Archive for Community/Family
Making A Difference
Posted by: | CommentsSometimes it’s difficult to know what to do first, or how to go about making a difference in the world. It has become increasingly obvious that we all need to do something to help out – especially since it feels like the old programs that run our world have gone berserk – are totally out of control. Making a difference is seen as such a daunting task I wanted to bring it down to the level of do-able by anyone.
First of all turn off the news. You will hear anything you need to hear without being plugged into every dreary bit. There is nothing even-handed or real about the news. It is all sorted by persons whose agenda has to do with selling, not informing. It is a depressing illusion which saps my emotional strength creating an atmosphere internally of hopelessness/helplessness and horror.It creates mass hypnosis and mind lock.
Second, grab a good attitude for yourself. Work on this all the time by deliberately focusing on whatever creates inner peace, joy, and love. There have been times in my life when I had to refer to a list on the door of the refrigerator to remind myself of the things I’m grateful for. Let me tell you though, it’s worth it! You can start with being grateful for a hot shower and a meal on the table; a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in; sight, hearing and legs to carry you from here to there. Sunshine, bird song, and the changing seasons.
Practice sending out the light of human kindness to your little neighborhood. See your own home as being a light on the block where you live. See your whole property surrounded by a globe of light, a welcoming, safe, and friendly atmosphere that draws to it more of the same vibration. An interesting phenomenon has happened in every place I’ve lived. I have been practicing this golden globe of human kindness for decades now and the crime statistics in my neighborhood have dropped everywhere I’ve lived. I start with my home and then slowly day by day increase the field of influence to include the whole neighborhood.
Here is a small thing you can do that does make a difference. It attracts kindness and appreciation for others. It improves the neighborhood. The more each of us focuses on kind thoughts about others, openly admiring what others do and say that is admirable, appreciating the little things that affect our lives positively and saying kind and helpful things to strangers, the more this spreads to the rest of the community. It has been shown by research that one genuine smile given to another will change the day of hundreds of people you have never met. It gets passed on faster than a virus in winter!
So smile at strangers. Think kind thoughts. Pass on goodness. Place a golden ball of loving energy around you, your home and finally your neighborhood. When you wake, start the day with five good words (like love, joy, abundance, peace, & gratitude). Have your last thoughts at night be ones of appreciation for the love around you and what you do have. If you can awaken with a smile on your lips and go to sleep with a song in your heart the world will be a better place to live in for sure.
Go there; do that. Live well. We are changing the world for the better with this positive intention. You can bet on it!
What Kids Need To Know
Posted by: | CommentsNot so very long ago kids learned how to take care of themselves and others at a realitively young age. It was expected and necessary as there was always the need for an extra pair of hands around the house. Children helped take care of younger brothers and sisters by age 4 or 5, made their own bed, put away some or most of their clothes, picked up after themselves, and generally made a visible contribution to the family. In rural cultures the chores kids did were much more than this and in most of the rest of the world children are depended on to be competent in certain age appropriate ways.
Now this might sound like I am advocating some form of child labor. Not so. What concerns me about many (most) urban American children is the lack of common ordinary skills, not being able to take care of themselves and others younger then themselves to a moderate degree, and not being comfortable with age appropriate responsibility. The more you know, the more confident you are. “I can do that!” is a wonderful thing to be able to say to yourself!
So what skills are important for children? Which skills will increase confidence in themselves? How do we give them a ‘leg-up’ so that each one feels able to handle sudden unexpected events with confidence instead of fear and panic? I guess each one of us has to define this for their family, however the end goal is the same: have all kids feel good about being able to cope with life.
What can kids do at what age? Much, much more than you think! At age 5 my oldest son was changing diapers and feeding his younger sister and brother breakfast every morning. I didn’t ask him, he just did it. At this age getting cereal and milk, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, making your bed, putting away clothes, folding clothes, and dressing yourself are all well within the abilities of a 5 year old. I also know at other times-gone-by children at this age fed the smaller animals, hung out clothes on the line, weeded the garden, took care of the chickens, did simple mending and sewed doll clothes, and walked to school – even if it was a mile or two away.
Within the next year or so most of us, when I was growing up, could use a small pocket knife, tie knots, whistle, cook simple meals, take care of the baby for a short time, vacuum, wash dishes, and even iron. Again, I am not suggesting that all kids do all these things, I AM suggesting that the sooner each child can do the simple things of everyday life, the safer and more competent each one is.
We were big hikers in our family and loved to walk in the mountains or on a deserted country road for the day. It was important for the kids to be able to walk comfortably for long periods of time so we weren’t always carrying them. Our goal was to have each one walk two miles by age two without being picked up. It took a long time to walk that far for sure, and everyone of the five was able to do this by age two! Here in Colorado kids are on skis by the time they are two, in California they swim well by then, so why not do other things as well?
The object is to give our children and grandchildren as much education about life as possible so that when something unexpected comes up each one knows what to do without panic. I want kids to be able to feed themselves, go to the neighbors, dial 911, know what to do about a fire, be able to leave the house by several different methods, and hide if necessary. I want them to know how to use scizzors, duct tape, rope, string, and their brain. We need to make sure our kids can think outside the box, be creative and original, and use deductive reasoning since it seems we are coming into a very changable and unknown future. Let’s give the kids the gift of being home smart, life smart, and street smart!
Laundry!
Posted by: | CommentsLast week my daughter and her two children stayed with me while getting ready to move across the country. It was a wonderful experience and allowed me the pleasure of their company before their departure. I also realized up close and personal some of the differences in understanding and knowledge between my childhood and theirs! Let’s start with basic awareness about laundry.
These days, it seems, if you wear something once, it goes into the dirty clothes pile. There is no place to put those things that can be worn again because they are not really dirty yet. The exception might be outer wear – jackets, sweaters – only sometimes! It seems a simple thing to just wash everything, and on one hand, it is!
Years ago there was so much more to think about before putting something in the wash. Clothes wear out faster the more often they are washed and whether they are dried outside on a line or in the dryer, the sun or heat also takes its toll on a garment. The use of water was also part of the equation. Many of us had wells and being careful of our water use was part of life. Ceptic systems, common before sewers, were also fragile and if you didn’t have a grey water system, you monitored the amount of water that went into it or it overflowed into the yard. Cost of detergent figured into it, amount of electricity used, time to hang the clothes on the line and then take them in before the dew fell, and so forth.
It sounds like alot of bother now. And yet it created the web of connection between all things, the knowledge of our actions being so much bigger than just ‘throw it in the wash’ and somehow it will magically appear back in our drawer! I have a vivid memory from 4 years old about laundry.
I loved wearing dresses and had a favorite dress above all others. I was very careful of my clothes because I didn’t want my favorite dresses turned into rags before I outgrew them. My Mother would make me change my dress after three days, not because it was dirty (as she was fond of saying) but because she was tired of seeing it! Then after she washed it and hung it on the line, I watched it drying in the back yard while I was playing, and occasionally felt it to see when it would be dry. I remember standing on tippy-toes to feel the hem so I would know when it was dry and could be taken down to iron. I knew the entire “trip” my dress took before I could put it on again at a very young age!
I want my Grandchildren to know this about their clothes and their lives. I want them to be aware of the connection to ‘all that is’ a sock has, or a dress, or a pair of pants. We can return to the place of remembering and create a sacred connection to the earth through these small things. This is how we will clean up our planet as well. Wear things that are not dirty more than once. It’s a start!
