My 2 cents worth...please pay the lady at the door

My new favorite phrase to utter is "the Economy"...yeah yeah yeah I know, do you live in a cave, this has been going on for awhile now.  Let me clarify something here.  Yes, I live in a cave.  It is called raising a 15 month old and trying to be less plugged in for the sake of his brain development (to avoid a lengthy tangent, I will have to post more later on how a blogger mama is unplugged, tricky I know).
 
Where was I, The Economy.  Actually, I am posting about this hot new topic (ooops sarcasm got out of the cage again) because of a link my bil R sent me (Thanks R).  Here is the link http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6405

Try not to read it just yet, I have a few thoughts.  The part that intrigued me was the concept that getting a few tidbits of info about how to protect ourselves from the evil in the world (i.e. HFCS...high fructose corn syrup, one of my favorite soap box topics) will keep us from acknowledging, supporting, and working for the greater societal issues such as the environment or our overall declining physical health as a nation.  At first, of course I freaked out...natural reaction to alarming information.  I worried that my blog was feeding this frenzy.  I am not certain if my blog is a problem or a solution at this point [given most of my readership is either people who know me well {thanks guys} or people I pay ;) I am not too concerned].  After mental stewing (always a good idea with important things) I have decided to use this link as encouragement to make sure that I explore big and small issues in my blog, which is neat because I can do more than give tips.  It means you get to hear me expound about things like HFCS (see above) and I have no worries about running out of tips.

After even more stewing, a little more serious thinking this time, I had a lightbulb moment.  "The Economy" is the answer.  Wow, amazing.  Usually, you us I you I (help my thinking is getting circular) think of the topic of our Economy and mumble and groan, but what if it is the answer.  Excuse my upcoming theoretical pandering, but here is how it works.  When an underdog gets together and begins to fight a common "Them" then they begin to feel like a team and become an "Us."  This creates mental strength and psychological power and then the weaker group (aka the underdog) is literally able to become stronger and win.  So, how does this work for us.  If we use the "The Economy" as our enemy and join forces rather than nit pick each other and fight, we will win and figure this all out. The trick is not to get stuck in the little details that we think are the answer and to make global compromises.  No one thing you see is the answer for your or my family and our or your community and our world.  Really I mean it.  Staying home with my son, organic food, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, even being unplugged alone is not the answer.  So, RELAX (an usual word to choose to yell, I know), slow down, stop trying to be perfect at everything you do and begin to think on the big scale by joining forces with other humans. We can't do it alone, but we can do it together and fight the big fight against the common enemy.

Okay now back to the above web link http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6405.  She describes that when we get stuck focusing on the small stuff, like which type of cleaning products are dangerous and cause cancer or a certain pesticide to worry about, it gives us a sense of security so that we stop worrying and working on the bigger issues.  Wow... we are sometimes our own worst enemy.

Read the link and see what you think (please post your thoughts in the comment section, I look forward to readers joining me on my soapbox or even being devil's advocate on your own soapbox) and thanks R.

Thanks for letting me soapbox for today.  Might as well use my brain cells for something on a day where my sick kiddo just wants to sleep one me...cute I know
Tracy