it's all that you can do on this side of the blue

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses.

 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream

 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. 

When you think about America, it is evident that people are finding themselves more and more unhappy with the lives they are leading because they spend so much of their time and money thinking about money and what they can consume with it. Americans are turning into money and power hungry forces of mass destruction. We are buying things we do not need and will probably not even want in a year.  If, perhaps, people focused on humanity, on their actual lives, and not on the things they think control it, they will find they are content with what they have. Even the things we need have turned into things we want. We NEED food, but we WANT to contribute to the fast food chains every morning, afternoon, and evening...which is where obesity enters the picture. Americans consume, consume, consume food, products, devices, and then wonder why they have become fat, broke, and depressed. Although I have grown up in a severely materialistic generation, my viewpoints, the older i have gotten, have become a mirror image of the views of my grandparents generation. 

I firmly believe that in order to live a happier life, one must lead a simpler life. 

I have been making an effort to be less of an unnecessary consumer. In all honesty, it IS hard to be that way in the world we live in. However, it is all about mindset. When you go shopping, think about what you are buying & where it came from(who made it/what it is made out of, etc) & ask yourself if it really is worth it.

I often wish we could live the way the maasi live. Simple, yet fulfilling lives. Women there dedicate their whole  lives to merely being human, caring for their babies, breast-feeding(how it should always be) and living off the Earth. I realize it isn't practical in our society anymore, and not a single person in our country could say that it would be an absolute  breeze to live that way. 

I walked into the backyard today after school and saw about twenty feet away from me, a two beach-ball sized piles of mushrooms. They were so beautiful! Mushrooms are really such mystical organisms.

Tomorrow, I am embarking on a weekend journey to visit my best friend who i love & miss more than i can say! I am excited for pretty people at the Love Nest & exploring the beauty of Columbia again.

 It's an inspiring place.