simple days with bonnie rae

“The environment is in us, not outside of us. The trees are our lungs, the rivers our bloodstream. We are all interconnected, and what you do to the environment, ultimately you to do yourself.” Ian Somerhalder

In Virginia we’ve had a taste of spring. A few seventy degree days with tulips blooming and birds singing. It’s too early for spring, the earth should still be sleeping. Because of human activity the earth is too warm, she’s trying to show us what we’re doing to her.

It is hard to love the spring here when I know it has come too soon. And yet, each warm day I thank the sun for shining. I thank the warm wind for reminding me that winter does not last forever. And I am reminded that this simple life I am after is because of our hurting earth.

If we are going to live and thrive here we have to consume less, use less, value quality over quantity.

Our little earth needs us to slow down so that she may slow down, too.

This spring, look at all that surrounds you. What are you holding onto that can be passed on. Donated so that someone who needs it can find it. Do not hold onto items “just in case” someone else may need it now.

Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, repair. For when a flower does not bloom you fix the environment, not the flower.

Pour yourself a big glass of water, put on music that makes your heart happy, throw open (or crack) the windows, sort through your things by category or by room. I start with categories: clothing, books, paper, and then the rest. Others go room to room touching each item they own and asking if they need it or love it. And when the items are gone do not bring in new things that you do not need. Do not destroy the earth in the name of stuff. Do not give your dollar, your vote, to the companies that break and destroy the earth in the name of progress. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.

When you have less, much less, you will no longer stay home to care for and clean your things. You will walk out your door and see what we are here for. See yourself in all the earth and all the beings, and see all the earth and all the beings in you. 

The earth does not belong to us, we belong to it. 

More soon,

Bonnie Rae xx

P.S. Spring cleaning and decluttering go hand in hand. Use natural cleaners for the earth and for your self.