I bought Caroline a book when she was younger called Hands Can. It rejoices in all the various things hands can do. For instance, "Hands can catch/and hands can throw./Hands can plant seeds in a row." Now Charlotte is enjoying the story of hands.
What drives me and others like me to be creative with our hands? I don't go sledding or cycling because of my innate fear of injuring my hands. I make my living with my hands, of course, and would be financially devastated if I could not transcribe anymore. But the creative things I do with my hands - play the harp and piano, quilt, cross-stitch, sew, bake bread, write - these are the things I would really miss if I sustained a hand injury.
Ed always said that when we lovingly make something with our hands (or minds or both), we are actually "co-creators with God." Out of nothing comes beauty. Out of unorganized ingredients comes form and shape. Things that are useless by themselves (flour or fabric or a harp sitting silent on the floor) are touched and as if by magic, they transform our worlds. Our chosen creative outlets enable us to use our gifts. I believe everyone has gifts, and one of the most important duties for parents and teachers is to help children discover their individual gifts. So many of these gifts can be brought to fruition through the hands.
My sister in Memphis has been deluged with figs from her backyard fig tree. Even after giving some away, she still had too many that would spoil quickly unless she did something. So she decided to make a jar of fig preserves. Never having done anything like that before, she did some research, bought the jars and tops, and brought forth her creation. She burned her hand a little because she didn't have all the proper equipment, and I figured that, by the time it was all said and done, that jar of preserves cost a lot more than the one at the grocery store, but all the same, she actually made a jar of preserves which fed more than her stomach - it fed her spirit. She also enjoys working with her hands doing woodworking.
I can feel a void in my life when I don't take time to be creative. There is nothing like the feeling of the harp strings vibrating under my fingers, or running my hands across a soft quilt, smiling at the designs, remembering when I purchased the fabric, and reminiscing about what was going on in my life when I hand quilted it.
Why do we bother? With our time constraints, why don't we just buy a blanket at Wal-Mart or a jar of preserves at the supermarket? There's just something about that act of co-creation that refreshes our soul. There are other quilts and other preserves, but none exactly like the ones we made. As individuals we are unique, and our creations can be, too.
Ed and I recently read some articles on whether food made with love tastes better. There is general consensus in some groups that when you make something with your hands (especially if you are loving the process), that love flows through your fingers into the product, and indeed it affects the product in an invisible way. Sleeping under a quilt handmade with love brings an unseen comfort that you don't get with a Wal-Mart special. We are more powerful than we ever imagined.
Hands can; they can, indeed!
The ease of Simplicity
Well...I had a nasty head-cold the first part of the week and that set the mood for the whole week: SLACKER. My daughters are having a friend spend the night tonight, so I got up knowing I would have to clean today.
Thanks to the purging and cleaning of the past, it was a BREEZE. Even after not maintaining through the week, I was able to get the kitchen, Living Room, and Bathroom looking just fine for company (I had the kids clean their own rooms last night).
It was also interesting, because I was able to pinpoint some areas that still need more work. Like, I have a set of coffee cups and then saved 3-4 of the old ones, too. I now realize we don't need that many. All we did was let them pile up in the sink.
The childrens' clothes are looking GREAT. I narrowed it down to 10 outfits per kid, so I only have to wash 2X a week, and really only once if I want. I washed all their dirty clothes this morning in ONE load!!! There are still some stragglers in my hamper, but I'm getting through those now. I don't put anything in the drawers until it is ALL clean and can be paired up in outfits before going in the dresser.
Now just as long as no one decides to open MY door, it's all good.
Remember how I said I wanted to follow through with sponsoring a student in Oaxaca? Well, it's in the works! Officially! I had a big sale on my website and sold ...are you ready... $750 in cloth diapers. So, my treat to myself is to send $150 to Oaxaca Street Children Grassroots. My husband says that's not much of a personal treat, so I also bought some rugs for the bathroom. LOL. He says I don't know *how* to buy something just for me. So I had him make reservations for Sunday to eat at the hotel we got married at :) Now I think he's pleased.
And here's the best part- I've already put $250 in savings. That might sound like pennies to you, but I've NEVER been able to save, so to see to that is great for me. I'm making it a challenge to see how much I can have left at the end of the month. I read a tip in a book to write down your goals and keep them near your money. Everytime you start to spend, look at that list and decide if it's worth it, or if you would rather save the money to get closer to your goal. I don't have the physical list, but I'm mentally thinking that EVERY time I make a purchase. I've logged on to a fabric store online about 5 times in the last 3 days and then "x" out when I think of my list :)
~~~~Healthy Eating Update~~~
We've decided to go Organic/Freerange/Humane/Whateveryouwannacallit on our meat from here on out. It's going to take a little adjustment at first- finding places to buy from, so we won't go 100% from the get-go, but within a few months, we should be. We found some farms nearby that do beef, poultry, and pork. We just have to get a freezer so we can buy large quantities to save money. We can get Grassfed Beef at Publix now, but it's $6.99/lb. OUCH. So we are also going to reduce the amount of meat we eat overall. The less but more concept. The "supersize me" mentality we have been raised on is a hard one to beat, but it's our goal. It's especially hard for my husband who is 6'4" and 300 lbs, but I know he can do it. He has a willpower that I could never comprehend. I guess it comes from hardcore Buddhist training. We also feel the Organic meat options will do our Karma some good, but I won't go into our philosophies on that here ;) (they're pretty wierd to most, a mix of Buddhist values and Evolution).
Have a great day!
Thanks to the purging and cleaning of the past, it was a BREEZE. Even after not maintaining through the week, I was able to get the kitchen, Living Room, and Bathroom looking just fine for company (I had the kids clean their own rooms last night).
It was also interesting, because I was able to pinpoint some areas that still need more work. Like, I have a set of coffee cups and then saved 3-4 of the old ones, too. I now realize we don't need that many. All we did was let them pile up in the sink.
The childrens' clothes are looking GREAT. I narrowed it down to 10 outfits per kid, so I only have to wash 2X a week, and really only once if I want. I washed all their dirty clothes this morning in ONE load!!! There are still some stragglers in my hamper, but I'm getting through those now. I don't put anything in the drawers until it is ALL clean and can be paired up in outfits before going in the dresser.
Now just as long as no one decides to open MY door, it's all good.
Remember how I said I wanted to follow through with sponsoring a student in Oaxaca? Well, it's in the works! Officially! I had a big sale on my website and sold ...are you ready... $750 in cloth diapers. So, my treat to myself is to send $150 to Oaxaca Street Children Grassroots. My husband says that's not much of a personal treat, so I also bought some rugs for the bathroom. LOL. He says I don't know *how* to buy something just for me. So I had him make reservations for Sunday to eat at the hotel we got married at :) Now I think he's pleased.
And here's the best part- I've already put $250 in savings. That might sound like pennies to you, but I've NEVER been able to save, so to see to that is great for me. I'm making it a challenge to see how much I can have left at the end of the month. I read a tip in a book to write down your goals and keep them near your money. Everytime you start to spend, look at that list and decide if it's worth it, or if you would rather save the money to get closer to your goal. I don't have the physical list, but I'm mentally thinking that EVERY time I make a purchase. I've logged on to a fabric store online about 5 times in the last 3 days and then "x" out when I think of my list :)
~~~~Healthy Eating Update~~~
We've decided to go Organic/Freerange/Humane/Whateveryouwannacallit on our meat from here on out. It's going to take a little adjustment at first- finding places to buy from, so we won't go 100% from the get-go, but within a few months, we should be. We found some farms nearby that do beef, poultry, and pork. We just have to get a freezer so we can buy large quantities to save money. We can get Grassfed Beef at Publix now, but it's $6.99/lb. OUCH. So we are also going to reduce the amount of meat we eat overall. The less but more concept. The "supersize me" mentality we have been raised on is a hard one to beat, but it's our goal. It's especially hard for my husband who is 6'4" and 300 lbs, but I know he can do it. He has a willpower that I could never comprehend. I guess it comes from hardcore Buddhist training. We also feel the Organic meat options will do our Karma some good, but I won't go into our philosophies on that here ;) (they're pretty wierd to most, a mix of Buddhist values and Evolution).
Have a great day!
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