Reposting Compact Life

I wanted to repost an entry from my old, personal blog, wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi is an old Japanese view that finds beauty in the imperfect. It accepts the impermanence of all living things on this planet. It defines much of my own beliefs.

Let us start with "Compact Life", From January 24, 2010

I feel like a new me, though still very frustrated and upset with the lifestyle my career is forcing me to have, I am doing my best to eat healthier, exercise more, and live a more fulfilling life. I have been eating fresh fruits, I made my own banana nut muffins to have for breakfast, I'm making sandwiches for lunch instead of prepackaged foods, and I'm keeping a food journal to keep track of it all. I've been going to zumba regularly, and as frequently as possible...aaaand I just bought a 4 DVD set of zumba exercises off ebay :).
I spent a shit ton of money at Target buying fitness stuff, and then more money on ebay getting yoga bricks.

I've been shopping on ebay because I'm trying to live a more "compact" life. I read an article about a group of ladies in california living, what they called, "compactly". They only bought used. With the exception of toiletries, food, essentials, and underwear, everything was purchased at vintage shops, salvage stores, flea markets, and the like. I can't find that article again, but that isn't stopping me from living this way myself. I only decided this Friday afternoon, so I don't have much to boast for. The DVDs were used...the yoga bricks weren't. (I suppose that must be considered unsanitary, though, because ebay didn't even offer any used.) But I'm really excited about this. I feel healthier and better about myself already!

The compact lifestyle has gone well. Not a perfect success, but I'm still proud. I've bought my clothes used a thrift stores, books used off Amazon or in local used book stores, I occasionally made some purchases of items new- usually "green" items that I can only find new. I buy magazines- paper, not online- but they teach me to live a better life.

I strongly urge everyone to buy only used, it teaches discipline and respect for the planet. How so? Check out this website: The Story of Stuff