Green Living

How should I answer this question? There are lots of precious things in my home: my loved ones, my plants, my jewelries. The list could go on. Which one should I pick? A trip to China  I had a wonderful trip visiting China in late December, 2024 (checkout amazing China's Food Landscape ). I visited my relatives and was SHOCKED how CROWDED their homes are.  Stuff everywhere, living room, bedroom, kitchen, hallway, counters, tabletop. Just tons of STUFF.  I could understand most Chinese people have relatively small living space compared to America. Their homes could be crowded with necessities. That limitation would force people to make wise choice about what to bring to home. And the reality is that they bring tons of unneeded things to their home, solely because of the convenience of ONLINE SHOPPING! They but lots of stuff they do not need or on sale. Suddenly I realized that one of the most precious things in a home is: space. Yes, space! Who would have thought about tha...

 I was thinking about modern living today. Technology advances have not made our life simpler. They make our life way more complicated. Taxes. Mortgages. Credit cards. Insurances. Social media. Weight loss programs. Millions online accounts. Will AI make our life simpler?

How many times do we delay things forever that they never get done? Things delayed become mental clutter that we have to get back to at some point in the future. For example, I have not vacuumed the house for a month, dust starts accumulating and becomes eye sore. Mails pile up on the desk for weeks, it become a huge task that demands a few hours to process on one weekend. Delaying things is human nature, we tend to avoid things that are boring or hard.  And here is the excuse: I do not have time.  But really?  I do have time browsing internet for hours straight. Having no time is just an excuse. What I lack is commitment to work on boring or hard but necessary tasks. How do I meet the challenge? Once I realized my problem, I identified a solution: I start a new habit consciously: Do-It-Now mentality. Tackle tasks that might only take about 5 minutes on regular basis and Do-It-Now if I have the time right now: Vacuum one bedroom for 5 minutes. Wipe clean kitchen counter f...

I did not realize what takes to achieve big goals in life all comes from baby steps embedded in every single day, although I have been doing this for my entire life, just like everyone else on this planet. For example, finishing decade education to get a degree. I also set up lots of goals in the past that have never come to fruit, just like lots of people on this planet. The easiest excuse of not hitting the goal in our lives is always this: I do not have time.  I execused myself when I failed to learn French or Spanish.  I execused myself when I failed to write food blog for a few months. I execused myself when I failed to connect with my friends for many years. It turns out we always have the time to do certain things, but we fail to commit. I decided to change myself in the last few months in 2024: build a habit of doing things in 5 minutes. I realize no matter what my goal is, if I commit as little as 5 minutes every day, I will build a momentum, no matter how small it is...