Tag — seasonal celebrations
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!
Hiver: A Zine for MidWinter
Oh my lovelies, it’s finally here! Can you believe it? After a year of waiting in the dark, my very first attempt at a zine has made it off the presses and can soon be in your warm, cupped hands! I’m holding my breath with the excitement and (small) miracle of it all!
Here it is, complete with ad copy!
This precious little ‘zine is hot off the xerox and ready to bless your wintry home. Make your hibernation place a sacred space with prayers, songs, and tiny rites. Host a mid-winter supper with comfort-food recipes and a list of tunes to defrost by. And best of all, there’s a take-away prize tucked inside! (Just like a box of Cracker Jacks!)
Twenty-four hand-lettered pages fill this 5inch ‘zine with homemade words and images. Yours for the price of a greeting card, and ever so much more nourishing!
To order:
Email moi@magpie-girl.com with your address and you’ll receive a paypal invoice.
$4.00 each (includes shipping)
(p.s. This is just the art for the cover. I’ll post a real photograph tomorrow so you can see the cunning Japanese style hand-sewn binding, complete with a twig from my Hawthorn and a tiny recycled glass bead!)
