Topics
Experiments in Life
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Experiments
Bucking the trend in ill-fitting corduroy
The first place I’m taking my glam-queen-turned-crackaddict look is the local thrift store. It’s day one of my month-long rebellion against a culture of disposable fashion.
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Experiments
Grey ice
Experimenting with a bath-water hockey rink
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Experiments
Processed
No sugar. No meat. No processed foods. That was the vow that I and my roommate, Bethany, made to each other that day in October. Disgusted by the amount of processed food we ate in a given week, we decided to detox.
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Experiments
Downward mobility
Istead of working in an office, I took a job cleaning an office. There’s less social status and financial security when you’re the person who sweeps the floors.
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Experiments
Searching for a good trade on the coast of Carolina
I wonder if my barter provided a more human exchange than if I had simply handed over cash. No, it’s not necessarily the money per se that dehumanizes. I could have still mentioned the weather, or made some silly comment as I handed her a dollar bill. What I like about our exchange, though, is that nothing beeped.
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Experiments
Twenty simple years an interview with Jim Merkel
Jim Merkel was an arms salesman until 1989, when the Exxon Valdez disaster changed his life (see Geez Spring, 2006). He realized that the oil spilled on those Alaskan shores was, in essence, oil spilled by his life. “I drive. I fly,” he wrote. “Fossil fuels are part of every item I consume.” So he quit his job, radically downshifted his lifestyle – cutting his income to $5,000 a year – and reduced his ecological footprint, the amount of productive land and water needed to support the resources a person uses, and absorb the waste discarded.
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Experiments
To do
I am burdened by positive motivations. I am convinced I am on this planet to spread peace, deepen truth and create joy. Unfortunately details get in the way.
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Experiments
Demotorizing my soul
We’re not meant to go that fast. It’s just too hard on the spirit. So I quit air travel. Planted my feet on the ground, tuned up my old bicycle and set my conscience at ease.
First it was a relief. Then it became an adventure.
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Experiments
Do-able ways to harmonize your home with the outside environment
Do-able ways to harmonize your home with the outside environment
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Experiments
Tiny house
Since 1997 Jay Shafer has been living in houses smaller than some people’s bathrooms. A basic description of the place makes it sound attractive: stainless steel counter tops, cathedral ceiling, loft bed. Except for the dimensions: roughly eight feet wide by 12 feet long.
