Greetings from Alison Wiley here in Portland, Oregon. I'm a writer/doer/thinker who lives happily by putting people, nature and God ahead of accumulating more stuff. Read more →
Less shopping, more nature Less email, more conversation Less junk food, more real food Less TV, more reading Less driving, more walking and biking Less stuff, more space Less alcohol, more money saved Less waste, more energy conservation Less compulsiveness, more contentment Less oil energy, more wind and solar energy Less driving alone, more carpooling and [...]
Tags: alcohol·biking·conversation·driving·email·energy conservation·junk food·nature·reading·real food·savings·stuff·TV·walking
Late last December I decided to drink less, feeling somewhat sobered that an average of four glasses of wine per week since age 21 added up to a minimum $30,000 lifetime investment in libation. Less consumption of a luxury would liberate some funds for helping someone struggling with survival, who under-consumes (and we have gotten, [...]
Tags: drinking·happy hour·nature
The many good Earth Day activities last weekend got me to thinking: we act as if the earth is separate from us, with a big boundary between us and nature. I suggest that’s not accurate thinking, and not very joyful, either. I admit I have done this, too. It’s easy to think that we are [...]
Tags: Earth Day·Flatbush Gardener·green living·life·nature·Oregon·outdoors·water
During a startling heat wave last May I advised slowing down as the best way to respond to it, both for happiness and to contain our carbon emissions. And now that my town (Portland, Oregon) is gripped with unusual amounts of snow and ice, I advise we slow down, snuggle in, and telework, walk or [...]
Tags: ancestors·carbon footprint·global warming·happiness·ice·life·nature·Oregon·outdoors·snow·telework·weather·winter·wreaths
In the past month I’ve been writing energetically (raving?) about the economic crisis and the presidential race. They matter a lot to me. But I think it’s our deep inner lives, the lives of our souls, that guide us into wisdom, joy and what I term the diamond-cut life. A few weeks ago I was [...]
Tags: culture·economics·haiku·happiness·nature·outdoors·photo courtesy of stewf·religion·soul·spirituality
I got up before dawn this morning and went running at first light in Mount Tabor Park, near our house. Near a 100-foot tall Douglas Fir tree, I heard unusual scrabbling noises, so I stopped in my tracks to investigate. I saw an adult raccoon spreadeagled on the tree at about waist height, looking over [...]
Tags: development·Douglas fir·environment·exercise·green living·happiness·land use·Mt Tabor·nature·Oregon·outdoors·parks·Portland·raccoons·running
My blog The Diamond-Cut Life is about chiseling our consumption down to the core of happiness. What do we really need to consume and do in order to have both happiness and integrity in the face of global warming?
In other words, how can each of us give legs to sustainability?
I think that joy for most human beings comes from honest work, friendship, connection to nature, sharing resources and even
Tags: carbon footprint·climate change·culture·friendship·green living·happiness·locavore·nature·New American Dream·sharing resources·sociology·Wake Forest University
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