Author: honeythatsok

Beyond shopping

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Vote with your money! The first, and easiest, step toward sustainability is to become conscious of where our money go and what our money buy. Shopping for useful and not-so-useful items is the cornerstone of our consumer-based economy and while it’s near impossible to reject this comfortable and ingrained behavior, it is possible to shop almost anything and support socially responsible businesses and small, independent entrepreneurs at the same time! Things I like to consider before purchase: If the company is independent or part of a larger corporation. This one is tricky because companies rarely advertise this. The only way to find out is through your trusty best friend; Google. My rule of thumb is that most household brands that you find in your local grocery store now belong to the powerhouses, so avoid them. The global giants of commerce don’t need any more of your money because they now use it to plunder, pollute and enslave the planet while buying all the political power they can get to ensure their stronghold monopoly. That’s why …

My favorite painter: Charmaine Olivia

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I just bought Violet! I’m so excited – my very first non-commercial art acquisition. This painting is part of Charmaine Olivia’s new collection called Muses and the exhibition was held in San Fransisco earlier this month. Unfortunately I was not able to attend but Charmaine now offers limited edition prints on her website for worldwide fans.

Things I love about Hawaii

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Sunshine. The perfect balance between sun and rain, making the rain almost always welcome when it comes for a day or two every six-eight weeks. The hardly-ever-below 20 degrees Celsius temperature, even at night. The hardly-ever above 32 degrees Celsius heat. The many fine sandy beaches. The fact there is still possible to find an empty beach if you know where to look. The color of lush rain forest – deep, crisp green! Tropical flowers. All the palm trees, although imported. The fact that, even carefully planted and strategically placed, palm trees always looks natural and lifts the spirit. Most Hawaiians know how lucky they are to call the islands home and do what they can to preserve and protect them. Kona Longboard beer. Fresh seared Ahi. Hono/Turtles, and the fact that they are treasured and protected. Swimming with a  turtle is the most amazing form of meditation and you emerge with a new sense of calm of spirit and a desire to protect all marine life. Hawaii’s past. Every time I drive up Pali …

TV’s strong heroines

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It’s no secret that I love storytellers. They come in all forms; writers, filmmakers, journalists, musicians, painters, photographers. It is the basis for this blog – that the stories we tell ourselves shape the way we live our lives, and so they are very important. The question is what kind of stories are we exposed to? What were the stories that shaped my core that holds the beliefs after which I construct the world around me? Do my stories correspond to those of the people around me enough so we can co-exist peacefully together? In many places around the world the stories people tell themselves cause very real conflicts leading to suffering, plights and death. Politics is about making your beliefs into a reality that benefits the majority of the people living in that area, but leaving enough liberty for those who do not agree with you to also live fulfilling lives. But every day we witness the terrible consequences when people in power take it upon themselves to force their stories, with violence, persuasion …

Weekend in Maui

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A belated celebration weekend in Maui with my love. There were no end to the things we had saved up to celebrate; our fourth anniversary, my birthday, his end-of-semester, Christmas, Valentines, our engagement, us, love and life! It was the perfect way to close this chapter and I’m ready to embark on the next one now. I can tell because I have a very strong desire to dye my hair back to brown. The blonde me was a knowledge-gathering drifting student in Honolulu. Brunette me means business, in more ways than one. I really want to start a little business of my own because if there is one thing this year has taught me is that a sustainable life means live your values and value how you live. Dozens of job applications later it dawned on me that most jobs advertised are about making already wealthy people wealthier. The best thing I can do for this planet and my happiness is to make my living from an ecologically sustainable source. What a win-win situation! I …

10 steps to a sustainable life: Step 2 (Choose your culture)

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Don’t just accept what is presented – choose your culture carefully. A lot of our Western civilization has become toxic. It is mainly constructed around consumption in the past 100 years, with devastating effects on our environment, natural world, and even our health. You can decide for yourself if this was all pre-planned evil conspiracy, but personally I think it was just average human short-sightedness and our common desire for comfort, combined with human ingenuity. The second industrial revolution fueled by oil has spanned into the first truly global empire – powered by cheap labor and ruthless exploration of resources. As we find ourselves in the age of information it is very easy to get overwhelmed. In fact, keeping the population overwhelmed serves as a goal in itself because then you don’t have time to contemplate the fundamental things – such as why am I being bombarded with all this junk? (See Step 1) Shouldn’t our goal be to leave this planet in better shape than we found it; more beautiful, in better health, a …

10 steps to a sustainable life: Step 1 (Limit consumption and stop polluting your mind)

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Don’t let advertising win. Make a rule to never impulse buy – if you remember it five days later, you can buy it. This rule alone should cut your consumer spending by 60% or more. When I go window shopping, in person or on the internet, and “pass up” cute things, I find myself barely remembering what it was by the time I leave the store, never mind three days later. It also gives you time to reflect how this new item would fit into your life – whether it is clothes or a new gadget. Do you really need it? I’m a girl and I like clothes (fashion is like wearable art to me) but I’ve realized I tend to buy the same things over and over, because that is what I like. How many navy blue, off-the-shoulder knitted sweaters do I really need? Recognize that the advertising industry is an industry designed to make you feel inferior and bad about yourself. It’s a billion dollar industry and they are very, very good at …

I propose the following ground rules for intelligent debate:

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1) Earth is the only home we are going to have in the foreseeable future so we have to care for it as such. When the question is “profit or planet?” the planet should always win. How many people do you know that are constantly destroying and selling off parts of their house to make some money? The logical outcome is that eventually they end up with no home and some money, so I guess they would buy a new home when they are done. But remember, we have no second planet. 2) Humans and all living things need air, water and food to survive. Therefore, making sure those are healthy is our number one priority. You will not be able to eat money after your food has given you cancer, your drinking water is toxic, and once we run out of clean air, well, you’re dead in three minutes or less. 3) Aside from shooting things into outer space, there is no “away”. Garbage and waste will eventually find its way back to you …

What does freedom mean to you?

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Perfect timing for this TED talk! I think one of my favorite things about living in Hawaii for three years is the acute sense of transience and how it’s changed my views on possessions. There is only one way off this island – by plane – and each suitcase cost anything between $25-50 to transport. I have made a conscious choice to limit my possessions to two suitcases. Like most girls, I love fashion and clothes but the big change that I made is that I started selling off clothes and other items that I *didn’t* love. In two years I have made almost $4,000 on eBay selling over 100 pieces from my closet, and the scariest part is that I don’t remember a single one of them. For the money I renewed my wardrobe and I actually love every piece in it now. I like clothes because it’s wearable art to reflect or enhance your personality (you have to wear it anyway, so why not wear something that makes you happy.) When you make …

The art of solitude.

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I’ve spent many Saturday nights like this. Contently alone, but restless. For some reason I thought I would outgrow it – this desperate longing to be anywhere but here, that anything fun is happening somewhere else, and that if I was there, too, I would finally feel complete and fulfilled. It’s the feeling that caused me to travel the globe for the better part of ten years, always in search of a beach, a building, a person. A feeling. I know now that an empty hotel room is a thousand times lonelier than a home, so I am grateful to have a home that I love so much. I know that trying too hard to insert yourself into somebody else’s life is a recipe for heartbreak, and that a beach, or a building, is just that unless you are there with the right people. So the only way to truly be happy is to be happy with your life and make sure that it is everything you want it to be, or at least on …