I have never been one to plan.  I like to dive in head first and worry about the mess later.  Sometimes it works, sometimes the mess is a little messier than I had anticipated and sometimes I just put my head under the covers and pretend it isn’t there.  On the other hand there are opportunities and experiences that I would  not have missed for the world that had been of a more cautious bent I would have missed.

Even my decluttering style is an all or nothing one.  I empty whole cupboards at once and have never subscribed to the “one bit at a time”.  Frankly I would have died of boredom and we would still be flailing under a mountain of clutter.  But each to his own and in devising my workshops that is something I have had to take into account.

However it is the “how far do I want to go?” question that is currently taxing me.  Don’t get me wrong, I like my luxury and full self-sufficiency would terrify me, it’s illegal to distill my own gin, my sewing and knitting skills do not meet my sartorial needs and whilst I am happy to (and have) killed and gutted my own meat and fish I do like variety in our diet and I really can’t see us keeping cows, I am never going to keep pigs again and unless the Boss gets off his backside fish would be off the menu too.

I have been following Deep Green Resistance on Facebook.  Some, if not all, of their views are one step beyond for many people.  Indeed some are for me.  But many countries gained their independence through guerilla action.  For some it has led to growth and relative prosperity – the United States, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, for some it has been a more circuitous and painful route, Indonesia, Burma, South East Asia, Ireland (north and south).  I am not an historian nor a politician, my point is that if guerilla action was necessary to enable a country to prosper then perhaps it is for the entire planet to be saved and prosper.

We almost all eschew plastic carrier bags and recycle.  Some of us reuse before we recycle and don’t shop in supermarkets.  Some of us  will only buy local.  Some of us will only buy fairtrade.  Some of us have tiny wardrobes and repair and upcycle every item of clothing.  Some of us grow our own food.  Some of us make our own cleaning and toiletries (but still have to buy the ingredients 🙂 )

All of that is good and is better than nothing.  But is it enough?  Do we have to radically rethink HOW we live our lives in order for all of us to be able to live on this planet.  If that is the case then how far are we prepared to go to make those changes happen?

I don’t have the answer, and as I type I am sitting in a comfortable house, with a glass of wine.  I am going away on holiday next week.  I am a hypocrite, I am not walking the walk.  I want to.  But I don’t know how far I am prepared to go and how far my family are prepared to come with me.  Buying free range chicken and taking part in plastic free July is good, but it isn’t enough.

I tried really hard to find a picture to go with today’s post.  But nothing really fitted.