One Hundred Day Celebration

When my kids were in kindergarten, they celebrated their one hundredth day of school by bringing in a bag of 100 items. We carefully counted out the items the night before. 

Laurèn took Cheerios, Yohannes took buttons.  

I have been doing the Loonie challenge for one hundred days. 

What is the significance of the number 100?

- It reinforces counting skills, and the concept of time and days. 

- Most money systems are divided into 100 parts.

- 100 is the basis for the percentage system.

- It is the sum of the first nine prime numbers. Who knew?

- It is found in religion, dreams, politics, architecture, science, and more. 

- It is a number symbolizing a whole, which is itself only part of a greater totality.

It hasn’t been a “clean” hundred days. Life is running me over, and undermining my ability to be the best of myself, and to plan and prepare. Having said that, I have already learned some things 

. . . about a hundred things. Shall I bore you with all 100? Here are my top ten:

1. Spending so little is not fun . . . creative, but not fun.

2. A number of people have had a hard time adapting to my challenge, and that has made me feel guilty.

3. I used to buy a number of unnecessary things.

4. I am more than the sum of my possessions. In fact, my possessions are an expression, so what do I want to say?

5. Using hunger, sadness, exhaustion, or disorganization as a reason to spend irresponsibly are all cop-outs to dealing with the issue at hand.

6. Food is just food.

7. Stuff is just stuff.

8. $5.00 for three hours of uninterrupted writing is pretty cheap rent.

9. It is hard to ask others to support me in this challenge. 

10. Being an intentional consumer is hard. 

Recently, I picked up some things we needed at Staples. Home Sense is right next door. I walked in and meandered lazily through the store. I found what I wasn’t looking for in one of the eye-catching displays. A tall cylinder-shaped floor lamp, thicker around the middle, made of gauzy linen material. It would create the perfect ambiance in our quiet room. Must have it. I leaned over and flipped the price tag up—$100.00. I am proud to say that I walked out, not only because that was a ridiculous price for metal wrapped in gauze, but also because it clearly fell outside the boundary of necessary. 

Retail therapy, and especially things that I can put in my home to make me feel good, is one of my coping mechanisms. Over the past two weeks, I have desperately needed some retail therapy. It has taken strength to resist. 

At this hundred-day junction, I am in need of a show of support. Here is the 100-day challenge I would like you to contemplate. 

Imagine a bag of 100 loonies. 

Multiply the 100 loonies by a percentage that you can afford to donate—at this moment. 

Take that percentage out of the bag. 

Go to my pledge page--just click on the picture of ME below, and donate a portion of the whole.