Pushmi-Pullyu

This Need Less, Give More experiment is chock full of catch-22s.

Like Dr. Dolittle's pushmi-pullyu, sometimes I can't decide which direction is right. For example, I want to cut back on my use of paper goods. Like my friend Dana, I want to stop using paper towels and napkins and use cloth instead. But that would mean I would have to buy cloth napkins. And so, I run headlong into the Need Less experiment. Under a strict interpretation of the rules I can't buy "things," but I can buy consumables. (I'm trying really hard not to mention soap.) Because paper towels and napkins are technically consumables, I could buy them. But I don't want to because the subcontext of this little experiment has to be creating less waste and using less of everything.

Do you think finger bowls are acceptable? Or should I just make all my guests use their sleeves? I guess I could start tearing up sheets and make my own napkins, but that just seems wrong.

Then yesterday I was at the grocery store actually buying groceries. As anyone who has looked in my fridge can attest, this is something I rarely do. But thinking I would turn over a new leaf (and because all the guys at work have me convinced that I should get prepared for inevitable Armageddon), I decided to put something other than Jägermeister and blue cheese dressing in my fridge.

Along comes the catch-22 again.

I only have two cloth grocery bags and I'm pretty sure all the groceries I need won't fit in just two. I don't want to use plastic bags, but under the rules of the experiment I can't buy any more cloth bags. Is there really anything wrong with just marching your cart full of loose groceries out to your car? Every place except Costco frowns on this practice for some reason. Maybe I should use pillow cases? Or hat boxes? I have plenty of those. But I think even the nice people at Harmon's would look at me funny if I walked in with a cart full of hat boxes and started filling them with bananas and tortillas and string cheese.

There has to be a way to stay true to the Need Less experiment and also use less of the consumable stuff too. Any ideas?

Stuff

Here is a link to a very interesting little film called "The Story of Stuff." It's very short and it's worth watching.

The Story of Stuff

The Little Brown Dress

Tonight my friend Rob introduced me to the most interesting blog about a woman who decided to wear the same "little brown dress" for a year--every day, all the time. Here is the link to her blog in case you are as enthralled by this concept as I am. I think it's brave and interesting. And, it's such a commentary on consumerism and feminism and poverty and a plethora of other "meanings" you can attach to this kind of performance art. I wish I would have thought of it. Or more accurately, I wish I was brave enough to embark on such a journey and stick with it for a year.

She designed and sewed the dress herself and then wore it while working and playing and dancing and gardening and everything except swimming and sleeping. She started on her birthday in June and ended one year later with a "un-dressing" party. She documented her journey with daily pictures and frequent blog entries.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since Rob showed it to me. I greedily read her blogs and looked at her pictures and felt stirred by the meaning behind her simple experiment.

Here is a quote from her blog: "So, here's the deal - I made this dress and I wore it every day for a year. I made one small, personal attempt to confront consumerism by refusing to change my dress for 365 days. In this performance, I challenged myself to reject the economic system that pushes over-consumption, and the bill of goods that has been sold, especially to women, about what makes a person good, attractive and interesting. Clothes are a big part of this image, and the expectation in time, effort, and financial investment is immense."

I think I want my own experiment. No, I won't be wearing a little brown dress every day for a year, but I want to do some kind of challenge. I'm not sure what it will be yet, but I'm hoping to think of it by my birthday in August. I have some ideas, but they are still running around in my brain for now. I do know I want to spend a year with an intentional framework. I want to have something to contrast changes against and something progressive to document. Something that will force me to think on a higher level and sacrifice a bit of comfort in favor of expression and higher purpose and meaning.

I'm open to ideas.