My New Favorite Place

This is the place where I have been savoring these last few days of summer, and these last few days of pregnancy. Right in my own backyard, under our biggest tree. I love this view from below it. I love how it's massive roots go down into the ground under me, steady and firm, and it's branches reach high up towards the heavens. The calm of this place is refreshing. I love breathing in the life all around me; soaking up the serenity. This would be a good place to spend some of my labor, and to visualize when at the hospital. It has been a place to give thanks for the goodness in my life, and to spend time with family. A place to enjoy the moment -- the last few days of how things are -- and to open our hearts for new things, for change and transition, and a precious, new daughter to join us at home.

Becoming the Person I Want to Be

I have been thinking about this topic for awhile now. Am I going in the direction I want to go? I heard a guy say once, that you are going to become the person you are becoming now...in other words, if you want to do something, take steps to make it happen. So the next question for myself, am I in the process of becoming the person that I want to be?

Well...

*To develop my creativity through craft projects. Being able to create for my family and friends with love.
My last project was some living room curtains that I worked on together with my sister-in-law, and my next project will be a present for a baby.

*To learn more about gardening, and expand my garden to include fruits. To be able to store the produce in various ways.
Finishing my first season of gardening, and have plenty of zucchini and tomatoes in the freezer. I also have tons of squash that will last for awhile.

*To reduce waste by consuming less, purchasing products with less waste, and starting a compost pile.
Trying to buy used instead of new, repurpose things to make others(my apron project, and bought some used fabrics to reuse). Pondering a worm bin.

*To expand my cooking abilities and have nourishing food ready for my family when they are hungry.
Tried making zucchini cookies for the first time last week. This week, not sure yet.

*To parent with compassion and patience. To try to see things from my child's point of view, to guide and educate her with love.
I'm trying, but I still feel like there are times where I could have handled a situation better. I need to remember to stop, breathe, and practice patience.

*To encourage and support my spouse. To try to see things from his point of view, to be patient and communicate effectively.
Need to work on the being patient and communicating better.

*To maintain my household organized: bills, papers, clean-up, etc.
Right now this place is still a mess post move. Although I do feel that it has gotten better, there is still so much more to do.

So maybe I am on my way to becoming the person I want to be...it's good to sit down and look at what I have done, and what I still need to do. What about you? Are you on your way to becoming who you want to be?

Just don't tiptoe.

I read a quote today here, that got me thinking. I'm not sure who said it, but I sure like the message: "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"

It also reminded me of a similar quote I heard from Shane Claiborne once. I remember he was quoting someone else, but I didn't get that written down. I was taking notes, so I'm not sure I got it exactly, but he said this: "All around you, people will be tiptoeing through life just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip, dance. Just don't tiptoe."

After reflecting on them today, I have a few things going through my mind.

* Life is not without risk. My daughter while at play, often falls and scrapes her knees, and gets dirty and sometimes hurt. Luckily, she has people who love her to scoop her up into their arms, brush her off, and encourage her to continue. Yes, she might fall again. She might be covered in dirt by the day's end, but her childhood days are filled with giggles, exploration, and joy.

* Faith should control our actions, not fear.

* The journey will end. 100% of people die. I'm know I have done some "tiptoeing." But I am sure that I want my life experiences to work toward more than just "arriving at death safely." I want a life with a spiritual depth, an inner peace, a contagious joy, and some dancing and skipping sounds good too. :)

I'm rich!

Not really. At least not in dollars by US standards. I am referring to the many other things that make life rich and full of joy. I read this a while back (from Melinda on One Green Generation) and really liked how she said it:

"The simple living movement has done an amazing job of redefining personal wealth. No longer is wealth about money or material possessions, it is about living a nurturing, filling, and happy life. Many people add more layers to the simple lifestyle, so that it is also about becoming debt-free, living an environmentally-sustainable lifestyle, and working toward social justice.

Wealth comes from a richness of relationships, flavors of fresh homemade and homegrown food, being within and a part of nature, contributing more good to the world, and deliberately paying attention to and fulfilling the needs of your self and those around you. It’s a beautiful, selfless, and self-fulfilling life."

In a culture that's all about making and spending money, we need to redefine wealth and our concept of what's enough. Especially as I think of the imprint my life leaves on my daughter. I want her to value things that can give her life meaning and make a positive impact on the world.

The Roads Most Travelled

While it's easy to see the positive and negative effects of immigration on the United States, people don't often stop and think about the point of view of the immigrant...what they might have left behind, what they may have gone through to get here, or what their lives might be like here. It's not often we stop to think that these people all have names and stories. In today's post I will not attempt to solve these complicated problems, but simply to share these beautiful images with you. I think the realization that we in this country live as the elite, and that the great majority live drastically different is a significant motivator to simplify. I urge you to take a look at these photographs, and imagine for a moment these people and their stories. Imagine yourself in their shoes, what would you do, what choices would you make, what would your life be like? Because after all, there is no "us" and "them," we are all people with families, joys, and heartaches. No matter what side of the border you find yourself on.
http://www.kpbs.org/static/flash/don-bartletti/BoundToElNorte.html

On Happiness

Robert Louis StevensonPoet, Novelist & Essayist ( 1850 - 1894 )
How to Be Happy
1.Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things.
2.Make the best of your circumstances. No one has everything, and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears.
3.Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t think that somehow you should be protected from misfortune that befalls other people.
4.You can’t please everybody. Don’t let criticism worry you.
5.Don’t let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.
6.Do the things you enjoy doing but stay out of debt.
7.Never borrow trouble. Imaginary things are harder to bear than real ones.
8.Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish jealousy, enmity, grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.
9.Have many interests. If you can’t travel, read about new places.
10.Don’t hold postmortems. Don’t spend your time brooding over sorrows or mistakes. Don’t be one who never gets over things.
11.Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.
12.Keep busy at something. A busy person never has time to be unhappy.

I'm surprised how much time has passed since this was written and yet, such good advice.

Philanthropy

I have been thinking about a few quotes this week from Martin Luther King Jr. The first is, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' " Since I have been pondering this, I had a discussion with my husband about financially how can we give to others in need. Here, then, is the second quote, "Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philantropy necessary." Isn't it so much easier to send a check to some organization...then we don't have to change anything in our lifestyle. Often, our life decisions contribute to a system that's messed up. A system where all people are not valued equally, where some people are taken advantage of and have no voice, where a planet is slowly being destroyed. This is not the system we should be investing in. Especially people of faith, who believe in a God of love and compassion, and are committed to living likewise. I hear people say all the time, that the United States is such a generous nation, that we give ***billions of dollars in aid etc.... Or that the church in the United States gives *** millions/billions annually.... Here's my problem with that logic: so why do we still have all the same problems as we did before? As long as we are giving hand-outs and not rebuilding the system, I feel we will never get to the bottom of the problems that exist.

So, how do we do something to make a difference...It's so easy to feel powerless to do anything. Here are a few things I have been thinking about:
1- Your money has power. Where you choose to invest them can make a difference. Melinda from One Green Generation wrote an interesting post lately http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-can-we-do-to-rebuild-world.htmlon the Simple-Green-Frugal Forum (located on my sidebar) about how we can invest in local economies, giving support to small businesses instead of large, impersonal corporations and lower the amount of fuel used in transportation as well.
2- Make homemade instead of buying store-bought. If you make it yourself, you again are not supporting big companies, and you are saving money which you can invest elsewhere.
3- Support organizations that are working to change the system, not just give hand-outs. People that are providing job opportunities and new beginnings.
4- Barter for goods or services. Money then loses it's value, and we can invest in community instead of corporations.
5- Grow a garden.
6- Choose not to buy something, or go out to eat, and put that money aside to contribute to a something of much greater value.
I'm sure there are many more, if you think of something else, add it to the comments.

Mother Theresa said, "Live simply so others can simply live." If we simplify, we can invest in a different system, where all people are valued, and the planet is respected and cared for. We can make a difference.

Movie Review: The Girl in the Cafe

This movie is about a man and woman who meet in a cafe by chance. They form a friendship which turns romantic. It starts a little slow, and their conversation is horribly awkward. Eventually she goes with him on a business trip (he is a politician) and there she has a chance to break the norms and be a voice for the poor.

At the end of the movie there is a quote by Nelson Mandela, "Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be the great generation."

So, I have been thinking about the status quo. What is our status quo for life? To have a job, a spouse, a house, a car, to raise kids, etc, etc. How often do we just settle into the flow? We do what everyone else is doing, never questioning if we should be doing something different. We are just living what is normal (well, if you call the experience of the minority in this world normal). But, what if normal is messed up? Ignoring poverty, ignoring our planet to achieve our goals...We are living "normal" when we could be living to transform and restore the world around us.

Tonight I am thinking about my footprint on this Earth. I am thinking about my impact on the planet - on it's environment and it's people. Some of what I am and do is "normal" and some of me is looking for a better way. I don't want to ignore poverty or the planet to meet my goals. I want to live a life that will transform and restore. What about you? Will you settle for "normal"? Or will you break the norms and look for a better way?

Expectation vs. Expectancy

This Christmas a friend of mine sent me a Christmas letter that shared a reflection on the difference between Expectations and Expectancy. We often expect people to behave in certain way and then are disapointed, angry, or frustrated when they do not. On the other hand when we have an attitude of expectancy, we are open to different possibilites of how people will react, but understand that others don't necessarily share our same values or worldview, and are accepting of the fact that we don't have control over their reaction. This frees us up to enjoy being in the moment, and allows us to accept situations and people as they are. I think living with expectancy instead of expectations, is a healthy attitude that can help us year-round.