Be the Change

So here's the thing.  When you are able to DIY things, the possibilities become endless.  It feels empowering to be able to say "I can sew." "I can grow my own food." "I can knit." "I can redo my bathroom."  Being able to do things yourself is about self-reliance and true American-ism at its best.

To me, the American spirit has always been about looking at something that seems impossible and saying, I can do it.  But unfortunately, that part of our spirit is being squashed under the weight of cheap food and cheap commercial goods.

I'm relearning how to sew and as I look up patterns and tutorials online, I feel more and more excited to make stuff!  Robeez for my baby? Yes! Fabric bins for the newly decorated bathroom? Yes! Fun skirts for me and my sister? Double yes!!

The irony is that for my grandmother's generation, the availability of store-bought merchandise was what was empowering.  Canned goods, department stores, microwave ovens...all of that meant that they didn't have to spend hours sewing, knitting, cooking, baking.

They didn't have to can their own strawberry jam when you could swing by any market and pick some up.

But for me and I think, a lot of women like me, we are starting to feel that we are losing out by not being able to do these things.  We are tied to a system that mistreats people and animals, degrades the environment and offers the cheapest possible solution when we are unable to be self-sufficient.

Guess what...I don't want to pay through the nose for organic chicken stock, jam, peanut butter, and other items I can make myself.  I don't want to wonder about the young Asian kids who sewed my dress.  I don't want to wonder if some sadistic asshole kicked my cow in the face before it became my hamburger.

So I've learned how to can and "put up" my own goods.  I'm relearning how to sew simple skirts and dresses.  I know my farmer and know that it pains her to bring her cows to slaughter.

There are ways to opt out of the system if you don't like it.  Is it easy?  No.  Is it quick? No.  Is it worthwhile? Yes.

Opting out is an option, but we do have to pay with either time or money to make it work.  But I truly feel that the more people make these choices, the more the system will have to bend to our desires.  Nothing will change if we don't make it happen. 

If we don't buy into the system, the system will collapse under its own weight and some better option must present itself.