3/13/04 VS Chicago Meeting Notes
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"April - Clean your clutter with the
one-drawer-at-a-time rule.
It's too overwhelming to think of
cleaning your entire house - but
it's manageable on drawer at a time."
12 Ways to Simplify Your Life; by Janet Luhrs
(Jan/Feb 2004 Issue 42 of Simple Living)
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Joe, Laura, Linda, Mike, Gerry, Mark, Tom, Lenny, Ross, Seowa and Roberto welcomed Lori and Trisha to their first meeting.
Mike opened the space with a brief round of introductions. The group then created the following list of discussion topics:
Announcements...
TAKE BACK YOUR TIME DAY NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO
There will be a national Take Back Your Time Day conference on June 10-13, 2004 in Chicago at Loyola University. Many wonderful sessions and workshops are planned on the topic of taking back our time. This is year #2 for "Time Day", and the ground is swelling with grass roots, political and health/family/union support. Many volunteer opportunities exist. See www.timeday.org for all the details and registration. This should be a great event to attend!
NEED SOMEONE TO OPEN THE MAY & JUNE VS MEETINGS...
It's great to have a rotating group of folks who would like to open (and close) the space for the VS Chicago meetings. It's also a great way to get to really know and understand the Open Space Technology meeting format VS Chicago uses. If you are/might be interested in opening the meetings, contact Mike at vschicago@juno.com.
VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY WESTERN SUBURBS Meetings...
1st Wednesday of the month, 7-9:00pm
Location varies => contact Kath at KCamasto@sbcglobal.net
VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY NORTHWEST INDIANA Meetings...
3rd Saturday of the month (next meeting is March 20, 2004)
Munster Library, 8701 Calumet Avenue, Munster, IN
For directions call, 219-836-8450 (Library)
TOPICS:
(*) RELIGION & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - GOOD OR BAD, WHY NOW (Laura)...
Where are things like, "What would Jesus drive" or "What would Jesus eat today" coming from? Is condoning socially responsibility such a bad thing?? Is this a good match (religion & social responsibility), or a bad mix??? To fuel this topic, Laura passed around a Christian Vegetarian Association pamphlet and a web page insert. It didn't take long for this discussion to build.
Certainly other religious groups have advocated choosing a "simpler" lifestyle - the Quakers, Mennonites, Amish, Seventh Day Adventists to name a few.
Group discussion included, is "simplicity/social responsibility" rooted in self-interest (ie, monetary wise), or is it core to an organization's beliefs? Are religious organizations using moral authority => the ultimate sales pitch - to support their operations? Could go either way.
Perhaps there is a lack of political leadership on topics close to people's hearts => corporate responsibility, environmental, time and family concerns. Perhaps religious organizations are rising to fill this "void". Or perhaps organizations have run out of ideas to attract new members => taking positions of social responsibility may bring new faces.
Mark noted private decisions have a public impact. Choosing where to spend your dollars is choosing who you support.
(*) IDENTIFYING SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMPANIES TO WORK FOR (Joe)...
Joe recently attended a conference designed for MBA students. He was surprised to see the topic of social responsibility raised to the 800 or so attendees. Honest Tea company has been working to become social responsible, living their concerns by placing family over work, and using organic and environmentally friendly production methods. How does one find companies like this to work for?
Suggestions included looking at socially responsible mutual funds. Look at the companies they list in their fund and do some investigative work to see if those companies meet your criteria for social responsibility.
Also publications like www.greenmoney.com and Coop America have lists of socially responsible companies. Again, do some checking to see how they meet your criteria.
Perhaps you don't need to work for a socially responsible company. Maybe a company on any of these lists is already doing some great work and perhaps your greatest contribution could be to your existing company not as socially responsible as its potential. Mike discovered this at his former employer two years before completing his career.
While the company was not exactly aligned with his environmental values, he was able to create focus for cost reductions in pollution equipment. Reducing maintenance costs meant equipment operated at peak efficiencies and created byproducts sought after in secondary markets. Mike takes pride in knowing new concrete surfaces on the Stevenson Expressway and Lake Shore Drive were made from materials that otherwise would have gone to landfills. Perhaps your greatest gift could be to raise some eyebrows of those around you.
(*) IDEAS FOR SPRING RENEWAL - USING SPRING FOR CHANGE (Gerry)...
Gerry observes nature takes its clues from the sun, how about us? Do we consciously/subconsciously make changes in our lives by paralleling natures awakenings during spring??
Well there's the natural instinct of spring cleaning, and a tendency to "want to get outdoors" (especially after a Chicago winter) where fifteen minutes of sunshine on your face supplies your daily needs of vitamin D. And there's a sudden awareness and urge to maybe watch the Cubs, or head down to Mario's for Italian Ice. Sewoa enjoys the simple pleasures of getting out and flying a kite => the leisure and serenity of warmer breezes, sunshine and mental disengagement.
The group seemed to conclude there is a tendency to "air out" our lives when spring arrives. Most tend to take a look at plans and refocus activities. Even "to do list" gets a good review, a sort of "triage" as Colin has said.
There are lots of things to do during this time. Tours begin (like the Mendota wind farm), and movies such as Winged Migration give us pause to reflect on the vast nature of flocks that fly overhead during this time. How amazing new growth appears out of dried leaves and branches, as daffodils and crocus push aside whatever's in their way and buds fuzz our trees. If one is aware of these subtle changes, how could this not be a submovtivating force in our lives?
(*) IN LEISURE TIME - BEING CREATIVE (Lenny)...
How are your creative? How does being creative impact your life? What are some of the ways you are creative? Does being creative have to lead to some productive result? With these great questions, Lenny lead the group through a discussion on being creative during your leisure time.
Linda right away pointed out for her, being creative is essential. It's her form of meditation, her way of getting/being centered. If she doesn't create something at her sewing machine for a few days, Mike picks up on it immediately. She needs that down time, that "right brain time" to keep her perspective and balance. And Linda finds being creative is an excellent resource for pain relief => "zoning out" on creating something pushes out thoughts of pain.
Laura likes doing something different each morning to stimulate her creativity. She may read three different newspapers, vary her driving routes, or simply pause to ponder nature (new buds forming, flowers blooming, birds flying...).
Discussing productive results brought about a lively exchange of ideas and "ah haaas". For some, being creative and NOT concluding with something productive is not at all essential. For others, producing a result is everything. "How could you NOT produce something!?!!??" "Why do you HAVE to produce something?!?!??" This offered us all the opportunity to see a point of view (a need) we might not have considered a possibility.
Roberto has a creative project he's been working on for 20 years and enjoys the simple fact it is there for him to continue. Linda says sometimes walking away from a project is the best thing => maybe you thought it was something you'd really like to do and find out otherwise, OR maybe you only need to go so far into the project to get what you needed to learn or apply elsewhere. Mark saw his son start a project and then lose interest. Working with his son, they together finished the project providing many life lessons => sometimes it is very important to finish what you start because you might discover you need help, or perhaps learn that working with someone else makes the project more enjoyable. Or perhaps a project simply gives a father and son a place to meet and interact.
The group further commented that living a life of discovery brings with it ongoing creativity. And juxtaposed, folks not willing to seek a simpler life may be fearful of their ability to be creative. Is a person drawn to simplicity BECAUSE they are creative, OR do they LEARN to be creative while uncovering a simpler life? Interesting... kind of which came first, "the Chicken or the Egg".
(*) PROGRAMS FOR MANAGING MONEY (Seowa)
Seowa quickly asked the group for programs to manage their money. Suggestions included using Quicken, and consolidating numerous bank, checking and brokerage accounts greatly help in simplifying money management.
We closed the meeting and space by noon, having adequately covered naked topics.
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(Recorded by Mike Lenich)