The Beauty of Kindness

I had to do a presentation yesterday for one of our schools. I was so nervous. I haven't felt that nervous in soooo many years. But it was a nervousness that made my face red, my palms sweat, and my heart race.

I settled in and got through the hour, praying to God to help me get through. And He did.

And then I thought about it endlessly in my mind. Until a text came in from a beautiful human being telling me that I did an awesome job. And that calmed my racing thoughts and put a smile in my heart. Because one special person saw me. She saw that I needed support and reached out to offer it.

Kindness is free. And it means soooo much.

222

 It has been many years since my last post and I'm glad to get back here! We have become a social media world and I have tried to step away from socials for a few months to get back to a simpler time in my life.

Something about today, February 22, has inspired me. These numbers, 222, have shown up mysteriously, miraculously, wonderously, for the past 15 months since my Dad's passing and I have received them as a comfort, a sign from beyond, a way to connect with someone who is so very missed here on this earth. Yesterday, I visited his grave and today, I am blessed with 2/22.

The past 2 years have been remarkable in that my life became something I never thought I would experience. I lost 2 very important men in my life, my Dad and my husband, quite suddenly and unexpectedly. At the same time, I have been in the process of becoming an empty-nester as my 3 sons grow into their next phases of life. As anyone who has been through seasons of loss knows, it is not for the faint of heart. I am here, strengthened by the grace of God.

These numbers pop up randomly through my days, like a warm embrace. Here's a very small sampling of the ones I captured. In the first months, I wanted to collect them and never let them go. I'm starting to understand that my Dad will always find a way to be here for me and I don't have to hold so tightly. Each one brings a smile to my heart.

I hope today finds you well, with small things that bring comfort to your heart.

Inspiring a Love of Nature

There are so many people who love nature who are working to preserve it.  So many people....but don't we all love nature?  After all, we are part of nature ourselves.  So this is a job for all of us!

This spring we are planning a butterfly garden at our elementary school.  As part of an artist in residency program, we will be able to work with a muralist who will help the children create an educational mural that reflects what they see in the garden.  It will be a way to draw them outside more often and a way for them to learn to love what they find there.

In today's technological world, this is becoming more important than ever.  There is so much to be gained from nature.  The impact of instilling a love of nature in a child is priceless.  Children sharing this inspiration with parents and grandparents and whole communities is even better.

In life, there often seem to be two sides at odds with each other, whether it be in government, religion or when the environment is at stake.  We are often at odds without knowing how close we all are to the same thing...how we are all the same inside.  Let's all come together.....perhaps in the garden!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!!

I finally started our new blog, http://ourpieceofpeace.blogspot.com/

Wishing you all a happy and peaceful holiday with your family, loved ones and friends!!!

I started a new job in June and with a 1st grader, 4th grader and 8th grader in the house, it has been a little bit of an adjustment but at least I can say that I work with a lot of wonderful people who make the effort worthwhile!

I'm finally ok to realize that my favorite and most important job will always be the job of being a mommy!

The weather is far from a summer day here today, but for some reason this poem is in my head:

The Summer Day

Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?


Tell me...
what do you plan to do?
 I'm heading out to be with family for a few days of this wild and precious life...and wishing that more days could be spent in the presence of those dearest to me.  And that all of us had people in our lives who longed to be close to us.  Don't we all deserve that?

Happy Thanksgiving!  Peace!

In Good Health

Hard to believe it has been almost 3 months since my last post!  I hope everyone out there is well and am sending my best wishes to you all!

Trying to be my best, truest self has required a lot of internalization and going inside of myself and time to try to figure out.  Today's life is so full...full of good and full of bad.  So many distractions.  So many things to pull us in so many different directions.  Being quiet is a good way to shut that off and get to the heart of what you are really here for.  I'm still not there, but I'm trying.  I have found that pulling away from electronics has helped clear my mind about what is important in my life.  I also find that I miss the connections that are possible with electronic communication, so it is a balance I will continue to try to strike.

One big lesson that has hit me this month has been how grateful I am to have my health.  My whole family has been through some bouts of the flu and feeling at the opposite end of healthy.  When I think about people living with chronic conditions that they face day in and day out, it gives me great appreciation for the health that I have enjoyed in my life.

Gratitude has a way of helping me live in the moment and focus on the things that are important and meaningful to me.

There's a big part of blogging and the whole electronic communication scene that makes me a little uncomfortable and that is the idea of 'followers'.  I love every single one of you, but in my mind, you are 'sharers', 'fellow companions on the journey', 'seekers'....I don't know...anything but what the idea of 'follower' usually conjures up in my head since most of this stuff I babble about is more about me trying to grow and leave a legacy for my children rather than be 'followed'.  But whatever you are called, I'm very grateful that you are here in this space we share!

I hope to post more this year.  I hope to find my focus.  I hope to share positivity and light and gratitude more often than darkness.

My middle son loves to dance.  (Don't we all, really, somewhere inside of ourselves love to dance?)  This month he started back at the place that really grew his love of dance, The Dance Lab, in Moorestown, NJ with an absolutely beautiful teacher, Candace Carriger.  http://www.thedancelab.com/

Being there brings joy to my soul.  It is one of those moments in life when you know you are right where you are supposed to be and the time passes leaving you filled up and wanting for more.

I hope you are finding some of these moments in the start of this year and enjoying a piece of peace in your life.

Which brings me to a new blog I'm going to be starting with my family this year as part of our journey as Peace Seekers and members of The Mattie J.T. Stepanek Foundation's Peace Club (http://www.mattieonline.com):  http://ourpieceofpeace.blogspot.com - A place for my family to chronicle our journey with peace.  Of all of the things that are much-needed in our world, peace speaks to me as being at the heart of so many and being the solution to so much. 

Peace!

It's The Little Things

Today I took the time to visit my parents.  It's something I don't always take the time to do, but today I needed to.  Their house was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy and they had to evacuate.  Their cars flooded.  Their house flooded and the roof was ripped off like the lid of a sardine can.  I just needed to see them, to hug them, to be near them and know that they are alive and breathing and making it through the loss of a home they have spent a lot of the past 2 years working together to fix and make into a liveable retirement home.  I didn't really want to leave them.  I have 3 sons who need me here at home, so I had to leave.  But that little visit made my whole week and then some.  They are ok.  They are survivors.  Their smiles warmed my heart and their voices soothed my soul.  A little visit that made a big impression on my heart.

As a music lover, I was sad to see lots of sopping wet CD cases laying around and opened them to see what could be salvaged.  We dried them off and they are ok!  It was exciting to find a CD entitled 'Hope' that was completely unharmed...the only one that water didn't sop into.  It gave me some comfort to know that my parents' music would be there for them to cheer their spirits.  A little thing that can mean so very much.

My Dad's Marine uniform had gotten damaged from the floods, but the hat, which has his name stamped inside, was completely unharmed and will be well-loved by grandsons who will love pretending to be as strong and brave as their Pop Pop.  A little thing of joy.

I sat in a local restaurant next to my Mom tonight, eating a cup of the most delicious local soup and sandwich I have ever tasted.  We were ragged and probably smelled like the sea water that had flooded the house, but were welcomed with smiles and warmth and for that span of time, it felt like everything in the world was going to be ok.  The little gift of hospitality and friendship.

My family had the great honor this month of being nominated as Peace Seekers by the Mattie J.T. Stepanek Foundation:  http://www.mattieonline.com/?page_id=8842
Mattie Stepanek had a real gift for words and for describing all of the little things that filled his life in big, meaningful ways.  You can read more about him here:  http://www.mattieonline.com/?page_id=15
A little peacemaker with an amazingly huge impact.

I think we all need to become peace seekers.  And it is not always easy, but what I have learned from Mattie is that it is a choice.  And it is a choice we can all make.  It starts with each one of us and flows through the little things we do each day, the way we interact with our friends and our families and spreads out into our world.

Do you seek peace?  What are the little things that bring joy, hope, comfort and peace to you and those you love?  Whatever they are, may they be abundant in your life!  <3 br="br">

Being Mindful and Less Plastic-Filled

When I originally started this blog, I wanted to give it a name having to do with mindfulness.  I had finally gotten to a point where I realized that so many things in life are better when we are mindful, when we take the time to be aware. 

From Merriam-Webster, here are some synonyms and antonyms for 'mindful':

Synonyms: alive, apprehensive, aware, cognizant, conscious, sensible, sentient, ware, witting

Antonyms: insensible, oblivious, unaware, unconscious, unmindful, unwitting

 

It certainly seems better to be mindful than the opposite, right?

 

And while I realize that we all need to get to this place in our own space and time, it doesn't leave me any less impatient about wanting to get to a world that is more sustainable, peaceful, mindful....

 

Sometimes in my corner of the world, it seems like we need a whole lot more mindfulness.  School started last week and we've gotten the usual fundraising catalogs sent home.  And a new one...if we can give the magazine company 7 slips with names and addresses of friends and family, we'll be able to take home a penguin.  For 10 slips, we get a plastic bracelet that doubles as an eraser.  And then there's the reward brochure.  If we sell 2 magazines, we get a plastic bottle filled with invisible ink...???  Is this for real?!?  For 4 magazines, we get a flying plastic UFO with lights that will, no doubt, be broken within the first week of flying.  8 magazines earns you plastic light-up flashing shutter shades.  I'll spare you the rest....

 

 I can't tell you the flurry of activity over the penguins and bracelets.  Do we really believe that all this cheap plastic junk is going to make us happier in some way?  How can we still be so 'oblivious'?

Three years ago, I asked our principal if I could start a TerraCycle program at our school.  I could write volumes of blog entries on this one program alone (I'll try to get there)...it has had its share of ups and downs, but in the end, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  It has been so educational.  It is changing minds and changing lives, albeit more slowly than I'd like, but I still think it's a positive step...a starting point...something to make people think about what they are consuming and what they are throwing away.  I've had students ask me, when we were collecting cups for recycling at an event, why aren't we collecting the plasticware, too?  Good question, leading to an even better question...why don't we replace disposables with reusables?

 

There are lots of different opinions about TerraCycle, as there are about recycling, but one thing I have found is that it is a company full of very caring people, many of whom I've had the pleasure to meet or talk with, and they have a CEO, Tom Szaky, who is much more accessible than many CEOs....I have written to him on at least 3 occasions and gotten a personal, meaningful, timely response each time.  They know, as well as we do, that this isn't the ultimate, sustainable answer, but it is a step in the right direction until we get there.

Last year, we kept over 50,000 juice pouches out of the landfills along with tens of thousands of other plastic packaging that is not typically recycled.  Again, the dual-edged sword...am I happy that we saved the pouches from the landfill?  Yes!  Would I rather we not have juice pouches in the first place?  YES!!!  So even though I love our program, I hope we save less juice pouches this year and have more students using reusable bottles.

And I also hope we soon realize that plastic penguins and UFO's don't make our world a better place.

Thinking About Looking Good

I live in a 'Community Association'.  There's a part of me that really likes the 'community' part of that.  There are a lot of kids here and that means my kids are always close by in the company of their friends.  We moved here 6 years ago and chose this neighborhood as a safe place for our children to grow and play.  I'm realizing that is one of the few things I like about being part of this 'association'.

Today I got a letter in the mail, on formal letterhead, from our community association.  It tells me that living in a community association requires all owners to follow the governing documents, including rules and regulations.  To "help us maintain the look and feel of the community, maintain community pride, and importantly, help us promote the values of our homes and the community as a whole."  It goes on to tell me that during a recent inspection, my house has violated the governing documents by having excessive weeds in the cracks of our driveway and the cracks of the curb line at our house.

Maybe you are shocked by my weeds.  Maybe you, like me, are scratching your head a little and wondering whether this letter was an efficient use of resources and really necessary.  Which brings me to the thing I dislike the most about living in this 'community association'.  Just about everything is set up, like much of our culture and society, based on appearances only.  As long as we "look good", we are all happy.  I can only imagine the amount of money my neighbors spend on keeping up these appearances, judging solely by the number of landscaping trucks in our neighborhood on a weekly basis.  Huge trucks block half the street to unload tractors that can barely squeeze through the gates to manage lawns that are less than 1/4 of an acre.  The barrel trucks roll in to eradicate every weed and insect in sight.  The trimmers make sure everything is perfectly even, not a blade of grass out of place.  Even though we have had no rain for weeks and most of our ground is dry as a bone, there are still plenty of houses here whose grass springs an eternal green thanks to constant watering and spraying.

I guess this issue really cuts to my core because it is something I've always thought about and internalized.  When I let my hair grow its natural gray and brown, I get people telling me in the preschool line that I'm much too young to be gray and there are plenty of products that could help me with this 'problem'.  I even let it get to me enough, in a 'turning 40' moment that I dyed my hair, to be met with resounding applause and appreciation from everyone around me...but it didn't make a bit of a difference to me...so it's going back to gray.  Can't wait to hear the comments rolling in at Kindergarten pick-up.

Back to the neighborhood, another place I am feeling like a fish out of water.  Me, with my Neuton battery-powered mower that I bought after much consideration about why I needed that over a human-powered model, humming along, waiting to be eaten for lunch by the gas-guzzling giants around me.  I've sat inside my house choking on the fumes of my neighbor's gas-powered leaf blower for 1/2 hour at a time and that is a weekly pre-mowing ritual, followed by an hour of mowing, followed by another 1/2 hour of leaf blowing (or grass blowing?).  Then the trimming starts.  And I have never once complained about this 'excessive gassing'.  There are no rules or regulations against over-maintenance.  Those are left for us greenies who are just out to destroy the neighborhood by our reckless non-use of pesticides and sprinklers.

Somehow it doesn't feel like much of a community to me....

But we do look good when you drive through (if you avert your gaze from the bottles and papers littering the street that nobody seems to notice or care about...but that's another story).

So I thank you, my internet community, for allowing me a space to reach out and find someplace to be myself and be appreciated.  Maybe that's why I don't post very often because there's a part of me that is afraid I will disappoint you, too, and then where will I swim?

But for now, I'm diving back in, swimming hard against the current and smiling at those of you heading my way! :)

What Really Matters

Sometimes it's difficult to get to the heart of what really matters in certain life situations.  Last week, Vermont became the first state to ban fracking, with Governor Shumlin stating, "Human beings survived for thousands and thousands of years without oil and natural gas.  We have never known humanity or life on this planet to survive without clean water."  You can read an article about this here:  http://www.treehugger.com/energy-policy/vermont-bans-fracking-can-live-without-natural-gas-cannot-without-clean-water.html
For me, that pretty much says it all.  Back to basics.  What do we really need?  What really matters?  This has been said so many different ways by so many different people and many of us are catching on.

The thing about this is that it needs to be carried out every day in big ways and small ways but each one of us.  We have to get to the heart of what matters.  We have to stand up for what we believe in every day and we have to teach our children to do the same.  And we have to let others know that we are doing this so they can learn from our examples.

I know this is not always easy.  I seem to relearn this lesson every time I give a piece of myself away to something that I don't believe in because it has become a part of life....every time one of my son comes home with a plastic bag full of tiny plastic toys that are half broken and destined to become trash within the week from yet another school party.  Speaking with the room mom was not enough, I learned, because some students sent pre-packaged 'treats' from home for birthdays and nobody is to be excluded.  When I didn't buy my sons Smencils (plastic encased pencils) at the school sale, someone kindly sent one home for them anyway because nobody should feel left out.  It was then left to me to explain that my sons are not feeling left out because they understand that their identity is not tied to a pencil.  They have plenty of them and when they need one, they know it will be provided.  When I made that speech, the looks I got were looks of pity and sadness, though, so that tells me the road is a long one.  I can't reach everyone at the time and place that I want to...I just have to keep going with what I believe in, putting the information out there, teaching by example and maybe one of these actions will reach someone and change one mind. 

The most important thing is that I keep trying to live a life of integrity.  If I can't do that, how can I expect a corporation to do it?  I'm not there yet.  I just spent one night this weekend sleeping outside in a line to buy a ticket to watch my son's dance recital.  Seriously?  It is absolutely crazy, certifiably insane!  I can't even believe I did it.  And I'm very embarrassed and sad that I did.  My son loves to dance.  Last year, he danced for a teacher who was completely in sync with my thoughts and beliefs:  his recital was completely organic...costumes sewed by hand, props painted by local students, tickets sold just to cover costs (around $5 each).  It was a beautiful, heartwarming show and gave us such good memories.  That was ballet.  This year, my son wanted to learn tap.  Our teacher didn't teach tap, so we had to seek out a new studio.  All of the studios that teach tap locally are big production type studios.  I didn't quite understand what that meant until the sleeping-out part came along.  All year, the lessons have gone smoothly, my son loves to tap, he's learned a lot...and now, we are spending money on fancy costumes and sleeping out to get an $18 ticket just to be able to watch our son dance.  And if we'd like the DVD, which will feature 2 minutes and 45 seconds of our son dancing, that will be another $40.  So for my husband and I to bring our 2 sons to watch their 7 year old brother dance for less than 3 minutes, it would cost $72 (sadly, we opted to leave his brothers at home with their grandparents for this one).  I am a big supporter of the arts, but even here, I have to think about what really matters.  Do the fancy costumes matter?  Not to me.  The big production?  Nope.  What matters is that my son gets to do something that he loves and I think there are better ways he can do this.  So next year you won't find me in the line of 300 people sleeping out to get a ticket to their child's show.  It has been a lesson learned.  Still, it gives me a lot to think about.  Why does a situation like this exist?  There were lots of people in that line who were not happy about the situation, but still told me this was not the first time they've done it and it won't be the last.  Why do we let go of what we know to be true just to go along with existing systems that are not working for most of the people involved?

If only we could learn these lessons more quickly.  For the planet, this is a necessity.  When we wake up to what really matters to us and try to live that out with each and every action, we contribute to a better world.

Spring of Sustainability 2012

The Shift Network is presenting a free program called 'Spring of Sustainability 2012:  Solutions for a Thriving New World.'  It starts today at 3 pm EST and continues throughout March and April.  There are lots of different presenters.  On April 10th, John and Ocean Robbins will present 'Green Lifestyles:  Eating as if the Earth Mattered'.  If you'd like to sign up, please visit http://springofsustainability.com/
The webcasts will be available online if you can't make it to the live program.

There's also something cool happening called the '99% Spring'.  Unfortunately, I'm on Easter break at my parents' house when this is gearing up, but if you want more info., please check out:  http://the99spring.com/

Spring is in the air and my sons and I were so excited to see a great blue heron back at our neighborhood pond again this year.  We think it's the same one we've been spotting for the past 3 years, but I'm not sure about that...we never get close enough to be that sure and I'd have to do some research about whether or not these birds return to the same spot each year, but I guess it's possible.  What a cool-looking creature, though....The boys love to watch him/her and see what he's up to.  It also makes them want to clean up the pond, which, sadly, has filled up with litter since our last clean-up efforts.  I took some video of our pond and will work on getting them uploaded along with my next post about what I've been up to lately.

I also watched Oprah's show about transcendental meditation last night...very interesting!  Has anyone been doing this?  You can get more info. about it here:  http://www.tm.org

I hope spring finds you and yours happy and healthy! :) Kate

On Shamrock Shakes, Extremism and Other Miscellaneous Ramblings

An old and dear friend posted a picture of McDonald's Shamrock Shakes on my Facebook wall and said they remind her of me.  It's true....the "old" me was a Shamrock Shake fan.  Before I became a mom, when I was a working woman, every year at Shamrock Shake time, I would organize and outing to McDonald's so we could hang out and ingest the minty green concoction with delight.  I haven't been able to bring myself to buy one for a few years, since I've been realizing the environmental impacts that my lifestyle is having.  As my mom says, "When you know better, you do better."

A lot of people in my life think I'm an extremist.  It's extreme to a lot of people to never drink a Shamrock Shake again just because you believe it's bad for the planet.  It's just one Shamrock Shake, after all.

A wonderful blogger, Ryan Elizabeth Cope, just wrote a post about an article that upset many of us 'extremists' dealing with this very thought.  You can check it out here:  http://sevenintheocean.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/straws-suck-no-really-they-do/

It's just one Shamrock Shake, right?  I'm extreme because I won't let myself have one.  It's extreme to refuse a straw.  It's extreme to have to bring your own bag...or water bottle...or utensils.

Well, to me, it's extreme to put 3 items in a plastic bag that will be used once and tossed.  It's extreme to defend the right to consume single-use plastic every day when there are animals being killed and oceans and beaches being polluted at rates that are unfathomable.  It's extreme to not think about what impact our actions are making on the world around us, to live an unconscious life.  When you know better, you do better.

One of my sons came crying to me this week telling me that he was sensitive and that meant he had to run away when a friend of his said something that hurt his feelings because he felt like he was going to cry.  And he is sensitive and this really upsets him.  I told him that I think I know the person who passed on this sensitivity very well and I have it on good authority that sensitive people are some of the very best people on this planet because they feel things so deeply that they can often discover things that other people do not notice and make other people aware of them before they cause more harm.

Chris Jordan is a sensitive soul.  His artwork captures breathtaking scenes of beauty, agony, anguish, despair, hope.  His work for his documentary, Midway, is what first made me realize the horror of the plastic that I was tossing on a daily basis and start to change my actions.  I am so grateful to him, among many others, for his inspiration and courage in following his heart and his convictions and giving that gift to the world.

Another such inspiration is Goffinet McLaren, author of Sullie Saves the Seas, a beautiful book for young people about plastic pollution, who I had the extreme honor to meet on Facebook!.  I highly recommend this book to everyone who has a young person in their life and even those who don't - I loved reading it as an adult!  If you want to try to win a copy of the book, Beth Terry is giving one away here:  http://myplasticfreelife.com/2012/02/sullie-saves-the-seas-a-story-for-children-and-adults/

There is always fear around extremes.  We worry that our freedom will be taken away.  What will life be like without a Shamrock Shake?  I understand the fear, but we need to push past it to make new discoveries that lead to a better life.  I'm testing out some homemade shamrock shake recipes that come without the plastic cup, plastic dome lid and plastic straw.

I think we need to live a life that is in line with what we believe and who were truly are inside.  When we see the pictures of birds on Midway dying with bellies full of plastic and make the connection with what we are throwing away on a daily basis, we need to have a response.  Maybe an extreme response.  When we know better, we do better.

The Importance of Education for Sustainability

I was fortunate enough to have been selected to participate in NJ Learns Keystone Year 2011, an effort by The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education.  Generously paid for by The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, this experience has greatly enhanced my ability and desire to affect change in our world.  I was motivated and inspired by all of the wonderful people who are making good things happen each day in the name of sustainability.  This group is not unlike the world in which we live:  full of diversity, ideas, challenges and ready to unite around common goals.  It is so powerful to feel what can be accomplished when we work together, using the best of our individual talents to add to the whole.

What is Education for Sustainability?  In the words of The Cloud Institute, "Education for Sustainability (EfS) is defined as a transformative learning process that equips students, teachers, and school systems with the new knowledge and ways of thinking we need to achieve economic prosperity and responsible citizenship while restoring the health of the living systems upon which our lives depend."  You can learn more about The Cloud Institute and the work they do here:  http://www.cloudinstitute.org/ .

One of my favorite parts of this experience is the access to another network of people who share my passion for sustainability.  Just as this blog has connected me to wonderful people like David who writes at http://beyondplastic.wordpress.com/ .  His words always seem to inspire me to get my words out of my head and onto this page.  His most recent post is about connections and I know you will enjoy reading it!

Another connection:  Beth Terry of My Plastic-Free Life ( http://myplasticfreelife.com/ ) recently added me to her blog list.  Thank you, Beth, for this honor - I will try to live up to your example and inspiration (although when you hear about the plastic I am considering buying, it will not make you smile)!

A fellow NJ Learner recently mentioned the book Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein.  Have you read it?  I have not, but plan to.  You can read it here if you'd like:  http://sacred-economics.com/read-online/ .  I listened to the first 15 minutes of a recording by the author here:  http://soundcloud.com/ianmackenz/charles-eisenstein-money-gift and am intrigued.  It connects to something I've been thinking about at school lately....

We are getting ready for our Mother-Son dance.  The theme is a luau.  As always happens when we get ready for these events, we are looking for gifts.  Door prizes, game prizes, etc.  And, of course, our budget is very small.  We ask for local companies to donate gift certificates or baskets of goodies.  This is definitely an area that I struggle with as I have been asked to track down gifts for the boys.  We have karate class and gym gift certificates and now they are looking for physical objects....toys.  And they need to be 'cheap'.  I was pointed in the direction of plastic boomerangs which cost $3.33 each and little plastic cars.  Most of the things that have been purchased in the past are no doubt sitting in a landfill at this point, since they were cheap, plastic and easily-breakable.  I could easily buy those boomerangs, but I won't.  At a slightly higher price per item, I found these:  http://www.amazon.com/Green-Toys-EcoSaucer-Flying-Disc/dp/B001Q3KUB4/ref=sr_1_45?ie=UTF8&qid=1327694120&sr=8-45 .  Yes, they are still plastic.  It makes my conscience feel a little better to know that they are made in the U.S.A. from 100% recycled plastic grocery bags, but I know I could do better.  And the best would be to do without. 

I'm hoping to gain more insight into this problem and the solutions from the book above.  But I am constantly faced with the realization of how important Educating for Sustainability is in our lives.  As Einstein said, and The Cloud Institute has reinforced, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."  We need to think differently and act differently.  What new ways of thinking are you implementing in your life?

I Am...

I find that I don't post as often as I think about posting...so many words and thought swirling around in my mind, that I'm never sure I'll do them justice, bring them to life the way I want them to come across...so many connections, mixed emotions, contradictions....will you understand what I'm trying to say?  This year, I am telling myself to relax a bit and just put the words out there.  I've set a goal to do this at least twice a month, hopefully more often.  It might not be pretty or poetic, but I'm happy to be here among friends, so thanks for reading!

I sat down on the morning of January 1st and watched the documentary "I Am" by Tom Shadyac.  http://www.iamthedoc.com/
It sums up a lot of what I've been feeling and thinking and what seems to be a rising consciousness in our world - we are all connected.  Each one of our actions has an impact on the world....what are our actions doing?  Are they protecting, preserving, sharing, caring?  It was a good way to start the year, thinking about who "I Am"......

That's how I started this blog, trying to think about the actions I was taking and see if I could inspire and be inspired by others.  Who am I?  I guess that's the universal question.  Some of us know much earlier than others.  Another connection to 'I Am'...Mattie Stepanek.  A young man who wanted to be known as "a poet, a peacemaker, and a philosopher who played."  Wise beyond his years, inspirational beyond his life here on earth.  He wrote a poem entitled "I Am/Shades of Life" and Billy Gilman recorded a song using his lyrics.  Mattie's mission was peace.  He thought a lot about what each individual's impact was in the world and knew that it meant a lot.  You can read more about him at http://www.mattieonline.com .  I had the great honor of meeting his mom, Jeni, in September when we traveled to Maryland to visit a park built in Mattie's honor.  I took my family there because I have 3 sons who I hope will be inspired and encouraged by Mattie....One of them is named after him.  Jeni Stepanek continues to spread her son's vision of peace.  When you read the 'Pathways to Peace' publication that she has created, you will see the incredible wisdom of her son:  http://www.mattieonline.com/brochures/Pathways_to_Peace_brochure_NEW.pdf

Who am I?  I think it takes some slowing down to ponder that question.  It seems to swirl around in my head a bit louder now that I am 3 months away from turning 40.  Age is just a number, but milestones have a way of making us slow down to think about things.  I have a son who will be a teenager in 1 1/2 years.  How can that be when it doesn't seem that long ago that I first became really aware of the fact that my actions impact another, when I was 'eating for 2' and wondering why we don't all eat as though we are eating for 2.  Not that long since, as a new mom, I moved into a new townhouse with my husband and infant son who would not sleep unless he was upright (which I later found out was due to a milk intolerance, passed on through breast milk since I was drinking lots of milk).  Because of this, he slept in his carseat, right on the ground, on the newly installed wall-to-wall carpet that 'would be perfect for a baby to crawl around on.'  The same carpet that I believe gave him asthma.  Nope, it's not scientific, just a mother's intuition....another one of my gut feelings.  After almost 40 years, I'm finally starting to trust my gut.  To continue to question who I am.  To try to make sense out of this gift we call life....

It's such a beautiful thing.

I have so many things I want to write about....some you might like and some you might not.  I welcome the agreement, the disagreement and everything in between.

Thank you for sharing my journey and stopping by to share yours, too!

“In so many ways, we are the same.
Our differences are unique treasures.
We have, we are, are mosaic of gifts,
to nurture, to offer, to accept.”
— Mattie J.T. Stepanek

I Am.....Someone who considers you a brother or a sister.
I Am.....Looking for ways to be a better person so that my positive changes have a positive impact on you.
I Am.....Not perfect.
I Am.....Grateful.
I Am.....Ready.

I Am....


Are you?

Being Gifted with Plastic

The holidays are drawing to a close...how much new plastic did you take in this week?  How much went out?  Are you somebody who thinks about these things?  In my little corner of the world, I sometimes feel like an alien.  I worry about plastic.  I think about it a lot.  I try not to bring it into my life.  But then there are the times when I receive a gift.  What if that gift is plastic?  What is the common courtesy around such things?

Here's an example:  Our elementary school decided to sell Smencils.  They are pencils that smell...like fruit or gum or whatever else.  I had a little talk with my sons and we all decided we didn't need smelly pencils, especially since we had enough pencils and the Smencils each come in a plastic tube to keep the smell intact.  The tube claims that it is biodegradeable (I am currently testing this out to see how long that actually takes and whether it works at all).  The Smencils come to the school in #3 (PVC) plastic tubs.  (Yeah, that's PVC, the 'poison plastic' - doesn't recycle many places and is toxic from start to finish.  The tubs are now sitting in my garage because our PTO pres. gave them to me to use in the classrooms as Terracycle collection tubs - but I don't want any more PVC in our school, so I am determined to find a place that will recycle them.  This is stressful to me, though, as I really wish we did not buy pencils packaged in plastic inside of plastic!)  So, back to my story....I tell the PTO pres. that it really is OK that my kids do not get Smencils...since our school has a policy that everyone gets a Smencil, even if they can't afford to order one for themselves.  But people are allowed to buy Smencils for other people, so that's exactly how we ended up with a Smencil.  My next-door neighbor bought a Smencil for my son.  A nice gesture.  He accepted the Smencil happily with a 'Thank you' and brought it home from school.  Did I tell the PTO about the issues I had with Smencils before they started selling them? - yes.  Smencils are marketed as eco-friendly, so when I told them, they had the same reaction they have to most of my anti-plastic statements....not again!  Why do I think about these things?  Don't I know how cool Smencils are?  They are made of recycled newspapers.  Do I want to deny our kids the joy of experiencing them?

I went to the mother/son dance last year with my then-1st-grader.  They had a dance contest and he won a prize.  The DJ handed him something and he came over to show me what it was:  a set of plastic teeth with a battery inside.  When you bite the plastic, it lights up inside your mouth.  Packaged in plastic.  Great!  Just what we needed!  My son knew that this was not a good gift, but what could we do with this item now?  We could give it away and it would still end up dying in a landfill or the ocean or elsewhere, stuff leaking out of the battery, if it didn't already leak into some poor child's mouth!

Every class party, my kids bring home treat bags.  I usually cringe before opening them, because I know what they are full of:  plastic dollar store trinkets and candy, all wrapped in plastic.  Full of good intentions, but nothing that we needed or wanted.

So what do you do with gifts like these?  I think the only thing you can really do is educate ahead of time and hope that people will listen to your requests.  When they don't, I'm not sure there is much you can do unless you want to alienate these people from your life.  People have told me I should just give the things away to 'those who don't have toys and who would appreciate them'.  It's not that I don't appreciate the thought, it is that I don't appreciate the harm that comes from these things.  And I don't really want to pass that along to another person.  It's the same way I feel about donations to the food bank:  If it's not something I would want to eat, why would I want to give it to another person?

So to anyone reading this who is thinking about giving me a gift, please hear me when I say:  Your smile, your presence, the delightful sound of your laughter, the funny stories you tell, your delicious homemade cookies, the way you put up with me and still stick around...all of these are my most treasured possessions, the things that I want from you.  If it is plastic, please do not buy it for me or my family.  And if you invite me for dinner on plastic plates, please do not be offended if I take them home to reuse and if the next time I eat at your house I bring my own plates.  Thank you very much!!!

p.s. - Thank you, Mom, for hearing me about the plastic!  It is a shame that those earwarmers had to come packaged in a hard plastic case, but other than that, you did not add to my plastic tally this Christmas - yeah!!!  We didn't buy much for Christmas this year.  It really warmed my heart when my middle son told me that his favorite gift was a book of bedtime stories since he would get a chance to read them to us every night.

Have a peaceful, less-plastic-filled New Year!!!

End of the Year Thoughts

Hello, Dear Friends!  It has been much too long - my apologies for being out of touch!!

What have I been doing?  Clearing out.  After almost 6 years in our new house and having 3 sons, we accumulated a lot of stuff.  When I look around, I wonder how it is possible that we have so much stuff, most of which we don't need and the things that bother me the most are the things that I'm sure nobody needs:  useless plastic.  Toys that were given out at class parties that broke within days and now sit in a box, waiting for a creative reuse opportunity.  The only problem is that the box is now overflowing and nobody seems overly eager to make a plastic creation that will ultimately end up in the landfill or one of our oceans.

Straws and plastic lids....when I finally came to my senses and decided to stop doing fast food, we had a few slips along the way.  But I couldn't bare to throw the straws and lids away, so they also went in a box.  The straws make great construction toys and we've made lots of straw buildings and more, but now what?

I always had a hard time throwing things away, but now I really struggle because I know where it will go.  There is no away.  So I am taking my time.  Clearing out.  Clearing my mind.  Being very careful about what I bring in, because it will eventually have to go out again.

The other day, a friend called me to ask if I knew where we could recycle DVD players.  Yep, I do.  I said I'd take it since I have been given others and I will be making a trip there soon.  She said her daughters were getting a new one for Christmas.  I looked at the personal DVD player staring at me in perfect condition.  For the heck of it, I plugged it in.  It is in perfect working condition!  It will now be a Christmas present for my sons.  This friend is one of my biggest Terracyclers and I'm so thrilled that she wanted to recycle the DVD player, but I'm sad that she didn't think of giving it a new life first.  I know we live in a 'throw-away' society, but we need to turn this around!

Yesterday, I celebrated my grandfather's 95th birthday with him.  He is the kind of guy who will tape his glass frames until they can't be taped anymore.  His trash can is a milk carton that he keeps near his sink.  It rarely gets full in a week.  When things break, he fixes them.  If he doesn't need it, he doesn't buy it.

Which brings us to the topic of 'need'.  This week, I saw a picture that summed up some things that I've been thinking about a lot this season:

(I found this online from Pastor Kevin Stowe, but am not sure of the original creator).

My husband was telling me we don't have anything exciting to put under the tree this year for our sons.  To me, that IS exciting, because what we have to give them is exactly what they need:  our time, our care, our love, our example.

Why have we become a society of people who 'need' so much?

When we think about what we truly need, we often find that we can have it in abundance if we just care enough to see it.

I think it's safe to say that almost all of us could give up some physical gift this holiday season.  We could give up the money spent on gas, tolls, time spent in line, impatience and rudeness toward others from overcrowding at stores, etc.  Instead, we could join together in love and peace and help heal the world.  I guess to a lot of people, that sounds like a fantasy.  We are the creators of our reality.  Together we can make a difference. 

I wish you peace, love and joy this holiday season and into the new year!

Sweet Tea Recipe

One of the simple pleasures I remember from my childhood is iced tea.  My mom would make sun tea on our back patio and it was such a delight!  I can remember watching it brew and then the delicious taste that I equated with goodness coming straight from the sun! 

I feel like this is something I need to bring back into my life since we have so many commercial iced teas around now.  Last summer, when McDonald's was advertising $1 Mickey D's Sweet Tea, my kids fell in love with it.  With it's styrofoam cup, I was not loving it.  I thought about all of the bottles, mostly plastic now, that are being thrown away with each sip of store-bought bottled tea and how much could be saved, financially and environmentally, by making our own.

Here's a link I found to a sweet tea recipe that is close to McDonald's, if that's what you like:
http://askville.amazon.com/looove-McDonalds-Sweet-Tea-make/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=3014389

The recipe I use is so simple, but it makes me happy every time I make it:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Add 2 family-size tea bags or 5-6 regular tea bags.  Turn off heat and set timer for 3 minutes.  Add 2 more cups of water and squeeze (& compost) tea bags.  Add 1 TB local honey, 1 squeeze fresh lemon, 1/2 c. sugar (more or less to taste).  Stir.  Add 2 more cups of water & stir.  Makes 2 quarts. 

Sometimes we don't use honey, add oranges and lemons instead of sweeteners, add fresh mint, etc.  I taught my 2 oldest sons how to make this and they love to experiment and vary the recipe.

Next summer I will try to make sun tea again.  But for now, we have our sweet tea with no styrofoam or plastic waste - hooray!  Do you have a favorite drink recipe to share that eliminates plastic packaging?

No Impact Transportation Day and Other Random Thoughts

Today (officially yesterday now) was Transportation Day for Yes! Magazine's No Impact Week and I knew this would be my toughest day before the rain even began to fall.  The thought of getting my 4 year old to our preschool (at our district elementary school) without a car is extremely daunting to me and brings to mind images of near-death situations.  I really wish it were not the case, but I don't even feel safe riding my bike or walking alone on most of the streets that I travel, let alone doing it with a child.  Just yesterday I watched in horror as a couple walking their dog was almost mowed down by a speeding car turning a windy corner - good thing for fast reflexes and good brakes!  And then there are my Terracycle duties...how would I get all of those boxes to school without my car?  And get home and back to the PTO meeting and do everything else that needed to be done in between on time?

Needless to say, I failed miserably at not using my car today.  I did think about carpooling to the PTO meeting and called 2 friends to see if they'd like to join me, but got no takers.  Something to work on, though, as there are many opportunities to carpool that I don't often take advantage of.  One of the main reasons:  time, or perceived lack thereof.  So what is more important to me?  That's really at the heart of why I'm writing this blog.  What matters?  What is worth giving my time to?  What is worth thinking about and considering?  Sitting behind a truck giving off terrible emissions on my way home from the PTO meeting struck me tonight in a way that it never has before.  Every day, I am part of the problem.  I drive.  I try to drive responsibly, but what does that really mean?  I follow the speed limit.  On a recent trip to visit my brother on the PA turnpike, I drove the speed limit the entire trip and only passed 1 car - this is amazing to me, considering the volume of cars on that road.  The one white-haired gentleman that I passed was driving about 30 mph.  Everyone else seemed to be going at least 70 mph or more.  We are a nation in high gear.  Where are we all racing to?  What are we hoping to gain by rushing through our lives?  So many times if we would allow ourselves to slow down, we would have time to think about the consequences of our actions and that would be a really good thing!

So here's to bike lanes and walking lanes and trails that make it safe for us all to share the road!  And to taking the time to build them, explore them and use them.  Here's to slowing down to consider those around us who are sharing the path on this journey we call life.  We all want clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, don't we?  The things we value are not so different when we take the time to think about it.  So let's think and let's act.  Differently....together....better.

No Impact Week With YES! Magazine: September 2011

This week I'm taking part in YES! Magazine's 'No Impact Week'.  There's still time to join!:

http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/no-impact-week-with-yes-september-2011-2/no-impact-week-with-yes-september-2011

Yesterday, we focused on consumption.  The topic of consumption has been on my mind for a while now, so it wasn't the hardest of the challenges for me.  My kids brought home a 'Back 2 School Smencil Gram' flyer, though, so it presented the opportunity to have a little talk.  Did we need any more pencils?  The answer was an easy, 'No!', as we save pencils from year to year and have more than enough to last us for a few more years without buying a new one!  Would they be upset if all of their friends got a Smencil Gram and they didn't?  I didn't get an immediate 'No!' to this question and I could see the wheels spinning.  I asked them if there was something we could do together as a family to show our love for each other instead of sending out the Smencil Grams.  Bingo!  'Can we play Candyland together, Mom?'  An extra family game night sounds like a great idea to me! 

(For those of you who don't know what a Smencil is, it is a pencil made of recycled newspaper which has a scent - there are lots of scents and according to their website, they are "the same as those used to make soaps and candles, which are safe for reasonable personal use as tested by the manufacturers."  They also state that "by using corn-based biodegradable plastic tubes, even Smencil and Smen packaging is environmentally friendly."  While that sounds good, I'm not sure the plastic tubes can biodegrade in the landfill, where I'm sure most of them end up.  If you need to buy a pencil, it seems to me it would be more eco-friendly if it weren't in any type of packaging at all.  I can be a real killjoy, can't I? ;) ).

Today's topic is Trash.  One of the recommendations for today is something that I thought I had done, but their suggestion is much more complete:
Put together a no-trash travel kit for the week with a reusable drinking receptacle for hot and cold liquids, a handkerchief/old t-shirt, Tupperware®, utensils, and reusable produce bags.

So I am adding a few things to my take-along kit!  One thing I noticed that I accumulate a lot of is tissues.  I do buy recycled tissues, but with 3 little boys (one who currently has a cold!), the tissues add up!  The old t-shirt suggestion for handkerchiefs is a good one for me!  I'm going to try to cut some up later today - will try to post some pictures.

Now that's what I call FUN!  Do you have a no-trash travel kit?  How have you used it?  Will you add to it this week?

Want to join me in the fun of the No Impact Week?  I'd love to hear your experiences!

Climate Reality Project - 24 Hours of Reality

http://climaterealityproject.org/videolanguage/en/
Are you watching?  Thoughts?

For Our World Campaign. Read it.... on Twitpic

Please click the link below to read Mattie Stepanek's 'For Our World' poem and share it with everyone you know! Thank you!!!

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