How I am Living More Intentionally-Part 1

Day 22 in the 30 Day Writing Challenge

Do you live intentionally? Do you even know what this means? I struggled with this concept for a while. It was hard to wrap my head around because life seemed so unpredictable.

I liked the sound of it though. Living more intentionally. But I wasn’t sure how to live more intentionally. But living through this pandemic has given me more time to reflect, to think, to learn than I probably have ever had on my hands before. And here’s what I’e learned so far.

Living more intentionally means thinking more about how you are living. Asking yourself what you are doing, and why.

Instead of just cruising through life with no purpose. Living intentionally means asking yourself what you’re passionate about and what your purpose is in life. Big questions I know. But I have decided to start small and start thinking more about how I am spending my money, my time and my energy.

So today, I’m starting spending my money more intentionally.

Purchasing Cruelty Free Beauty Products

As you may know, I am a lover of animals and both a bird mom and a rabbit mom. I have always loved animals and hated the idea that they were used in lab experiments. However, I didn’t look into whether beauty products I used were cruetly free. I am now. I have done some research into the products I use and want to use in the future and I won’t be purchasing that are not cruelty free. So far I have discovered that Smashbox, Urban Decay and Gosh are all cruelty free. The spa I go to also has it’s own unique line which are cruelty free as well. Buying cruelty free in is in my align with my love for animals and wanting others to respect and care for them more appropriately.

Buying Locally

I have seen so many local business shut down as a result of this pandemic. And I have started thinking more more about why we buy products that are not made in our country. Th answer is pretty simple: products made overseas in sweatshops are a lot cheaper on the pocket book. But from now I will buying local far more often. My money should not be going towards supporting the suffering of those workers. I already love Etsy and it’s easy to find small shops on there that sell jewelry, eco friendly products and more from local businesses. And what I mean by that is within my province, or within Canada. I also intend to shop more in my small downtown strip as there are a couple shops there that sell clothes.

Buying More Consciously

I don’t know if you have noticed, but prices have skyrocketed since Covid hit. My grocery bill is an outrageous amount of money and we are not purchasing more or different foods than we did before. I mean seriously, one day we saw cauliflower for $8.99. Did it grow in gold dusted dirt?! I intend to be a lot more careful about what I buy and I also intend to buy less. It’s time to start living more minimally in my opinion. I may even need to do another de-clutter. My intention here is start thinking about what I need and what is something I can do without

thinking more on Living Intentionally

This is a real process and it’s not something that you just do overnight. It requires thought and reflection. And since I have already been thinking about a lot about money lately, and how and why I spent it it was easiest for me to start with setting those intentions. These will evolve over time I’m sure because living intentionally means constantly pausing and thinking about how you are living, your actions and changes to your actions in order to better align yourself with your values and goals.

I am going to continue to reflect and think before setting any other intentions. So stay tuned for the rest of the “series.”

Do you live intentionally? Share in the comments below.