Friday, January 1, 2010

New Year

I am so grateful for all the joy and wonder of the past year and am excited at the possibilities of the new year.

While I appreciate that each moment is a gift and all we truly have is the present, I do like the feelings that the new year brings.

Our family is committed to treading lightly on this earth, giving thanks to God for our blessings, and making a difference, even if it is only by a series of small changes.

So for the first month of One Small Change, we will be no longer making our coffee on the electric stove in the morning, but instead will be more patient in the and let the coffee brew on the top of our woodstove. Just six months ago, our family lived in a mobile home, off grid, for a period of 2 years and 3 months. We must not forget the lessons we learned and how little we truly need.

This seems like such a small thing to do, however, even this step will make a difference.
From "A HandmadeLife, In Search of Simplicity" by Wm. S. Coperthwaite ~
"Each time we learn to live more simply, we aid the world in two ways:
1) We use less of the world's resources for our own life;
2) We help set an example for others who are now striving to copy the affluent life of their neighbors.
The greater the striving for affluence, the more wretched will be the poor, and the greater will be the chasm between the haves and the have-nots. Violence will be inevitable... Not only do we need to simplify in order to be able to share more of the things the world needs, but we need to distribute power, authority, and freedom as well. The more decentralized we become, the more opportunity will there be for individual decision-making."
Wishing all of you a beautiful, joyful and peaceful new year.

13 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Tonya! This is such an awesome small change! I imagine this will become a great morning ritual!

    Thanks so much for pariticpating and donating a prize!
    Suzy

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  2. What a beautiful idea. Thank you for the refreshing thought this morning :)

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  3. Thanks for sharing the beautiful quote. And for being such an example of plain and joyful living.
    Kyce

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  4. Hi Tonya,
    If you lived closer like you used to I would pop over for some of that coffee:-) Happy New Year to you and yours, may God bless it abundantly!

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  5. Happy New Year to you and your family! This beautiful space of yours has been a great inspiration to me.

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  6. Tonya,

    What a wonderful and inspiring quote!

    I think I am going to get that book...it is right where my goal for this new year - to live a simpler in all aspects of my life.

    Have a blessed 2010 ;-)

    maria

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  7. Happy New Year Tonya! May your year be full of blessings and abundance as you continue to live simply!

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  8. OMW Tonya, I loved your post! Your blog is amazing and so is your commitment...what a wonderful inspiration :)

    Thank you for stopping by and visiting my blog, and your kind comments, I am so glad to make a new friend. We are down in West Dover, near Mt Snow, but our youngest will be heading up north in September as he just got accepted to UVM, so not too far, but still up a ways. We have snow steady for the next few days so you have that to look forward to :)

    Happy New Year :)
    Hugs

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  9. Hi Tonya,
    Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! It was lovely to hear from you :) I think it was here that I first read about 'One Small Change' and I am so grateful for your blog post. We are so looking forward to this positive experience...
    Have a wonderful 2010...
    Warmly Linda

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  10. A beautiful change in your daily routine, it is in these simple steps that bring such joy in the slow process.

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  11. this is such a great idea. a wonderful way to slow life down. i would love to get rid of most of my electrical dependencies...and someday my husband and i hope to live off the grid and we will!! but for now...small changes! happy new year. xo, pennie

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  12. Very nice idea. Surely coffee brewed on a woodstove will be enjoyed even more than coffee brewed on an electric stove :)

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  13. Enjoy your coffee! We've recently disconnected our electric stove and are doing all of our cooking and baking on/in our wood cook stove. I roast green coffee beans in the stove and heat water for making coffee on the stove (I use an Aeropress for making the coffee -- I do have a percolator if needed).

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