Thursday, September 29, 2005
recycling ideas
hanna's most recent post over at making a difference is on the topic of recycling. she takes her love of recycling to a big picture level using it as a metaphor for thinking about life, here's what she has to say:
working with other people's junk can provide a variety of interesting perspectives. on the most basic level it gives a tremendous insight into the material affluence of US society. people have a lot of stuff in this country, and are buying more all the time. but beyond the perspective provided by the sheer quantity is the complex reality of what people choose to give away. as we used to say "one person's trash is another person's treasure."
these words are what came to mind as i read hanna's post. not only do we get to as hanna says "make ourselves new again" we get to do so from our own unique perspective. our treasure may be another's trash and vice versa.
imagine what it would mean to embrace this trash-treasure perspective in your life...
what might you try that you hadn't considered before for fear that others might deem it trash?
what might you chuck that you've always been told you were supposed to treasure?
got your own recycled perspectives to share? post them here!
dream big,
-kirsten
being a big recycling nut myself, i found hanna's metaphor very appealing. while i was in high school and college i worked for five years at a fabulous thrift store here in minneapolis - arc's value village thrift store. it was a fabulous job, with a great organization, and in many ways became my second home. among many great finds i made there over the years, i found my partner, who is still an employee of the organization.On a bigger scope, I'm reminded that finding ways to recycle ourselves daily, annually, and over the course of our lives, is part of our task as leaders and change agents. Taking what is old, used up, discarded and making it new again; giving away what we no longer use to others who can make better use of it, or who can do something new with something that we don't need anymore.
working with other people's junk can provide a variety of interesting perspectives. on the most basic level it gives a tremendous insight into the material affluence of US society. people have a lot of stuff in this country, and are buying more all the time. but beyond the perspective provided by the sheer quantity is the complex reality of what people choose to give away. as we used to say "one person's trash is another person's treasure."
these words are what came to mind as i read hanna's post. not only do we get to as hanna says "make ourselves new again" we get to do so from our own unique perspective. our treasure may be another's trash and vice versa.
imagine what it would mean to embrace this trash-treasure perspective in your life...
what might you try that you hadn't considered before for fear that others might deem it trash?
what might you chuck that you've always been told you were supposed to treasure?
got your own recycled perspectives to share? post them here!
dream big,
-kirsten
# posted by kirsten johnson @ 9:56 AM 