Simple, handmade scarves can put one on a Greener path

My friend Ann puts me to shame. She spins her own wool. She grows – or is intimately familiar with the person who grew it - almost everything she eats. She has two pair of jeans and four pair of shoes. She lives alone in a cabin on a piece of property overlooking a scenic valley. She lives simply and frugally and she’s lived that way for years. Next to her I feel like a cross between Paris Hilton and the bag lady that pushes a cart heaped with junk up and down the city streets. I live in the city. I grow vegetables and herbs in pots on the patio, but a lot of what we eat is picked up from the grocery store on the way home from work at the end of a busy day. I have a closet full of shoes and purses and clothing. Thinking about her used to make me feel guilty. It took me a while to understand that I don’t have to live the life my friend lives, to live a meaningful life. Ann, on the other hand, didn’t feel the need to marry and have children, or join clubs and organizations to live a satisfying life. Both of us followed our own star. But, as we got older, a funny thing happened. Each of us began to see the value in the life the other led. Ann, the woman who would never wear lipstick or do anything to her hair but brush it, braid it and forget it, developed a passion for scarves. Now, she wears one almost every day, wrapped in an elaborate knot around her neck. In the last few years I’ve been re-examining my way of living. My tendency to gather things just because they interest me or catch my eye has diminished. If something comes in my house, well, something else has to go out. I don’t live in a cabin in the woods, but I have moved to a smaller and easier to maintain house. I simplified the housekeeping side of my life. Learning from Ann, I’m a better recycler. I look for natural cleaning products. I pay attention to where my food was grown. I try to do more with less. I worry about the footprint I will leave behind me and what kind of world my children will inherit. It’s funny how things work out. Ann’s growing fond of color. A splash of red silk or blue wool around her neck makes her happy. And me? Well, I’m growing a little greener every day.