#changing lightbulbs

[spheal-a-day]

How many Spheal does it take to change a lightbulb?

Definitely more than two…

[raedear]

love is my dad seeing me leap out of my seat at dinner because a moth flew near me and, rather than making fun of me, getting up from his dinner to catch the moth and take it outside

[meeresbande]

When it comes to environmentalism or changing the world, lots of people put way too much emphasis on consumerism, boycotts and individual lifestyle choices. Changing lightbulbs and the like. Of course those are some of the things most people have direct influence over and it does make sense to start there. But after you’ve changed your lightbulbs and done other lifestyle changes, it doesn’t make much sense to keep obsessing over it.

For one, buying lots of new things, even if they do use less electricity or fuel than the old ones, still means buying lots of new things! Things that cost A LOT of energy and resources to produce, while the old but often still usable things get thrown out and produce more waste. Cars for example use up just as much oil in production, before they have run a single mile, than they do as fuel in their lifetime of driving. And the “greener” cars are typically also the ones who need extra energy and rare minerals to produce! So it would be greener to keep using your old car than buying a new “greener” one. Cars can never be green anyway.

The other, more important reason is, that it just diverts too much energy away from where you could really make a difference, while also strictly staying inside the capitalist/ productivist/ individualistic logic that caused ecological and social catastrophies in the first place. In order to better the world, lots of different people need to do lots of different things. So choose the things that are relatively easy for you to do and also effective and do what you like doing. Also: Don’t expect or pressure people to use the same strategies and do the same things as you. Diversity is key. So if you like making your own shampoo instead of buying it (like I do for example), go for it! But don’t look down on people who can’t or don’t want to go to the trouble.

In fact, personal consumer and lifestyle choices are among the weakest strategies one can use for change. They also connect power/influence to one’s wallet and shame people for being poor, both of which is abhorrent. We desperately need societal and cultural changes! We need to fight for environmental, social and climate justice! We need political struggles and direct action! We need to focus on the things that have the biggest possible impact!

I’d take ten people who buy plastic-packaged non-ecological shampoo but participate in or organise protests and direct actions over a hundred people who don’t protest or organise but make all their shampoo and cosmetics themselves!

[misterslickstercoolguy]

So I get home and flick on the light switch that hasn't worked in months because I haven't bothered to change out the bulb because that's what I do every day because I'm too tired to fight muscle memory. But as I stand in the unlit kitchen I think, "No more! I'm gonna change this fucking lightbulb!" So I go to my hall closet and pull out my toolbox and the bulbs aren't in there. Then I remember they're in my bedroom closet for some reason, so I go in there and pull all of the other boxes out because of course the box with the lightbulbs in it is at the bottom and I grab a bulb. I go back to the kitchen and get up on the step ladder because even my freakishly long arms can't take on ten foot ceilings and I realize I need to unscrew the screws holding the glass thing to the fan so I step down from the step ladder and go to look for a screwdriver. Of course I find two flatheads—which I don't need—and zero Phillips's—which I do need—even though I always put them in the same place as the flatheads. The frustration is building because I'm also hungry so I just say fuck it and I grab a flathead, intending to I don't even know what because the screws are so goddamned small, but when I get back on the ladder and start to fiddle about I remember that I don't even need a fucking screwdriver—I can twist them out by hand. So I toss the screwdriver aside and start twisting the little screws this way and that, keenly aware that the sensation is vaguely reminiscent of some awkward foreplay from my middle school days, trying to figure out which direction is gonna release the goddamned glass thing. When the glass thing finally drops into my waiting palm I let out an alleluia groan, put it down, take out the busted bulb, put the new one in, step down and flick the switch to test it. Nothing happens. I think, "Der! I have to pull the chain!" So, I pull the short chain (Not the long one—that's for the fan.) and go back to the light switch and flick it on and—Ah! Let there be light! Perfect! All I need to do is put the glass thing back on and I can cook at night again! So I get back on the step ladder with the glass thing in hand, feeling quite pleased with myself, and then I start to think and I bet you fifty million dollars you know exactly what I'm thinking. I look at the old bulb sitting on my table. It's not cracked, it's not discolored, it doesn't make any noise when I shake it—basically, there's nothing on it to indicate that it's anything other than a fully functional 60W lightbulb. Now, part of me is saying, "Leave it. Let it go. Finish the job so you can make yourself some goddamned curry," and I want to, I desperately do, but another part of me *has* to know. So I grab that old bulb, switch it in for the new bulb, step down from the step ladder, flick on the light switch and goddamn it the light turns on. Well, I lose it. "Are you kidding me?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Fuck you, lightbulb, you fucking asshole! Fuck you!" and so on and so forth for a good minute. Obviously it wasn't the lightbulb's fault. What I really meant to say was "Fuck you, past me, for not only pulling that chain who knows how long ago but also forgetting about it so quickly that you thought the lightbulb had burnt out! Who fucking does that, you dumb piece of shit?! What a dick!" Now, I'm tired and I'm still hungry, but after all of that wasted effort I don't even want to step foot in my kitchen again so I'm gonna get a pizza. The end.

[mollymcghee]

CHANGING LIGHTBULBS Brian Foley Up all night shuffling through pictures of people jumping from tall buildings. The last moment perfected unwired limbs could be made still, frozen into a shape like a bent nail on which nothing can be hung. How I wish I could whisper desperately to you as if our lives were about to become extinguished, instead of floating. Each moment I must choose.

Changing Lightbulbs | Brian Foley