Confessions

I wanted to write a post about the way I'd been living for the last three years since my return to Australia from my year in Japan. I believe it will serve as a reminder of where I was before deciding to adopt a simple and green life but more importantly why I changed. It reads like a confession because I'm a bit shamefaced about some of the things I'd been doing.

Forgive me self for I have:

Been a wholehearted consumer, spending my money on anything that whim, fancy or impulse told me to. I have lived from pay to pay with no savings, regularly seeing 30 cents or less in my account with four days left to pay day. My only saving grace is that I always refused to get a credit card, knowing full well how damaging it would be.

Devoted more money than sense into an expensive fashion from Japan, buying dresses worth $200 - $300, sometimes twice in one fortnight. Though it was beautiful and I made some amazing friends through it, I was spent ridiculous amounts of money on clothes that had a time limit on how long I could wear them (read: frilly, doll-like and very cute).

Bought lunch and junk food snacks at work, spending a large portion of my pay on food each fortnight because of it.

Been too lazy in my kitchen to cook real and nutritious meals, instead opting for things like 'fake nachos' (corn chips drizzled with BBQ sauce, sprinkled with cheese and microwaved) pasta meals and takeout pizza. There was a space of 2 - 3 months where I didn't eat a vegetable because it seemed easier to not have to go out to buy them and then prepare them. I am a trained Home Economics teacher with two university units of nutrition under my belt... so I knew better.

Have pandered to my partner's dire eating habits instead of encouraging him to change to more healthy alternatives.

Been lax in house cleaning.

Been ambivalent about the environmental impacts of the products I have used and the waste produced by them.

Been moved by media reports of environmental situations, by 'the documentary that shall not be named' and by a wonderful anime 'Arjuna - Earth Maiden' (watch it if you haven't already!) but then allowed myself to lapse back into a state of inactivity and carelessness.

Been a 'gunna' not a 'doer'