Over the past few days my experiment has been going surprisingly well. In it's own quirky, unexpected sort of way this experiment in living sustainably for a week has turned out kind of...dare I say...fun? I'm really beginning to like figuring out new ways to reuse things I mindlessly would have thrown away just a few days ago. For example, I bought a cup of strawberries (sticking to my raw food diet) from Ward before my Macro class this afternoon. Instead of throwing the cup out once I was done with it, I used it again when I got TDR-in-a-box this afternoon rather than taking one of the paper Coca-Cola cups. (Technically, I suppose I should have just stuck with my reusable water bottle, but that's besides the point.)
What I'm enjoying most about this experiment, (even more than reusing my would-have-been trash), is going for runs. My times aren't great, but they aren't bad. Moreover, I'm loving that, since signing up for my half-marathon, I now have a reason to push my limits. Unfortunately, I lost my stop watch at the gym the other day (much to my horror...when did I even take it off my wrist?), and thus have to run without it. I used this as an excuse today to not time myself or to worry about my splits--instead, I wanted to just relax and go. I headed down to one of my favorite trails expecting to do one of my typical runs--down New Mexico Avenue to the entrance of the trail, take the trail to the steep uphill that takes me up to a field near U Street, down past the Georgetown Hospital, down another trail at the Dog Park, and then back to AU. However, this time I saw a new trail opening that I had never explored before. So on this, the day of free running, I made a last second turn to the right and headed down this unexplored trail. What resulted from this spontaneous decision was one of the best runs I've had all semester. Although it only ended up being 35 minutes or so, I crossed a stream via walking over a fallen tree, saw some amazing wild flowers, found a hidden teepee made out of sticks and branches, and was able to enjoy the greenery of the trees and grass. These types of adventures in running is what makes the sport truly worth while for me; I can't say that I'm the most competitive person, but I love nature and being outside and feeling active and healthy.
In addition to finding happiness by running, I have managed to find happiness by becoming more active in the AU community. My friend Alex, who is pledging one of AU's fraternities, needed to find a volunteer to help raise money for Push America, a fundraiser which raises money for soldiers that have been wounded in Combat. Being the great best friend that I am, I volunteered to stand on the quad with him and harass our fellow schoolmates for spare change. Unexpectedly, this went rather well, as we ran into some friends from our floor and raised $35 from them alone. This was fun to do, mostly, because it was the first fundraising event I took part in on campus since coming to AU. Back home in Connecticut, I was used to doing bake sales for cross country, track, and class council. But what I realized by doing this fundraiser is that I've never done a fund raiser that benefits people that are less fortunate than I. How, in my 19 years of existence, have I not done this? Why wasn't fundraising for charities more important to me before? The only charities I've partaken in in the past have been road races, but, needless to say, I'm sure only a very small portion of my $20 race fee actually goes to a good cause.
Before I start delving into some sort of internal crisis about how my existence is purposeless if not fully devoted to helping others, I'm going to wrap this post up. For that reason, and also because it is time to make some raw guacamole.
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