77

 Sustainable living and illness

For an upcoming seminar that some colleagues and I are organising, I've been reflecting on bringing sustainability into being via one's own practices. In relation to my own life, I identify causality in my mode of relation with the world, the universe and everything it includes, and perhaps also to some extent how my childhood unfolded. I often hear from others contemplating my mode of living something along these lines, "I'm trying to live sustainably but I don't take it as far as you do". 

Many of my practices that appear sustainable and transformative began far earlier than I started researching sustainability. Such practices include, for example, preferring natural materials, eating simple whole foods, avoiding perfumes, candles, makeup, conventional skincare, and so on. I live with an autoimmune skin condition which makes my skin react, sometimes severely, to many things such as fragrances and human-made fabrics. Such reactions manifest, for instance, via rashes and unpleasant sensations. In other words, I began avoiding polyester clothing and other textiles not because I learned about microplastics in my childhood, but rather because polyester causes extremely unpleasant sensation and feels like my skin is suffocating under a layer of plastic. Dust accumulated in the furniture, candles and other scents, all of them cause long-lasting headaches. 

In addition to that, high sensory processing sensitivity (which is not an illness as opposed to the skin condition I mentioned above) generally results in aversion towards busy environments, so there are many services and social spaces that I avoid. This naturally led to a simpler lifestyle, an uncluttered personal space, less consumption than what is normal in this society, and my preference towards spending time with non-humans. For these reasons, I do not believe that there is one mode of sustainable living. For some, fragrances are pleasant and comforting, polyester fabrics feel silky, and furniture-free spaces feel empty. Moreover, there are different mechanisms that bring about one's "sustainable" mode of living. 

76

 Being with the sea in the morning

This morning, as always, I woke up with the sun. Because I don't have curtains and don't ever close the blinds, and because my windows face the North-East, I wake up when the sun rises. These days have been very sunny and I've often felt an overwhelming desire to be outside with the trees, the sun, and the sea. When I came back home, I made tea. Because I don't have a kettle, I use a simple cooking pot to boil water. The sound of water beginning to boil in a pot appears less violent. It takes perhaps a little longer, but making tea and coffee is a beautiful and calming activity.