Friday, April 22, 2016

Getting to 6 months and still feeling fantastic!!!



Time for yet another update on that wonderful adventure I embark on on Nov 29th 2015...

Remember by 367 days shopping ban? You can read about it here...

And the latest update was almost 3 months ago!

As we are now April 22nd, I can say that I am almost half way... or am I??? This has been so much easier then I thought... I don't think I will ever go back to my old ways!!! I don't even feel good being in a regular store anymore!!! All I can see is the misery this is causing... and it makes me want to cry!

Lately I have gotten for summer:
1) a skirt locally made by an artist who uses only upcycled fabrics - I loved the idea more then I needed the skirt and I also wanted to encourage her! Plus it is super cute and I'll wear it for years to come!
2) a pair of pants that I turned into short from Value Village - these are the result of me throwing away a pair of short that was to big for me now as I had it for years and wore it with a belt...
3) a skirt from Value Village that can actually be 4 seasons - these are the result of having a pair of short that is now to small for me as I have gained weight over the last winter

These items actually follow the rules... maybe not 1) per say as I did not really needed it but I can live with it since it is not using new fabric and it is locally made by an amazing woman!

I may have to look into a few tops now - thinking one red and one brown... but it can wait.... and I need to still follow my rules!

I also bought a pair of hiking shoes brand new of course.... as my husband and I are planning on taking up this activity (I mentioned it 3 months ago)... I needed some good footwear not to hurt myself. And actually my husband bought them for me so I did not spend the money... technically! I said I would accept gift and this was a lovely one!

Aside from those new shoes I am doing pretty good...at not buying anything new and for myself when I don't need it! I actually do not even "desire" stuff anymore! Who would have thought I would say that one day???

I have completed 6 months and didn't really buy anything from "real store" aside from a shirt as I had received a gift card from American Eagle... and underwear - There is not way I am buying this used!

I keep getting my books at the library... or used book store where I can resell them later...

I honestly thought I would struggle more with this then I do... but it feels good not to! Because I have so much time on my hand now I started a reading marathon! My objective is to have read 42 books in 2016! I am now up to 17!!! The public library is now my favorite place!

I also picked up my yoga/meditation practice... and I am starting to work out for those hiking trips my husband and I are planning on!

Be who you are... DREAM your life... LIVE your dream...
namaste
love&peace,
chloe
xox

Friday, April 15, 2016

Meaning and Purpose...


This post came to me while I was doing today's yoga practise...

For years, I have been looking for a meaning to my life... for a purpose...  thinking there MUST be more... there HAS to be more than this...

And my husband and I strongly disagreed on the subject... one of the only one...  but I must admit today, he may have been right... He use to tell me that there is no meaning to life... none of it makes sense... and we have no real purpose aside from living...  doing the best we can with what we have... all based on loving kindness...

Well what if life has no meaning?  What if none of it makes sense really?  And the "older" I get, the more I seem to realize that nothing makes much sense...  nothing is really explainable... and I am not saying that in a way that makes you completely out of control of your life...  I still think that the decisions we made in our past makes us who we are today and dictates the conditions of our lives...  and so it goes for our future which is design based on what we do today! But in the big picture, nothing REALLY makes sense... you can't scientifically come up with rules or equations that explain life... and that, may, in the end, be the beauty of it.  There is not direct consistent action-reaction relationship. A complete stranger and I can make the same decision today and five months from now it will have brought us in two completely different places... What if the meaning of life was just for us to be alive and part of something bigger?  Do any other animals inquire about their meaning on this planet?  In this Universe?  They simply live... that is their meaning.   Maybe ours is just that too. Maybe we are wasting time trying to find meaning to something that doesn't have any and it robs us of our precious time here on this planet.  For time is infinite for the Universe but quite finite for us. This is why, in today's practise, I came with this huge urge to just live my life and stop looking for meaning... And this is what I will do from now on. No more searching. Just living.

And what if each and every one of us do not really have a specific purpose?  What if our purpose is just to do the best we can with what we have... always based on love?  What if the purpose was simply love? I am not saying that you or I don't matter....  I strongly believe that we do matters and everything we do/think matters...  but there probably is no written purpose anywhere for every human stepping foot on the face of this planet...  If our purpose is just love in all aspect of our lives everything seems so simple...  just love your life!  Love yourself... Love your friends and family... Love where you live... Love your home...  Love your "just enough" material possessions... Love your work...  Love your free time...  Love your leisure activities... Love the fact that ALL of it will come and go... nothing last forever... but there is always someone else or something else to love... Love the fact that there will be good times and bad times... for without the bad times we would not appreciate the good ones...  and without the good ones we'd have nothing to hope for when the bad times are there...

And again, I spent so much time trying to find a bigger purpose to my life...  but WHY?  I love my son and husband...  I love cooking for them... I love my job...  I love my very few friends....  I love what I can do with my free time... and that is a great PURPOSE in life:  LOVE!   I believe that if everyone would love their life as much as I do, this world would be a better place as no one would be looking/searching for something else all the time... people would be less stress...  lest anxious...  There would be no need for over consumption, addictions, and all those "modern illness" caused by the fact that we think there is something bigger and we must attain it! And then at this point, it will all makes sense...

Nothing makes sense
There is no bigger purpose then love
And yes you do matter

Be who you are... DREAM your life... LIVE your dream...
namaste
love&peace,
chloe
xox
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