Waste

Usually, I wear my hair pulled back into a ponytail; I prefer the no “ouch” covered hair bands with little grippies on them so it stays put. Not one to fiddle around with hair. Just want it out of my face when I practice and teach.

Last Summer my supply dwindled to one hair band. Some misplaced; some broke; I like to pretend my daughters commandeered the rest.

The thing is, when I had only one hairband, I was really good at keeping up with it. Made sure it was in the same place every night so I could put it on in the morning; if I pulled it out, I put it on my wrist. Very careful, because there wasn’t another one; I kept that one band for many, many months.

This month I purchased another pack of bands. And it is interesting how frivolous I have been with those new bands. Instead of going from the bathroom to the bedroom to find the band I wore last night, I’ve been just whipping out a new band. They are everyone; bedroom, bathroom, car, purse.

Who cares, you might say, about my losing hairbands? Well, it has started to remind me of waste in general; of taking things for granted. It makes me think of Japan, and the suffering people of Japan; and particularly, the problems with the nuclear power plants. The man-made problem of the power plants has the potential to be much worse than the horror caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

Why, I wonder, don’t we all have solar panels on our roofs? Why are we dependent upon an energy source we scarcely understand and can barely contain for our energy needs? We have 104 nuclear power plants in this country. I had no idea.

Instead of railing against them, I turn the gaze around on myself and realize, I am the reason that they build those plants. They build those plants to feed my lifestyle. The way of many lights and electronics and gizmos and gadgets.

Got up the other night at 2:30 am and came to the kitchen to get a glass of water. The glowing stove clock, microwave clock, printer button, computer modem, cd player, coffee maker; geez, I could have probably read a book in there. Maybe it is time to trim.

We have five clock radios in this house; that is unnecessary. The microwave, do we really “need” it? Could I maybe throw more clothes over the line instead of using the dryer?

The question is, will I use wisdom and change my lifestyle, or wait and be forced to change?

Shanti,

Jill