Self-Organizing Man

I’ve been walking of late, about 26 miles in the last four days. “It sounds like a kind of walking meditation,” a friend shared with me.

Perhaps so. I know this walking or urban rangering as I like to call it, is helping me to feel just fine about where I live. In the past I’ve wanted to be anywhere but here. But that is a spiritual affliction, not a geographic one. The walking gets me in touch with our ancestoral routes, my legs, roadkill and reminds me how much stuff I have in my life that I just don’t need.

After walking to our township library this past weekend, I realize that everything I need and want I can walk to from my house.

Too, I’ve been getting this creeping feeling about how my excesses contribute to poverty, deforestation, and much animal and human suffering. I shall share more about these connections in the next several days, I think. On my walkabouts I spend a lot of time pondering how I can pare down, economize, live in 80 square feet or 100 square feet or 300 square feet. (The size of our house is the number one reason Ms. H. and I score so badly on those tests to find out how many earths we would need if everyone lived our lifestyle…..)

My too much most certainly means someone else’s too little. This is immoral.

Microliving, the culture watchers call it. I call it living my right size. Fortunately I find how very crafty people are who also live this way.  Ikeahackers. (Though I don’t know if Ikea wins points on the environmental front or not…probably not!)

In my quest to microlive, besides walking, I’ve cut out snacking and eating seconds except one or two days a week. Most foods I consume are grown within 50 miles of my home. I’ve also been thinking hard about the 100 things I would keep if I could only keep a 100. And, I’m no longer buying books, which is hilarious because I’m a book publisher.

The library is free, promotes civic engagement, and I never feel bad after reading mediocre detective fiction I checked out of the library. I have no idea where any of this activity is going but I am feeling very compelled to keep going.

More later.