Saturday, January 26, 2008

Moving Right Along

{I always loved that song from the original Muppet Movie. Does anyone else remember it? I had the album and memorized every song. Played it over and over again in my bedroom as a kid. And the year before last, I asked for the DVD as a Christmas gift! And don't you know all the lyrics came right back to me. Amazing!}

Big things are happening this week at Not Buying It central. To recap, first on spending:

*I saved $80 by asking for samples of a prescription instead of paying for a 90-day refill. Sweet!

*We're eating at home more and more these days. Homemade pizza, pasta, beans & rice vs. our usual habit of eating out a lot is saving us much moohla.

*I scored 3 pair of used Levi's from my husband. (I'd been needing some new jeans. Won't lament on the fact that we wear the same size :-0) They were in the give-away pile and I was the lucky recipient. They're comfy and a perfect fit. Very cool!

*I took advantage of a FREE 1-hour massage that was a holiday gift from my new boss. Extra sweet!

*AND...you'll be happy to know that I received two copies of this book in the mail. The author responded favorably to my request! I hadn't heard back from her and was quite surprised when they arrived. Yippee! (Much gratitude to Kathleen Hall Jamieson and the Annenberg School for their generosity.)

And now for the action part:

I felt extra brave and empowered this week and have been spreading my little non-violent protest idea around. With the number of comments you've posted, I knew I was on to something. Here's what has transpired:

*You'll notice that the author of the book that inspired this Not Buying It blog weighed in with a comment on my first post! Many thanks to Judith Levine for her encouraging words of support :-) (I sent her an email letting her know of my blog and not spending the tax check idea.)

*The founder of the Simple Living Network, Dave Wampler, sent me an email saying he thinks my idea is fantastic. After reading the email I sent them, he crafted an awesome poster in PDF form that can be downloaded and passed around. (On the bottom of the poster, it has a copyright for the Simple Living Network then it says "Inspired by Lisa Ottman." How cool is that?!?!?!) I'll let you know when it's ready for distribution.

*I've been in touch with other organizations, like these great folks and these fellow travelers to see if they'd like to help spread the word.

Oh, this sure is fun!

In searching for my authentic self, it seems I have discovered my voice once again. Others have shared their lights brightly so that a spark would be kindled in my life. I'm stoking the coals and fanning the flames as my light shines stronger each day.

Many thanks to each of you for your comments and encouraging energy this week. There have been tears of joy and high fives in our household because of you!


3 comments:

GailNHB said...

LOVE THIS POST, Lisa. I've clicked on nearly all the links and want to know more, more, more, but buy less, less, less. I do find it somewhat amusing that all the simply living websites have so many things to sell! But I suppose they have to eat too. Anyway, thanks for the good info and challenges. A lot to think about. A whole lot.

Westcoast Walker said...

Keep it up Lisa, I hope this snowballs into one great big "not buying it" frenzy that inspires many others to think about consuming less.

My small step has been to use the library a lot more now - I rarely buy or rent videos anymore, and I take the kids there on weekends to pick out a movie and some books. A small step, though it has been a concrete way to teach my kids that you don't have to own everything, you can simply enjoy something and then pass it around.

dguzman said...

hee hee -- "Gee, I've never seen the sun come up in the west???" -- hee hee!

New to your blog, and very interested. We try to buy local when we buy, but buying less is a worthy goal! I can't wait to read more about your experiences.

 
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