I know many DailyKos folks have been disappointed with a number of my old diaries that were written from a committed Christian's viewpoint.
This one only mentions God once, I think. But I mainly want to express how saving energy has always been and will always be one of the top priorities of my life.
While written 30 years ago, I think the following entry has much to say about perhaps why many of us shy away from the daily grind of conserving energy, especially if it takes time out of our days.
I've come to the conclusion that the worst enemy of conserving energy is simply fear of time.
We Americans have a phobia about time. We hate to see it pass. We want to remain young, and the more time passes, the older we get.
So we fill every minute, hurrying to take up every hour. We feel an obligation to take advantage of the small amount of time given to us before youth is gone forever.
Consequently, we search --- we steal --- we beg for more time. When we want something, we have to have it NOW!
We dry our clothes in an electric dryer because we don't want to take precious time to dry them outdoors. We use the automatic dishwasher because we don't want to waste time washing dishes.
We drive everywhere because it's faster than walking or riding a bicycle --- or even waiting for buses.
We exceed the 55 mile an hour speed limit because we're in a rush to get to our Utopia-of-the-moment.
We buy convenience foods because it takes too much time to prepare meals from scratch.
The list goes on and on. And we do "save time." Now, what do we do with this accumulated time we've gained by driving instead of walking --- by using machines instead of our hands?
We search for leisure-time activities --- sometimes empty, sometimes frustrating --- often expensive and, in themselves, often further causes of more energy consumption.
If only we Americans could take our eyes off ourselves and look at those in the less energy-abundant countries.
In these countries, what is often work to us is live --- enjoyable life --- to them.
You find families abroad working together --- laughing, talking and praying together when they work.
They take a relaxed look at work. Foreigners don't feel they have to whiz through a project. They often take a break for a siesta, then come back to their work refreshed and in good spirits.
On the other hand, we work so hard to get our projects finished that the work itself takes a back seat to efforts to speed it up.
Then we shift the hard work to leisure activities. We work hard to be good golfers --- good tennis players --- good skiers.
Now our government is working hard to convince us to be conscious of energy conservation. They try to make it as painless as possible. Have your tires properly inflated. Insulate your hot water heater, etc.
I say the only way we can successfully change our excess energy consumption is to first change our attitudes.
Let's look at life the way God gave it to us --- not the way we have made it. Let's set priorities, and stick to them.
Are we willing to sacrifice --- even if it be precious time?
Let's use the energy within each of us more, so we can use the energy outside us less.
Our children will be the ones to thank us most.