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My 500-Day Vow of Poverty
Started
by Tigs
on July 14, 2010
I've been a part of the Kind Life community for a few months now. I've learned a lot as a vegetarian and I'm so inspired by others who have taken on the stance of conscious eating. Our livelihood should be equally important as the livelihood of those we share the earth with.
I'm a writer wannabe and I've been tinkering with an article I've been trying to write for some time. This was to be about my 500-Day Vow of Poverty. I attempted to document it on a blogsite here: http://povertyvow.blogspot.com/. At the expense of my pride and admitting that I've neither written an article nor done anything with my blogsite (hey--I don't even really facebook), I decided it's more important to share my experience with a supportive and responsive community such as the KL.
From January 1, 2009 to May 15, 2010, I did not buy a thing on the list provided on that blogsite. I did it as an experiment to see how I could live off the fat of my wardrobe and I had no problems doing so! It was so much easier than I thought that I couldn't even write about it!
My vow was more like 509 days. Contrary to my original plan to go shopping on May 16, I didn't feel the need to venture out right away. I only needed a new sports bra and some sports socks so I cracked! I got a few other staples as well. I didn't expect the vow to open up my life to new things now that I was no longer spending what seemed like chump change: I went to the gym regularly; I had time to learn about investing and ended up working part-time and now I'm 'retired' at age 34; I took classes in business and hope to one day open up a boutique hotel that is completely waste free and energy efficient. My dreams are coming true!
I'm doing an online course and I'm back on the vow not to shop for anything until I'm done. I hope whoever reads this will come up with similar goals!
wow that is amazing!!!!!!!!! you are so inspiring. I defnitely get intense shopping urges and i have been trying very hard with some good results to not buy new things bec. its just stuff and its a vicious cycle which never ends. The more i ignore the urges the better i feel in the long run! Thankyou for posting this. It's so great to hear that there are people out there making a positive impact in the world just by living their lives. fantastic message. hats off to you!
firstly, i do want to say how wonderful it is to try to lessen your footprint and stop unnecessary purchasing. it's crazy how much we buy but really don't NEED. and i very much support you in that quest.
i would like to caution you though...the words "poor" and "poverty" in our society are utilized incorrectly a whole, whole lot. i just want to challenge you to really scrutinize why you chose that word specifically. from looking at your blog it seems that poverty may not be the right word choice, and i want to encourage you to approach the topic with sensitivity towards our struggling sisters and brothers. i want you to know, i'm not making any judgments about where you come from, because i have no idea, and i definitely congratulate you on the successes you have had.
Second Landree Fleming's post. I think it's great that you are trying to reduce your shopping. After I read TKD I started to realize more and more that most of the things I buy I already have in some form, and I didn't need them at all! It sure feels like that though, you see all these commercials and they get in your head and you start thinking I need that I need that! That's the point of advertising, after all. Make people believe they need your products. Anyway, I think it's great that you are trying to reduce your consumption, and I hope these 500 days help you make some permanent changes, and inspire others to reduce theirs.
Still, I think it's not really a vow of poverty. I think maybe you should consider changing the name. True poverty means people are lacking basic human needs (rights?) like clean water, health care, education, shelter, clothing, and even food, because they literally cannot afford them. It's really an extreme word, and the sad truth is there are many people in the world today who are really suffering from poverty. I guess the word has been trivialized and we don't really seem to understand it, but maybe that is because we can have so much that our problems are over-consumption and a kind of drowning in all of our stuff, and it's hard to stop and think that there are people who truly don't know how they will get their next meal, who don't have shoes or clean water, whose kids can't afford to go to school if the family wants to eat. Poverty is incredibly sad and serious. So I commend you on your efforts to reduce your consumerism, but I urge you to really think about what poverty means.
Has anyone actually looked at the blog? There appears to be only one post - are you going to write more Tigs? Also, I'm confused as to why you decided to start the blog after you completed the experiment - or have I completely got the wrong end of the stick? I think it's great you stopped all frivolous spending for 500days - that's quite a feat. I've been reducing my spending too but rather ironically my most recent blog post is about things I have bought - I just couldn't resist those vegan shoes! I'm definitely more aware of what I buy and where since turning vegan but I'm not perfect and sometimes just have the urge to make that purchase so hats off to you Tigs - you're a stronger woman than me:)
Hi Aine--Sadly enough, there really is only one post. I meant to write more about it in it, but in the end to do it wasn't that hard! I only posted it as a reference so you can view what I was restricted from. I started the blog while not shopping. My vow started January 1 2009 to May 23, 2010.
And yes, Aime, I agree with Landree re the word 'poverty'. I'm of a Catholic background so it's common for us who want to make sacrifices during Lent and those who join the holy orders to take vows of poverty, vows of silence, vows of chastity. No offense intended and I hope everyone realizes that I'm only here to help those of us with a proclivity to shop but wanna stop.
If I choose to actually write an article/essay about this I will definitely reconsider the title such as a shopping cleanse or fast. Or rip off "Buy Nothing (500) Day(s)"--just kidding. I want people to join me in the challenge, so I gotta think of something to catchy that won't offend and take away focus from the act itself. I'm open to any suggestions! Better yet, I'm open to hearing of anyone who'd like to try something similar!
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