I’m constantly on the hunt for the new, the exciting, the inspirational. If only I can find that one thing that’ll make a difference, I will feel better, I will feel fulfilled, I will have finally arrived. (Arrived, where? No clue!) This bleeds into every area of my life, and in those moments when I don’t feel satisfied, this is why.
In the last year, I’ve developed a deep interest in sustainability. When I was a kid, there was a period of time during which I’d say I wanted to be an ecologist. Of course, I had no idea what that actually meant. All I knew is that a) I thought recycling was cool, b) I wanted to do it, since I didn’t grow up in places where that was really a thing, and c) I wanted to teach others about it, too.
Cue in the long laundry list of all of the other things I decided I was going to be when I grew up, and I eventually forgot about being an ecologist and my interest in recycling. What lingered was my love of our planet, of nature, and of generally taking care of it, but that was the extent of it.
At some point during the first half of 2019 (I can’t quite remember when), I became absolutely horrified at the amount of waste I was producing on my own, let alone with my partner. I couldn’t believe it – even though it had been under my nose all along, I had never truly seen it. Until I did, and I felt ashamed.
Getting over that shame took me a while. I dove head first, and very deeply, down a rabbit hole that led me to where I am today: living as low-waste as I am able based on my current lifestyle and steadily striving towards “zero” waste ( in quotes because, until we fix the whole system, true zero waste is not possible).
I’ve been learning about why we’re at the point of a crisis and what small actions we can take on a daily basis that, in the long-term, create a ripple effect and a big impact. I’ve had a hard time shutting up about it. I share with strangers that comment on the fact that I bring my own reusable mug to coffee shops, or with those that catch me at the office sifting through others’ trash and moving things into the appropriate recycling or compost bin (guilty). I’ve been so incessant about it, that now even my boyfriend has started correcting other people when they throw things away and all of the presents that my parents received during last Christmas had to do with becoming more sustainable (yes, yes… I can get carried away. I blame it on being passionate).
All of this to say the following:
1) I have a lot of information, knowledge, and lessons that I’ve learned from embarking on this evolving journey that I would like to offer up to the world. Therefore, I’m starting a separate blog dedicated to sustainability. My intention is that it serves as a resource for others and as a way to educate through my own experience.
The blog is under construction, and it will exist in both English and Spanish. I will launch it once it’s ready, and not a moment sooner :)
2) For the first time in a really long time, I’ve truly started falling in love with what I already have. And this goes for every aspect and area of my life, from the tangible to the intangible. I’m not always good at it, but since becoming more sustainable involves a deeper level of awareness of the choices I make each day, it has really helped me hone in on the abundance that overflows all around me. It’s a beautiful thing.
I may still have it hardwired in me that the new, the exciting, the inspirational is what I should be chasing. I’ll continue to work on that, but in the meantime, I’ve begun learning that satisfaction is a choice –a state of mind and a state of being– and that I can fully achieve it and feel it in this moment, right now, with what I have and don’t have, because it is all enough.
I am enough.
Photo by: Belén Alemán / La Habana, Cuba
belén/alemán 