'Less is more' and other maxims...

Brother just finished a language arts unit that included a historical fiction tale about the life and times of Benjamin Franklin.  The lesson was integrated with a science unit on electricity and magnetism.  Overall it's been fun.  However, Franklin's maxims are sometimes difficult for a kiddo to understand - well, some of them are, but not "waste not want not."  Which seems to be our family mantra these past eight months.  We do, after all, display "Want Not" by Laura Wacha in our tiny home.

To me it means that we should treat all of our resources as precious - we should cultivate and care for what we have and we should not take anything for granted.  If you take care of what you have you will not be in a state of want.  Most significantly this applies to our bodies and our health.  I am so very thankful for my health and the health of my family and I want to do all I can to preserve it.  This means being very deliberate in decisions about what I eat - and what I don't drink (It's been over a month now that I have embraced a teetotaler practice).  It's not that I am denying myself - it is the opposite, I am not wasting my health on frivolity and hedonism.  I am also not wasting my resources (money & time) on junk that does not preserve or enhance my health.

I've struggled with this stuff - overindulgence, overeating, obesity, chronic disease - but insofar as I have it in my power to change course I want that.  It would be so easy if our environment supported the choices we are making...I mean I live in the middle of a college town.  The closest "store" is a liquor store and one of my favorite breweries is less than a mile from here...

On the flip side, I can feel myself getting healthier.  I have continued to lose weight, I have given away clothes that are too big for me.  My skin is clearing up - I realize now that I have probably always been affected by dairy in a negative way - a rash on my upper arms that I have had since my youth has significantly cleared.  By avoiding animal products and seeking plant-based nutrition it seems my body is healing itself - it finally has the right nutrients to repair the damage I have done over a life of poor choices.

The kids are positively affected by my choices.  Their favorite snacks are apples with natural peanut butter, freshly smashed avocado and tortilla chips, carrots, orange peppers, bananas and unsweetened applesauce.  For dinner tonight we had sesame peanut butter mung bean vermicelli.  They both cleaned their plates.  I put crazy vegan veggie stuff in front of them every day and they eat it all.  When I chop veggies for a recipe, I have to tell them, "no, sorry no more carrots or broccoli, I need it for my recipe!  Anyhow...waste not, want not.