A Joyous Perspective on Consuming: What Nature teaches us about living with less.

It's Friday, and time for another Friday Night Thought Tale Hour with the Hendersons. This week, two events transpired in unison in my life. First, I set out to plant my Summer garden, which has become an important annual event for me. Second, I began the home stretch of finishing up the first course of a Master's Degree program I've embarked upon. The course happens to be focused on how we are influenced by the Environment, so the two events had a great deal to do with one another. There was, even more, alignment as I had chosen the subject of "Eating Locally" as the topic for my final research paper. So I thought I'd share tonight with you all about some of the incredible things gardens and growing my own food has done for me. I might even get a jump on my paper right?

But even before I began my outline, I hit a snag.

I was talking to Chris about the subject of my paper, and how I thought this was something we all just needed and even should require ourselves to do. In his completely logical and scientific manner, he asked, "So. Eating "locally" means 50-mile radius. Hmmm. What about when you don't like what is within your radius, and you want something else? How many people, other than people who eat a lot of green stuff, are really going to do that?" I wanted to lecture and argue with him, but I knew he was right. We live in the land of plenty, don't we? Not many of us, even those who find themselves wondering about where the next meal is coming from, would be willing only to eat what was in our local garden, farm or dairy. We want more variety... More... More...

Which brought me to the realization that this 

can only be accomplished through a life of less.

Before you stop reading, give me a chance to woo you into considering this concept. We often align the definition of less as being something very negative, unless it means what we weigh or how hard we have to work. We think that if we have or attain less, we must not have done something right. After all, if we can go to the store and buy as much as we want and still find more, we are the American dream incarnate correct? And after it's all used up, no worries, we can get more. Consider for a moment the complications of this process. Do you really ever know how much you have? Can you name what is unique about each thing and why? And then there is the waste. Stuff that just goes bad or gathers dust. Once it's used and ready to toss, it goes where? 

In short, a life of excess is a life of stress.

When I look at nature, I see an existence that thrives on less. While my little garden plants can count on me to care for them, they don't expect it. They certainly live 'locally,' only growing from what is around them. I took some time to think about this as I was planting this week. In a straightforward, simple and beautiful way, nature teaches us what I think are five crucial lessons about what living with less can do for us in creating a more simple life. A life more free of stress, and more full of productivity. 

1) Determination: Nature is pretty hard to stop. Weeds and grass grow with dogged determination. If you want to thrive with less, you can do it.

2) Strength in adversity: Have you ever pruned or cut back a plant only to wonder whether you ever actually did, because now the greenery has exploded into an amazing array? That's what happens to us to when we cut back. We bloom. We get healthier in the process. 

3) Adaptability: Plants learn how to handle the four seasons and even the seasons within the seasons. That's because they don't have outside sources to shield them. Learning to live with less teaches us how to find what we have right around us. To adapt means to thrive.

4) Storing inner strength: Nature knows that abundant sunshine can be followed by abundant rain. Living with less doesn't mean there are not times of abundance, and it doesn't fault those times either. But rather than use up that resource, you store it away for later. Like canning, but for the soul. Pulling it out when needed later.

5) Collaboration: My plants and bees are the greatest partnership ever witnessed. They get exactly what they need from each other, and neither asks for more than is required. Even in our land of plenty, we are a part of a large human partnership. We can strive never to need anyone and stand alone as a monolith, but at some point, we can't do it all alone. The simplest life can often mean the purest of collaborations with those within our little spheres of existence. But you have to start with less to find them, or they will get covered up in all the complications.

So while love is great, perhaps all you need is less...

So tonight, Chris and I will be drinking something that uses a lot of local ingredients, called a Midwest Mule. I hope you will consider taking some time to think about what you can do without. Rather than taking another _____, perhaps you'll just appreciate what you currently have. Maybe instead of grabbing something off of the shelf at the store and not considering it's source, you'll look for local or near local instead. Believe it or not, just these small changes can add up to a much simpler existence for you, and contribute to a healthier a one for all of us. Cheers, Friends!

Joy's Midwest Mule***

2 oz of Prairie Organic Vodka

3 oz of Ginger Kombucha

1 oz of Simple Life "Gypsy" wine

Fill two mule mugs with ice. Add each ingredient. Stir lightly. Garnish with local fruit and basil. Cheers. 

***Always drink responsibly.