December 25, 2023 • 18 mins
As the holidays wrap us in their familiar embrace, I find myself navigating a sea of emotions that many of us know all too well. In this heartfelt reflection, let me take you on a journey through the joys, the stresses, and the poignant absences that shape our yuletide celebrations. My personal narrative intertwines with a special 12-day series of episodes, each a beacon intended to light the way toward finding renewed meaning in our cherished traditions and the closing chapter of another year. Together, let's explore the symphony of Christmas music that has become a thread in the fabric of my family life, and I'll share why it matters so much.
Stepping into the realm of sustainability, I recount the spark that ignited my eco-conscious voyage—a simple garden compost. This week's discussion unveils the surprising cascade of choices that followed, from a dramatic reduction in plastic bag usage to embracing glass over plastic. I draw a parallel between these modest, personal shifts and their potential to ripple outwards, influencing greater change. As we unwrap the symbolism of the "12 Days of Christmas," I invite you to reflect on the themes of protection, nurturing, and the abundance that growth brings, just as I have. Woven into our conversation, these themes serve as an undercurrent, challenging us to consider the impact of our own protective layers and the nurturing we grant to others and ourselves.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to the what Women Want Today
podcast.
If you love the idea of beingpart of a community of women who
are looking to thrive, not justsurvive, you're in the right
place.
Join hosts Terry Cullums andAmanda Keeper each week, as they
bring you topics and guests tohelp you improve your
relationships, your health andyour emotional and spiritual
(00:23):
well-being.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, welcome to this week's episode of the what
Women Want Today podcast.
I'm your host, terry Cullums,and it's Christmas time and we
are all busy, crazy, trying todo these last minute things, and
I am right there with you.
Christmas means a lot of thingsfor different people.
For some people, the holidaysbring a ton of stress.
(00:53):
I've already talked to a fewpeople today that are sharing
stories of things that are goingon right now this time of year,
at Christmas time, and so Iknow the holidays are a mixed
bag for a lot of us, andpersonally I will share with you
that my struggle is I don'tlive close to my adult children,
(01:17):
so I don't get to spend verymany holidays with my adult
children, and my mom is gone andChristmas was always very
special to her, so it can bereally tough for me to make
meaning out of the holidaywithout the feelings that I got
when I was younger and when mykids were younger.
And nothing stays the sameright, nothing.
(01:41):
We can always count on change,and the holidays are just.
I'm struggling to put my fingeron what makes it meaningful for
me, and so I'm sure I'm notalone in that.
However, today I want tointroduce a special series that
I'm going to do over the next 12days.
They're just going to be shortepisodes that are meant to be
(02:04):
thought provoking and that youcan take something actionable
away from, to reflect on, tojournal on, to consider for the
upcoming year.
But I want to start withletting you know that I I love
Christmas music.
I think I've said that in thelast couple of episodes at least
once.
I love Christmas music and Ifeel like it has its own season
(02:26):
from the day after Thanksgivinguntil Christmas day, and I've
always loved Christmas music.
When my daughters were young, Iwould help them create like
little dances that they couldlike perform for the family at
Christmas time, and we've alwaysme and my daughters have always
enjoyed listening to Christmasmusic in the car and singing our
(02:50):
favorite parts.
And just every time you put upyour Christmas tree, you know
you always have the Christmasmusic on and you're always
singing and it's just Christmasmusic, just is.
I don't even know where I gotthe love of it from because I
don't remember my mom playing ita lot, but I've always had a
love for it and it's onlyintensified over the years as
(03:11):
I've become an adult.
And also some flowers about thesame size between dinner and
dinner that I'd picked.
When I was a leader at theinsurance company I worked for,
we would really make the holidayspecial.
We would always do things tomake it seem fun to be at work
around the holidays decoratedand just all sorts of little
activities that we would play on.
(03:31):
One year we acted out the 12Days of Christmas as a little
skit during our meeting where alot of people got to come and
gather together.
I hadn't thought about the 12Days of Christmas specifically,
you know, on its own in quite awhile.
Then something happened.
The other day I got a Christmasletter from a friend, a couple
(03:56):
that Brian and I are friendswith, that don't live close to
us, that we don't get to talk tovery often.
She had kind of chronicled thethings that they had done, the
highs and lows of the year.
She put it together reallybeautifully and I really loved
it.
It inspired me to think aboutthe 12 Days of Christmas.
(04:19):
I got to be honest with you.
I always thought the 12 Days ofChristmas were the 12 days
leading up to Christmas, but itturns out that the 12 Days of
Christmas begin on December 25th.
I am going to release theseepisodes in this series that I'm
doing.
I'm going to try really hard Iknow it can get hectic or
leaving on Saturday for PhoenixI'm going to try really hard to
(04:42):
release one every day so thatyou just have a little bit of
something every day.
They're not going to be long,they're not going to be overly
complicated concepts that I wantto talk to you about, or the 12
Days of Christmas, but Ithought it would be a little bit
fun.
I had a friend who told me aboutsomething that she does, that
(05:05):
it kind of like played into whatI wanted to talk to you about
today, which is, she said, atthe end of the year, she always
looks back and reflects on theyear.
She looks at her goals and sheasks herself what goals did I
accomplish If I didn'taccomplish them?
Are they something I want tocontinue to try to work on for
the next year?
(05:25):
I don't remember all thespecifics of hers, but it is
inspirational to me that we cantake time at the end of a year
to kind of reflect back on theyear and celebrate and think
about all the things that wereawesome about the year, but also
the things that were challengesLike what can we learn from
(05:46):
them?
What are our takeaways?
I love the expression that lifeis not happening to me, it's
happening for me.
So what did these particularchallenges do for me?
What do they teach me?
What lessons can I bring awayfrom that experience and apply
it to my life in a way that'sgoing to move me forward?
And so I thought that's whattoday would be about.
(06:08):
It would be about reflecting onthe past year, and if you're
someone who journals, I don'tknow you might be interested in
going back and looking at someof your thoughts that you wrote
down.
If you're not, I love lookingat my photos.
You know I have Apple phone andyou get those memories that pop
up all the time and I just Ilove looking at them and I love
(06:31):
sharing them with the personthat's in the picture or with
Brian and my husband, and justkind of like talking about the
memory for a little bit.
So I know that this year for mewell, I'll say this like last
year, it was about this time Ibelieve that I thought I am
going to bring on a co-host forthe podcast.
(06:52):
I want to bring some freshperspective, some some new
energy into the podcast.
I'm going to look for a co-hostand I brought on Elizabeth and
she was with me for I don't knowyou remember how many episodes
Not a ton, maybe 12.
She was with me for a shorttime and then I ended up
bringing on my friend, amanda,and we've had a lot of fun and
(07:15):
but I've learned some lessons.
I've learned some things aboutmyself through the process of
trying to collaborate andcoordinate life with another
person, and it's not easy.
But one of the things I did takeaway from my time with
Elizabeth is that she was anauthor and she was really
excited.
I don't know if you guysremember about the book
challenge that she wanted to doand she brought that to us,
(07:37):
introduced that into our lives,early in the year this year.
So at first I thought I wasgoing to write a whole different
kind of book than Then what Iended up working on.
So I did end up.
I didn't go through with thechallenge as far as the way she
wanted to run it through theFacebook group and everything
our private community but I didtake steps and it started around
(08:01):
.
I played around with somedifferent ideas and took some
different classes online and Ithink it was about July where I
got really serious about it andworked with a book coach and he
really helped me understand howyou go about researching a book
that someone's going to want toread.
And I'd have to say, betweenhim and some of the
(08:24):
conversations I would have withAmanda because she is a
leadership trainer, some ofthose conversations really
reignited in me what I've beenmissing from my corporate job
Just that, that leadershipaspect.
And so the book I'm working on Ihad hoped I really was making a
(08:48):
push to get it out by the endof the year and you know, things
just don't always happen in ourtime.
Things don't happen the way wewant them to.
They don't go smoothly all thetime.
And so am I going to look back?
I'm not going to get the bookout before Christmas, but am I
going to look at that particularaspect of this past year and
say I failed?
(09:08):
I'm definitely not, because I'mprobably gosh.
I wish I could think of apercentage to apply to it.
It's complicated.
I am in the editing process ofthe book.
I'm in the process of choosinga book cover design.
I've got it narrowed down toabout two.
So am I going to look at it asa failure because I didn't get
(09:29):
the book accomplished this year.
No, I mean, writing a book is.
I will forever look at authorsand have a whole different level
of respect for them than Ialready do.
I mean, I've always been anavid reader but I've never
really thought about it from theperspective of the process it
(09:50):
takes to write a book.
So I've learned a lot this year.
I've had a lot of veryfrustrating moments where I just
wanted to bang my head againstthe desk, but I've grown from it
.
So when I'm looking, when I'mgoing to redo my own reflection
on this year, I am going to lookat that as a win.
(10:16):
I'm going to put that in thewin column Because I will have
the book out early next year andit still will be very timely
for those that I intend to be myaudience, and so that's one
aspect of it.
And I mean, if you've beenfollowing me on social media, I
haven't talked about it too muchon the podcast, but if you've
(10:36):
been following me on socialmedia, you might have learned
that we got in a car accident ora motorcycle accident and they
found during the CAT scan theyfound a thyroid nodule which I
had to have biopsy to check forcancer and then Brian had a skin
cancer scare and most recentlyin fact, I just got the results
(10:58):
on Tuesday I had to go in for asurgery and during that surgery
they did a biopsy and that cameback cancer-free.
So I also had a lot of healthchallenges this year, which you
know, if you look at it from.
You know, was that lifehappening to me or happening for
me?
It led me to a whole set ofchoices about my health that
(11:20):
have moved me in an entirely newdirection, and I hope to talk
about that on the podcast in thenext year.
So I'm gonna look at my healthgoals as a win.
I started out like one of my.
I don't make resolutions, butone of the things that I said
(11:40):
that I wanted to do to be abetter human for the planet is I
was using an insane amount oflike plastic storage bags.
Like you, know, sandwich bagsand quart size bags and gallon
size bags.
And I have this terrible habitI'm wondering if you can relate
to this.
I have this terrible habit of Idon't want to waste food.
(12:02):
So no matter what amount offood it is it's usually not
always huge I will store it inthe fridge, only to turn around
the next week when I get readyto go to the grocery store and
throw that food away.
And Brian and I had watched adocumentary on Netflix and it
was all about like how much foodgoes into our landfills and how
(12:24):
much methylene gas it producesand just the amount of food
waste that we have in the world,not just America, but it is
just astounding.
So I'm like well, I, this iswhat I'm gonna do for the planet
.
This is, I'm gonna furtherreduce my food waste.
I have a composter.
Sits on my well, did sit on mycounter.
(12:45):
It just takes up a lot of spaceon my little tiny counter, but
I did buy a composter.
If you're interested in findingout what that is, go over to
our Facebook group and, you know, ask me about the composter.
Feel free to DM me on Instagram.
Send an email at www.
The number two day podcast atgmailcom.
(13:06):
That link is in our show notes.
I'll be happy to share thecomposter that I use.
But what I do is I save foodscraps and once, maybe sometimes
twice, a week, I will run mylittle composter and it turns my
food waste into compost that Ican use for our you know,
vegetable garden or houseplantsor outside flowers, rose bushes,
(13:29):
all that kind of stuff.
So that was my contribution tofood waste and and lightning the
load on the planet.
The use of the plastic bags.
I have not bought a brand newcontainer.
I still have the ones I hadfrom last year in my drawer.
I can't say I didn't use oneall year, because I know I did,
(13:49):
but I drastically I'm going toguess about 90% reduced my use
of plastic baggies and that hada ripple effect because after
that I started saying to myselfokay, well, you know, I'm
reducing my plastic bag usage.
What is the impact on theseplastic bags anyway?
(14:10):
And then I started learningabout BPAs and forever chemicals
and I switched all my foodstorage to glass.
So now I'm storing things inglass.
I'm taking, like we go throughan insane amount of, like
pickles and almond butter orcashew butter, those types of
things that are in glass glasses.
We use those kind of things alot.
So anything that I have that'sa glass container, I recycle it,
(14:37):
I send it through my dishwasher, I make sure it's nice and
clean, I use it for food storage.
So you know, little things canhave a big effect, like, think
about, think about and if you'reon YouTube watching me, you
know I always have to talk withmy hands but think about a pond,
like a very, still, very calmpond.
(14:58):
Now think about if you throw arock, if you toss a rock out
into that pond and it makes allthose little ripples.
So one small rock, it makesripples.
One tiny change that you decideto do can lead to other smaller
changes, which ends up being abigger effect.
(15:18):
So the plastic bags, the foodstorage, led me to looking at
other single waste use productsthat I use, like the cotton pads
we use to take our makeup offor apply toner.
I've switched to reusable onesthat I wash once a week.
I you know I can't think of agreat replacement for Q-Tips,
(15:40):
even though I don't use a lot ofthem, but I've cut down on that
.
Like all these little things,they make an impact.
You know, have you guys everheard that story about the boy
walking along the beach that's,you know, throwing the I think
it was starfish throwing thestarfish back into the, into the
ocean.
And he was walking with hisgrandpa and his grandpa said you
know, you're not going to makea difference, You're just one
(16:02):
person.
There's thousands of them.
And he said, well, I made adifference to that one and
that's kind of how you know, Iapproached my, my sort of
intention for the year, my goalfor the year to to reduce my use
of plastic bags, is I'm just a,I'm just a small rock in a big
pond, but if I can influencesomeone else to also make
(16:25):
changes, then my ripple becomesbigger.
My, my reach has expandedbeyond just that pond, right?
So that's what I'm going to askyou to think about today, on the
day of the birth of Christ.
Consider it like a rebirth or anew birth.
And I also thought it wasinteresting to look up the, the
(16:50):
definition of the 12 days ofChristmas.
So the partridge in the peartree is the first day of
Christmas and it it says itrepresents protection and
nurturing, while the pear treesymbolizes growth and abundance.
So I want you to think aboutprotective elements in your life
(17:12):
and the growth you'veexperienced over the past year.
That's all I have for you today,on the on the first day of the
12 days of Christmas.
If you celebrate, I wish you avery merry Christmas.
If you don't, that's okay too.
Have your own day in your ownway, and I'm glad you joined me
(17:34):
and I will see you all tomorrowfor the second day of the 12
days of Christmas.
Have a wonderful day, and Ihope you had a wonderful day
spending it with family or thosethat you love.
Take care.
See you next time.
Amanda, I don't know if thisever happens to you, but I
sometimes will learn somethingreally cool on a podcast, on a
YouTube video, audiobook,whatever.
(17:56):
I think I'm going to rememberit and then I forget.
Does that ever happen to you?
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, I call it brain after 40 all the time.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
That's what we'll officially call it, but we've
come up with something.
Do you want to introduce it?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Sure, it's by.
It's from an app called quickJim quick, and it's an acronym
called fast.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, and the F it stands for Facebook.
So we're inviting youofficially right now to come
over and join us on Facebook.
Get involved with the community, share your favorite episodes
with your friends on Facebook.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Yeah, the A is go ahead and take an action, so you
can't remember anything if youdon't act.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
And S is for subscribe.
Make sure you're subscribed toour YouTube channel.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
And then T is teach.
Teach what you've learned tosomebody else.
Share the love.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
All right, we hope that works for you.
Thank you for joining us.
We'll see you next week.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Bye, bye.
You're listening to the what Women Want Today
podcast.
If you love the idea of beingpart of a community of women who
are looking to thrive, not justsurvive, you're in the right
place.
Join hosts Terry Cullums andAmanda Keeper each week, as they
bring you topics and guests tohelp you improve your
relationships, your health andyour emotional and spiritual
(00:23):
well-being.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, welcome to this week's episode of the what
Women Want Today podcast.
I'm your host, terry Cullums,and it's Christmas time and we
are all busy, crazy, trying todo these last minute things, and
I am right there with you.
Christmas means a lot of thingsfor different people.
For some people, the holidaysbring a ton of stress.
(00:53):
I've already talked to a fewpeople today that are sharing
stories of things that are goingon right now this time of year,
at Christmas time, and so Iknow the holidays are a mixed
bag for a lot of us, andpersonally I will share with you
that my struggle is I don'tlive close to my adult children,
(01:17):
so I don't get to spend verymany holidays with my adult
children, and my mom is gone andChristmas was always very
special to her, so it can bereally tough for me to make
meaning out of the holidaywithout the feelings that I got
when I was younger and when mykids were younger.
And nothing stays the sameright, nothing.
(01:41):
We can always count on change,and the holidays are just.
I'm struggling to put my fingeron what makes it meaningful for
me, and so I'm sure I'm notalone in that.
However, today I want tointroduce a special series that
I'm going to do over the next 12days.
They're just going to be shortepisodes that are meant to be
(02:04):
thought provoking and that youcan take something actionable
away from, to reflect on, tojournal on, to consider for the
upcoming year.
But I want to start withletting you know that I I love
Christmas music.
I think I've said that in thelast couple of episodes at least
once.
I love Christmas music and Ifeel like it has its own season
(02:26):
from the day after Thanksgivinguntil Christmas day, and I've
always loved Christmas music.
When my daughters were young, Iwould help them create like
little dances that they couldlike perform for the family at
Christmas time, and we've alwaysme and my daughters have always
enjoyed listening to Christmasmusic in the car and singing our
(02:50):
favorite parts.
And just every time you put upyour Christmas tree, you know
you always have the Christmasmusic on and you're always
singing and it's just Christmasmusic, just is.
I don't even know where I gotthe love of it from because I
don't remember my mom playing ita lot, but I've always had a
love for it and it's onlyintensified over the years as
(03:11):
I've become an adult.
And also some flowers about thesame size between dinner and
dinner that I'd picked.
When I was a leader at theinsurance company I worked for,
we would really make the holidayspecial.
We would always do things tomake it seem fun to be at work
around the holidays decoratedand just all sorts of little
activities that we would play on.
(03:31):
One year we acted out the 12Days of Christmas as a little
skit during our meeting where alot of people got to come and
gather together.
I hadn't thought about the 12Days of Christmas specifically,
you know, on its own in quite awhile.
Then something happened.
The other day I got a Christmasletter from a friend, a couple
(03:56):
that Brian and I are friendswith, that don't live close to
us, that we don't get to talk tovery often.
She had kind of chronicled thethings that they had done, the
highs and lows of the year.
She put it together reallybeautifully and I really loved
it.
It inspired me to think aboutthe 12 Days of Christmas.
(04:19):
I got to be honest with you.
I always thought the 12 Days ofChristmas were the 12 days
leading up to Christmas, but itturns out that the 12 Days of
Christmas begin on December 25th.
I am going to release theseepisodes in this series that I'm
doing.
I'm going to try really hard Iknow it can get hectic or
leaving on Saturday for PhoenixI'm going to try really hard to
(04:42):
release one every day so thatyou just have a little bit of
something every day.
They're not going to be long,they're not going to be overly
complicated concepts that I wantto talk to you about, or the 12
Days of Christmas, but Ithought it would be a little bit
fun.
I had a friend who told me aboutsomething that she does, that
(05:05):
it kind of like played into whatI wanted to talk to you about
today, which is, she said, atthe end of the year, she always
looks back and reflects on theyear.
She looks at her goals and sheasks herself what goals did I
accomplish If I didn'taccomplish them?
Are they something I want tocontinue to try to work on for
the next year?
(05:25):
I don't remember all thespecifics of hers, but it is
inspirational to me that we cantake time at the end of a year
to kind of reflect back on theyear and celebrate and think
about all the things that wereawesome about the year, but also
the things that were challengesLike what can we learn from
(05:46):
them?
What are our takeaways?
I love the expression that lifeis not happening to me, it's
happening for me.
So what did these particularchallenges do for me?
What do they teach me?
What lessons can I bring awayfrom that experience and apply
it to my life in a way that'sgoing to move me forward?
And so I thought that's whattoday would be about.
(06:08):
It would be about reflecting onthe past year, and if you're
someone who journals, I don'tknow you might be interested in
going back and looking at someof your thoughts that you wrote
down.
If you're not, I love lookingat my photos.
You know I have Apple phone andyou get those memories that pop
up all the time and I just Ilove looking at them and I love
(06:31):
sharing them with the personthat's in the picture or with
Brian and my husband, and justkind of like talking about the
memory for a little bit.
So I know that this year for mewell, I'll say this like last
year, it was about this time Ibelieve that I thought I am
going to bring on a co-host forthe podcast.
(06:52):
I want to bring some freshperspective, some some new
energy into the podcast.
I'm going to look for a co-hostand I brought on Elizabeth and
she was with me for I don't knowyou remember how many episodes
Not a ton, maybe 12.
She was with me for a shorttime and then I ended up
bringing on my friend, amanda,and we've had a lot of fun and
(07:15):
but I've learned some lessons.
I've learned some things aboutmyself through the process of
trying to collaborate andcoordinate life with another
person, and it's not easy.
But one of the things I did takeaway from my time with
Elizabeth is that she was anauthor and she was really
excited.
I don't know if you guysremember about the book
challenge that she wanted to doand she brought that to us,
(07:37):
introduced that into our lives,early in the year this year.
So at first I thought I wasgoing to write a whole different
kind of book than Then what Iended up working on.
So I did end up.
I didn't go through with thechallenge as far as the way she
wanted to run it through theFacebook group and everything
our private community but I didtake steps and it started around
(08:01):
.
I played around with somedifferent ideas and took some
different classes online and Ithink it was about July where I
got really serious about it andworked with a book coach and he
really helped me understand howyou go about researching a book
that someone's going to want toread.
And I'd have to say, betweenhim and some of the
(08:24):
conversations I would have withAmanda because she is a
leadership trainer, some ofthose conversations really
reignited in me what I've beenmissing from my corporate job
Just that, that leadershipaspect.
And so the book I'm working on Ihad hoped I really was making a
(08:48):
push to get it out by the endof the year and you know, things
just don't always happen in ourtime.
Things don't happen the way wewant them to.
They don't go smoothly all thetime.
And so am I going to look back?
I'm not going to get the bookout before Christmas, but am I
going to look at that particularaspect of this past year and
say I failed?
(09:08):
I'm definitely not, because I'mprobably gosh.
I wish I could think of apercentage to apply to it.
It's complicated.
I am in the editing process ofthe book.
I'm in the process of choosinga book cover design.
I've got it narrowed down toabout two.
So am I going to look at it asa failure because I didn't get
(09:29):
the book accomplished this year.
No, I mean, writing a book is.
I will forever look at authorsand have a whole different level
of respect for them than Ialready do.
I mean, I've always been anavid reader but I've never
really thought about it from theperspective of the process it
(09:50):
takes to write a book.
So I've learned a lot this year.
I've had a lot of veryfrustrating moments where I just
wanted to bang my head againstthe desk, but I've grown from it
.
So when I'm looking, when I'mgoing to redo my own reflection
on this year, I am going to lookat that as a win.
(10:16):
I'm going to put that in thewin column Because I will have
the book out early next year andit still will be very timely
for those that I intend to be myaudience, and so that's one
aspect of it.
And I mean, if you've beenfollowing me on social media, I
haven't talked about it too muchon the podcast, but if you've
(10:36):
been following me on socialmedia, you might have learned
that we got in a car accident ora motorcycle accident and they
found during the CAT scan theyfound a thyroid nodule which I
had to have biopsy to check forcancer and then Brian had a skin
cancer scare and most recentlyin fact, I just got the results
(10:58):
on Tuesday I had to go in for asurgery and during that surgery
they did a biopsy and that cameback cancer-free.
So I also had a lot of healthchallenges this year, which you
know, if you look at it from.
You know, was that lifehappening to me or happening for
me?
It led me to a whole set ofchoices about my health that
(11:20):
have moved me in an entirely newdirection, and I hope to talk
about that on the podcast in thenext year.
So I'm gonna look at my healthgoals as a win.
I started out like one of my.
I don't make resolutions, butone of the things that I said
(11:40):
that I wanted to do to be abetter human for the planet is I
was using an insane amount oflike plastic storage bags.
Like you, know, sandwich bagsand quart size bags and gallon
size bags.
And I have this terrible habitI'm wondering if you can relate
to this.
I have this terrible habit of Idon't want to waste food.
(12:02):
So no matter what amount offood it is it's usually not
always huge I will store it inthe fridge, only to turn around
the next week when I get readyto go to the grocery store and
throw that food away.
And Brian and I had watched adocumentary on Netflix and it
was all about like how much foodgoes into our landfills and how
(12:24):
much methylene gas it producesand just the amount of food
waste that we have in the world,not just America, but it is
just astounding.
So I'm like well, I, this iswhat I'm gonna do for the planet
.
This is, I'm gonna furtherreduce my food waste.
I have a composter.
Sits on my well, did sit on mycounter.
(12:45):
It just takes up a lot of spaceon my little tiny counter, but
I did buy a composter.
If you're interested in findingout what that is, go over to
our Facebook group and, you know, ask me about the composter.
Feel free to DM me on Instagram.
Send an email at www.
The number two day podcast atgmailcom.
(13:06):
That link is in our show notes.
I'll be happy to share thecomposter that I use.
But what I do is I save foodscraps and once, maybe sometimes
twice, a week, I will run mylittle composter and it turns my
food waste into compost that Ican use for our you know,
vegetable garden or houseplantsor outside flowers, rose bushes,
(13:29):
all that kind of stuff.
So that was my contribution tofood waste and and lightning the
load on the planet.
The use of the plastic bags.
I have not bought a brand newcontainer.
I still have the ones I hadfrom last year in my drawer.
I can't say I didn't use oneall year, because I know I did,
(13:49):
but I drastically I'm going toguess about 90% reduced my use
of plastic baggies and that hada ripple effect because after
that I started saying to myselfokay, well, you know, I'm
reducing my plastic bag usage.
What is the impact on theseplastic bags anyway?
(14:10):
And then I started learningabout BPAs and forever chemicals
and I switched all my foodstorage to glass.
So now I'm storing things inglass.
I'm taking, like we go throughan insane amount of, like
pickles and almond butter orcashew butter, those types of
things that are in glass glasses.
We use those kind of things alot.
So anything that I have that'sa glass container, I recycle it,
(14:37):
I send it through my dishwasher, I make sure it's nice and
clean, I use it for food storage.
So you know, little things canhave a big effect, like, think
about, think about and if you'reon YouTube watching me, you
know I always have to talk withmy hands but think about a pond,
like a very, still, very calmpond.
(14:58):
Now think about if you throw arock, if you toss a rock out
into that pond and it makes allthose little ripples.
So one small rock, it makesripples.
One tiny change that you decideto do can lead to other smaller
changes, which ends up being abigger effect.
(15:18):
So the plastic bags, the foodstorage, led me to looking at
other single waste use productsthat I use, like the cotton pads
we use to take our makeup offor apply toner.
I've switched to reusable onesthat I wash once a week.
I you know I can't think of agreat replacement for Q-Tips,
(15:40):
even though I don't use a lot ofthem, but I've cut down on that
.
Like all these little things,they make an impact.
You know, have you guys everheard that story about the boy
walking along the beach that's,you know, throwing the I think
it was starfish throwing thestarfish back into the, into the
ocean.
And he was walking with hisgrandpa and his grandpa said you
know, you're not going to makea difference, You're just one
(16:02):
person.
There's thousands of them.
And he said, well, I made adifference to that one and
that's kind of how you know, Iapproached my, my sort of
intention for the year, my goalfor the year to to reduce my use
of plastic bags, is I'm just a,I'm just a small rock in a big
pond, but if I can influencesomeone else to also make
(16:25):
changes, then my ripple becomesbigger.
My, my reach has expandedbeyond just that pond, right?
So that's what I'm going to askyou to think about today, on the
day of the birth of Christ.
Consider it like a rebirth or anew birth.
And I also thought it wasinteresting to look up the, the
(16:50):
definition of the 12 days ofChristmas.
So the partridge in the peartree is the first day of
Christmas and it it says itrepresents protection and
nurturing, while the pear treesymbolizes growth and abundance.
So I want you to think aboutprotective elements in your life
(17:12):
and the growth you'veexperienced over the past year.
That's all I have for you today,on the on the first day of the
12 days of Christmas.
If you celebrate, I wish you avery merry Christmas.
If you don't, that's okay too.
Have your own day in your ownway, and I'm glad you joined me
(17:34):
and I will see you all tomorrowfor the second day of the 12
days of Christmas.
Have a wonderful day, and Ihope you had a wonderful day
spending it with family or thosethat you love.
Take care.
See you next time.
Amanda, I don't know if thisever happens to you, but I
sometimes will learn somethingreally cool on a podcast, on a
YouTube video, audiobook,whatever.
(17:56):
I think I'm going to rememberit and then I forget.
Does that ever happen to you?
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Yeah, I call it brain after 40 all the time.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
That's what we'll officially call it, but we've
come up with something.
Do you want to introduce it?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Sure, it's by.
It's from an app called quickJim quick, and it's an acronym
called fast.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah, and the F it stands for Facebook.
So we're inviting youofficially right now to come
over and join us on Facebook.
Get involved with the community, share your favorite episodes
with your friends on Facebook.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Yeah, the A is go ahead and take an action, so you
can't remember anything if youdon't act.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
And S is for subscribe.
Make sure you're subscribed toour YouTube channel.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
And then T is teach.
Teach what you've learned tosomebody else.
Share the love.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
All right, we hope that works for you.
Thank you for joining us.
We'll see you next week.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Bye, bye.
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