Shift

As they say "Shift Happens" .  It is building in my life.  Little things.  I read Ara's essay/post on Faith.  He said that word sums up what he is feeling.  Faith.  It resonated with me.  Simple.  No dogma.  Just Faith.  I like it.  Faith that things will work as they are meant to and/or that I'll have the strength to deal.  And so, a bit of shift happened. 

Tonight I read a blog by someone who is going a year without using any single-use plastic.  Ok, stop for a minute and think about that.  Think about today.  Think how often you used single use plastic.  Straw in your softdrink?  Plastic cup?  Plastic eating utensils?  Plastic bag to hold the healthy produce you got at the store?  Plastic bag to put the groceries in you bought?  Think about it.  Then think about not using any of that, no plastic peanut butter jars, mayonnaise bottles, no single use plastic, for an entire year.  I do well remembering to take along my reusable water bottles.  About half the time I remember to take in my reusable cloth bags when I go shopping.  I know those two things alone are a trash nightmare. 

I'm thinking of the plastic utensils I have.  I bought a large box of them at Sam's at some point in my past.  Or, more likely, Mom got them for me when I was moving or something so I wouldn't have to do dishes.  It's more convenient, you know.  I don't use plastic utensils for a single use, I wash them and reuse them.  It was funny to watch my guest this weekend sort through my 'silverware' drawer to find me a metal spoon.  It took her a minute to move the plastic ones out of the way.  And, it was for me, not her.  I don't expect my guests (what few there are) to use my plastic utensils, there is the sanitary thing for one.  I get them the metal ones.  So, anyway, I've carted this large box of unused plastic utensils around for maybe 10 years now.  I think I'll take them into work for them to use.  Yes, it's single use, but it would be worse to throw them away not even getting that single use out of them.  And so another bit of shift happens. 

At some point I'll post about my friend's visit.  I took pictures with my digital camera, which means that I need to download them.  I'll see how it goes.  My apartment is more uncluttered than it's been for awhile since I cleaned for company.  I think I'll just pull one thing out at a time to deal with.  I like the empty spaces that are there now. 

Something I'm noticing, especially since I read a reference (on a blog, of course) about someone hiring a feng shui professional to arrange their apartment, is that I tend to block doorways and passages.  I pile stuff in front of my main door, my sliding patio door, and now the door to my primary bathroom.  I'm going to work on that first.  I know I'm unconsciously blocking progress.  So, I'll move the stuff and get ready for more shift to happen.