Tag — habitude
This is for all the single people…
A blessing today from my other life as the Urban Abbess. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Free Love Give-Away Begins Feb 1st
It starts tomorrow! Are you so excited? You know what it reminds me of? Once, when I was ten or eleven, my family drove our camper to Southern California to go to Disneyland. We stayed at one of those KOA campgrounds with all the concrete and the nice showers. That night, if we climbed the ladder to the roof of the camper, we could see the fireworks exploding over Cinderella’s castle. We were delirious with anticipation. I feel sort of like that!
I’ve just printed up several sets of the collaged loved cards, and I’m going to be cutting, scoring and folding the night way. I always forget that making and spreading art always involves some project task that I really dislike. Assembling seems to be the big draw back for me lately. Thank goodness I have this on tape so my Hollywood crush can keep me company! (Even my kids refer to him as “Mommy’s little crush.”)
Congratulations to Bobbie, Meg, and Jamie for winning the Free Love Give-Away give away (wow, that’s a mouthful!). Oh, and special thanks to Melissa, who graciously gave her winnings up to the next gal. One act of free love already completed!
While you’re waiting for your order to arrive in the mail, here are some other lovely little ideas that will help spread a little love around….
Ten Free Love Give-Away Ideas
10. Scrape the ice off your neighbor’s windshield before you go to work.
9. Take a roll of scotch tape with you to the grocery store and stick coupons on the relevant boxes. (I stole this from Oprah years ago, but I still think it’s great. It would make my day if there was a dollar-off coupon on the Cracklin’ Oat Bran when I picked it up off the shelf!)
8. While you’re at the grocery store…make eye contact with your cashier, address them by name, and tell them thank you for helping you get through the tasks of your day.
7. Write your kid’s teacher a note – or better yet, remember the unsung school heroes: janitors, music teachers, reading specialists, the yard duty people, bus drivers and the lunch lady!
6. Bring your co-worker a cup of coffee from your local barista, or even just refill his/her mug when you head to the break room.
5. Put one of those crack-and-heat hand warmers in your mailbox for your letter carrier.
4. Brush your poor mangy dog.
3. Put that jar of coins you’ve been collecting in your cashier’s charity box.
2. Hold the elevator.
1. Where you’ve bee lurking, post a love note on someone’s blog. (Heather can use some counter-hate mail.)
Okay, ready? Drop and give me 5…..ideas in the comments below, that is…
February Habitude – All You Need Is Love
In the past six months I’ve been twice inspired by the Beatles. First, I saw Polyphonic Spree at an outdoor Summer concert. There was much chatter amongst the crowd as to whether or not PSpree was knocking off the Beatles later psychedelic style, or creating something new. The PSpree choir was small that night, and they had changed from last tour’s white choir robes to a new military-esque jacket and a ‘by any means necessary’ kind of stance — fists in the air, determination in their voices. I missed their former dreamy hopefulness, but at the same time I resonated with the energy coming from the stage that said, “Enough is enough. Peace. Must. Come.” It reminded me of the Beatles, determined in their songs to paint a picture of an alternative but possible reality: that the world could be as one; that all we needed was love.
A few months later as we walked through Central Park on vacation in New York, we came across the memorial to John Lennon. It was small and pretty non-distinct — there were much larger memorials to more obscure figures in the massive city park. Lennon’s was a circular plaque in the sidewalk, surrounded by benches where people gathered regularly to chat on their cross-town foot commute after work. It was a simple spot, lovingly attended, scattered with petals and roses. In the center of the plaque a single word…”Imagine.”
I thought of John and the Beatles — their musical and political influences felt and sustained across decades and generations. I recalled what I knew about their assertion that all we needed was love, and their imagination that spun out a world of equity and peace. I was sad Lennon’s dream had failed, that we as a people had failed. But then, my thinking shifted and I began to think that if PSpree was still singing, and people were still bringing community and roses to a plaque in Central Park, then maybe it wasn’t so much that we’d failed as that we were still working on it — perhaps the imagined dream was still in progress. Maybe it was true, that all the people could live as one, that all we need is love.
I know, it’s corny. Super incredibly impossibly corny. But I just can’t help hoping it’s true. Or at least, true enough to make it worth the effort to keep working on it.
So here’s what I say: let’s do it. Let’s make it our first Habitude to spread a little love around.
I, the Magpie Girl, hereby pledge to commit a random act of love every day for the month on February. Not just on Valentines Day. Not just to people I know, but to whomever I chance to encounter. Random, tiny, real acts of love to everyday people in everyday ways.
What do you say? Should we be lovers?
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one, I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one.”
P.S. The first three people who say “I’m In” in the comments below will get a special gift — a set of Free Love Give-Away cards, the next hand-made treasure at Buy Magpie!
Blame it on Judith
This Fall I heard Judith Levine when she was interviewed on National Public Radio about her latest book, Not Buying It: My Year Without ShoppingNot Buying It: My Year Without Shopping. In both the book and the interview she detailed her year in which she and her partner bought nothing but heat, water, garbage service, and the ingredients for home cooked meals. No magazines. No movies. No Gifts. No clothes. Nothing.
Ironically, I rushed out and immediately purchased a copy of Not Buying It. (In my defense I did try to get it from the library, but there were 163 people ahead of me on the library hold list.)
The book is spare and simply written, a piece of non-fiction describing a project. (Now fully worth-it in paperback!) I had to laugh a little that Levine’s “buy nothing” year did not extend to anything she needed for work, or to the remodel that they were doing on their second home in upstate New York. (Something Levine giggles at about herself as well.) Still, the woman isn’t angling for sainthood here – just some personal growth—and maybe a nice sustaining book contract.
In the end I was inspired by Levine, and by what stepping off the hamster wheel of consumerism revealed to her about herself, and by extraction what the experiment reveals to us about ourselves. I recognized myself when she quipped, “what if I discover my authentic self and my authentic self is shopper?” I agreed with her about marketing when she asserted, “almost nothing that is advertised is actually necessary.” (Except for the Swiffer. I mean, have you tried that thing?!) Most of all, I was struck when Levine observed this danger in our consumer society:
“…just as it promises to buy us love, the marketplace also frees us from relationship, releases us from needing other people. As long as you’ve got a credit card in your pocket, you can go it alone.”
(Hmmm. Methinks we’ll need to unpack that quote in a later post, n’cest pas?)
After discovering Judith, I had big plans to go the no consumer route — for 30 days. I thought I could take November as a sort of a mini-attempt, like running a 5K before training for a marathon. But Christmas loomed ever-so-near, and right about that time I moved into my studio so I could justify buying just about anything “for work.” (Bookshelves? Hand printed wrapping paper for drawer liners? Beads, buttons, bangles, a goldfish, a bag of crystallized ginger? Definitely all work related.) But it did get me thinking heady things about transformational theology; and whether we find ourselves or create ourselves; and what it means to make New Year’s resolutions or Lenten promises. And I thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to try one good deed a month (or most months) of the year? Thirty days seems imminently doable, and I might pick up a few much needed good habits. Not to mention, the generation of good writing material and possible worldwide fame. (Look what happened to the gal from the Brown Dress Project – she ended up hanging with Good Morning America!) And maybe, just maybe, I could work up to 30 days without buying anything.
So, much to my husband’s chagrin (“What have you signed me up for now?!), Habitude – The 30 Days Project was born. Here is my proposition my friends. You and I, and maybe a couple of others, we’ll take on one mildly transforming life habit a month. None of them will be too challenging, and it’s totally fine if you flub up. We’ll moan and groan to each it to each other on this website (my comments es su comments) or on your websites. And maybe, just maybe we’ll get a little more Zen in the process. (After we briefly act all bitchy and complain-y.)
Curious? Confused? Mildly intrigued? Stay tuned for the announcement of the February Habitute!
