Egolessness

I am having conflicting thoughts about blogging. The things I post on my blog, which tell about my life experiences, can be considered egotistical. Talking about oneself in general, aside from being asked by someone else, is an example egotism. I find myself not wanting to share as much about myself these days and rather keeping more to myself. If I accomplish something, that's great. But I feel that telling people my accomplishments, as I most certainly did in the past, is bragging and inflates my ego. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone, because I'm still struggling with how to balance this (not talking at all about oneself versus talking about oneself only when people ask, in a non-bragging way).

On this blog I have shared a lot of personal experiences with the outside world. My outer self and inner self were very divided at one point, and I am now trying to bridge that gap. I do still like the idea of blogging, as it is a way to stay connected with many people without the constant need for conversation. Therefore, from here on out my blogging will contain less ego and more what I think is useful information for others to know.

For instance, I don't want to say how good I feel about building a house porch or growing a our garden. Rather, I want to tell people that the wood being used for the porch is FSC Certified (FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council) and that means it was sustainably harvested. The cost was only $2.89 per 2x4, as opposed to $2.00 for conventional 2x4 lumber at home depot. I purchased twenty of them and therefore the cost was only about $18 extra. I would gladly pay that amount again knowing that trees are being replanted each time one is chopped down for lumber.

What is FSC? This is taken from (http://www.fsc.org/about-fsc.html)

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. Established in 1993 as a response to concerns over global deforestation, FSC is widely regarded as one of the most important initiatives of the last decade to promote responsible forest management worldwide.

The FSC label provides a credible link between responsible production and consumption, enabling consumers and businesses to make purchasing decisions that benefit people and the environment as well as providing ongoing business value.

FSC provides a certification system with internationally recognized standard-setting, trademark assurance and accredation services to companies, organizations, and communities interested in responsible forestry.

FSC is nationally represented in more than 50 countries around the world.

---

What I'm learning through the green building program and through life experiences are things that I think more people should know about. My blog will focus on sharing some of the information I gather to help people live more sustainably, ie: having less of an environmental impact. In summary, if you are building anything with lumber...take a look into FSC certified lumber as an alternative to wood that is harvested and not replenished.