The Side Effects

Mindfulness goes hand-in-hand with mastery. What you put in your body, how you spend your time. My newest quest has had an not surprising yet unexpected effect- mindfulness. I've become acutely aware of not just what I'm putting into my body but what comes into my home. It's like the vegetarian challenge, only for my house.

Along with mindfulness is awareness. I was blissfully ignorant. And it's devastating when you see exactly how wasteful our culture is. Mindlessly wasteful. It's not like we are all aware and choosing the path anyways. We don't even realize it. We are so accustomed to buying, unwrapping, throwing away it's insane. It’s been habitualized. I'm not just referring to the plastic free produce movement. I'm talking about the half sandwich left on your plate. The "oh, it broke, I'll buy a new one" moments. The excessive number or shirts we all own but don't wear, the 6 spatulas we each have but only use the favourite one, the 12 different Phillip screwdrivers, the latest fashion we must keep with, the newest device we feel we need. Buying, buying, buying things.

Another effect has been the emotional impact. I never thought I’d become so emotionally invested, becoming more and more driven to see this through. I’m thrilled at the changes I’ve made and I feel pride in my accomplishments. However, I feel devastated by how driven we are as a culture by consumerism. Sorrow at our mindless actions and negative impact. Anger at the greed that convinces us to fill our lives with unfulfilling things.

I have a long ways to go. I’m thankful that my husband gets it, is changing and accepting change. But we still have so far to go.

Love people. Use things. The opposite never works. -Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus

• Khona Rybak