I've been working hard on Shareable for over a year, and realized over the holidays that I need to change my work habits. One issue is that I've been spending long hours crouched over this tiny notebook computer. It's great for travel, but hard on my body if used for long stretches of writing and editing. However, I was hesitant to buy more computer gear to solve the problem. Electronics is the fastest growing and most toxic waste stream. I didn't want to contribute to that. But I really need a change nonetheless. What to do?

I decided to ask the Shareable community for a flat panel display, keyboard, and mouse to hook up to my laptop. This was not my first impulse. I had never asked for an in-kind donation before. Normally, I would just buy what I need for the project. And our little nonprofit could actually afford it. I decided to give it a try anyway. I want to learn how to do things in a more shareable way. Here's the message I posted on our Facebook page a couple weeks ago:

Shareable.net is in need of a flat panel display, keyboard & mouse to edit articles. Please reply if you have used ones to donate. Thanks!

Much to my surprise, I received all that I asked for this past Wednesday. I'm now using a new-to-me flat panel display thanks to the generosity of Carol Steinfeld. And Jolene Torr kindly donated a keyboard and mouse. I wrote this post in much improved comfort and productivity thanks to them. And the bonus is that I got to meet Carol and Jolene, who are really cool people committed to creating a better world in their own ways. Thank you so much Carol and Jolene! I feel blessed! 

So call this is lesson one of The Year of Living Shareably. Learning to trust community is one key to living shareably.