So you've collected a lot of stuff… How does one overcome the urge/impulse to collect books, DVD's, CD's… that often times are never used? The group discussed habit takes you from consciousness to unconsciousness. Clutter, clutters up your head. Laura suggested:

Other suggestions included don’t buy something right away -- wait a few days to see if you still "need it". If you do, then go ahead and get it. A lot of times, the charm of an item/purchase will fade and/or you'll find another way to fill the need. Photos can be scanned and put on CD. New photos can be processed directly onto CD.

What about keeping things that have sentimental value -- items from parents, grandparents, children, earlier on in your life? Discussion included passing along family mementos to your children, nieces, nephews… Time seems to clarify when it becomes time to let items go. If things are still dear to you, hold on to them. Simply asking and exploring if you should hold onto something begins a process of awareness.

Jenni, Dave, Gina and Jon visited the planned community of Stelle, IL (located south of Kankakee) last month. Discussion included Stelle's features => a community garden, shared pool and daycare center, and a solar powered phone/internet/cable company. Because of its reliability, the Sheriff's Department uses Stelle's solar phone system as a back up to their phone/emergency systems. Also visited was a nearby straw bale home, which led to discussions on alternative building techniques such as rammed earth.

Are we learning anything from California's electricity/energy crisis? Discussion continued on our current President's un-supportive stance for conservation. California gets only 1% of its energy from oil. Drilling in the Alaskan Wilderness as is being proposed will not help California's energy crisis. Articles recently published stated simply shutting off all 2nd refrigerators would save enough electricity to solve the crisis. Cutting consumption through conservation programs helped in the past and were successful. Those programs were cut however during deregulation of California's electricity system. Stories surfacing in the media today hint at strict environmental requirements as reasons for lack of new power plant construction. They suggest environmental requirements should be lessened to encourage new construction. Lack of construction however was due to an unstable business environment -- years of deregulation talk and proposals made investment in new power plants risky. Generators of electricity feared they would not be able to recoup investments in new power plants so they decided to not build them. Deregulation encourages producers to wait to sell their electricity when prices are anticipated to be their highest -- like any other free market, it becomes a game of selling your merchandise when prices are high, and selling low only when you need the cash. Deregulation also encourages more suppliers to enter the market -- with more supply, prices would be low (i.e., electricity on sale). There is a gap between California's supply and demand, an outcrop of early phases of deregulation.

The group discussed things everyone can do and do today to use energy efficiently:

Woodie noted perhaps "conservation" has a bad connotation (i.e., deprivation) and "energy efficiency" is a better term.

Linda noted there seems to be a role of misinformation and disinformation as a means of encouraging over-consumption. Over-consumption then leads us to over-work. We don't know about "energy efficiency" because we are not told. We then have to work to pay for waste, and we work until we are in a pure survival mode to continue paying for this waste.

Ross noted in spite of leadership and media, many folks do understand energy issues. Woodie mentioned an Alternative Energy Expo is being held on May 12th in Alsip, IL (for info, see: www.anet.com/isea/illinoissolarenergyassoc). Also, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association is having a big energy fair in Amherst, Wisconsin, June 22-24.

What do you do when your friends suddenly begin attacking you over your frugal/simple lifestyle? Group discussion included, when under attack, don't justify your actions. When the other person is being rude, turn the tables and fire back => Comment; "Hum… You ordered a salad so you wouldn't spend too much money." Your response, "If you hadn't ordered so much food, maybe you'd get around to losing those 10lbs you're always talking about." Another way of rebuffing attacks is to explain, "The less I spend, the less I have to earn." Mention was made of Dr. Wayne Dyer's comment for his book, How To Get What You Really Really Want -- "Be independent of the good opinions of others." Other options included educating the other person and thus being able to convert their thinking. Or pull the friend off to one side and tell them, "Maybe you don't realize, but you're comments about how I choose to spend my money are hurting me. Please stop or I'll have no choice but to discontinue this friendship." Everyone agreed each situation varies. Any of the above responses would work depending on specific situation.

Get to the root cause of your busy life => ask, "Why (am I doing this)?" at least five times, until you come down to the real reason you're so busy. It's OK not to do anything and enjoy that. There is a lot of pressure to be very, very busy. Take a nap, sit on the back porch and watch the clouds go by ("Why is it hard, to sit in the yard, and stare at the sky so blue?" John Prine, You've Got Gold).

Here's a list of restaurants noted by the group:
Joy's Noodles (thai) on Broadway in Chicago
Taste of Siam at 600 South Dearborn (thai)in Chicago
Pita Inn (Route 83 and Dundee Road)
LaTasca (tapas) at 25 West Davis in Arlington Heights
Pasta Bowl on 2434 North Clark Street in Chicago
4 Seasons Hotel Pasta Buffet - $12.95 M-F all you can eat! Chicago
Soul Vegetarian (75th and Indiana) Chicago
House of Kobe (sushi) 2 Indiana locations
Aladdin Pita in Merrillville, Indiana
Casa de Campo (mexican) Irving Park Road and Route 83 in Bensenville, IL
Jolly Inn (polish buffet) on 6501 West Irving Park Road (just west of Narraganset) in Chicago

There has always been a lot of energy following our meetings. Discussions, socializing and catching up would continue well past 12:00noon, and often spill over onto the sidewalk in front of the building and parking lot. With an agenda containing five topics, the group had a decision to make regarding best use of available meeting time => we could (1) have two concurrent discussions over three time periods, or (2) have three concurrent discussions over two time periods. Because of the meeting's larger attendance, choosing to have three concurrent discussions would result in smaller groups and thus give more folks opportunity to participate. This option would also leave an extra 50 minutes of meeting time -- should we just add 25 minutes to each time period, or use the extra time in another way? The group decided to experiment a bit and use the extra time to mingle and catch up on new happenings, continue previous discussions, and/or find out what was discussed during concurring topics.