No?
Well I do.
You see, sometimes, this world comes at us with 1,000 angry, horrible things. Sometimes people get sick. Sometimes people get beaten. Sometimes people die. And in almost all of those instances, it is not, in any way, shape, or form, ok. I hear these disgusting stories and I fear for my family. I hear these disgusting stories and I fear for my friends and for the future of our country. When I get scared, I get angry, and when I get angry, I want to fly into action. The problem is, the horrors I witness on the news, or in the paper, or on my Facebook feed, these horrors seem so removed from me, a chick in PJ pants, chillin' on the couch. I feel helpless. I can talk and scream and rant and cry until there is nothing left, but when push comes to shove, I cannot force someone think the way I do, no matter the amount of life, liberty, and happiness at stake. The only thing I can do, and the only person I can truly control, is myself. My actions. My thoughts. My words. My vote.
So, on this, a day where I look back at the week and think "Why is this happening, how can people be so horrific, and what can I do to stop them?" I am going to fight oppression and injustice by being the best damn person I can be, living life according to the basic human principles I find important, and try my damnedest to leave my kids with a world they can still find beauty in, despite the bleak outlook we face today.
The crunchy life is one of my coping mechanism, one of my tools. It's a way to get back to my roots, literally. It's a way to educate about the falsities we fail to recognize as we blindly cycle through the churning, mechanical consumerism and politics we've come to depend on for everything in our lives. It's a way of providing a new outlook for my family, my readers, and it allows me to offer my kids the opportunity to sever ties with the social norms and non-questioning behaviors that continue to kill us, quite literally. It's my way of asking questions and encouraging them to do the same.
Why? What does it mean? How can it be done better?
I know I'm not solving our nation's problems, here. A homemade tube of toothpaste isn't going to fix the inequalities and terrors we face today. Homemade shampoo pales in comparison to those working to develop legislature, or creating petitions, or marching peacefully in protest. My hope, however, is that these silly little recipes, this focused effort on making meaningful choices, damning the man's standards, and exercising my right to live a life centered on responsibility, will ignite in my children a passion to move with purpose and meaning...to shun the phrase "ignorance is bliss" and to instead ask questions, to dig deeper, to investigate and clarify what it means to be a free country.
Blogging about deodorant doesn't create justice in a world that seems to have none...but if it convinces even just one person, just one person, to think outside the box, to extend beyond that which we've been raised to believe our entire lives, then maybe, just maybe, we have a shot at widening our minds to encompass the change we need to undergo as a nation and as individuals each and every day.
So without further ado, allow me to introduce to you....
Jen's Crunchy Life Experiment
For the next few Fridays I'm going to highlight a homemade product I've made and been using in my home. I'll discuss the cost comparison, the ingredients, the challenges, and every little detail in between. I'll divulge the facts and studies I've found that contrast with the faith I've traditionally had in our governmental regulating bodies. I will frame the contest, so to speak, and give you a firsthand perspective of how reducing my dependence on grocery stores has impacted my life.
You'll find out why my medicine cabinet looks like this:
And why my bathroom cabinet looks like this:
And how this could be a real life hair care routine:
And why I have random charts like this taped to the inside of my closet doors:
And who knows? Maybe following along or joining me in this little experiment will help you break through some of the mental barriers you have in your life and cause you to revisit things you never even realized were in there. And yea...sometimes, a simple glass jar full of lotion can do that...because even at its most basic level, change paves the way to a better you, a better me, a more peaceful we.
Thank you for reading, lovely friends.
Jen
