Lessessary

Over the past 20-40 years, scientists have been concerned about the impact of human activity on the environment. Like most "ideas", global warming got off to a cold start back in the 60's and slowly began warming up (puns intended) more so in the mid-late 80's. In the 1990's the majority of professionals became largely convinced that this concern not only had merit but that it (global warming) was already in motion. In the past 10 years the vast majority of scientists are fully on board with the fact that human activity has some or much to do with the rate at which the planet is warming and the dire results that await our changing planet. In the past 5 years the data and statistics are bold and undeniable: the planet has already changed and, just like a few cancer cells can grow quickly into a stage 4 crisis, so this environmental cancer is raging.

In an age where the global concern is on economics there is likely going to be little attention paid to the only thing that will slow the growth of this disease on our climate: Lessity. The rate at which the west has overused the world's natural resources is now a virus that is affecting the hearts and minds of China and India. Billions more people now seek the wild comforts, and grossly covet the life-of-want, which is marked by an insatiable desire for show, luxury and the greed, pride and selfishness that sadly exist within western thought and culture.

I am an optimist, positive thinker and lover of life. But, the bare facts are a slap in the face to anyone who researches, ponders and rightly interprets. We are in an environmental dilemma and the only way out is to become less materialistic. Less selfish. Less greedy. By Christian standards, less evil. By atheistic standards, less irresponsible. By any standard, less dependent on things. It does not matter who you are or what you believe cosmologically, philosophically or religiously; the facts are in and the result will not be the normal end of some planetary trend and neither will it be the judgement of a righteous God. It will be the fault of humans who have sought to live out of harmony and balance with the earth and its limited resources.

Let me encourage the simple life that we have forgotten or, never mastered. It is the life that brings contentment and inner peace. It is the life that embraces all that is truly good and healthful. It is the life that is sustainable. It is the life that is marked by goodness, kindness and community. It is the life that alone can slow the process of environmental decay that is happening. It is the life that is, Lessessary.

Why bmmvh?

Over the last couple of decades I have spent an increasing amount of time hiking. Weekend hikes, climbing and backpacking in Alaska, have pleasantly morphed into a lifestyle of daily hiking in Colorado with some cold weather retreats in Utah and Arizona. In fact, my "recreation hiking" has turned into an actual lifestyle where I hike everyday, and most of the year, all day.

This delightful evolution became a wonderful reality as I gradually-over years-spent more time being unsettled in mind and heart about the seeming futility of human endeavor. I specifically mean endeavors of a physical sort. Work to make money to sustain what is often just a prison of attachment to the synthetic material world. In this awareness a new freedom began to envelop my whole person to the point where currently I spend less time working during the week than I do eating. Hike. Eat. Sleep. That is what consumes my time. And, I LOVE IT!

I have very little in the way of financial resources yet, I feel like I am the wealthiest man on earth. I have also noticed that to have one (freedom or material wealth) can only happen at the expense of the other. No exceptions. Yes, I mean there are no exceptions. I will expound on this much more throughout these blog posts here at bmmvh.

Sorry, I don't have anything to sell you here at this site. Barefoot-Meditating-Minimalist-Vegetarian-Hiker (bmmvh) does not lend itself to much in the way of tangible assets. If tangible assets cease to dominate a person's life and ambitions, then there is not much to sell, is there? Encouragement is probably the greatest thing I can offer anyone. And while everyone needs some trickle of income to pay and make their way through each day, I can live enjoyably and healthily for a month on what an average person makes in 1-3 days.

Let me introduce to to bmmvh and offer a retreat from the stresses of life, a peek into a much bigger, exciting and fulfilling world along with a challenge to grow and prosper in ways that are eternally more satisfying than any other way of living or viewing the world.

Eating at Nature's Table (Tumble Mustard)

Sliced tomato and fresh Tumble Mustard picked from a friend's yard. A spicy mustard tasting weed that can be eaten raw in salads, on sandwiches or boiled/fried. Granted, we ain't gonna find no tomatoes on the trail however, adding Tumble Mustard to a wild mushroom, wild onion and wild carrot stir fry would totally rock. The spicy flavor in the Tumble Mustard means just a little sea salt is all you may want to top off this snack at nature's table.

Minimalistic thinking and living results in one of the greatest commodity known to humankind; time. Time to enjoy, time to think, time to be creative, time to relax, time to grow, time for health. Time is also money, and money is the greatest slave owner in the life. B, be fit, be free and be fun. Touch Nature and make your attachment to the synthetic world very minimal.

Mini-Skirt

Don't close your eyes to the freedom that awaits your steps into minimalism.
The best things in life are few, free and fun!

Let's not skirt the issue, when it comes to minimalism one is not giving up the beauty and comforts of life. Indeed the opposite is true. Minimalism is about embracing and recognizing that the important things in life are few. The beautiful things in life are not costly. The riches that humanity strives for are not true wealth and the greatest freedom is to be unshackled and unattached to the synthetic material world.

While the average person is already well on the way to "syntheticism" (my word for living in the fake, unsatisfying world of man-made material possessions) and hence, cannot simply let go. Granted, it has been done over the centuries and many great stories of those who did so are the ones that have shaped our cultures and philosophies Siddhatrtha Gautama (Buddha), Ghandi, Jesus the Christ and many others. However, for most of us the journey will start at a bit slower pace and may include small steps like

Downsizing in many areas
Making meals from scratch
Reducing amount of trash
Finding things to do that require no money (hiking, yard games etc)
Exercising outdoors instead of in a gym
Going barefoot.
Planning ahead to eliminate the use of an automobile or reduce the fuel consumed
...and many, many other way.

Good luck on your journey to freedom and minimalism. Soon, I will share some more personal statistics and experiences.

How to Make Your Own Dish Detergent

Which of these liquids do you think is potentially harmful to your respiratory, ingumentary (skin) and immune systems? Duh?

So, it's pretty simple for me. In my opinion you should wash your dishes in water. Let me tell you why and then I promise, since I know you will not be easily convinced, I will give you a compromise.

I do not use detergent. There are numerous chemicals (man-made) that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt are unhealthy. PCMX, DEA, DCM and APE's are part of almost every dish detergent on the market. Yes, they are regulated and supposed to be in quantities that are "relatively safe". If that's enough to satisfy you, then keep doing what you're doing.  But, even if we could bathe in dish detergent without harming ourselves, we still cannot use it without decimating fish populations and adding to the environmental nightmare that is slowly sneaking up on us (most scientists say it is already upon us).

I wash my dishes in water, with my nature-made Pot Scrubber. Grease? Oil? No problem. I scrub the dish clean and then dry it. I know you can do it too. However, if you are convinced that you NEED detergent then let's compromise. Here is how you can make your own AND make enough to give to friends or even label and sell.

2 cups water
1-1 1/2 TBSP of Borax. (Borax is a naturally occuring sodium based product collected from lake deposits you can find it in the detergent aisle at the store. It comes in a box and so you will have WAAAY more than you need. So, why not package it for family and friends).
1-1 1/2 TBSP of castille bar soap (or use Ivory soap if you cannot find the castille bar soap). Shave the soap off the bar with a potato peeler or similar.
A dropper full (15-30 drops) of your favorite essential oil if desired for fragrance.

Boil water and add ingredients. Let it all dissolve and then sit and cool all day. It will gel and then it's ready to go.

Tip: When I am in the woods I use the river gravel and mud to wash the dishes and then rinse them. Yes, mud. After rinsed and dried they are perfectly clean. NO harmful residues, no sick fish, no selfish, greedy use of synthetic chemicals that can harm others or myself.

Pot Scrubber

Among other things, you did not need to buy that pot scrubber.

If you get out hiking like you should, or if you live in a place like I do-where mountains, lakes and trees abound-then you can easily find many of these. Pine cones are excellent pot scrubbers. When you are done, throw them back in the yard. Much better than the gross diseased scrubby thing you keep using over and over. Yuck!

They are NOT dirty. They are as safe and clean as picking organic produce from your own garden to make a salad.  Remember this when a piece of cone is in your water. There are hundreds of unhealthy chemicals in everything you buy to do certain tasks. A piece of pine cone is NOT one of them. Change the way you see the world and your world will change.

(Yes, your water will look yellowish and you might even see some dirt. Just finish the freaking task and dry your dish. Now, look at it. It's CLEAN. Did you hear me? Look me in the eye, IT"S FREAKING CLEAN. Now put it back in the cupboard and do something else and stop being a puppet of economic consumerism and corporate/media propaganda.) 

I use the Blue Spruce as a regular scrubber and a firmer and harder Ponderosa Pine cone for getting tough eggs or potatoes off my pan after cooking. Some pine cones are sharp and will not work without using a glove. I have so many options I just don't use them unless they work well and easily.

It's one more way to minimize, and it's fun to work with nature to simplify and energize your life.

Tip: Collect a bunch of cones that work for you and set them on the counter in a nice wooden bowl. They look cool and might even offer a scent of pine.

The Awake Diet

One of my Potato Mountains: Mashed potatoes 100 ways all named after mountains.

Diet is not always the first thing that enters a person's mind when thinking about the planet and the environment. But, diet is crucial to a person's health and to the balance of nature, including the climate we have known for thousands of years. As recent as 1998 when the United Nations Agriculture Department published their report, we have known that a change in diet that highlights whole foods and little or no meat, is necessary for slowing-or at that time perhaps stopping-the effects of global warming. The number of animals farmed for food is an activity that statistically has more than doubled the human population. Indeed, the animals raised for food are so great in number that it is the same as having 15 billion people on the planet instead of the 7.5 billion we now house. These animals are not pets or wildlife, they are animals being raised to slaughter needlessly and often violently-without compassion. 

John Kabat-Zinn (founder of the mindfulness based stress reduction clinic in MA) says that people who are physically and emotionally spent are usually people who are living life un-awakened. They have lost the ability to live life in a consistent awareness and with thought. Most of us live re-actively; controlled by schedules,radio shows, television, habits, routines and rituals. We don't have time or desire to be aware, to be selfless, to be awake.

In addition to the huge amount of methane that farmed animals add to the environment, the process of eating at the top of the food chain is taxing fresh water resources and fossil fuel supplies required to feed, transport, process, package and distribute. Few people have taken the time to understand how much it costs in natural resources to produce such a wasteful product. For those of use who value all of life, we are alamed at the conditions, pain, suffering and death that accompany this terrible habit. Yes, this human activity is also partly responsible for the declining habitat for wildlife, even as far from our daily lives as the penguin.

While we can face the challenge of global warming without ending this practice altogether, we can still lessen our dependence on meat and meat by-products. In the process of this lessening, we can also realize less obesity, heart disease and multiple other illness and diseases that cost governments and individuals billions of dollars each year. It is not just a good, moral and healthy idea, for the sake of the environment it is lessessary.

Taking one day a week to eat a vegan diet will challenge the average person and especially the cook at home but, the rewards are selflessness, health and a new creative twist in home cuisine. Try it, for everyone.