HAPPY FREAKING EARTH DAY!!!
Happy Earth Day, everyone! In the spirit of conservation and minimalism this Earth Day, I have undertaken a little project for y'all.
If you didn't know it already, in the past, I have had a bit of a clothing...addiction? I couldn't seem to get enough. But this Earth Day I decided that I have had enough. I have always admired minimalists, especially the ones the get rid of practically everything. I didn't get rid of everything, but pretty close.
Here is a picture of ALL THE CLOTHING I OWN. Everything. I held nothing back. This is every coat, jacket, shirt, and shoe that I have worn over the last couple years.

Click to enlarge it! I know. I'm gluttonous and horrible. Aside from the monstrous laundry days I've had to face, it is just hard to keep a clean room with all this stuff! Having a dirty life is emotionally, spiritually, and physically straining. So i decided to make a change. I sorted through my things, gave my Dad his socks back, my brother his pajama pants, a whole heapa stuff to DI, finally separated out my scout uniforms from my regular wardrobe, and put the rest in my "Holding Pen". What is a holding pen you might ask? Well it's a garbage bag filled with clothing. If I can last a couple months without my things, they get to live with someone new. If I can't... well let's cross that bridge when we get to it. I narrowed my things down to a manageable, comfortable amount. Please observe.

Nine shirts
Five pairs of pants
Ten undershirts
Ten pairs of socks and underwear
One pair of dress slacks
One white dress shirt
One wetsuit
One pair of swimming trunks
One pullover
Two ties
One dress belt and one casual belt
One ranch jacket
One pair of work gloves
Ten handkerchiefs
One pair of work boots
One pair of dress shoes
One pair of flip flops
One pair of slip on shoes
Two sets of PJs
It's amazing how it feels to have so few clothes. It's odd. It's the opposite of what you think it would feel like. Instead of being restricting, it's actually really freeing. So I challenge you, do something that scares you. Conserve. Get rid of your junk. Peace and tranquility! Happy Earth Day!

I always find it fascinating how many counterfeits for love there are. Our world is full of them. Lust, pride, greed, addiction. We believe with all our hearts when we are entangled in their deadly grasp that they are our whole world. We can't live without them. It's so hard to see past our obsessions when we are in the midst of them. So often I wonder how I ever began to truly see clearly, or at least more clearly. How do we ever fall out of jealousy's poisonous fingers whole? How do we ever make it out alive? From a person who used to be plagued by counterfeit loves, here is a piece of advice : Love breeds love. Unlike lust, love lingers on and waxes stronger. Unlike pride, love withstands hearty blows from adversaries. Unlike greed, love is easily satisfied and always swelling with joyous content. Unlike addiction, the more love we attain, the bigger our hearts grow and the stronger we become.

Love breeds love. Love never seeks to be hidden. Love never pleads to be horded or rationed to a select few. Love expands exponentially. Love begs to be spread. Love makes us feel GOOD when other people find it. So many things in our lives we want to keep to ourselves for the fear that those things will run out or will be taken over by other people. But when we find what we love to do, we WANT people to join us. We don't care how many people do it with us. It makes us pleased to see that other people love what we love.

So spread your love. It is harder than spreading hate. But the rewards ALWAYS outweigh the doubts we feel about expressing our love. So LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! <3