Living Clean

There’s a great movement lately called “Simple Living” that’s attracting a lot of attention.  It’s based on less consumerism, being satisfied with what you need instead of craving what you want, and giving up the rat race that drives you to acquire more and more things you don’t need.  At the heart of it is the green philosophy. You know the one I’m talking about.  It has all the latest catchy, trendy words:  Recycle.  Reuse.  Organic.  Vegan.  I’m not against living simply, but I don’t think it encompasses the whole of where we need to go if we’re to achieve our goals of happier and healthier both physically and mentally.  I believe there’s a step beyond Simple Living.  I call it Living Clean. 

Living clean is about taking out the unnecessary garbage.  Not just the garbage in your house but the garbage in your emotional and mental dwellings as well.  Cleaning out one without cleaning out the other still leaves you knee deep in garbage no matter how you look at it.  Living Clean is also about creativity, self-expression, and individuality.  Being who your really are.  Breaking out of the mold and dropping the façade you’ve built by default to blend into society.  In my opinion, blending in is highly overrated because if you blend in, you’re considered normal.  And in case you haven’t noticed, normal is based on average.  Being average means being same as everyone else.  Since each of us is a unique individual on the inside and not remotely average, think of Living Clean as washing down the dirty windows blurring the view and keeping the world from seeing who you really are. Keep those windows cloudy long enough and you lose the real you.  There’s an ancient wisdom that says “You will become what you pretend to be.”  I think it’s time to stop pretending. It’s time to wash the windows and clean out the garbage.  It’s time to start Living Clean. 

The First 10 Principles of Living Clean

1. Start by recognizing the difference between what you need and what you desire.  True needs are fairly basic.   A roof over your head, food, water, and clothing are basic things your body needs.  Your mind needs love, friendship, sensuality and conformity with your own personal moral code.  Once you expand beyond the basics, you’re dealing with desire rather than need. 
2. Go through your possessions and get rid of those things you don’t need.  If you haven’t worn it, used it, or thought about it in six months, it’s guaranteed you don’t need it.  And even if you used it last week, if using it takes time away from positive activities and pursuits, if it’s to your detriment in any way, get rid it out of your life.  What’s really worth more?  High score on the most popular computer game of the year, or a long, lovely evening making love to your spouse?  I bet I know which one your spouse would choose.
3. When you buy, buy only what you need and only if you love it.  It’s all well and good to reduce consumerism, but neither should you settle for less than you deserve.  If you’re going to spend your money, spend it on something you absolutely love and will want with you for years and years and more years. 
4. Brand new isn’t always better and it certainly isn’t unique.  You don’t find antiques, vintage or wearable art in shiny new department stores.  You find all of those things in flea markets, thrift stores and trading posts.  Expand your horizons and quit being a snob who takes the easy all access mall routes to fashion and home décor.  It’s boring and you don’t develop any kind of personal style that way. 
5. Stay away from anything toxic.  This includes anything that damages the environment, toxic people who damage your life and even your own toxic behavior when you behave badly.  If it hurts anything or anyone just run, not walk very far away as fast as you can. 
6. Be who you are.  Drop the façade.  It doesn’t do you any good and it’s a massive waste of time.  The truth is, most people are so wrapped up in themselves they don’t much care about what someone else looks like or acts like.  So don’t waste your time.   They won’t notice and they don’t care.
7. Do not presume to know the mind of God.  Quit passing judgment and assuming your belief system is the only absolute and correct one.  You don’t automatically get to be right just because you think you are.   And it’s a waste of time and energy since you can’t change anyone but yourself no matter how hard you try.  Just accept that others may choose a different lifestyle and make different decisions.  Give God credit for being omnipotent and powerful enough to sort it out without your help.  That’s why God gets the fancy title and heavenly office.
8. Live every moment and perform every action as though it’s your last.  Imagine you’re going to check out in 10 minutes.  What didn’t you do you really wish you had?  What’s that last impression you’re giving everyone to remember you by?  Make everything you do and everything you say worth remembering in a positive way.  You don’t really want to be the crazy mean neighbor they were glad died, do you?
9. Don’t supersize anything.  Whether it’s your meal or your house, don’t waste money upsizing beyond what you actually need.  While Brangelina might need an enormous SUV for six small children in car seats, the rest of us really don’t.  They’re expensive and wasteful to fuel, and they obscure vision for other more reasonable sized vehicles.  Plus they’re supremely irritating to the rest of us.  Especially when you insist on trying to fit them into compact parking spaces. 
10. Forgive everyone especially yourself.  You’re not perfect, you’re never going to be perfect, and you’re going to make mistakes in the experience we call life.  When you blow it, forgive yourself so you can get over it and get back to life.  What about others who have wronged you?  Just like you, they’re not perfect.  Forgiving doesn’t mean being a sucker for them to come back around and take another shot at you either.  Forgive them so you quit wasting energy on them, then just walk away and don’t look back.  Wallowing in self-pity and anger is unattractive and flagellation went out of style with the Inquisition. 

These are just the basics.  There’s more, but really it’s only common sense breaking the basics down further to fit your own personal life.  The important thing is to get off the carousal of wasting time, money and energy on things you don’t really need.  Set yourself free from trying to win the game of “more”.  The truth is, it’s not the guy with the most toys at the end of his life that wins…… It’s the person with the most happiness.