Afflu-what?

Last night we had some good friends over for dinner (Meredith and Eric). They are always so much fun, and we always end feeling like we need to see them again soon. They have recently read a book called Affluenza. I guess it has been almost a year now since Kev and I read it last summer. It is an amazing book. It deals with the affluent, disposable, consumer-driven society that America has become. It can be overwhelming, and at times depressing, as it goes in detail about many things that our society is doing that damages the environment, our resources, other countries, and most of all - ourselves. As you read it you want to change the world and realize that that starts with you. So you realize that you want to change your life. But how, where do I start? It feels so big, and I feel so small.

So last night Eric asked us what we do differently now because of reading it. Immediately a few things jumped into our minds. As we shared those more things came to mind. Before long I realized what a long list of things we were doing differently. Wow. It was so exciting. I feel like we're achieving something. We knew many of the things we wanted to do were longterm goals, but to see us remaining true to many of them after a year feels so encouraging. Maybe we really can change the world. Just slowly...