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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Emily Morrow
Read between
November 10 - November 10, 2025
The biggest sacrifice I’ve had to make is spending less time consuming entertainment and more time making and doing, but there’s an immense satisfaction in seeing what you’re able to create, and the money saved is worth the extra work.
KISS: keep it simple, stupid.
Society has done everything in its power to complicate our lives. Busyness is a status symbol likened to wealth. Wealth is more important than ever because you have to look your best—be your best—all the time. There’s a product, pill, or procedure to fix any problem you might encounter. We want more out of our lives, and we want it now because we deserve it! Mr. Rogers, that dear old man, once said, “Our society is much more interested in information than wonder, in noise rather than silence.”
Crunchiness is a spectrum, and it won’t look the same for everyone—there is no single best way. Do what’s best for you.
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea / Drink the wild air’s salubrity,”
The goal of healthy eating isn’t to deprive yourself of all the things you love, but rather to shift your relationship with food and enlighten yourself on truly nourishing your body rather than merely feeding it.
Food is expensive, and I know it can be discouraging when you can’t afford to buy the quality of food you want. When I couldn’t afford local, pasture-raised eggs, I knew any egg was better for me than buying canned biscuits. The further your food is from its natural state, the less healthy it is for you.
The choices you make are no one’s business, so don’t feel the need to justify them if they are different from the choices of those around you.
“Humans are not meant to wake up in a box and stare at boxes, eat out of boxes, drive to work to work in a box, while staring at boxes, going home to our boxes to stare at more boxes all day. This is not normal and humans are not meant to live like this.”
It’s up to you to make the change for yourself and your family. If disconnecting from screens and getting outside more takes hiding the television in the basement, do it! Let’s make hanging art on the wall more common than hanging televisions. Let’s normalize holding books instead of holding phones. Be that crazy person who gets excited about all the things nature has to offer.
“The entire point of 1000 Hours Outside is to attempt to match nature time with screen time. If kids can consume media through screens 1200 hours a year on average then the time is there and at least some of it can and should be shifted towards a more productive and healthy outcome.”
Time is a precious commodity, yet it is so easy to squander. No, it is not wrong to involve yourself with entertainment, especially when enjoying those things with someone you love. But again, life is about balance, and our society’s standard consumption is not at all in balance. Having a life that is in balance requires making healthy choices every single day. So get outside with your family. See what discoveries nature has to offer. Use your imagination and enjoy the real world around you. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
You’ve heard the phrase “You can’t pour from an empty cup,” and that is so true. It is important to make sure you’re nourishing your spirit, body, and mind, especially as a parent. However, there is a danger of slipping from filling up your cup so you can pour it out to others to making sure your cup is always full and never allowing anything to empty your cup because you’re worth having a full cup. Somewhere along the way, we’ve gotten so used to the treat-yo-self mentality that treats are no longer treats—they have become commonplace. Sadly, we have become a culture of pacification. We are
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We are not meant to simply consume; we are meant to contribute.
Things happen; make decisions, then move on. There is no use dwelling on the past.
In short, the crunchiest things you can do are think for yourself, do the best you can, and show love to your fellow human beings.
