Book Review/Testimony

[dang133]

Below is an email I recently sent Oasis Design after reading a rough draft of "Principles of Ecological Deisgn". Art asked me to post it on the forums. I hope that others read the book as well. It is quite inspiring and can act as a blueprint for how to re-create your life to be more ecologically sound.


> First and foremost, thank you.
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> While this isn't the most well written e-mail I've ever written, I hope it gets the point across. Trying to explain what a profound impact your book had on me is extremely difficult. Conveying the magnitude of the impact flawlessly would be an act of God.
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> About a year and a half ago, I ran into a rough draft of your book "Principles of Ecological Design" on the internet. I'm not exactly sure how I would do this, but if I can find it again, I'll be sure to let you know how/where your intellectual property is floating around.
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> Anyways, I stored it in my e-mail account and finally got around to reading it about a year ago.
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> It had a profound impact on my life. Few books/events over the course of anyone's life have the power/ability to change the paradigm of one's own life. That rough draft did just that for me.
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> Thank You.
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> Your book re-enforced what I already believed (which nobody else at the college I was attending at the time did). Simply put, I began wanting less material things and wanting more time to spend with my fiancee, hike with my dogs, and live a slower pace. It was both radical and down to earth, I didn't really know that was possible before.
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> Your book gave me a blueprint for how to live simply, consume less, and be happier. It also helped me to be aware of many of the obstacles I would have to overcome to do this.
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> Furthermore, it was enlightening to know that people have been further off the beaten path than myself and still come back sane. Most people I know who have ventured further off the beaten path than myself come back scarred, battered, bruised, and angry.
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> I began to see that the college I was going to, Georgia Tech (studying Mechanical Engineering as a Senior in good standing), simply promotes consuming more, and climbing the corporate ladder. After a year long co-op (paid internship), I realized that I was headed in entirely the wrong direction.
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> Simply put, I knew it was time for a change. A bold change.
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> Your book, a long with Ken Kifer's website, inspired me to ride my bike across America, to experience this great country of ours.
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> So I bought a one way plane ticket and flew out to California. For packaging, my bike was wrapped in bubble wrap and duck tape. Although I had ridden a bike before this, I had no appreciation of the magnitude of the task I had just undertaken. When I look back at what I did, I'm still amazed I pulled if off without any major problems.
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> I was overweight, out of shape, depressed, and confused about my life's direction when I set out on that journey. When I completed pedaling from coast to coast I was an entirely different person. All that bike riding really made me rethink my entire stance of life. From the Texas Hill Country, to snow storms in Arizona, to seeing the hurricane ravaged coast of Louisiana and New Orleans blossoming all over again, its an experience I'll treasure forever. Sleeping comfortably in a hammock for two months makes you re-evaluate how much you need a bed :). Somehow, I'm in better shape now than when I finished the ride across America (and with lower body fat% to boot).
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> After the bike ride, every facet of my life began to fit together in a harmonious and fulfilling way. I managed to secure low cost housing, work from home doing computer programming, and spend more time playing fetch with my dogs. Simply put, I switched from being a consumer to being a conserver.
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> I've just begun to piece together a plan to help others do the same.
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> Even now, it is difficult for me to grasp/explain how radical the idea of consuming less is American culture. I think rural "poor" people in small towns seem to get it the most. When I was riding across America, most people in small towns didn't really seem to want big screen TVs and brand new cars (although pick up trucks seem to be a social status symbol). They did seem to want more time to hunt, fish, raise families, and do other activities they enjoyed which were time intensive but low cost.
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> Ironically, I now live in Southern California as well (a small town called Pearblossom).
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> I'd like to send you a check for the book I downloaded (since I never really paid for it the first time around). By doing so, you would be able to avoid the credit card merchant fees.
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> I'm not really sure what I'm asking for here, but if you could e-mail me back, I'd really appreciate it.
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> Thanks
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> -Dan Gifford