simple days with bonnie rae

Hi there!

This weekend I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed. I recently read the book Toxic Free. The book explains how basically everything around us is a chemical and we are constantly breathing them in, spraying them on us, or eating them.

The book is extremely well written and researched. It is full of important and largely unknown information. It was also completely overwhelming for me.

After reading it I ran around our apartment grabbing anything and everything that contained chemicals and I either recycled it, took it to a chemical drop off site, or got rid of it.  I completely panicked!

The next morning I had a moment of clarity- being a conscious consumer is hard.

Constantly thinking about doing no harm to the planet, to people, and to animals can be exhausting. Don’t get me wrong, it is so important. Now that I know about where products come from and how they are made I can’t not think about it. I’m not saying that it’s not important, and I’m not saying that it’s not worth it. I am saying that it can be hard.

Sometimes I read blogs or books that make living a more slow, intentional, and sustainable life seem easy or instantaneous. I read about these inspirational people living zero-waste, zero-harm lives and I feel less than or overwhelmed.

Feeling overwhelmed can lead to feeling powerless. I don’t like that feeling, so I’ve decided to shift my mindset.

Instead of feeling powerless because I can’t do everything perfectly or all at once, I am going to shift my mantra. Instead of aiming to “do not harm” I am aiming to “do good”.

The choices we make are going to have some sort of negative impact somewhere, unless you’re a nudist living on a beach surviving solely off the sun (and if you are more power to you). By adopting a “do good” mentality you can focus on the good things you are doing for yourself, for other beings, and for the environment.

Instead of beating ourselves up for not doing everything right now or in the exactly right way, why don’t we focus on the good we are doing? What are we doing right?

Here are a few of the things I am doing that are good. I don’t eat meat or dairy, I buy organic produce,  I use natural beauty products, and I remember to bring my reusable bags with me about 80% of the times I shop.

I’m not “doing no harm” but I know I am doing some good. What are you doing that you know is good? I bet it’s more than you think.

I think the weather and the sun knew I was doing some good so they showed up in Virginia this weekend. It has been sunny and warm, and Kiley and I have been playing all day!

Here’s the casual and comfy outfit from my current capsule wardrobe (another “do good”thing) that I wore on this sunny, lazy day.

Sweater (ThreadUp)

Leggings (Forever21)

Sneakers (Nike Outlet)

As always, thank you for reading!

More soon,

Bonnie Rae xx