practice positive ways of obtaining and saving money.
For the most part, we have not yet accepted the fact that the United States is interwoven with the whole world. To concentrate on protecting one’s own house or apartment is like thinking that we are the super power and all knowing, We need to create transactions of goodwill and good faith in order to promote a more meaningful economic structure where the importance of human need and responsible stewardship of our earth is the goal.
When you are honest in your transactions, whether you’re bartering, trading, or exchanging your services for goods, show signs of appreciation and goodwill and you’ll find, more connections than ever before will come your way.
We are lots if times driven by greed, and that is why, I believe our nation justifies wars based on economic interests and for some reason feel overthrowing governments is acceptable due to similar reasons.
We are all interconnected from home to our government and we should know that both should accomplish money and business ventures with the notion that the bottom line is the reciprocal satisfaction. Simple and plain frugal living creates a planet where starvation can easily be eliminated and everyone can have needs met and peace shall rein among all nations.
The economic decisions you make in your own home can so change our world simply by becoming more self-sufficient and dramatically reducing your consumption of unnecessary items.
Money has unfortunately become a great God. It’s interesting how money just can’t stay where it belongs. It should be a means of supporting life to meet our needs and has taken over the meaning of real security such as self-sufficiency, family and friends. Although money can affect our freedoms and give us power or even happiness, it should only be the catalyst to a better life and should never signify happiness and well being itself.
By giving money great importance, you easily remove the important meaning in your life where money is merely one way of reaching certain goals rather than holding money as the great deity in your life.
I can’t understand why there is still growing anxiety regarding scarcity in this nation. This anxiety about scarcity affects our lives at both a psychological and sociological level. We listen to what others tell us we should strive for in order to obtain abundance of material goods that somehow leads us to great happiness.
Simplicity can take you down the road to freedom and true happiness; affecting your immediate surroundings and extending to the world itself by not taking more than you need. which in turn assures others less fortunate the ability to obtain their needs as well.
By realizing the abundance of what we already have and putting it to good use, generosity is born and with it can only arise true freedom and unconditional love and acceptance of the world around us.
When John D. Rockefeller was once interviewed on the subject of wealth and how much more did he think he needed to attain true happiness and satisfaction, he replied he needed just a little bit more. That just goes to show you the affects of counting on money for true happiness rather than opt for simplicity and frugality in order to attain real freedom and never feeling you need more. Let your needs and wants be leveled and you’ll never feel as though you need more and more.
Thoughts on simplicity and stewardship:
To live a frugal and simple life automatically involves stewardship. Simplicity involves what we own and how much we choose to own and be responsible to take care of.
Stewardship is the use we make of what we already have that has not been attained through our own doing.
Simplicity dictates we should not live beyond our needs and learn to truly realize the differences between our needs and wants, thereby, never having more than what we really need.
Stewardship, on the other hand, somehow teaches us to take care of what we already have or were given through good fortune.
This all comes down, in my opinion, to deciding what we should and should not keep. Items which tend to weigh us down, get rid of; these are items that do not allow us to move forward thereby not permitting us to take total control and care of what is really important.
We need to realize that having great amounts of money should only lead us in the ways of doing good with that money and not glorify yourself because you feel the attainment of such great wealth was somehow a gift to you for having been so good.
Money earned through dishonesty or even wars can’t possibly be distributed for the common good and needs of man. It carries within it the seeds of it’s own destruction. The more we have the more we feel we need and therefore sharing simply does not enter one’s mind.
BY THE CURIOUS ARITHMETIC OF LOVE,
THE MORE WE SHARE, THE MORE WE POSSESS;
THE MORE WE WILLINGLY GIVE,
THE MORE WE MULTIPLY.
By: Lowell Wright
Later,g
Posted in Frugality, Simplicity, Thoughts | Tags: frugal, Frugality, greed, ownership, scarcity, sharing, simple living, Simplicity, voluntary simplicty
Hemp
HEMP
Hey, you got Hemp?! No, I don’t mean let’s get high; what I’m going to talk about is Hemp and its many incredible uses. A plant that could change our very existence now and for future generations.
It could effect our processes of obtaining cleaner energy for fuel, foods, medicines and personal use in an environmentally safer way. Your clothing and furniture can virtually last forever and you can actually drive your automobiles without the worry of high gas prices at the pump and even save important documents on paper that won’t rot and turn yellow!
Yes, this is the beautiful and wonderful Cannibus. It is usually associated with marijuana but different strains can actually be cultivated to create separate species without the THC. And let’s not forget it’s totally renewable and can be grown without chemicals that affect our drinking water and the air we breathe.
A couple of weeks ago I was waiting in line at my local supermarket when I noticed this lady’s handbag. This was a very elderly lady with a beautiful face full of wisdom and many earned wrinkles…she must have been in her 90′s. I complimented her on her purse and asked her where she got it. She told me a friend made it for her and knitted it out of Hemp.
After we both had checked out, I offered to buy her a coffee at the deli stand to which she replied, “Oh no dear, let’s drink hot chocolate…it’s so much better for your heart and always gives you a sweeter more positive start to your day.
Well, me and hot chocolate don’t match on a hot summer’s day, but I gave it a try anyway and she was right. I think we should all take the time to sit with the elderly. They have so many stories and so much wisdom to offer. Here was a woman in her 90′s (she later said she was in her 90′s) who drove and walked around and is totally independent. She must have done something right in her lifetime.
After sitting down, I gazed at her while she adjusted her glowing yellow poncho and removed her colorful orange wide-brimmed straw hat. After some small talk about life in general, I asked her to tell me more about Hemp. She spoke of years gone by and how this Hemp fiber was used in her own home for rope and paper or even making canvas bags for travel; or to hold animal feed and cooking grains. She said this was safe as Hemp is rot tolerant and won’t loose its color or shape. It was strong and seemed to last forever.
She also told me of the importance of Hemp during World War II and how the United States even had small documentaries for people to watch, encouraging the growth of hemp for the war effort. She gave much more information and she gave me permission to write it all down. She said I could call her Honey, although not her given name.
We thanked and hugged one another wishing each other well. I don’t know if I’ll ever see Honey again or if she even lives nearby, but that hour I spent with her by the deli counter will stay with me forever. Thanks Honey and may you continue to live a long and prosperous life… not worried about what others think, being an individual and giving a smile along the way.
INDUSTRIAL HEMP
The word Hemp comes from Western Europe to describe the different varieties of Cannabis plants – especially the ones like “industrial hemp” that were grown over the years to be used for industrial purposes such as those of fuel, paper, food, oil, fibers and seeds. Hemp has been cultivated for over 12,000 years and was originally native to Asia. It soon came to be grown in Europe and the United States.
The influence of this plant spread like wildfire. Did you know that the Magna Carta and the Gutenberg Bible were written on Hemp paper? There were laws in colonial times which promoted and demanded the production of Hemp. Washington and Jefferson grew Hemp and Ben Franklin opened up a Hemp paper mill; even Jefferson used Hemp paper to draft The Declaration of Independence. Hemp is incredibly strong and resists both decay and rotting. The fibers are far superior to cotton and even linen. Hemp was the best for canvas and the word canvas comes from the Latin Cannabis and the Dutch “canefas.”
Napoleon was really pissed off at the British Navy because for a really long time he couldn’t even hold them down, due to the fact that they had sails and riggings made out of Hemp!
Mr. Henry Ford worked on several experimental projects. He wanted to build Hemp cars (the outer body) and fuel them with hempseed oil.
| “Why use up the forests, which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the fields?” HENRY FORD |
Any way, here’s what really pisses me off: back around the earliest part of the 20th century, companies developed a machine that separated the Cannabis stalks from the Hemp Hurds (the strongest part of the plant) thereby removing the long human process of ‘cut and bale’ techniques.
This mechanical device was to Hemp like the cotton gin was to cotton. At this point in time, Hemp was right on the edge of an industrial explosion, unfortunately it happened at the precise time that all Hemp was made ILLEGAL due to marijuana prohibition!
The DuPont Corporation (they make plastics from petrolatum), Andrew Mellon (an oil hogger) and William Randolph Hearst (tree hogger) all pushed for any and ALL types of Hemp to be prohibited for any type of use. Hemp was a clean and cheap raw material that could be converted into plastic, oil and tree-saving paper,etc. Mellon’s nephew-in-law, Harry Anslinger, turned out to be the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He was the one leading the campaign to make marijuana criminal in all aspects. Although I found this to be a conspiracy theory only…YOU think about it.
HEMP HURDS
- this part of the plant gives us a clean raw material in order to produce plastics, fossil fuels and is capable of raw clean energy. We can also use the Hemp hurds for fuel production. In this time in our history of America, when we estimate having only another 25 more years of petroleum left, we need to immediately put to work Hemp companies that will enable us to produce our own fuels, fuels which are cleaner for the environment, cheaper for us to purchase as consumers and enable transportation businesses to pay less for fuel. It could raise employment levels as well as save our country billions of dollars…possibly even enabling us to pay back the national deficit.
Hurds and its fibers produce paper that is far superior to wood. We could also make furniture and floors from Hemp hurd fibers (with modern biocomposites materials) that look better than wood and resists rot. The fiber from Hemp is still the strongest natural fiber known to man!! It has UV resistant properties which are best used on making canvas, rope and even fabrics that keep you cool in the summer time and warm in the winter. The seed gives us an outrageous raw material that turns into both oil and food.
| …”one of the most promising crops in half a century…It could be the alternative crop farmers are looking for.” from: The American Farm Bureau Federation |
There are some great books on Hemp at www.alibris.com
You can also shop for Hemp products from skirts and shampoos to coffee filters and candles. Just go to www.happyhippy.com – a directory for alternative natural living.
Try www.ecomall.com for lots of stores offering eco-friendly cleaning products.
One magazine is www.hempmagazine.com. or try www.hemptimes.com
Small Steps:
- Put Hemp supporting bumper stickers on your car and educate along the way.
- Hang an educating History of Hemp poster in your home where visitors can see it and read it.
Wear T-shirts promoting your cause. - Cook meals with Hempseed Oil or bake bread using Hempseeds.
- Read and educate yourself…become a member of a supportive group that will help legislate the cultivating of Hemp.
- Use Hemp products in your home where friends and families can take notice and ask questions.
- Buy Hemp clothing and body products.
- Turn you car engine into a Hempseed oil engine.
- Use Hemp for healing and medicinal purposes.
- Buy your kids Hemp notebook paper for school.
- Buy a hemp purse…they last forever!!!
- Buy a Hemp hat… cool in summer and warm in winter.Buy a Hemp coffee filter. You’ll never have to buy filters again as they are washable and reusable!
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A few of my favorite Hemp clothing and accessories sites:
www.hempsisters.com
www.butterflymama.com (they also specialize in selling Fair Trade)
www.hippyshop.com
www.soul-flower.com
Posted in Thoughts