India

Where have galactic Phil, Kevin and Keepitkiller Lily been? The answer is India. I must say that in India it is rather evident what the lifestyle of those living with less than 1% of the world's wealth is like. Fortunately they have a lot of spiritual wealth over there. Seeing the lack of material goods definitely made me a little grossed out by my lifestyle, not to mention the average American lifestyle. I realized that I feel pretty entitled to most things that I want to obtain. Recently we sold our car, with the idea that we could give a little up in the name of Mother Earth and our own health. In India I realized just how little we had given up. We stayed at an ashram that was built to suit westerners, with modern plumbing and the like. From what I gathered, the people to do the plumbing hadn't really seen a sink before. This could be a gross simplification, but maybe that is just me thinking it is impossible to have never seen a sink.
I really enjoyed how quiet and simple things were in India. I didn't check use my phone, computers, or watch TV. Granted I had the privilege of living in "American" style housing.
It's just funny that we have so much trouble giving up any of our luxuries (many we don't even own--car loans, ed. loans, etc.) but even our most basic version of American lifestyle is pretty sweet. Now if I can just remember that.