2010 has not started off the best for me. It started off by being stressed while trying to dance it off to I've got a feeling by the Black Eyed Peas-that could quite possibly be the problem right there, if you asked Nic, he would probably say it is- this was all accompanied by sickness and very little sleep and then followed by a car accident, which equals no car for me. Not a very fun start to 2010 at all.

I've been thinking about it though and have come to some conclusions/made some decisions. I've always wanted to be the person that walked everywhere or rode the bus but I admit I'm a sucker for convenience.  If there was a car sitting on my driveway that was in some way considered mine, I would drive it instead of walking/taking the bus. I admit I never had the power or self-restraint to say "Today I'm going to walk instead of driving" or "Today I'm riding the bus".  But now I have been forced into it and have no option; and even though this choice has been forced onto me, I'm happy about it; I'm happy I don't have a car, I'm happy I don't have that convenience anymore.


Having no car got me thinking even further though.  In the summer I read a book called Sleeping Naked is Green.  A journalist from Toronto took on the challenge of making a green change in her life for every day of the year.  She blogged about it and then eventually wrote a book about it.  When I read this book, I wished I had the power to do what she did and make changes in my own life but I was pretty lazy and selfish and didn't really do anything.  After the anger and tears emptied out of me about getting into an accident and not having a car anymore, I came up with a brilliant idea, at least I hope its brilliant.  No, I'm not going to make 365 green changes in my life, I admit that might be a little extreme for now, but Yes I am going to try and make whatever changes I can; keyword being try; I may fail but I may as well try.  I am going to gradually make changes starting out with walking/riding the bus when I can.  No better time then now, the start of a new year to make new changes to live a new life. 


Here are some other things that got me thinking.  Last night I went to see the movie H2Oil with a friend.  It's about the Alberta oilsands and the impact that they have on the environment and on health. After we talked about capitalism and being ethically aware of businesses and what's going on in society.  I came to the conclusion that I just want to escape it all by moving to a hut and live there for the rest of my life. I know that's not really a reality, at least for now, and so maybe I should just become more aware.  More aware of my environment, more aware of the damage I cause, more aware of everything I do, more aware of everything going on around me, just become more aware of absolutely everything.  So that kindof goes hand in hand with my green changes.  


Even though I am sucker for shopping and buying things, I am not a fan of consumerism and this society.  I would way rather go live in Africa in a hut with nothing, then live in Canada in a big house with 2 cars and a boat and all the extra necessities we tell ourselves we need.  While I was in Hungary, I found and read a book called Enough.  It is about consumerism in every sense-of material things, entertainment, food, work- and how we have an excess of all these things in western society.  The author challenges you to simplify; to take a step back and simplifly your life and to learn how to say enough.  Ever since I read this book it has been on mind.  When you are free from the conveniences of western society it is easy to say you'll make changes but when you are right in the middle of them it is far to easy to fall victim to them.  This book came to mind when I started thinking about green changes.  I mean changes like this may not be green in the sense that they impact the environment but they are just good changes to make and changes that I want to make in life and learn to keep.  A friend put it well, humans just need to learn how to be humans again, we have become too much like robots.  That's exactly what I want to do, I don't want to be a robot, I want to learn how to be human again. I want to quit falling victim to consumerism and the ways of this society.


One last thing that got me thinking was another book that I got last year for Christmas.  I put it on my bookshelf and didn't really think about it all year except for the couple times I pulled it out, looked at it and then put it back.  It is called Change the World for ten bucks: 50 ways to make a difference.  I am all about changing the world and doing whatever I can to make a difference.  This book slipped out of my mind though but I was reminded of it when I was going through my bookshelf today.  It's not about doing huge things but small things that will ultimately make a difference.  So I am going to work on doing small things that will hopefully have a bigger impact on this world and the people around me. Something that is definitely connected to green changes.


So there you have it; my brilliant idea and the inspirations behind it. 
So here's to 2010, trying to make green changes, making a difference and changing the world, and hoping that my luck turns around.