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Bicycle Conservation

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 by Alyice

The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man.
Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish.
Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.
– Iris Murdoch

When I was growing up we walked everywhere. If it was too far to walk, we took a bus. And only on very rare occasions did we pay for a taxi-cab. For us, cars were luxuries we simply couldn’t afford. And not owning a car was a sign of our financial struggles—of being on the verge of poverty.

We walked a little over a half mile to school in the pouring rain and in the heat of the sun and the only time we ever rode the bus was when we were bused to a new school district in hopes of giving us “poor kids” a better chance.

Grocery shopping was always an all day excursion. While we had a local farmer’s market available for stocking up on things we could carry home in our arms, the real grocery shopping took place nearly four miles away. We’d wake early, put on our walking shoes, and take a leisurely stroll to the supermarket. Once there we spent a good hour or two stocking up on groceries. After paying for the groceries, mom would call a taxi-cab. Riding in the taxi-cab was always the best part of the trip—aside from being able to pick out our favorite cookies from the nearby bakery.

Upon entering junior high, mom was finally able to afford a reliable, used car and we were living the good life. While we still had to walk to and from school, grocery shopping was much, much easier—as was visiting my grandmother in another city.

Upon entering high school, we moved to a better area of town which meant my commute to school was a short quarter mile walk one way. And by this time, mom had leased a rather nice “luxury” car—and had the option of trading it out every two years, which she did like clockwork.

When I graduated from college, however, it was right back to taking the bus. I couldn’t afford a car of my own so I’d walk nearly a half mile to the bus stop, take the bus to college, then walk nearly a mile to my job. After work, I’d walk back to the college and then take the bus home.

So by the time I could actually afford a car of my own, there was no turning back. I never wanted to see another bus again. And I definitely didn’t want to be caught dead walking or riding a bike around town, or anywhere else for that matter.

Then one day I had kids and found bike riding to be a fun way to get them out of the house and into the fresh air. It was no longer a sign of poverty. I did, after all, own a car.

We’d ride down to the local park where we’d picnic and play on the playground equipment, then we’d bike back home and take a nice little nap. On days when my husband was off, we’d make it an all day excursion and ride to the beach. Once there we’d play in the water, eat at a local eatery, and then begin our journey back home. If the weather was bad or it got too dark, we’d call mom to pick us up.

But I just couldn’t get myself to walk around town. Every time I attempted do so I’d hear this small little voice say to me, “Look at that girl walking down the street. She must be really poor. She can’t even afford a bicycle.”

Years passed and we moved to a small town of 10,000 in the northern part of Wisconsin. Everything was within walking distance: the grocery store, the library, the video store, the movie theater, and even the local beach/lake and rivers. It was so quiet, so peaceful, and so beautiful that one couldn’t help but walk around town just to enjoy the serenity of it all. Finally, the stereotype that had continued to play in my head disappeared. I was no longer intimidated by walking, I rather enjoyed it.

Fast forward to today. I now live in a town of 2,000 people and everything is once again within walking distance. I love my early morning bike rides, my afternoon jaunts, and my evening walks. The mornings are for clearing my head and helping me appreciate what God has given me. The afternoons (thanks to summer) are for connecting with my daughter—a ride that I truly cherish as she opens her heart to me and I learn more about the person she’s becoming. And the evenings are for de-stressing and reconnecting with my husband.

So today, as you search for more ways to conserve energy and save on the ridiculously high cost of gas, I’d like you to think about how far I’ve come and encourage you to take a second look at bicycling and walking for yourself—for your families.

In the words of Grant Petersen, “Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world.”

Posted in Simple Living | 6 Comments »

A Richer Life

Saturday, June 14th, 2008 by Alyice

Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.
– Mahatma Gandhi

Is how we live our lives a reflection of our souls or a reflection of society’s impact on our lives? I’ve been wondering that a lot lately.

I can’t help but think how much richer the lives of my ancestors were even though their lives were far more difficult than the lives we live today. People made time for each other. They visited in person. They made connections on a level that is often unheard of in today’s society. They bartered services and materials before heading out to buy supplies. They held social potlucks simply for the pleasure of enjoying each other’s company. And they lent a helping hand without expecting or demanding something in return. In essense they lived a life of sustainability which somehow brought them closer together as a community.

Today, things are vastly different. The basic fundamentals are easier. After all, we have washing machines, dishwashers, and flushing toilets. We can travel hundreds of miles in a single day. We push a button and let robotics do the work for us. But modernization came with a price. Far more people feel isolated and alone—whether they live in a city of thousands or a town of hundreds. And that disconnection is playing havoc with society as a whole.

It’s not enough to downsize or reduce the impact our lives place on earth’s resources. It’s not enough to go green. We must learn to re-connect with those within our community and we must connect on a level that doesn’t cause one to seek happiness in a bottle, in a pill, in an illegal substance, through consumerism, or through becoming work-a-holics.

Posted in Simple Living | 4 Comments »

First Weigh In

Friday, June 13th, 2008 by Alyice

As you may notice, this blog is getting a complete overhaul. I am weeding through several posts to build what I hope to become my true home away from home. I’m a dabbler by nature. I love to try new things and share what I’ve learned along the way. In the past, I had several niche blogs spread across the Internet and an online magazine but trying to keep up with them all and live the life I wanted to live proved to be a very difficult task.

The world, as we know it, has us believing that we can have our cake and eat it too. It has us believing that we really are Super Women and Men who can take on any and every thing so long as we set our minds to it, get organized, and hire the right kind of help. It has us believing that in order to succeed in life, we must be successful in the eyes of our peers. It has us believing that once we reach a certain level of success or even a certain station in life that we cannot stay there; we must keep striving for more.

I didn’t always buy into that way of life. I actually used to believe that there was such a thing as being happy and content in life with what matters most to you–the individual, not others. I actually believed that you could feel succcessful and happy making $X dollars a month while spending the better part of your life engaged in more important issues like family, friends, hobbies, and causes you believed in.

But somewhere over the past three years, I bought into the world’s view of success and happiness. And I didn’t even know it! There had been an internal conflict brewing within me for years, but I thought it was all the state-to-state moves in the last seven years, the loss of friendshps due to those moves, the financial problems that arose because of those moves, the five deaths in my family, the stress of running an online business, and trying to start a new business that was causing the problems. I thought if I just learned to manage my time more efficiently and accept what is instead of yearning for what was or what could be that everything would settle down, but it didn’t.

That internal conflict continued to grow until finally it took its toll on me mentally and physically. Stress has a way of doing that to you. I had no other choice but to slow down and take inventory of my life and that’s when it hit me. Yes, those issues were part of the problem and needed to be dealt with (not pushed under the rug), but there was a bigger issue at hand. One that I failed to recognize.

I had truly lost my identity. I lost sight of what was truly important to me. I lost sight of who I was as an individual. And it showed in my physical appearance and in my emotional state of mind. I had been so focused on building a business, building an online reputation, building a home, and supporting everyone else that I wasn’t meeting my own needs.

My mother-in-law tried to get me to slow down and take care of myself. She saw the overload, the physical fatigue, the mental fatigue, and probably even the break down that was about to occur both physically and mentally, but I would not acknowledge it. I was, after all, Super Woman. I could tackle anything.

Then it happened. A minor mental break-down. Bell’s Palsy. And a doctor’s order to slow down and get mentally and physically healthy before I wouldn’t be around to see the kids get married and have kids of their own. There was only one drawback to slowing down. My business began to suffer and as it suffered, I began to wonder, Who am I outside of my business? Who am I outside of my family? Who is Alyice Edrich and what does she really want out of life? What really matters to her?

And that, my dear blog readers (and friends) will be what Friday Weigh Ins are about: personal health and fitness outside of financial success and world recognition.

I hope that you’ll share your journeys with me and that together we can find peace in knowing that we are living our lives to their fullest potentials—even if it’s not what others believe to be “full potential.”

Posted in Friday Weigh-In | 8 Comments »