Playing in the Rain

After months of feeling as parched as the landscape, we are finally getting some decent rain here.

This morning the little one raced out for a turn on the swing, it had just started drizzling, but I thought "what the heck, we were about to have our shower anyway". So I popped him on the swing. As I sat out there pushing him the rain fell upon us. Lightly at first, then quite heavily. We stayed out there as the rain drenched our clothes and skin and hair. It felt so nice the pitter patter of rain drops on bare skin.

When the rain eased up we headed inside to dry off. I felt so refreshed and energised, like that feeling you get after swimming in a brisk ocean. Then the sun came out turning all the raindrops into tiny crystals. Everything looked all the more beautiful for us having just been out there.

I wonder why people have become so afraid of going out in the rain? It's only water! The only thing that would have made our splash in the rain more perfect is if we were naked, then I wouldn't have been left with a pile of soggy clothes to deal with :)

Hope you had a good Christmas!

Photo credit http://30secondrule.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/rain-puddle.jpg

"Nature and the Human Soul" a Book Review of Sorts

I read a lot of books. Too many books really. Any time I want to know something I immediately turn to a book. Which is fine, but all this reading takes a lot of time. Time in which I could be actually doing things. So in a way reading about something is a form of procrastination for me. An excuse. I can put off actually doing something until I've finished reading about it. Which is not really fine. Because often reading about it is as far as I'll get.

I've also come to realise that there are a lot of ordinary books out there, and life really is too short to waste time reading an ordinary book. I also find that I invest many hours reading a book, only to have it tell me something I already know. So with free time at a premium, I could save myself a lot of time by just listen to my inner wisdom first. Too much reading is just clutter for the mind.

You could say that "Nature and the Human Soul" by Bill Plotkin has changed my life. This is IT. This is the one book that I have been looking for my whole life. This is the book that I have been searching for in all my readings, all the ecology, sustainability, spirituality, pagan/wiccan books I have been reading to date have just been skirting around the issue. This book is the real deal. I admit that I haven't read the whole thing yet, but what I have read so far I am mighty impressed by. So impressed that I took all my other library books back. So impressed that I actually ordered a copy of it from Amazon to have for my own. I know I will be referring back to this book again and again.

"Nature and the Human Soul" offers a model for the life long spiritual development of our wild selves. The parts of our selves that are denied in our current culture of unremitting production and consumption. But the best thing about this book is that it's not just a theoretical model Plotkin's offering. There are actual practical guidelines for the "tasks" of each stage of development. I intend to work closely with the advice offered in this book. I don't know about you but I feel keenly that there's some dimension sorely lacking in my current life, and I hope the exercises in this book will help to address that.

This book is deep and dense and not always an easy read. But don't let that put you off. See if your local library has a copy. If you live in Brisbane, it definitely will (because I've currently got it!).

What Did You Do?

it's 3:2 in the morning
and I'm awake
because my great great grandchildren
won't let me sleep
my great great grandchildren
ask me in dreams
what did you do while the planet was plundered?
what did you do when the earth was unraveling?

surely you did something
when the seasons started failing?

as the mammals, reptiles, birds were all dying?

did you fill the streets with protest?
when democracy was stolen?

what did you do
once
you
knew?...

DREW DELLINGER, "HIEROGLYPHIC STAIRWAY"

Photo from http://static.squidoo.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/lens1766242_1227240845Last_Child_in_the_Woods.jpg

The Web of Life

"Humankind has not woven the web of life.

We are but one thread within it.

Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together.

All things connect."

Chief Seattle

Image from http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/RITCHISO/spiderweb2.jpg

The Last American Man

I recently finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's "The Last American Man", a biography of mountain man Eustace Conway.

The book was interesting, but it wasn't quite all I hoped it would be. I was hoping to read more about Eustace's philosophies and experiences in nature, but I guess that'd be a book written BY him, not about him.

This was one of my favourite passages from the book:

"... only those who live in the wilderness can recognize the central truth of existence, which is that death lives right beside us at all times, as close and as relevant as life itself, and that this reality is nothing to fear but is a sacred truth to be praised."

That kind of thing really gives me something to think about because it's so at odds with our current cultural perception of death and shows how far removed our society has become from an understanding of the natural order of life. And although that understanding of the cycle of life and death is something I can try to understand intellectually, within our current culture, it is very difficult to appreciate and really feel the truth of this statement because we are so sheltered from the death of both our fellow humans and that which takes place perpetually to keep us fed.

Winds of Change

For the past 9 months I have knitted, crocheted and sewed compulsively, in every spare moment I could find.

Then just as suddenly as the urge to create came upon me, it has up and left. The item I was eagerly knitting last week has been lying dormant on my needles for four days now...

You know what, I think I just took on too much and it all became a bit of a chore. I started out knitting and sewing little fun things - amigurumi and vests for bub. Then suddenly I'm knitting and sewing my own garments. I got in way over my head.

And now it's time for me to take a step back and let go of the need to create. It's about ebb and flow. Even the act of creation must be balanced with reflection.

Since 'quitting' knitting and sewing (I'm sure I will return to it one day soon, just at a less feverish rate), I have been decluttering the house like mad, exercising more and spending quite a bit of time just sitting round staring into space.

It feels good, so I'm going to run with it.

Photo from the fascinating http://www.treehugger.com/

Dark Moon

The new moon rises today, and again she embarks on her journey to appear whole again. The waxing moon, time to make fresh starts. Time to begin all those new projects I have spent the last two weeks dreaming up!

My recent experiment with deliberately slowing down during the moon's waning phase was a definite success! I spent the early days finishing off smaller projects, after that I was able to spend some quality time working on my Purla Vest, which is my only major WIP. I find that usually I get so caught up in starting new projects that my major WIPs fall by the wayside. It was good to make some real progress on the vest, now completion feels more within reach.

Yesterday as the final day of the waning phase, I set aside even the Purla Vest and spent the day tidying up my workspaces, unravelling never-to-be-finished-objects, finishing off small mending tasks, and packing away any bits and pieces which had been left out from projects undertaken during the month. I think this final step was an important one in the process as it allows me to start the new creativity cycle with a clear mind and clear space.

During the two-weeks, however, I did generate an A4 page chocked full of ideas for new projects I'd like to start... But I think it is good to have that pause between idea and action because it has allowed me to give more consideration to each project and how or even if I will actually begin it.

I can see there are definite benefits to living in this cycle of activity-reflection and the moon is a poetic way to keep track of where you are in that cycle. I will keep up this experiment and see to see if it has the beneficial impact on my life that I expect it will.

Here was the list of limits I set myself for the waning phase:

- No new sewing/knitting/craft projects

- No trying new recipes

- No making major purchases

- No making major decisions

- No starting new books.

I have come to realise that while it is fun and exciting to try "new" things, it is also somewhat stressful, and that it is nice to have a time without novelty to allow proper reflection. I feel to date that adequate time spent in reflection has been absent from my life, which is why this process has been so valuable to me.

Taking Time to Exhale

There is a belief in wicca that when the moon is waxing it is a time for decision making, new projects and moving forward.

When the moon is waning it is a time for pause, reflection and completion.

Sometimes I think I live my life as if the moon is always waxing. Always busy chasing some new idea or starting some new project, without allowing due time for pause and reflection. And I don't think I'm the only one living like this!

So starting this month, I am going to take this old piece of wisdom and apply it literally to my life. No new sewing projects, no new knitting projects, no new books begun (Lucky I started "The Last American Man" today, even though I haven't finished Little Women yet...), no new ideas, no new hobbies, no new habits begun while the moon is waning.

Just steady work on projects already begun, careful tying up of ends, time to rest and reflect. And plenty of sweet, sweet idleness.

Aah I wish it were that time already.

Image from http://www.philhart.com/gallery2/d/11834-4/Epsilon_Moon_047_400-2.jpg

Be Out There

Green Hour is a great website I have been visiting for the past year or so now. It is created by the National Wildlife Fun and it aims to get kids outside in the green stuff for an hour a day.

It is a US site, so a lot of the activities are seasonally out of sync for us here in the Southern Hemisphere. There is an extensive archive, so I just look through that for activity ideas.

Even when I don't end up doing any of the activities suggested, it's a great reminder to prioritise outside time for the kids. I think fostering a child's connection with nature is one of the most important things we can do for the future of the planet. If kids don't have that personal connection with and love for the wild places of our planet it is unlikely they will want to protect them in future years.

We do 'Green Hour' every afternoon when DS 7 gets home from school.

Contemplating the Infinite

I am currently reading Barbara Kingsolver's Small Wonder and in it she has this lovely quote about the need to preserve wild places:

How can you imagine the infinite if you have never seen how the stars fill a dark night sky?

That is so beautiful. I think I will spend some time "contemplating the infinite" tonight.

I also recently read Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This is a truy inspiring book about the importance of local seasonal eating. If you haven't already read it, it's well worth doing so. I found a copy at the local library.

Why are we so Cheap?

Well this is a sight we sadly won't be seeing much any more. Last month Pacific Brands announced that it will be closing eight of its manufacturing sites around Australia and will instead be importing garments from China. The company recently posted a sizable half year loss and blame the "economic downturn" for their need to outsource to the manufacture of their garments to China, as it's cheaper. Article here.

I try to buy most of bub's clothes second hand, but when buying new I am conscious to look for the Made in Australia label, and Bonds often is the only choice available.

It really makes me mad that "lowest price" seems to be the greatest or only consideration in so many peoples purchasing decisions. We live in an extremely wealthy society. It's not like we can't afford to shell out a few extra dollars to support a local product. And what's the point of "saving" a couple of dollars if we're just going to spend it on some other unnecessary purchase? The great economic problem for the first world is not that we don't have enough money, it's that we have too much. We spend thoughtlessly on too much "stuff" and then once we've spent all we've got, we spend a bit more on credit. But "cheap" is no bargain - our consumption habits are literally costing us the earth.

Welcome

The “Hundredth Monkey Effect” is a phenomenon in which a learned behaviour spreads instantaneously from one group of monkeys to all related monkeys once a critical number (usually 100) is reached. The way we as a species interact with our Earth needs to change. The materialism and greed of consumer culture is destroying our beautiful planet. This is my journey of change.

I have been following a number of wonderful and inspiring "simple life" blogs over the past year or so. With this blog I wanted to add to that pool. I hope that by documenting my journey I will provide ideas and inspiration for others on their own journeys. Change, on this grass roots level, is where revolution begins. We don't have to let things continue the way they have been.

P.S that little guy sitting on the fence up there is Hoot Hoot (or Hooters to his friends). He's my first attempt at making a softie. I heart home-made.