I am dressing up as the cookie monster today. I was going to make home made cookies as treats to go with the outfit, but was reminded that that isn't such a great idea (because parents don't trust that strangers wouldn't spike it with poison - so those types of treats are thrown out before the kids get to it). It's sad to know that the favored treats are the candy bars that line the shelves of the local drugstore. They aren't as healthy, and often are loaded with artificial ingredients.
Stalling
Maybe my subconscious has been stalling. I believe it was a month ago that I hatched this crazy idea of blogging about simplifying my life for the next 365 days for the sake of the environment. Like a little birdie. I've sold one car since. And I've been doing a lot of cleaning out my emotional clutter - but it's been mostly talk and no action. In month two, it will be time to get more serious.
Why Bother?
I read a seminal article written by Michael Pollan, best selling author and brilliant visionary, called "Why Bother?" He wrote it in 2008, and it explains why I'm bothering to simplify my life. The article can be found at: http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/why-bother/
He also wrote several books on the issue, and they are all quite brilliant. I wasn't surprised to learn that Pollan is a member of the faculty at UC Berkeley's Journalism School. Maybe he is voicing the Berkeley solution to the world. I drive around town and I witness little pieces of what Pollan talks about. For example, there are a lot of people who use the bicycle as their main mode of transportation to get around town. There are garden collectives nearby, and farming supplies and vegetable seedlings can be found at the local biodiesal station. People are learning how to grow their own food and there are innumerable Vegan's in this town. There are many of us who own chickens and eat home-harvested eggs. Pollen's article concisely and eloquently summarizes the "Why are we doing this?" question in his article. I'd been feeling rather crazy lately for putting myself through this transformation to simplicity, because it's difficult. The steam to move forward wanes when I face a hurdle, but this article gave me a renewed boost towards the goals I've set for myself this year. Thank you Mr. Pollan for your body of work. You are a great leader and I hope you win the Nobel prize.
Motorcycle Next!
My next sale is a motorcycle. The battery is dead, because I don't ride it anymore. And yet, I still have the hot rod ... because it's been cool. It's just been too cool to say things like: "Oh ya, my motorcycle is parked over there." Maybe that was my (mostly unconscious yet just discovered) reason for stalling behaviors like: "I'm too busy to order a new battery online." (Actually - this is true - it has been on my to do list for the past two weekends.)
I've found that there are consistent obstacles for releasing our attachments to "things."
- Everything takes so much time, if you want to do it "right." Several months ago, I had purchased something called a "battery tender" which is designed to re-charge motorcycle batteries. A month ago, I hooked up the battery tender to my bike, hoping that it would re-charge the battery. It took about a week to figure out that it wasn't working... the battery was so dead that it was beyond saving. So I will be ordering a new battery online. Sigh.
- The choices are paralyzing. Maybe I should sell the bike, without bothering to fix the battery? Well - that's probably a stupid idea, because the buyer won't know what else is wrong with the hunk of metal and plastic. But maybe it's not important to get the most out of the sale. Maybe it's more important that I just sell it? Will the sales price be depressed, since it JUST started to rain for the winter? Wouldn't it be better if I put it on the market in the Spring? I wonder if 365 days is enough time to simplify my life? I wonder if it isn't a life long process? These and other questions flood my brain concerning this single task-at-hand. And to a certain extent, the questions immobilize me. And it keeps me from moving forward.
I can move forward when things get difficult. I move through ideas and spaces better than anyone else I know. I don't get stuck or stymied for very long, when I have goals. So I figure out the next little step I need to take regardless of what I choose to do, that will move me closer to the end of this process.
So I make a decision. Regardless of the timing of the sale , I'll need to get a new battery, I think. So here we go: Chapter 9 of the Honda Shadow VT 600 Owner Workshop Manual talks about battery removal and installation. It tells me that I need a 12v, 12 Ah battery. I simultaneously looked up online what kind of battery it needs and it says that I need a 12 v, 8 Ah battery for a 600cc Honda VT600c CD Shadow Deluxe VLX circa 2000. So I need to go down and get greasy to verify what kind of battery I would need to replace to sell the sucker.
See you later.
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