Trick or Treat

I don’t enjoy shopping anymore. Too much noise, crowds of people, challenges to park, visual stimulation, and traffic just to get to the  brand name store. Buying and driving less is a good thing. But there are things that I really do need and fewer options for where to buy them. I have come to depend on purchasing things on-line. It feels a bit like Christmas when someone delivers that box for me to open, even though I know exactly what is inside. This choice comes with lots of packaging and waste. I notice more local businesses that have closed, remember with fondness the ones that truly were a lovely aesthetic experience to visit.  Consumerism is just like the wheel of Samsara. There is no escape from the rounds of gain and loss.

I have come to realize the true price of convenience and the bulk discount. The trick behind the treat one could say. My goal for 2020 is to strive for (and most likely fall short of ) zero waste, shop local, and support small on-line businesses with my direct purchase rather than going through the big A. There are still companies like Mountain Rose Herbs where I can get many things (like those items pictured above). I am able to spend my precious dollars there because I don’t charge for my products (no need to use the cheapest supplies) and instead the cost is in my services and consultations.  The joy may no longer be in the shopping (I still get excited by the box) but in the give away of herbal products that I have so lovingly made. My passion is planting the seeds, watching them grow, harvesting leaves with prayers of thanks, making the tincture, designing the packaging, and finding out that my herbs contributed to a friend’s healing. We all have different strategies for setting an intention and manifesting our dreams . One could join a networking group, do research, learn a new skill, spend money on marketing, or create lots of inventory to sell. Each time I seem to fall into the habit of buying my supplies first. I need some kind of tangible and material evidence of my commitment to what I am sowing and harvesting. So my first baby step had to be part of the blog too.