"We are what we repeatedly do," Aristotle said.
I like that. So, the fact that I consistently bring my motley assortment of reusable grocery bags into the store and insist that the cashiers don't give me any new bags means that I'm a new-plastic avoider.
I'm also a paper-towel avoider and a food-waste eliminator.
Enough about what I repeatedly do already. I'm just bragging. What I want to talk about is what it takes to start that new habit so that I become a better climate-change resister instead of a climate-change-inertia-butthead.
I have a friend who had a minivan when her children were young. That van served its purpose, but now it's dead and she has to buy a new car.
What does she want to buy?
Another minivan, just exactly like her old one. She mourns the death of her old minivan. I get that. I do. A lot of life is lived with young children in a vehicle. Dinners are quickly consumed, drinks are slotted into cup holders or spilled, music blares, and conversations about sex and other deep issues occur.
I found that the car was the best place for those awkward conversations because your child cannot get irritated and walk away from you. Plus, you only make eye contact sporadically while you keep your eyes on the road, thus reducing the awkwardness for both of you. The only drawback is that there is a temptation to keep that conversation running until you arrive. Don't do it. I know. I made that mistake. Just get in and out of those necessary words and shut the hell up. Turn the radio onto heavy metal when you're tempted to go over it again, close your mouth, and rock out while your teenager mulls over the awful realization that his parents actually had sex at least once.
My friend. Right.
My friend was stuck in the thought of getting another minivan just like her old one despite the fact that she only needed two seats most of the time and four would do all of the time except when she was trying to haul a crew of kids to a paintball party. I can tell you that she and I have discussed climate change and know that she is not in any way a climate-change denier. She just had not made the connection between mass extinction and her minivan habit. She did not want to get out of her comfort zone.
Habit was ingrained. I get that.
I'm waiting for an interesting book to come into my holds at the library, Making Habits, Breaking Habits by Jeremy Dean. I read about it in Brain Pickings. I love Brain Pickings - so much good information. I should develop the habit of reading it every week.
And now I have one more book on my figurative pile of books that I intend to read. I can't wait. I hate having to wait when I need a book now, but do I really need that book this very day? Can't I aid the environment by getting most of my books, music, and movies at the library?
Yes I can!
But those are already my habits even though I love shopping at bookstores. The bookstore owners near me know that I'll come in and talk too long when they see my face at their doors. But I really do use the library. Every few days, I stop by the library as a matter of course after I pick up groceries with my reusable grocery bags.
Sorry. I'm not here to lecture you about all the great things that I do that you could do too.
In his book, Jeremy Dean followed a study carried out at University College London about how long it really takes to form a habit. It turns out that the twenty-one days that is generally quoted to you is only for the really easy stuff. He said that the hard changes can take almost a year.
A whole damned year!
That's why I'm having so much trouble changing my carbon footprint. It's going to take me a whole year of dedication to change my habits if I can even stay focused on a few practical things I want to do.
Oh shit. We're all going to die of climate change disaster. We're just going to up and fricking die because I don't know how to focus on the next thing I need to do to fight climate change let alone institute it into habit. How the hell is everyone in the whole world going to shift if I have this much trouble on my own?
We need to science the shit out of this problem, but even there, we're going to have to evolve out of our current paradigm. We're going to have to learn to think about everything with sustainability in mind. And that's a habit that's hard to create.
Thank you for listening, jules
I like that. So, the fact that I consistently bring my motley assortment of reusable grocery bags into the store and insist that the cashiers don't give me any new bags means that I'm a new-plastic avoider.
I'm also a paper-towel avoider and a food-waste eliminator.
Enough about what I repeatedly do already. I'm just bragging. What I want to talk about is what it takes to start that new habit so that I become a better climate-change resister instead of a climate-change-inertia-butthead.
I have a friend who had a minivan when her children were young. That van served its purpose, but now it's dead and she has to buy a new car.
What does she want to buy?
Another minivan, just exactly like her old one. She mourns the death of her old minivan. I get that. I do. A lot of life is lived with young children in a vehicle. Dinners are quickly consumed, drinks are slotted into cup holders or spilled, music blares, and conversations about sex and other deep issues occur.
I found that the car was the best place for those awkward conversations because your child cannot get irritated and walk away from you. Plus, you only make eye contact sporadically while you keep your eyes on the road, thus reducing the awkwardness for both of you. The only drawback is that there is a temptation to keep that conversation running until you arrive. Don't do it. I know. I made that mistake. Just get in and out of those necessary words and shut the hell up. Turn the radio onto heavy metal when you're tempted to go over it again, close your mouth, and rock out while your teenager mulls over the awful realization that his parents actually had sex at least once.
My friend. Right.
My friend was stuck in the thought of getting another minivan just like her old one despite the fact that she only needed two seats most of the time and four would do all of the time except when she was trying to haul a crew of kids to a paintball party. I can tell you that she and I have discussed climate change and know that she is not in any way a climate-change denier. She just had not made the connection between mass extinction and her minivan habit. She did not want to get out of her comfort zone.
Habit was ingrained. I get that.
I'm waiting for an interesting book to come into my holds at the library, Making Habits, Breaking Habits by Jeremy Dean. I read about it in Brain Pickings. I love Brain Pickings - so much good information. I should develop the habit of reading it every week.
And now I have one more book on my figurative pile of books that I intend to read. I can't wait. I hate having to wait when I need a book now, but do I really need that book this very day? Can't I aid the environment by getting most of my books, music, and movies at the library?
Yes I can!
But those are already my habits even though I love shopping at bookstores. The bookstore owners near me know that I'll come in and talk too long when they see my face at their doors. But I really do use the library. Every few days, I stop by the library as a matter of course after I pick up groceries with my reusable grocery bags.
Sorry. I'm not here to lecture you about all the great things that I do that you could do too.
In his book, Jeremy Dean followed a study carried out at University College London about how long it really takes to form a habit. It turns out that the twenty-one days that is generally quoted to you is only for the really easy stuff. He said that the hard changes can take almost a year.
A whole damned year!
That's why I'm having so much trouble changing my carbon footprint. It's going to take me a whole year of dedication to change my habits if I can even stay focused on a few practical things I want to do.
Oh shit. We're all going to die of climate change disaster. We're just going to up and fricking die because I don't know how to focus on the next thing I need to do to fight climate change let alone institute it into habit. How the hell is everyone in the whole world going to shift if I have this much trouble on my own?
We need to science the shit out of this problem, but even there, we're going to have to evolve out of our current paradigm. We're going to have to learn to think about everything with sustainability in mind. And that's a habit that's hard to create.
Thank you for listening, jules
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