The Currency That Is Not Money

     Don't get me wrong.  I have nothing against money.  I like it and use it happily.  

     Money is just a symbol of energy, one that can be used honestly or not.

     I'm reminded of some of Mark Twain's stories.  There was a pattern to them.  Two or three knaves would come to town and trick the innocent villagers--we'll call them fools, meaning no disrespect--out of their hard earned savings, offering health or heaven, the two immortalities for which any of us will trade our life's work.

     There is another currency, and that is community.  By community I don't mean a structured "intentional" community, though those can be done, honestly or not.  I mean the more fluid set of connections available to us all in a variety of circumstances, whether inherited where we have stayed put or created where we have wandered and settled.  

     In these difficult financial times, it is good to remember that less than a hundred years ago people didn't use money as their primary means of survival.  They used their farms, on which they could take care of themselves, and they used cooperation, helping one another at harvest and through the winter.  As an example, my parents and aunts and uncles spent a week every November hunting deer in northwestern Maine.  They were good hunters and they came home with their quota of deer, which the uncles dressed and the aunts packed in freezer paper, a box to go home with every family.

     I'm not suggesting we all take up deer hunting, although deer have overrun Connecticut to such an extent that here hunting is a choice for those so inclined.

     I'm talking about that other less tangible currency, trust and mutual help among neighbors, something to cherish and preserve if you have it, or, if you've been going it alone, something to create with your own offers of assistance to others.  

     Don't let an economic downturn distress you.  It will be hardest on those who have depended too much on others to create work for them.  You CAN make money.  You CAN create paying work for yourself.  More important, you can create a caring community right where you are by inquiring about your neighbors and offering your help.  It's okay to pick and choose.  I'm not suggesting you try to help those who are already dedicated to failure.  Simply, among your friends and neighbors, find the ones who can use your help to get themselves stable.  Helping these is like putting money in the bank, for they will value you and help you when you need it.

     Don't wait until your own need is severe to begin building trust.  Do it now while you have energy to spare.  Here are some ways:  

     1) Get to know your immediate neighbors, choose those who want to win and make mutual agreements about how to support one another.  

     2)  Find a good group that is already helping and pitch in.  Become part of the team.  As an example, check out Plenty at www.thefarm.org

     3)  Check on the members of your family, decide which ones are interested in winning, and help any who need help.

     4) If you are interested in permaculture villages or ecovillages, look these up and learn how they work.  Go to www.thefarm.org

     5)  Help children.  They are our future.  For resources for parents and those interested in improving the lives of children

 Click Here!    

     There are many ways to create community.  Common to all of them is becoming known as someone who can be counted upon.  

     Ask me questions or let me know how it goes.  tjworks09@live.com

Heart and Help for Parents

Being a parent can be confusing and frustrating.  Don't feel bad about not knowing what no one ever told you.  There is help available now!  Nicole McKenzie is my favorite.  She offers free e-classes and many helpful ideas.  She makes you feel like, yes, you can do this!

Follow this link:

Click Here!

Children Love to Help

    When his parents bought a new grill last summer, Zachary, 18 months, decided to help put it together. His father snapped this picture.  Well, snapped is not quite the word for it.  Noah knows how to get down on the child's level and get in close.  

     He caught a precious moment.  I love the look of concentration.

     Having grandchildren reminds me of life with my own children, how eager they were to be able and to make a contribution.  Small children are both exuberantly playful and very earnest.  They know their parents do a lot for them and they need to do their share.  Doing one's part is apparently wired in.  When Noah was a baby sitting in a swing with a tray for toys, he would regularly throw his toys overboard or inadvertantly lose them.  Big brother Benjamin would pick them up for him tirelessly.  And now we have Chanan, Zachary's cousin, planning to put the socks and booties on their next baby.  Both children put in an honest day's work each and every day.  It's enchanting, and sobering, to watch.

     For more information about children, child development, and how to help children, including holiday craft ideas, scroll down to the articles and links below.  And enjoy the season.

     Trish/aka Swamp Walking Woman

I created a tree of lights from a piece of plywood and a few nails on which to hang a rope and lights and ornaments.

For laughter and holiday gift ideas, read below.

Love, Trish

EARTH'S DARING SWING AWAY FROM THE LIGHT AND BACK

     Although our weather is mild again after some chilly days, we see each day getting shorter.  I'm convinced that one reason for lights and celebration during the shortest days of the year is to distract us from darkness.  Still, darkness has its benefits of retreat and gathering round the hearth.  Once when I lived in Cambridge, MA, I attended a Winter Solstice celebration I will never forget.  It seemed very English, with Elizabethan old scale music and jesters and tumblers in colorful costumes with bells on their turned up toes.  I enjoyed the pageant enormously!

     As for the turned up toes, I read in a novel recently--I've already forgotten which one but it could have been by Georgette Heyer, a superb writer--that shoe toes made in that style did not kick up mud as other toes do.

     For those of you who are looking for special gifts for friends and loved ones, here are a few I've found for you and mentioned in past posts:

FOR THE PARENTS ON YOUR LIST: Nicole MacKensie's ebook and on line class. There is no work more sacred than raising children.  See the curiosity based parenting method.  No punishment. Free e-class. Learn to set rules and consequences that develop respect naturally… Plus have fun in the process.

http://patricia77.momhasfun.hop.clickbank.net

FOR THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER: Start with James Siew's ebook of humor. Click Here!

FOR YOUR WRITER FRIENDS: Good nuts and bolts advice. HOW TO WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR OWN E-BOOK by Jim Edwards and Joe Vitale. Click Here!

Enjoy the benefits of darkness and the celebration of light!  Trish/SwampWalkingWoman

SURVEY

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO RESPOND TO THESE THREE QUESTIONS.  SEND YOUR RESPONSE TO MY EMAIL BOX: triciajean1@yahoo.com

1)       What do you need most from an encouraging and informative blog?  That is, what one thing stands between you and the happiness and success you deserve?

2)      What do you want to find out more about?  (What the heck is this thing called life?  The internet?  How to prosper?  Raising children?  Other?)

3)      Tell me about you.  I love to hear about my readers and their lives.  Your stories help me know how to help you the most.

     I'll thank you by sending a fr_ee gift.  Best, Trish/Swamp Walking Woman  

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THANKSGIVING MAGIC

    Hello! to all my friends on the World Wide Web.  Connecticut, USA, is a lot cooler today than the last time I posted.  Halloween has come and gone.  On the trail by the brook yellow and red maple leaves lie on the ground while burnished oak leaves gleam in the afternoon sun, their  turn to shine.  To everything its season.

     From our different cultures we approach the holiday season, preparing for Thanksgiving in the US.  Most of us know now that the first Thanksgiving was created in the 1870s.  (If you doubt this, see Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen.)  Yet, for many, the tradition of sitting down to a special meal among family and friends has gathered a meaning and warmth all its own.  We don’t need it to have been factual in origin.  A few of us are even willing to admit that our ancestors weren’t nearly as nice about moving to these shores as the writers of grade school text books wanted us to think. 

     One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn is that my own forebears committed crimes against humanity when they settled New England.  It was not a peaceful migration.  Perhaps that is why peace is still so hard to achieve.   And why I’m dedicated to promoting world peace.

     After Thanksgiving, families begin to prepare for Hanukah, for Kwanza, for Christmas, and sometimes Ramadan, depending on the year.  We become more prayerful than ever for peace across the planet.   And now, with internet communication, peace is possible.  That is why I’m offering you a chance not only to enjoy the holidays and pray for peace, but to do activities that create peace and safety in your own families and neighborhoods.

    We seem to have brought forward into present day life many of the less than satisfying behaviors of past generations.  If you are part of a family where a holiday gathering can become tense, argumentative, or rowdy, if you worry about how you and others will behave during visiting, consider how you will speak and listen to others.  Because I know busy people don’t have time to look for the resources they need, I’ve been trolling the internet for you.  Here are some treasures:

1)       An inexpensive course in simple communication to get you started on a peaceful holiday season.

Click Here! 

2)       For parents dedicated to raising happy free children, here is the Happy Free Children, Teachers and Parents Resource Kit, helps the children you nurture honor their innate wisdom and respect those they live amongst as well as their planet home.

Click Here! 
               

3)      One way to promote peace in the family is to keep children busy with projects they enjoy.  Here are some suggestions I found for you on Little Kid Crafts.

Click Here! 

4)      And an exciting resource on arts and crafts for grownups,

Click Here! 

5)     Beyond the holidays, and by beyond, I mean transcendent in its appeal, Michael Harvey has put together some information we can really use.  This is for anyone who wants to go easy on planetary resources and save mega-money on electric bills.  His mission:  To educate communities and individuals on how to live a more comfortable, cost effective, and pro-planet lifestyle.  Learn how to build your own inexpensive solar panels and wind mills.  See in these pages how to build a more efficient life, one that is kind to the planet and to your pocketbook.

Click Here! 

It’s clear to see why this last one would promote peace by helping us consume less and give back more.  Happy Holidays to All.  Trish, also know as Swamp Walking Woman

Ps.  Send me your email and I'll send you a fr_ee gift.  triciajean1@yahoo.com