Kiva, a good thing


If you haven’t already read or heard of it, check out this article on Kiva.org. It is a wonderful idea that is growing. I gave, only a little, for now, but that little will be passed on to other businesses as it is repaid… the program makes it easy to just keep reinvesting in the lives of yet another business person… few times 25 dollars can be reused by so many.

Self Abuse


Amazing that we expect everyone to fix our screw ups. It is not that we don’t also fix the screw ups of others, but that we repeat our own and not just once or twice. That is what makes it abuse, self-abuse. Whether we just procrastinate, talk ourselves into, “it can’t happen to me,” or just can’t be bothered or don’t care, not taking care of our needs, both mentally and physically is really a form of self-abuse.

It is not that some of the things we need to do are really that hard either… they are merely habits… There is an old saying among dancers (and who knows who else). It is, “Do the step 100 times and it is yours.” They, and many athletes, also, visualize their entire performance before doing it.

We have done that unconsciously in a negative way with all our bad habits. We can do it now consciously in a positive way. Let’s be dancers and athletes about our physical and mental health… It only takes 100 times of doing it right to make it habit… so they say… And it could actually be fun trying to get there…. Stop the self-abuse of neglect and bad habits. Become the person you are capable of being… Why on earth not?

Written as part of the Stop Abuse project found at the link below. We can make a difference if we just put out the effort.

I also wrote about three other abuses, links to all four can be found here: McLeesBogaert

Please, if you have something to say about Abuse, any Abuse, speak up, say it…. say it in your blog, post it on someone else’s blog, write it somewhere, say it out loud…. One of us will make a difference. It doesn’t matter which one of us as long as it is someone.

Look how easy it is to be a part of sharing!


Stop! Are you thinking that to help Shelly get 6720 squares to have put together as afghans for the kids that attend Camp Sanguinity means you and your friends have to crochet or knit tons of squares, causing your fingers to go numb because of carpal tunnel, your children to be unfed, your husband to be ignored (more than you MEANT to? Guess what! It really doesn’t.

I think many of us - when we mention it to others or in our self conversations - come across as if we want LOTS of squares from them. We are so used to being asked to give all. Even I was thinking that way, losing sight of her REAL quest: to have each afghan show the love of FORTY different people. (Well actually make that minimum of 41 because someone has to crochet them all together).

So, what that means is as few as one or two per person and you have helped! Of course, you could do more, in case not enough people participated or in case they DID and she can start donating them to other camps. So, what is needed is LOTS of people doing VERY LITTLE!

With that thought in mind, if you can do lots, great! Others have and more will have the time, but many don’t have the time, why they are wasting it reading this - or are they? I may have an idea that will work for you or someone you know!

It is you out there that is willing to do just one or two or three that REALLY will make this project be as she envisioned it.

So, let’s rethink how we approach people, remind them that this is SHARE a SQUARE, not give us everything you have. Maybe then more people will have time to participate. All they have to do is make one SIX inch square, then make a little tag with name and location (or just use your business card) and tie it on and stuff it in an envelope.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t have that twinkle in your eye, that hint of suggestion in your voice, that smile on your face that says, “but I really really want to see you do a bunch!”

I know if you told me just one I would be more apt to do it than if you told me twenty, although I have managed to get eight done.

I give you, Ways to get more people to do it with you:

- The easiest way: simply ask, it actually worked for me, I was floored!

- Challenge your friends, coworkers, neighbors!

- Challenge the men to put out! (You know what I mean!)

- Invite them over for a desert and coffee and a knit just one square night/afternoon.

- Invite couples over and let the men (unless they do needlework) just do the guy thing and hang out by the pool or over the pool table or in front of the TV while you all knit or crochet a square. They will love the opportunity to spend just a few hours with the guys and you will get to chat without them rolling their eyes or saying, “yeah, right!”

- Bribe those that knit or crochet that have tons of kids and really need to relax - offer to watch the kids for a few hours so they can knit or crochet a square! (OK, I may be pushing my luck now with that idea!)

- If you can knit or crochet, offer to show your neighbors or friends how easy it is (OK, so I haven’t learned to crochet yet, I can knit though.)

- Teach your school age or teenage daughter and her friends. Once they have learned enough to pull off a decent square, let her have her friends over for a girls night, get them a movie for later, snacks, whatever teenagers are in to now. Then show them an easy pattern for a scarf or hat.

- Get the whole family involved on family night! The little ones can stamp or color tags, the one who knits or crochets can do his or her thing, finishing touches or making more, the others can write out tags or further embellish them, someone can punch the hole, tie it on, address the envelope, put the stamp(s) on, and the littlest can put it in the envelope. See how easy it is! Then have a fun desert or play a game the kids have been begging you to play, heck just do Ring around the Rosy or I spy. Make it fun. Count your blessings!

- Write a letter to a relative or friend you have practically ignored for years, tell them you just need ONE little square made, send them the yarn, send them a beautiful photo, a peppermint candy, a cute card. Here is your EXCUSE to write that note you have been meaning to. Send the website url if they use computers.

- Have your children write a letter or allow them to type their first email!

- Do it for yourself if for no other reason, just get lost in the meditative qualities of knitting or crocheting, that quiet rhythm that slows your breathing and quiets your brain. . . and that quietness will envelope a child in love. You will have made a difference to one child by one square, a few minutes (hours?) of your time, even if scattered here and there over several days will affect more lives than just yours — obviously the child receiving the afghan will have the warmth and cuddle factor, the people around the child, especially, will appreciate the time involved and the love behind the time, as they probably have little to give others, and - you will have shown others it can be done, the children around you, especially will have seen that it can be fit in.

You may not be able to fix the world, but you can fix one tiny corner of someone’s heart and expectations of what can be. And that, y’all is one heck of a long term investment in someone’s life that will be passed on down the generations!

NOTE! This is one post you can copy, take pieces of, rephrase, whatever. You don’t need to give me credit or link back here, run with it. . . This does not just apply to Shelly’s Share A Square Project - but to any project. Brainstorming is my favorite thing to do other than tumble words out of my head onto a keyboard. I probably could have come up with more, but I have squares to tag and box up - and I have goofed off long enough! And yes, I am putting this on all my blogs, even their old versions still on Blogspot. Duplicate content, but, hopefully worth your time to read ONCE.

Share a Square, then take on the rest of the world!

Don’t laugh at me - or them


Rose DesRochers @ World Outside My Window posted about being accepted as she is. It is a good message for all of us to take to heart, I think. I know some of you will be quick to jump in to comment that, as an individual, she or I, or you, (or definitely those people over there) should try to change. I don’t think she is saying that we shouldn’t try to change, to grow; I think she is merely focusing her words in that particular post on acceptance. I believe:

Acceptance does not mean we have to like everything about others or ourselves, it does not mean as individuals we will not both accept our shortcomings and attempt to change some, it only means we recognize others as humans who are — as the cliche states — only human.


Being only human is a good thing. Would you want to have a relationship with a robot?

Rose posted this video, that is how I found it. I feel the words to this song and the accompanying images bear repeating, just as her words on acceptance do. Today is the first time I have heard this song; I was into rock, I still am, but country has a lot of words worth hearing. . . Please, enjoy Mark Wills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3_JvChXL7o

If I were. . . but I am. . . .


If I were a dog, I would spend my time digging to China and then sprawl in the coolness of the dirt I had just excavated, although I would not think the word excavate. . . .

If I were a cat, I would rule my household differently than I do now. I would arch my back and the male of the household would rush to my side without a second glance at the TV, whether in the fourth quarter, tied score, the last three laps of Daytona 500, the perfect putt by his favorite golfer still two inches from the eighteenth hole at the Masters, the reveal of the murderer, the perfect car chase scene, the one line that explains the entire movie, his favorite bedroom scene, and so on. You get it, I’m sure.

If I were a songbird, I would sing my day away. I would sing in joy, in pain, in love, in happiness, in boredom. I wouldn’t worry for one nanosecond if I could keep a tune, because I would never squawk, just sing.

If I were a carpenter and you were a lady, oops, that is a song. . So, check out this old footage of Johnnny Cash and June Carter singing a medley and just plain having fun.

If I were a fish, I would make kissing motions without worrying about the wrinkles around my mouth and just sashay myself through the water tasting the delicacies that waited wherever I chose to wander. I would swim in and out of tiny crevices (I would be a little fish) and swim straight up toward the light and back down into the dark shadows (and hope it was not just an open mouth of a bigger fish).

If I were a seagull, I would fly, then free fall, pull back up just before I hit the water so the wind I created sucked water out and into the air, sending droplets to refract light into tiny rainbows.

If I were a turtle, I would saunter through the grass, so slowly I could almost watch it grow and not miss a thing. There would be bugs to watch frolicking between the blades of grass, dirt piles to climb and look out at my kingdom, rocks that weren’t there yesterday to detour around. I would slide into the cool water in spring, but in summer after sunbathing on that log that broke away from the pack, I would dive headfirst into the overheated water that felt cool after hours in the hot sun.

If I were a rabbit, I would hop around left and right, in circles, and nuzzle the earth, laze in the cool grasses and gaze longingly at the yellow dandelions, then munch heartily on their deep green (and spicy) leaves. I would flaunt my soft black and white and brown fur and tease the little ones as I ran from them, after all, I am fast and they are still learning.

But, I am human. . . aren’t I lucky; I can do most all they can, if I so choose, although I need to work on my singing ability — and that cat arching the back thing. . . getting a bit stiff.

« Older Posts
Newer Posts »