Guilt Trip
Flossing… how do I feel about you? (Flossing, the tooth thing, not the dance, I love the dance)
Image as seen in Mountain Orthodontics
Flossing… I feel guilty when I DON’T floss(cause we should, right?), and I feel guilty when I DO floss (cause then I see that nylon string in my garbage and think, that’s gonna strangle something).
The secret lazy person within me, doesn’t like you, but understands your need to exist.
The neurotic, OCD, ridiculous perfectionist makes sure you’re done immaculately, when you’re done.
The eco-warrior in me is unhappy… conflicted… and feels powerless.
Then, the coach in me steps in, and everything starts to make sense. It all boils down to… and get ready for it, it’s going to be unexpected and shocking... self-love. Ta-dah! Shocking, I know! Let me explain before you roll your eyes at me. I’ll use my experience as an example, and you can let me know if you’ve ever experienced this before too.
When I am feeling my best, at the height of my “power”, I am definitely feeling self-love. I am filled with so much love, gratitude and happiness at who I am, at my very existence in that moment; I definitely floss my teeth on those days.
Then, there are other days. Maybe not as many, but significant enough that I am aware of them. There are days when everything sucks and the fight against plastic pollution feels so overwhelming it takes every ounce of willpower just to care enough to WANT to feel differently about it. Staying angry and miserable has its own temptation. This is the space where we blame everyone else for the problems of the world. Stupid companies, still making plastic. Stupid people, still buying plastic. See? Not very useful, nor pleasant, to be in this mindset.
What do you know, I’m human. Filled with polarities. Makes sense, when you think of it this way; we live on a planet where the very thing we need to keep us alive (oxygen), is the very thing that kills us via aging (oxidization). Fun fact right? The search to find that middle ground, that alignment within is everyone’s personal responsibility, like a quest! And as our own growth and evolution is our personal responsibility, so is the protection of the environment. This is OUR planet. We’re all humans of Earth. That’s it. Point final. Humans of Earth.
Going back to flossing and self-love. We made it back to this, yay!
Self-love is a choice. It’s a challenging choice, it’s a conscious choice. It’s a great choice.
Flossing for me, represents taking care of myself in the highest form. Taking all the time necessary and giving the best care to my body. It is also, in those happy moments, (when I love myself most, when I’m proud of myself most), it is in those moments I find my best inspiration to be the change I want to see in the world. It is in those moments I want to find solutions, do things differently, research how others are doing it….
I’m not here to tell you what to use, what not to use. One quick Google search can show you a whole bunch of eco-conscious alternatives to floss. There are biodegradable ones, there’s a water-flosser, biodegradable tooth picks, cause those plastic ones are just…. Plastic!!
What I am here to tell you, is that as you love yourself more, you will be able to love your planet more. You will be able to love your fellow human more; you will start automatically making eco-conscious choices, because that is who you will become. Don’t focus on doing it all at once. Just find the change you want to make in your life, and watch the rest unfold. Small steps, many people. At almost 8 billion strong, tell me we can’t change the world?
I am a firm believer that as we, as individuals, as humans of Earth, start to feel more self-love and compassion for ourselves, a cleaner environment, sustainable living, clean water for everyone, these will all just be bi-products of the new world that we would create. We wouldn’t be concerned about floss and toothpicks remaining in our environment for over 500 years. We would be busy with new ways to transform our waste into energy, creating a circular economy for plastics in the future. We would be creating a new existence.
May your existence be pleasant. Happy existing! =)
