I nstead I found myself continuously shaking my head and picking up items thinking “why did I ever think I needed this.” In a recent post I mentioned how I returned from thruhiking the Appalachian Trail (you can find the post here http://www.finding-eden.ca/2018/01/how-appalachian-trail-changed-my-life.html ) a changed person. I came home and was horrified by many aspects of my previous life and quickly became disgusted with all the needless stuff I had accumulated. The funny thing was I had actually downsized prior to my hike because I was storing stuff at my boyfriends and didn’t want to take up so much of his space. I should have returned and been happy to see all my things again after being away for six months.nstead I found myself continuously shaking my head and picking up items thinking “why did I ever think I needed this.”





Resolve

Believe it or not being disgusted with all of my stuff (and past decisions) is what helped me to make a real effort to change. I resolved to go through ALL of my things and eliminate what I didn’t need. But I didn’t stop there, I also resolved to not buy a single item I didn’t need AND to not buy any clothing for at least a year.





Awareness

It’s funny how not buying things, not going window shopping and especially not replacing worn clothing items makes you more aware of the needless consumption going on around you. I remember having to bite my tongue as coworkers complained they didn’t have enough money because of the Christmas shopping spree they had just got back from. I remember having to go into a department store and actually turning around because I wondered why we needed so many of the same items in one place. But the biggest change came when I actually needed to replace an item. I didn’t want to just go out and buy any old item. I wanted that item to be ethically made. I wanted the process to make that item to be environmentally friendly. I wanted to make sure that the said item was not made by children or in a sweat shop and that the actual people who made that item were paid appropriately. These are all things I had never considered before. In buying less I had become more aware of who my purchase might hurt. I wanted to make sure that all of my purchases helped someone rather than causing harm.





Realization