For the last four years, I have been on what I like to call a journey of awakening. Growing, emerging and doing my best to look at life with my eyes wide open. I have learned that being awake to your world can be invigorating, rewarding and fun…but it can also be difficult and painful…
One has to become uncomfortable enough with something to become willing to change it and when you finally do open yourself up to change, it triggers a multitude of ripples of transformation. Knowing more about yourself and the world can make you more aware but sometimes the data we gain isn’t always welcome. We find out that we might have really liked a part of what it was that ultimately caused us pain. We learn that there may have been an emotional attachment to that particular behavior or food or object.
I now fully understand what “ignorance is bliss” means. Here is the beginning of a list changes or shifts in my life, some more recently than others. Future posts will go further in depth on the purpose, sacrifices and positive outcomes of each (feel free to comment if you are more interested in hearing about one, in particular)…
- Remove clocks from bedroom
- Don’t buy food with partially hydrogenated oils/trans fats
- Exercise regularly (yoga, classes, walks, run)
- Avoid nitrates or nitrites in food
- No decaf coffee (always regular and always use paper filter)
- Watch less TV
- Make wine
- Read more
- Cook more
- Don’t drink soda
- Drink more soda water
- Make more food from scratch
- Make/eat fermented vegetables
- Eat out less
- Limit consumerism
- Make baby food
- Take exercise classes
- Buy a watch with a heart rate monitor
- Use a personal trainer
- Stop buying cleaning products/use baking soda and vinegar
- Quit smoking
- Control portion sizes
- Recycle
- Write more
- Do therapeutic work
- Spend more time with friends and family
- Grow food (or try my best)
- Don’t use antiperspirant
- Limit refined sugar
- Join book clubs and social groups
- Transition to be a stay at home mom
- Spend our monthly budget in cash
- Pay off debt
- Declutter
- Use coconut oil
- Create savings
Striving to master…
- No yucky stuff in my beauty products or sunscreen
- Buy the right organic foods
- Composting
- Say what I mean, mean what I say
- Laundry soap and softener that is good for the environment
- Finding a balance with my digital life
Many of these things, I truly loved for one reason or another but there is a specific reason for each of the intentional shifts listed here and I’ll share more in future posts on many of them.
What have you changed in your life that makes you say, “ignorance really is bliss?”
Photo credit: Road Fun / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND