Saving the Planet by Trusting Ourselves and creating a wish garden that may get you uninvited to the annual block party

Some days the news is so bleak I can't watch it.

My hubby was getting nosebleeds during the early weeks of the Japan nuclear crisis and we reached a point where we turned it all off.

I felt guilty over this because I do not want to be one of those people who turn from things I do not want to look at - the kind of person who steps over the homeless, avoids looking at the scarred and pushes her own stuff down so deeply that neither years of therapy or a two ton John Deere can unearth it.

(we were thinking - "I just can't go there. It is too hard to look at this stuff. It is too hard to feel this stuff." We put the brakes on.)

These are challenging times (and I am talking about things other than Japan here and many of us are feeling it) - times maybe we will be telling our grandkids about if we are lucky enough to have any. I think we are all here for a purpose, meant to be right where we are, right now.

None of us know what is going to happen. We believe things will get better, but suspect that maybe things will get worse first.

So maybe the greatest, most powerful thing we can do is to simply say, "What the hell, I will go there. I will look. I will feel what I need to feel. I sur­render."

Maybe we don't have to worry about being centered while we are in this place at this time.

If we intend to always be in control we are out of luck. Control is like a box that will never allow us the range of movement that is needed to knock down boundaries and belief systems anyway. Control has always been highly overrated.

My Hindu guru artist friend says to me, "Is the world really collapsing around us? Or is it lift­ing itself around us while everything that stays the same just feels like it is falling?"

Maybe we will know exactly what we need to do, exactly when we need to do it. Maybe we just need to not be afraid to look. Maybe we just need to not be afraid to feel. Maybe we just need to trust ourselves.

I am writing this post on Earth Day after a neighbor asked me what I am doing about my 'dandelion problem' - I told him I'm not sure and he said to me, "well, I thought knowing you, you were probably growing them on purpose"

*sigh*

I do know we are not about to pour toxic chemicals all over the tiny little piece of the planet's skin that we are the caregivers of right now.

I will never understand how a dandelion is any less beautiful than a daffodil.

Maybe there is some organic remedy I could look into or maybe I should wait until they turn into little puffballs and then erect a little fence around my dandelion patch with a sign that reads - blow me.

:)

*never trust a blonde print by franticmeerkat
*dandelion print by briole

GIVEAWAY - Days of the Week Corkboards with Pushpins by Uncorked for Mother's Day CLOSED

WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK!

Moms need to be organized - and these babies can help, I promise.

As a special Mother's Day giveaway I am giving away something from my cork line Uncorked - 7 little corkboards with 7 gigantic days-of-the-week pushpins - perfect for moms needing a little more organization.

(or people with moms needing a little more organization)

Cork is the bark of the cork oak tree. I get most of my cork (other than the recycled wine corks) from Portugal - where the cork is carefully harvested by hand without chemicals; the process allows the bark to grow back in a few years! Cork is an amazingly eco-friendly wood.


WHAT YOU GET:

One lucky winner will receive these 7 corkboards and 7 days of the week pushpins!

HOW TO WIN:

It's easy, peasy - just leave your contact information below!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog
(5) Facebook this post

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:
Enter by midnight, Sunday, May 1st! Good Luck!

The Mother's Day Giveaway winner is (chosen by random.org) :

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 462
Result:
60

Tracey3!

Happy Earth Day 2011

In celebration of Earth Day

(which coincides with Good Friday and Passover week this year - Happy Easter and Happy Passover everyone!)

this is a special ONE DAY giveaway for your choice of a recycled wine cork test tube terrarium - leave a comment below with your favorite theme and also let me know if you would like a magnetic terrarium or one that stands in a little wood cube :

1. seashell 2. bird 3. alice rabbit 4. victorian 5. seahorse 6. garden 7. sewing

I will use random.org to draw a winner at 8pm EST tonight! CLOSED

Happy Holidays everyone!

UPDATE- my wine cork dog leash did not make it onto the big screen - or I should say small screen :( although this may be a good thing since Kathie Lee and Hoda were mean girls and made fun of all the eco-tastic goodies that did make it on ... not sure I could have controlled Olive if her leash had been the butt of their jokes - I mean especially since she's off-leash now and I've been smashed from the wine I've had to drink to gather the corks to make another one ... this was a long week


10% discount in both my shops - Uncorked and Polarity with the coupon code earthday2011 through the end of the month!


And the winner is (I gave 1 entry per person)

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 11
Result:
5
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

RESOLUTE TWIG!
Congrats!