A year has passed since Jen and I set up the Small is Beautiful revolution in the hopes of supporting small, passionate bloggers while they find their writing voice. Like the proverbial snowball rolling downhill, the list of people taking the pledge and adding the button swiftly grew to first dozens, then, to a hundred, and then more than I could track. New people join every day, and the blog roll which was once something I could update in ten minutes is now so large I’ve had to complete give it up! It’s amazing to know that so many storytellers are out there, trying to identify the meaningful in their lives and in the lives of others.

As BlogHer 08 in San Francisco rapidly approaches, it dawns on me how much I wanted to be there and a how I longed to serve as a sort of emotive chaplain, helping people embrace their call to write. But now I live in Denmark (Denmark!) and BlogHer is but a far away wish.

Still, many MANY of you will be there, sharing your ideas and your laughter with others who are bringing women’s voices to the forefront of the new journalism – blogging in all its wonderful pell-mell forms. I hope you will find each other, gather at round tables, and share the passions you have for writing down that which is wonderful.

Small is Beautiful is under severe disrepair right now. The html is broken; we can’t find a way to do an automated opt-in blog roll with categorization; we need those same folks to be able to opt-in to an email list–and I really don’t know what to do about any of it. I am, as they say, ‘in over my head.’

I still believe that small is powerful, and that a network of small bloggers can support one another in ways that no big name recognition can provide. So I appeal to you, our tiny community, for help and advice. If you have solutions, or willingness to do some cleanup work in the SIB garden, drop a note in the comments or email me or Jen. (Contact into here.)

In meantime, remember: Your story is important. May you sing it from the rooftops.

Yours in tininess,

Rachelle

Buy a Farm Animal: Change a Life
Donate a buck or a billion at ChipIn

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Original art by Jen Lemen
for Let’s Help Ourselves and Others

It’s a rare day that I find a project so solid and so personal that I’m ready to champion it from the rooftop – but this is one of them! My soulsister Jen Lemen has fallen in love with every African immigrant in her D.C. neighborhood. They inspire her ever day, and she in turn extends a loving hand of assistance whenever she can. From springing someone from human trafficking to getting a sick daughter in Rwanda to the hospital, Jen and her network of passionate folks gets the job done.

Now Jen and Odette are on a mission to take Rwandan school girls the supplies and inspiration they need to be the next generation of leaders in their struggling, determined country. The inspiring Grace McLaren passed the opportunity to Jen to go to Rwanda; Jen asked her blogging pals for some financial support; and in 24 hours there were funds for the trip AND enough to print a book. What kind of book? A full color zine in two languages depicting the story of Odette and her brother Innocent’s clever microbusiness…in a Ugandan refugee camp…when they were 7 and 9 years old. (I cry every time I hear it.)

If this doesn’t convince Rwandan schoolgirls (and middle aged American ladies!) that small attempts can bring significant change, I don’t know what will.

Now that the books and supplies are taken care of, Jen is doing one last ask for a little more money. Innocent needs a cow. I know. It doesn’t sound like much, just one cow. But his niece (Odette’s daughter) is sick, and the meager little house flooded this year, and the cow, well, it will keep his family afloat in a highly tenuous situation.

Do you know what a cow costs in Rwanda? $600 – the equivalent of three trips to Costco or one really crappy dresser from IKEA. Now the Cotsco thing might keep you rolling in frozen lasagna, which I will admit, feels like a lifesaving act some nights in Americana. But a cow will produce enough income to keep this large extended family feed for as long as it lives.

Paul and I are down for $100. Let’s see if we can get her the rest of the way there, shall we?

Donate a buck or a billion at ChipIn.

Friends, thanks so much for reading this. Hold on to hope: all is not lost, Africa can thrive, Rwandan schoolkids can change their world, and one cow can make a difference.

In Kindness and Hope,

Rachelle Mee

For the whole Rwandan Project in orderly detail click here.

My soulsister Odette, inspiring me to trust that mama-god will get hope where it needs to go. photo credit: jen lemen

Our Small is Beautiful soulsisters Jen, Odette, and Krystyn, are at it again! They are conspiring to get a suitcase full of hope to some beautiful young women in Rwanda.

When Jen called me saying, “I might be going to Africa in May.” my first thought was, “Of COURSE you are.” These things happen to and for Jen, because she’s dangerously compassionate; because this is her creed; and because she is always ready to say ‘yes’ to the universe. Well, now she’s off to Rwanda to extend a handful of love to the schoolgirls Odette loves, but can’t get to. And even better, she’s taking YOUR hope notes with her.

Got a few minutes to write a message of hope to the next generation of women in Rwanda? Hop over to Krystyn’s place and find out how. The little 3×5 bits of hope need to be postmarked by May, so don’t delay!

In other SIB news, I know the html links aren’t working, and I know the blogroll needs to be re-categorized and updated, and I know there are 90 emails in my inbox waiting to join the rota. I am practically a technophobe and I’m at the mercy of my hacker friends to get all the SIB ducks in a row. We’ll get there, slowly but surely. In the meantime, please remember Your Story Matters. Sing it from the rooftops and the world will be better for it! Thank you for bringing all your energy to our friendly revolution!

Yours in Tinyness,

Rachelle

How much time are we willing to spend debating right thinking at the expense of right living?

The last couple of years I’ve been captivated by the idea of orthopraxy as opposed to orthodoxy. Orthodoxy is the concept of ‘right thinking,’ or ‘right belief.’ In a system which requires orthodoxy, belonging requires one to believe a certain set of assertions. If one cannot ascribe to those beliefs, then membership in that system is denied, and one can no longer belong.

Orthopraxy on the other hand is the idea of having ‘right practice.’ Rather than requiring alignment to doctrinal assertions, an orthopraxy places the emphasis on living according to a certain collection of practices.

Karen Armstrong, an interfaith specialist who writes and teaches about Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, writes in her autobiography about her own realization that one could be a person of faith without holding orthodox beliefs.

As a part of her research work, Armstrong was introduced to Jewish scholar Hyam Maccoby, who introduced her to the idea that one could have a faith based upon right living rather than right belief. In fact, he told her, the idea that faith is primarily about right belief is largely a Christian phenomenon.

“It is easy to see that you were brought up Christian….Theology is just not important in Judaism, or in any other religion really. . … We have orthopraxy instead of orthodoxy…right practice rather than right belief. That’s all. You Christians make such a fuss about theology, but it’s not important in the way you think….We Jews don’t bother much about what we believe. We just do it instead.” The Spiral Staircase P. 235,236

This is probably an oversimplification, and certainly striving after right practice can easily become a legalistic lecture about ticking things off your holy checklist. Still, after a life time of worrying about my orthodoxy, it feels good to focus on how I’m living for awhile.

I’ve been especially inspired this week by soulful folks who have found small and beautiful ways to, as Maccoby says, “just do it” in the world. Each one is an example of an orthopraxy that reflects the beauty and creativity which lies at their spiritual cores.

Tess at Anchors and Masts is spreading the word about World Water Day and inspiring people to take simple, practical steps towards getting communities access to safe drinking water.

Over at Dahl Bat small-sized projects in literacy and fair trade in Kolkata, India.

Young Laura over at Twenty Five Days to Make a Difference has taken her values viral and has inspired kids and adults alike to do something proactive every month to make the world a better place.

And finally, in an act that hits close to home, a small group of Small is Beautiful bloggers are working together to do an on-line auction for sister-blogger Jenni Ballantyne of The Comfy Place. Jen is living her last days with fierce honesty as she looks at the end of line in her fight against colon cancer. To find out how you can help raise funds for her final treatment and for her son’s future, go over to Jena’s place at Bullseye Baby and do some orthopraxis of your very own.

Here’s to orthopraxis in all the best sense of the word. Shalom!

Find all my BlogHer posts or subscribe to the feed here. Thanks!

You never know what you are going to find at a Small is Beautiful blog. This week, I’ve been thinking about the bloggers who are experiementing with alternative methods of schooling, or who are just musing away about what educational route to take for their kids.

One of newest blogrollers, Mandaroo over at Second Star to the Right is into unschooling, an educational approach based in the idea that children will learn what they need when they need it. Amanda’s grooving on unschooling too over at SouleMama(she’s not official a Small is Beautiful blogger, but wouldn’t it be nice if she was?) And my own ward is doing the unschooling thing at an alternative co-op in Seattle.

Meanwhile, Elaine over at Wannabe Hippie is chewing on what to do with her hungry minds. Personally, I’m trying to figure out if my kids should be taught in English or Danish. Biggest problem: the English international schools are full.

Are you a parent pondering school for your kiddos? Have you already wadded in that pond and figured a few things out? Why not click some today and see if we can help each other out.

This week on Small is Beautiful, I’d like to introduce Elaine Eppler, keeper of three beautiful blogs. With Elaine’s help you can learn how to grow an edible balcony garden, network with some nutritionists, or just take a deep contemplative breath as you follow the seasons. (Now there’s a girl after my own heart!)

I’m sure I’ll be stopping by her place when I exchange my back yard for a window box in our European flat, and Closely Observed is already on my RSS feed. Check out Elaine’s sites and drop her a comment…we’re nice and neighborly down here in Smallville.

Yours in tinyness,

Rachelle

P.s. Interested in moving into the Small is Beautiful neighborhood? Go get a button and let me know you’re here!

Jen and I are this close to having the small is beautiful button done. I know, it’s been over a month since BlogHer ‘07, but we are mom/artists/community builders types. That is to say, we wear a lot of hats –this makes our work time, well, small. Plus, we haven’t have time to write in an uninterrupted manner since…um… what day did school get out in June?But be not afraid, our children are in school soon and things should progress a bit more quickly.

In the meantime, why don’t we all get in a circle and sing the small is beautiful theme song. What’s that? You weren’t at BlogHer and didn’t get initiated with that one? We’ll here are the lyrics, which capture ever so nicely the “why” behind Jen and I and our silly, blogging ways.

If you’re wondering why you keep doing this crazy thing you are doing (blogging, writing, painting, taking care of one wounded soul..), maybe Ani can help you remember why you started doing it in the first place.

Blessings!

“i do it for the joy it brings
because i’m a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe weach other the world
i do it because it’s the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
i do it just because i want to,
just because i want to…”

Ani di Franco, Joyful Girl

Listen to my favorite version with the dreamy-voiced Dave Matthews here (scroll down to find audio file), although this one (track four) with the orchestra is nice too.

I am absolutely spinning from the brain dump of ideas that came from attending BlogHer 07. Paul and I have both had major epiphanies about our career paths because of the conferences. I can’t quite write about them yet, but I’d like as soon as they percolate a little bit.

One of the things I heard a lot about at the conference was in regards to “Art” and “Crafts” and how we use that terminology. What (or who) determines what (or who) gets the “art” designation and what (or who) gets the “crafts” tag? When I asked the Arts and Crafts panel that question Amy Sedaris was pretty sure that if you wanted to be an artist you probably need to be an alcoholic. If you’re sober most of the time you should probably just stick to googly eyes and be done with it. This confirms the suspicion her brother David had already planted in my soul — that if I want to be an artist I really should acquire some sort of life-threatening addiction. (Got any suggestions?)

I’m hoping to interview some art and craft bloggers about the art/craft dichotomy in the upcoming weeks. In fact, I met so many great women writer/artists that I know I’ll be highlighting them for days to come. Watch for interviews, tiny give-aways, and lots of referrals to worth-your-time blogs and worth-your-dollar products. In the meantime, here’s a vintage post from my old site that touches on the art-or-craft topic. May it bring you the kind of inspiration that spawns bravery, action, and artful living.

yours,

rachelle

Broken For You
Posted in Rites & Rituals, Priestess-y things, SFD & Arty Stuff | May 31st, 2005 at 9:25 pm

In the The Secret Life of Bees there is a character who has a unique affliction. She cannot decipher which sorrows are hers to carry and which are for others to bear. So whatever she hears, whatever sad tale she is told, it strikes her with its full grief and terror. Her sisters, good shepherds all, give her a way to express and reign in her sorrow. They help her build her very own wailing wall. With each fresh pain they add a stone, and the afflicted one is allowed to sit and sob, to write her sad tales on small scraps of paper and slip them in the hallows between the rocks. Soon the wall encircles their yard, and while it is not a foolproof system, while it does not protect her from grief, it gives her a way to live.

Being both Jew-ish and pagan-y, I have been captured by this ritual, this concretizing of sad things. Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who attended the BlogHer session “Its not your size, it’s your passion that matters” I did today with Jen Lemen and Krystyn Heide, here’s some ideas for dealing with the Small Bloggers Blues

1. Take a break from your site meter
2. Redefine success for yourself. List all things your blog does for you (fosters gratitude in your life, helps you hone your craft, organizes your thoughts…)
3. Write yourself an affirmation. I like this one: “My story matters.”
4. Reach out to another small blogger. Take this feeling that you have about being discouraged or not “not mattering” and take it as a cue that you need to reach out to others who are feeling the same
5. Join the SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL google group. (I’ll link to it when it is available.)
6. Follow an comment you like back to the commenter’s blog you’ll probably find an inspirational read from someone who shares your values.
7. Tag your posts with your name (or nom de plume) and your blog name so like minded souls can find you.
8. Remind yourself that you are writing for an audience of one. Make yourself a sticker that says “I heart authenticity.”