The Power of Action
October 16, 2007
Green. Everyone’s talking about it. Especially today, thanks to a little initiative called Blog Action Day, bloggers from across the globe are uniting to write about the environment.
I’m talking about it, too. Here’s why: I’m inspired by the power of action. When people talk about green initiatives, they always say things like “a little bit helps.” And it certainly does. But a little bit times a lot of people helps even more.
Now, I will admit I’m not the greenest person around. I suppose I’m what you might call “Light Green,” (you might call me this particularly if you are John Mayer).
I drive to work (can’t avoid it in my sprawling metro.) But, I drive a car with good gas mileage, so, you know, I feel decent about that. I use eco-friendly lightbulbs, so that’s a start. I have a paper recycling bin under my desk, and I’ve even valiantly saved paper from trash cans of co-workers, on occasion. I may buy things that come in cans and jugs, but I try my best to set the recycling can out once a month on pick up day. I carry my Nalgene bottle, keep my own coffee mug at work, and have very firm spurts of total Styrofoam avoidance. I wish I could remember to take my own grocery sacks like we did when I lived in Germany. And we had to walk to and from the grocery mart there, so you’d think driving would make that easier, but somehow, it doesn’t. At least I’m trying on that one.
But what I am doing is not the point. The point is, I could do more. Everyone could. Everyone should, even if they’re not into the whole “green” thing. Because it doesn’t cost that much to make a difference. Because it’s not hurting anyone to conserve resources. Because bottled water is not only a scam, it’s an expensive habit that doesn’t make any sense, except it’s convenient. Because being lazy is the stupidest excuse for not caring about the environment I’ve ever witnessed, but it’s most people’s hangup. Really. It’s mine.
How I see it is, green isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the sensible thing. It can save you money, which pretty much everyone I know wants to do. Hey, if that doesn’t sell ya, it could make you seem cooler to the kids in the office or to a client you’re trying to land. Who knows. So, even if it’s for selfish reasons, being some version of green is the way to go. And it will continue to be so, even after being green isn’t the cool thing anymore.
What will you do today to join in the action, to make a difference, to green up your life a little more? I’m starting by walking my soda can the 35 steps or so to the recycling bin – that’s one of my weaknesses: the trash can is right there, absolutely zero steps away. Maybe, on my way home today, I’ll finally make it to that health food store that sells eco-friendly home cleaners.
Because we can blog about it all we want to, but in reality, changing the world happens through the power of action. And action happens one choice at a time. In real life. Every day. No matter how much else is going on. So go ahead, green up. If you’re honest with yourself, you really have no good excuse not to.
Where’s the reset button?
October 11, 2007
I blamed it on the business trips for a few weeks, the listless lack of focus and intense, non-stop feeling that a rush of deadlines, to-dos and priorities were weighing in too much. I thought surely I’d get over it after I’d had time to unpack, relax, and unwind. I’d find time to make those calls, to post those posts, to reply to those e-mails, to organize my closets, to start on those projects. Right?
So last weekend, all of two weeks of endless yawning sessions and incredible fatigue after the two-week travel spurt, I let myself sleep. Or more like, myself let me sleep. I went to bed at 8 p.m. Friday night. Lame right? Honestly, I haven’t been to sleep that early since I was probably 6, or maybe, possibly, after I got home from a month-long stay in Berlin.
I just fell asleep without warning or plan about an hour after I got home from a delicious, luxurious sushi dinner date with my boyfriend. We were watching some TV we’d missed that week, and all of a sudden, all I knew was it was 9 p.m. and his caring face was looking down, telling me to brush my teeth and that he was going home so he didn’t wake me up.
Then it was 10 a.m. Saturday morning, and I awoke, refreshed, ready to go. I had tons to do, felt totally rested, and had no good excuse not to do anything. So of course, I just sat around, catching up on TV, tidying my room a little. Not vacuuming or folding laundry or anything.
Then I went over to his house to watch the big game with the boyfriend and his roommates. Which meant both of us read Y the Last Man trades and back issues for three hours while everyone else watched the game. (Yep, I love comics. Bet you didn’t expect that one. Also, I despise televised football. Too little game, too much advertising. Lucky for me, the boyfriend’s not a sports on TV nut either.) Anyway, it did not mean working on my thesis research even though I took my laptop. I decided that doing nothing on my to do list for just one day would be a good way to reset, to just have a day where I didn’t have any big expectations for myself. So, I relaxed, ate really delicious, unhealthy sausage queso (the boy frat house that could kill you variety), just lived a little.
It was nice.
So of course, I expected Monday to roll around and for me to just feel ready to go, for the to-dos at work and on the personal list to start flying off my list. I had hit the reset button, after all, right? Instead, Monday morning hit me with panic. I hadn’t done ANYTHING this weekend, and I was going to pay for it. I nearly had a panic attack in the shower, thinking about one specific detail I hadn’t followed up on for an event I’m planning. Then of course, Monday and Tuesday were full of meetings. I probably sat at my desk an hour and a half each day. So those hours were useless, spent trying to figure out where to spend the little time I had. It was getting even worse. More out of control than before. Time was against me, no matter how hard I tried.
Then this morning, the electricity went out in my bathroom. And I had the brilliant idea I needed to reset the electric outlet, like that would do something, like when your dryer doesn’t come on the first time. So, I pushed it. Of course, the electricity didn’t come back on, because my dryer wasn’t the problem. The lights flickered a few times in the house, so I finally figured out it wasn’t just my bathroom, and that there must be some sort of brownout in the area. So of course, hitting a little reset button on the wall was a lame way to try to try to fix it.
So I started thinking, maybe that’s why my Saturday didn’t exactly reset me the way I needed it too, even though I really needed it to. Could it be it was really a lame attempt to fix a much bigger issue? I’m considering it. Because while I’m glad I was able to take some time to chill, I also really need to take some time to remind myself exactly what I think about time management, getting things done, and multitasking. Because when I’m working, I need to be able to work. That way I can really relax when I try, and maybe, somehow, find some balance in the process instead of feeling like both work and life are overwhelming me all the time.
But I have to tell you, I really, really wish sometimes there was just a reset button that I could push to start that day over, to recharge my energies and priorities, force me into focus. You know what I mean?
Work. Life. Balance. These words tend to get tossed together a lot. Hanging out as though they go so merrily together, no one should give any thought to how difficult a concept this is not just to grasp, but to actualize. It’s a buzzphrase in conversations ranging from employee retention to job satisfaction to recruiting to gripe sessions with friends to exit interviews! Sure, we “value” this concept; most everyone strives after it. But what does it really mean? What does it look like? I’m coming to the conclusion that Gen Y may not really know.
However, from conversations I’ve been in the past week or so, young professionals everywhere are in the midst of dealing with this very definitive issue in very real ways. The thing is, when real life (and work) start getting out of balance, Gen Y isn’t sure how to cope. From friends blogging about trying to find time for a personal life amidst a constant workload to friends talking about spending 60 hours in the office while their spouse waits at home, I seem to be noticing a somewhat disturbing trend.
It seems Gen Y entering the workforce may be turning to workaholic tendencies to cope and get ahead. I’m not sure why this is happening, given we have been labeled one of the most balance-oriented generations yet. Perhaps it’s our drive or our intense desire to prove ourselves. Perhaps it’s an impatience to realize the promise of career advancement and opportunities we were told throughout college were coming to us that has us slaving away at the office and after work. Could be the fact that another large percentage of our generation seems to have a knack for slacking off, making it the perfect time for more aspiring professionals to showcase their dedication and talent.
Is it just me, or is this a real concern? Maybe it’s truly a different way of thinking about life and Gen Y believes that there’s a seamless process in which work and life are really extensions of one another. Whether or not we are truly predisposed with such a mindset, there’s a harsh reality check in store for Millennials, regardless of how much we say we value balance: If you can’t ever turn your mind out of work mode, if you can never put down the blackberry, if you’re logging more hours in the office than anywhere else but at home tucked into your comfy bed, it is safe to say that you’re starting to resemble a workaholic.
So, what’s a generation to do when our lives are on the line? How can we find balance in a system that doesn’t define it for us? Can we face the challenge of prioritizing for life, when push comes to shove? I’m all ears.
