Today is Monday, March 1st, and I know you’re expecting our next Triple M. However . . .
Well, frankly, I’m about to have a baby! And also, we just celebrated our 10th Mission (woo-hoo!) and ten in a row is quite an accomplishment. So, this month we’re taking a little hiatus. For me, you can call it maternity leave. For you guys, consider it a well earned reward for the many missions completed.
I am planning a ‘Mini Mission’ for later this month, so definitely stay tuned for that. It’s a real important one.
In the meantime, why not revisit one of the previous 10 MMMs? Perhaps there’s one you missed that you’d like to attempt anew? March is the month for freestylin’, so you can choose a prior mission OR come up with a brand new mission of your own! Here’s our master mission list:
1) Composting!
- With a how-to and follow-up here.
4) Sustainable Feminine Products!
- With a follow-up here. (and lots of great reader comments)
5) Changing Our Dietary Habits!
9) Shopping Exclusively Secondhand!
- With a follow-up here.
10) Saving Change to MAKE Change!
- With an explanation and information here.
So what do you think, my dear ones? Will you be taking the month off to recharge? Or will you be charging into one of our past adventures? Or, perhaps, will you be inventing your very own unique mission? (do share, if you do!!)
Me? I’ll be diligently working on ‘Operation: Dirty Diapers and Sleepless Nights’. I can’t wait!
So, did you start a piggy bank??? Back at the beginning of the month I asked you to start collecting your spare change and setting it aside. I didn’t tell you why, but asked that you just trust me. Easy enough, right?
So did you save? I did! Aside from continually emptying my coin purse for the homeless fellow who hangs out near my hospital (I go twice a week these days), I meticulously collected each and every coin from both me and Damian, each night. And I managed to secure over $35! That’s pretty good for one month, no? If I could keep it up, that would be over $420 each year!!!
So what’s this all about? What to do with the scrilla we’ve scrimped?
Well, have you ever thought to yourself, “I would really love to volunteer for that charity, but I just never have enough time!” Or maybe, “I meant to go to that rally but I had to work that day.” Or something else along those lines . . . we all wish we could be doing more. I know I certainly do. But we push our best intentions aside as we resign to live with that prick of guilt that tickles us every once in a while.
Well no more! Now you can do something. In fact, you already did: you raised money for charity! That’s right, this month we all raised money for our favorite charity. All that’s left is to donate it. Voilà! You made a difference!
Consider it passive activism. Each month you keep on saving your change. Then monthly, or biannually – or whatever works for you – you cash it in and give it to your favorite cause.
All of us, together. Hundreds of dollars apiece. Thousands and thousands of dollars each year. Now THAT, my friends, is a good chunk of change!
I’m making my first donation to an animal sanctuary (haha, surprise surprise, right?) So what about you?
On the first Monday of every month, we take on a ‘mission’ – a shift or habit or inspiration – to work on together. There’s strength (and support) in numbers! On the last Thursday of the month, we reconvene to see how far we’ve come.
#10
Today is the first anniversary of Bonzai Aphrodite (!!!), and it also happens to be the 1st of February. That means it’s time for our tenth Monthly Mission (ten already!). But I wanted to do something more symbolic this time, something very special to honor this little blog’s birthday.
What could we do to represent the values and ideals that we aspire towards here? What single step could epitomize :
Certainly not something as focused as composting or going no-poo. These are awesome acts, to be sure, but they’re too directed to represent an entire ideology.
Bonzai Aphrodite is all about simple changes; about understanding the truth that altering our actions can add up to impactful magnitude. So, here’s your challenge for the month – Start A Piggybank.
That’s all. Easy as pie. We’re all going to start saving our change, in order to make some change! I’ll tell you more at the end of the month but for now you’ll just have to trust me.
So start saving those coins! To move things along, get in the habit of breaking bills instead of fishing for exact change. You’ll hardly notice the difference in your wallet, but you’ll end up with a lot more weight in your piggy! Try to get change from each transaction, and aim to contribute to your bank every single day. Of course, you needn’t break dollars into quarters just for the sake of adding coins! You want this to be natural, to become a habit.
Stash your coinage at the end of each day. If you don’t want to invest in a ‘real’ ceramic piglet, that’s fine! There’s tons of other wonderful ways to stylishly save. You can custom-make a piggybank out of old plastic bottles, as evidenced above, or an old coffee tin, shown below.
As well, you can always just decorate a glass mason jar! Cover it with a favorite fabric, or decoupage it with lovely images clipped form magazines. Hell, you can toss your change in a cereal bowl if that’s what works for you! The point is to begin collecting ‘change’, in a mindful and meaningful way. Because we all know that ‘change’ is more effective, when it’s collective!
So, will you accept this mission and join in??
BONZAI!
*** I had a lot of trouble finding sources for these photos and I hate not acknowledging artists. I apologize, and if anyone can help me give credit where credit is due, it would be much appreciated. Thanks! ***
So, how was the *oh! horror!* of having a Monday Monthly Mission centered all around shopping?! Haha, who says going green can’t be fun?
Although my bed rest kept my thrifting to a minimum, I was able to pick up a few awesome items this month. And of course, all the clothes and baby clothes I bought were gently used. But it’s not about me – I want to hear about you guys!
How did this month go for you? Were you able to remain entirely secondhand? What kind of goods did you get and how did you have to alter your habits? And most importantly, are you going to try to keep it up indefinitely???
I’d really love to share the thrift store love, so please please please:
1) Send me pics of the pillage! If you scored something amazing that you’d like to share, email me a picture (you don’t have to be wearing it if you don’t want to) at info@bonzaiaphrodite.com Please include your first name and the city/country you found it in.
2) Send me the names and addresses of the BEST secondhand stores in your city, and maybe a brief description of why they’re so rad. I want to compile a list of the greatest thrift stores across America (across the world??). So send me all the top secret hot spots you know of in every city you’ve been to. Send your thrift stats to info@bonzaiaphrodite.com
This month we’ve pledged to shop entirely secondhand, foregoing the mall and frequenting thrift stores instead. I’m thrilled by the enthusiasm over this mission, with tons of readers happily signing on. So tell me guys: how’s it going?!
Alas, we’ve been a bit waylaid here at HQ. Being on bed rest certainly puts a damper on shopping trips. Still, I managed to sneak off to the gently used baby boutique in my neighborhood, and picked up a few super cute essentials, as well as some much needed cloth diapers for my slowly growing collection. And just this past weekend, Damian took some of my store credit (trade-in value) at one of the local shoppes, and found a pair of mint condition Lucky brand jeans for 1/5 the cost of a new pair. Lucky is his favorite, so this was quite the cause for celebration!
Since this mission is all about thrifting, and anyone who shops secondhand knows the joy and the thrill of the hunt, I thought it might be fun for us to really share the love. Here’s what I’m thinking:
1) Send me pics of the pillage! If you score something amazing that you’d like to share, email me a picture (you don’t have to be wearing it if you don’t want to) at info@bonzaiaphrodite.com Please include your first name and the city/country you found it in. At the end of the month I’ll post all the pictures, and we can all revel in the glory of the secondhand goods!
2) Send me the names and addresses of the BEST secondhand stores in your city, and maybe a brief description of why they’re so rad. I want to compile a list of the greatest thrift stores across America (across the world??). So send me all the top secret hot spots you know of in every city you’ve been to. At the end of the month I’ll post a master list, and I’ll continue to update it periodically.
I hope this mission is treating you well – it’s a fun one! Happy hunting, and may the thrift store faeries sprinkle their pixie dust all over you!