To have more...

What if we all quit taking more than we really need?

I saw the movie "The Book of Eli" with Denzel Washington this year. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. Without giving spoilers, I will say that the movie is set in a post-apocalyptic future. In one scene, someone asks Denzel Washington, "What was it like before?" His response (not verbatim) is, "Before? Well, people had more than they needed. They threw away things that people would kill for now."

Is that not the perfect description of how we, at least in developed countries, live? We take more than we need and throw away things that others literally die without. So many of us, no matter where we fall on the political spectrum, can see that our behavior is not good for the earth. Whether or not we believe in Global Warming, whether or not we believe Global Warming is man made, we know that our actions at present are unsustainable. We know that at some point in the future our trajectory will lead to certain doom.

Take a look around your house, just what you can see from where you sit. How much do you see that you rarely (if ever) use? Why do you have it? I mean sure, maybe you use x item every Christmas or y item every time there's snow in July. Wouldn't it be more sustainable to just borrow x and y when you need them? I mean, how revolutionary would it be to borrow/rent Holiday decorations rather than buying them, paying for the storage containers to hold them year round, then on top of that, paying for extra square footage in your dwelling to store those?

Look at all the gadgets and dishes in your kitchen. Do you use all of them on a daily (or even weekly or monthly) basis? Why do you have them? Have you ever used them? Could you live without them? Is it possible to keep only what you use regularly and borrow from someone else on the other occasions? Take stock of all of the goods in your house. How much lingers in every room, every closet, every nook and cranny that you don't use?

Now don't misinterpret me. I am not in any way suggesting that any of us live without what we truly need (food, clothes, shelter), nor am I even suggesting that we live without what we want. My family each owns their own laptop. We don't need them, but to get along in today's society, it is extremely handy for us each to have one. What would be wasteful of us is to replace them any more frequently than when they are no longer serviceable. Do you remember the days when people drove cars until they could no longer be driven?

Even in clothing we each have more than we need. I had a small child visiting in my home today. During a conversation about people conquering people since the dawn of man, she asked why people could do that when, "It's so mean!" I said, "Because people tend to feel like they never have enough. They conquer other groups in order to take more." This led us down a path of, "How much does a person really need?" Another child suggested that all we really need is two sets of clothes: one set to wear while we wash the other set.

She made an excellent point. Even my minimalist family has eight sets of clothes each: One for each day of the week and one to wear on wash day. I'm comfortable with the amount of clothes my family presently has and don't see the need to step it down another level. But what else could we reduce?

The biggest question here is, "What would the world look like if, right now, everyone decided to stop taking more than they need?"

On the road again...

Woohoo! The Dharma family has hit the road...

We left on March 8th and headed for Sarasota, Florida. It took us a couple days to get to Florida and we apparently brought the Texas rain storms with us. Some where around Tallahassee we discovered that one of our vents has a leaky seal, but that's okay, it only leaks in if we're not level. We'll get it replaced soon, but we're parked for now somewhere level, so we're not worried at the moment.

We came pretty directly to Sarasota to visit with an awesome unschooling family who lives in the area. We're waiting to visit Disney World until after Spring Break, so sometime the second week of April or so.

If you're somewhere in the U.S. and would like a visit from us sometime over the next year, drop us a line and let us know! After Florida, we'll be headed to North Carolina, and other points North.

Where in the world is the Dharma Family?!

So often from people we have known for some time we hear, "Gosh, I thought you guys would have been halfway across the country by now." Well, we have been halfway across the country, several times over the last few years. In 2007, we went to TN, MI, PA, MA, NH, DC, and back home again. In 2008, we expanded a similar trip and visited OK, MN, MI, PA, NH, VT, NY, NC, and back home again. In 2009, we drove the other direction and went to NM, AZ, NV, CA, OR, WY, UT, CO, OK, and back home again (only home was in San Antonio, TX instead of Austin, TX).

Where has 2010 taken us? So far, it's taken us to CA, NV, AZ, NM, and home came with us after CA where we picked up an even better RV than we had in January. So where is home now? Home is in Austin, TX of all places! We know, you'd think with an RV in our possession we'd be halfway across the country by now. Nope. That's okay, we're taking time to spend with loved ones here in TX, so many friends we made over the 5 years we lived in Austin, it's hard to say goodbye.

March will have us moving house (literally, this time) and you can check back here to find out where in the world the Dharma Family has gone...