What Poverty Is Teaching Me

The other evening when I went to bed I was talking to one of my Sasquatch friends about poverty and just how stressful it's been when I can't spare funds for things I feel I need, let alone pay my bills. Suddenly this question floated into my conscious awareness:

What about the good that has come about because of it?

I thought about it and began to realize that a lot of good has come from it and so I'd like to share the good I see happening in my life because of it.

The first thing I thought of was how I couldn't buy toilet paper and so the only thing left to do was make myself some fabric toilet paper. Stuff you can't just flush down the toilet and forget about. And it means doing laundry every few days. By hand. Because I have no washer and choose to do my laundry by hand. The good that has come from it is that I am actually happy to not buy toilet paper because I think of all the trees killed and all the chemicals used to create what we know as toilet paper. I think it's healthier for the planet. And it feels good that I am not participating anymore in the slaughter of trees for what little toilet paper I might be buying otherwise.

You see, we get so used to what we consider essentials and luxuries that we don't think about the actual effect it has on the planet and nature.

Nature can survive without us but humanity can't survive without nature.

As I become more aware of the thoughtlessness and disrespect most of humanity has in relation to nature it makes me more conscious of how I might be thoughtless or disrespectful in my own actions.

The next thing I thought about was trash. The trash I create in this "seen as normal" lifestyle of buying groceries and other things because it's so much easier. While I have an advantage of growing up in a family that grew a lot of their own food and preserved it as well as sewing our dresses etc. I have skills a lot of others might not have. I haven't been able to pay for trash disposal for a few months now and it's really made me stop and think about the trash I create. When all your food comes from the grocery store; that creates a lot of trash because of all the packaging. While I mostly buy ingredients and cook from scratch; the peels and ends of the fruits and vegetables still create a lot of trash and I don't have room to really compost where I am at. On top of all the trash I create even as one person I had to think about the trash bags it takes for the trash as I had been using extra grocery bags and had used up the last one and realized I don't like this either of having to buy bags for trash thus creating even more trash.

These are the main things I thought of in trying to think from the perspective of the good that has come from it. It seems humanity has to experience pain so that they change their ways and this has been a good albeit painful experience for me. What it has done though, is shown me what I don't like about my lifestyle that I used to do without a thought because I had no reason before to stop and think about why I do what I do until I was forced to stop and really look at what I saw as normal. It has also very much strengthened the intention, that if I can find a way to either buy myself some land or to find a place where I can have a garden when my lease is up in May then I will take that step. I am beginning to feel restricted where I am now because it feels like I am held back from doing the things I really want to do with my life... And with the new perspective of what good has come from this, I am very grateful for this experience of poverty and what I have learned through it...it definitely has helped me look and brainstorm for ways of living and moving about on this beautiful planet we call home, that feel more aligned for me that I might not otherwise have questioned.

And so, if you find yourself in poverty, what good has come from the experience for you? It might not feel pleasant in a lot of ways but it is an experience we can learn a lot about; both about ourselves and also how we walk through this life and perhaps we can find ways to change ourselves thus changing our reality and experience...

~I send you so much love and light wherever you find yourself~