Hair ties I knitted to keep my mane from flying
away in the wind
I did office work for 30 years, supporting myself with it and with several different artistic endeavors. Television writing, clothes design and sewing, jewelry making, sketching, painting, and a ceramic business I started after a wonderful year in Prescott, Arizona, where I learned the craft in the incredible ceramics program at Yavapai College.
It was very hard to support myself. I had no help from anyone, despite the lies of my wealthy father, who was supporting a mistress and had to explain away the missing money to his wife, so he sacrificed me to his sin, once again, and claimed I had called him begging for it (again.) It was a hard life, but I struggled mightily and did the best I could.
Sin is always selfish and always hurts other people. Lies, gossip, ruining a person's reputation: these are serious things.
About 15 years or so, after battling a lifetime of inherited illnesses, I became too disabled to continue working, and I retired to live a life devoted to contemplative prayer. Unfortunately, that job doesn't pay very well, and my Social Security has never been enough to meet all my needs. Complicating this picture is that our supposed "cost of living" increases have never made up for the price increases in food and other necessities that low income people actually BUY. I'm sorry, but the price of a new Cadillac doesn't really pertain to our situation. It just doesn't.
I have had a chance to spend time contemplating the situation of the poor in America, many of whom are far worse off than me. It has become clear to me that, in comparison with most of the rest of the world, we live as kings and queens used to do. Even the poor in our country are better off than most citizens of the world, if we are talking in numbers of people.
In America, we have thousands of servants, but they are hidden from our view, and so we forget all the people upon whom we rely for our every need.
The world is in a loaf of bread. Someone saved seed from last year's crop to begin this year's crop of wheat. Countless number of people are involved in the growing of the wheat. You have to count all the people who paid for and built the roads that bring supplies and workers, and the work of the people who paid for everything involved in bringing water to the crops. If I listed all the people involved in bringing that loaf of bread to my kitchen, I'd be writing for another hour. I'm sure you get the drift, though. That loaf of bread has the work of thousands of people in it, but we don't see them.
In the middle ages, it is my impression that only the nobility had someone else making bread for them on a regular basis. Most families made their own bread. Later, in some places, there was a small bakery in town, and you knew the baker, and the farmer and everyone else involved in it. We were closer to the thing then.
Today is Good Friday, the remembrance of the crucifixion of our Lord, and this blog about "do it yourself" projects was inspired by a meditation upon His life. I cannot think about the crucifixion without also putting it into context of the typical lifestyle of the common people during that time. There were no grocery stores. Creating food was a big deal that took great effort. Salt was highly valued and not cheap. Life was hard for most people, and punishments were typically harsh. Crucifixion wasn't something special they invented for Jesus.
The blessing of poverty causes us to see methods of survival that eliminate dependence upon the servants we were accustomed to having when we were able to work and had money. It is a very good thing. I am now taking the place of at least one of the servants I used to have, but I cannot take the place of the thousands of servants that contributed to my life when I was a legal secretary and a writer and an artist, so I must give up many things that I took for granted but which are actually luxuries.
Travel, for instance, is something I cannot afford. My son was dying a few years ago and I was not able to travel to the next state to see him. My disabilities prevent me from traveling by myself. If I had money, I could have hired someone to drive me, but that was not possible. A former friend offered to drive me, and then changed her mind. I need help to get across town, what to speak of the next state! So, you have to give up travel, no matter the good "reason," unless someone else is paying for it in some way.
In essence, you have to analyze your life and pinpoint those luxuries you can cut out. Traveling to see your son when he is dying is not a luxury, but traveling to a spa probably is. You have to be honest with yourself.
I do not recommend the next thing, but I haven't been to a dentist in 20 years. I happen to be lucky enough to have good teeth. What I did do, however, is invest in some high quality dental cleaning tools and a Waterpik flosser. I brush with a battery operated toothbrush that goes around, like the ones at the dentist's office
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