The Reluctant Hippie

Day 1.  A momentous occasion.  Over the past few years, I've chatted with many people who hold strong opinions about the chemicals (in foods, cleaning products, and beauty products, for example) we are exposed to everyday.  At first I was skeptical.  I listened to them talk about Whole Foods and Fair Trade and other hippie nonsense with amusement (despite outer appearances of utmost politeness, of course).  It wasn't that I thought these people were naive or dumb.  It was more of a refusal to accept that I could possibly be doing anything wrong.  How dare people challenge my diet sodas, my fragrant bodywashes with unpronounceable ingredients, my brightly colored M&Ms and Blow Pops!  And pity the fool who questions my caffeine intake!  After all, I was quite healthy and had been cozy with all kinds of chemicals for over 20 years.  How dare them, indeed.

But then I started thinking: maybe I'm not that healthy after all.  I have a mild seizure disorder, and have suffered from anxiety/depression as well as an eating disorder.  I sometimes get fatigued easily.  I almost never get quite enough sleep, and I often have a hard time focusing.  The point: It might be time to change some of my ways.     

So here I am, reluctantly becoming a hippie.  My definition of "hippie" may not be the same as yours.  To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how I define a hippie, but generally it is someone who is trying to live well, simply and sustainably.

So here are my goals.  I attempted to arrange them in order of priority and probable length of time to reach them:

1. Eat whole foods.
2. Avoid refined grains and processed carbohydrates.
3. Avoid excess sugar.
4. Stop using artificial sweeteners.
5. Avoid "bad" plastics.
6. Reduce waste.
7. Reduce energy consumption.
8.  Use natural body care products.
9. Grow my own food.
10. Do it myself. (This basically means making the products I currently rely on Target to provide.)

 This is just a starting point, and these goals are subject to change, but this is basically what I want to accomplish.

Thanks for joining me.