Super Eco

Photo credit: ms. lume on flickr

"If I regarded my life from the point of view of the pessimist, I should be undone. I should seek in vain for the light that does not visit my eyes and the music that does not ring in my ears. I should beg night and day and never be satisfied. I should sit apart in awful solitude, a prey to fear and despair. But since I consider it a duty to myself and to others to be happy, I escape a misery worse than any physical deprivation."
Helen Keller

To me a ritual is like the string on a balloon, an instrument which tethers us to our best dreams, hopes and desires. A tool for mindfulness and a prelude to action, a path to joy.

Establishing simple green rituals, for ourselves and our families, is a way to ground ourselves in green action, a small celebration which verifies our intent.

Here are some simple everyday mindful things:

1. When you wake up, don't just pop out of bed, take a moment to breathe in the morning, stretch, hop up and sing a little song (it worked for Tom Bombadil!)
2. Carry a little packet of birdseed in your pocket to give to the grateful birds or a lucky squirrel, you will feel like a hero for a few pennies.
3. Make it a point to brighten at least one person's day with a greeting or a thoughtful deed.
4. Whether you get to eat slowly or bolt your food on the run, taste it and enjoy each bite.
5. Compost your leftover food, think of it as a way to return bounty to the earth.
6. Think of recycling as a charitable act, do it lovingly.
7. Really see when you look and try to learn at least one new thing every day.
8. Make a game of seeing how little paper you can use in a day or whether you can go a day without using plastic.
9. Wear something that makes you smile, laugh when you can.
10. Listen to music or find the music in your ambient world.
11. Dance a little each day, imagine the cells in your body rejoicing.

Remember happiness is very green!!!