Living Intentionally
We’ve been in some form of lockdown here in Malaysia since the 18th of March which makes this day 66.
66 days of work from home only.
66 days of not being able to see other humans.
66 days of life that is entirely unrecognisable to life 67 days ago.
67 days ago I didn’t give grocery shopping, exercising, travelling across the island, how I spent my time, or seeing people a second thought. I’d been here long enough to create some sort of routine. My days were already quite filled and chores like grocery shopping were dictated by convenience rather than anything else.
In the last 66 days though I’ve had to become a lot more intentional. In all areas of my life but particularly in how I consume things.
In the last 66 days I have been to the hypermarket only once, for a shop that I had to be able to carry back home. Before now I would have gone at least once a week. Instead I’ve been visiting the local bakery, organic food shop, and Korean grocery store. Now that it’s opened again I’ve added my local coffee shop to my list of regular places to visit. Because this shift the things I’ve been consuming have entirely changed; processed and high sugar foods are much harder to get hold of, instead organic fruits and vegetables and home made sour dough bread are easier to find. Prices are higher (slightly) but then so is the quality.
The longer this has gone on the more I realise that I want (or need) to be intentional about where I spend money. I would far rather support local, small businesses than huge corporations. This has been an issue I’ve been aware of for a long time but it wasn’t convenient because not everything I wanted was readily available all the time. And life was all about convenience. I’ve been used to living a life where I could get whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it and justified this kind of expectation with the busyness of my schedule. Learning to live with these restrictions though has been a good exercise. Sure I’ve had to be more creative and some weeks I’ve had to be almost vegetarian but I’ve never been in lack of delicious and healthy food. Now I’m starting to wonder if these expectations are right or healthy? How are these unconscious expectations that I’ve held contributing to so many environmental and societal issues?
It’s more than just what I as a consumer can do for a business though it’s also so much more satisfying to shop in a small local store. In days when I rarely see other humans all the little interactions matter. Shopping in small stores is so much more satisfying on a relational level than shopping in hypermarkets. In hypermarkets you rarely see the same employee twice and even if you do you’re one of hundreds of customers every day. Often it can feel like you’re an inconvenience (especially as a foreigner who is assumed, usually correctly, to have super limited language skills outside of English here). Being a regular in a small store, after a while you start to become more familiar with those working in the store. Sure you’re not best friends but there’s definitely more of a connection and a friendliness that builds. People are in less of a rush, they’re not trying to usher you out of the store as quickly as possible, they will even accommodate botched attempts at communicating in languages you really suck at but want to improve in.
Whilst things are starting to open up here I have a feeling that some of these habits are here to stay. I’m learning to ask myself the question: what impact does this consumption choice I am making have on the world? Is it a positive one or a negative one?
I definitely won’t get this right all the time but I hope this is a positive change that comes out of the MCO period. In all areas I want to live intentionally and this time of restriction has been a gift in helping me realise this again.
Saying all that though, I’m so ready to go back to some of the things from my life before MCO began though. Being able to see people is definitely top of that list. Last night I ate a meal with other humans for the first time in 65 days and it was glorious.
66 days of work from home only.
66 days of not being able to see other humans.
66 days of life that is entirely unrecognisable to life 67 days ago.
67 days ago I didn’t give grocery shopping, exercising, travelling across the island, how I spent my time, or seeing people a second thought. I’d been here long enough to create some sort of routine. My days were already quite filled and chores like grocery shopping were dictated by convenience rather than anything else.
In the last 66 days though I’ve had to become a lot more intentional. In all areas of my life but particularly in how I consume things.
In the last 66 days I have been to the hypermarket only once, for a shop that I had to be able to carry back home. Before now I would have gone at least once a week. Instead I’ve been visiting the local bakery, organic food shop, and Korean grocery store. Now that it’s opened again I’ve added my local coffee shop to my list of regular places to visit. Because this shift the things I’ve been consuming have entirely changed; processed and high sugar foods are much harder to get hold of, instead organic fruits and vegetables and home made sour dough bread are easier to find. Prices are higher (slightly) but then so is the quality.
The longer this has gone on the more I realise that I want (or need) to be intentional about where I spend money. I would far rather support local, small businesses than huge corporations. This has been an issue I’ve been aware of for a long time but it wasn’t convenient because not everything I wanted was readily available all the time. And life was all about convenience. I’ve been used to living a life where I could get whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it and justified this kind of expectation with the busyness of my schedule. Learning to live with these restrictions though has been a good exercise. Sure I’ve had to be more creative and some weeks I’ve had to be almost vegetarian but I’ve never been in lack of delicious and healthy food. Now I’m starting to wonder if these expectations are right or healthy? How are these unconscious expectations that I’ve held contributing to so many environmental and societal issues?
It’s more than just what I as a consumer can do for a business though it’s also so much more satisfying to shop in a small local store. In days when I rarely see other humans all the little interactions matter. Shopping in small stores is so much more satisfying on a relational level than shopping in hypermarkets. In hypermarkets you rarely see the same employee twice and even if you do you’re one of hundreds of customers every day. Often it can feel like you’re an inconvenience (especially as a foreigner who is assumed, usually correctly, to have super limited language skills outside of English here). Being a regular in a small store, after a while you start to become more familiar with those working in the store. Sure you’re not best friends but there’s definitely more of a connection and a friendliness that builds. People are in less of a rush, they’re not trying to usher you out of the store as quickly as possible, they will even accommodate botched attempts at communicating in languages you really suck at but want to improve in.
Whilst things are starting to open up here I have a feeling that some of these habits are here to stay. I’m learning to ask myself the question: what impact does this consumption choice I am making have on the world? Is it a positive one or a negative one?
I definitely won’t get this right all the time but I hope this is a positive change that comes out of the MCO period. In all areas I want to live intentionally and this time of restriction has been a gift in helping me realise this again.
Saying all that though, I’m so ready to go back to some of the things from my life before MCO began though. Being able to see people is definitely top of that list. Last night I ate a meal with other humans for the first time in 65 days and it was glorious.
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