Wednesday, April 8, 2009

How convenient is convenience, really?

"Convenience items are designed to be lifestyle addictive. They're designed, not to make your life easier, but to make you consume them over and over again. They give you the illusion of ease while sapping you of yet another lifeskill. Think microwave food - you don't have to cook! Some rob you of honest human interaction. Think bank ATM - no need to ever meet the person you are entrusting all your money to! Others remove the need to perform even a little bit of exercise. Think Swiffer - you never have to bend over to deal with a dust pan, just throw that nasty cloth right in the trash when you're done! The more convenience items we rely on the more consumption we become addicted to and we're getting more and more tired every day trying to keep up with it all."

You can read the rest of this inspirational post here, at Rabbit Hill Farm. I highly recommend paying this blog a visit and reading the rest of the post. The solution? Slow down! Pick one thing, just one thing, that you can do simply, the old fashioned way, the not-out-of-a-tin way. Then do it! And love doing it. When you're ready, choose something else.

Here's a random thought: ever since switching to all wooden pegs, I find I love hanging out the laundry! Some of my pegs are dolly pegs, which make me think of my grandmother. All the other pegs are hand oiled wood which are easy to mend if the spring comes off, and which seem to me to be able to.....breathe.

3 comments:

Jac's Mum said...

I will think on the Eco topics for the post above, from a "what would I like you to show me" perspective. In the meantime, re- the wooden pegs - are they not staining your light coloured clothes? We used these at home all the time when I was a girl, but I always remember the marks they would leave on white things.

Threads of Light said...

No they aren't staining at all, maybe it's because I oiled them? (rubbed olive oil on then let it soak in) I think the staining comes from the effects of water on the untreated wood/metal springs.
I'll look forward to your ideas for the workshop :)

Threads of Light said...

Something else I've just thought of re-the pegs: I keep them in a messenger style bag, don't leave them on the line; maybe this helps preserve their non-stainingness.