If you have a mind to Google me, as some have, you will see a list of plays, TV credits and movies.

What you will not see is years at the London School of Economics. No, my conclusions on how to lift the economy come from living many years in many economic brackets and several locations. I have made as little as $65 a week when I started out, six figures in the good years, and now I am reaping the rewards of a union pension. I have been “around the block” economically.

I look at this slowly improving economy, and I spend very little time analyzing how we (collectively) got here and whom to blame. I do spend a lot of time thinking about what very real things I can do to help.

And since they print what I think, I am going to share my thoughts with you, dear reader, and hope that you will join me in taking action.

I recommend doing some old-fashioned soul searching about where you are financially and what good you can manage to do.

As we slide into summer with the Fourth of July and all its bunting and flag waving coming ever closer, I would hope that we not only count our blessings, but really chose active patriotism of the economic kind.

You might start by looking to see what businesses serve you the best — not just the cheapest — and look for those owned by folks who live in the community and have roots here. Choose to dine at restaurants that proudly buy from our local farmers and shop the farmers market. It may cost a bit more but imagine a world without local farmers.

Don’t get me wrong. There is a place for the big box store, but a town that lets the Aberdeen Florist and Garden Center languish or the bookstore die or leaves the local potters stuck in the mud is not a town with a future.

I recently bought some new plants for my containers at Aberdeen Florist and Garden Center, and I purposely went around looking at prices, size and quality. Having had a lot of help from Janet and her staff, I have a real fondness and attachment to the place. They have guided me as I have become accustomed to the way the Sandhills is oh-so-different from Connecticut in growing times and plants. They have helped me make better choices, and they have trained me to be a better gardener.

I then went to a big box store to compare. You know, on the face of it, prices looked better, but then I looked at the quality and quantity per bunch or per flat and I could see the difference. I saw that my money was better spent in my local shop.

Downtown businesses are not some kind of window dressing; they are the life-blood of a town. And having traveled to well over 25 towns before we settled on retiring here, I can tell you that having a downtown that is worth frequenting makes all the difference. It is rarer than you might think.

The towns that did not maintain a vital local culture and economy looked downtrodden and on the verge of being a ghost town. By choosing to spend our dollars here, we are also casting a vote for a healthy Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen.

“It takes a village.” It would behoove us to remember that having a village takes commitment to our precious resource of small local business owners. It is not enough to say we want a better economy; we must put our dollars to the job of supporting neighbors who actually own the places we use.

I am suggesting that it might be more important to have less, if that is what it takes, as long as what you can buy is bought here. Let us not get to the other side of the recession only to have small stores shuttered because we could not find it in ourselves to be a part of the our own local recovery.

You can do good while getting the best the Sandhills has to offer. Amazon will do fine, but your friend who owns a shop right here will appreciate your purchase more and, hopefully, will be there for you one day when you need them. The online stores won’t be there for you, and the big boxes won’t know you need help.

This Fourth of July, be sure you have become an economic patriot and not just a flag waver. Shop locally!

Joyce Reehling lives in Pinehurst. She recently retired here from New York after a 33-year career in theater, TV and commercials.