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…

As you may know by now, Jen and I are constantly in the current of an on-going mutual love fest. Today she posted about the life-changing ‘writing’ retreat we embarked on last Summer. It’s fabulously written and you really must go over and have a gander. But the main reason I’m waxing poetic about Jen today is that I just got her amazing Zine in the mail. Beginnings is a full-color, hand-drawn, wisdom-and-wit-drenched glossy piece of goodness guaranteed to inspire the most stuck amongst us. Go order right now while you still can!

Without giving too much away, just let me say that one of the big themes in Beginnings is to dream big…Mondo Beyondo big. I tried very hard to be a good little girl and make my Mondo Beyond list last night – but I fear it might be a little tame in comparison to Jen’s heart-stopping list here. But still, it marks where my dreams are at in this moment, so I’ll Polaroid that here and now for future reference.

MONDO BEYONDO 2007

LIVE in Italy long enough that it feels like home.

TRAVEL each year to a far off destination until we feel like international pros.

SPEAK-TEACH in venues all over the place about art, spirituality, and all things Magpie-y and Urban Abbess-ish.

GET OVER my body issues and be at healthy weight once and for all. (actually this feels the most beyondo)

KICK ASS at being one or all of the following: Surfer. Pool Hustler. Yoga Guru.

SING my lungs out in front of a big crowd (and sound fantastic…maybe a little like her or her.)

GAZE out my apartment at Central Park before going to the Met to spend a day writing in the café overlooking the sun-filled sculpture garden.

FIND my long lost friend gay-best-guy-friend from college and be deliriously, platonically in love again.

INDULGE one week a year in a fabulous all-by-myself (or with one perfect partner) writing/creating retreat.

BE FEATURED in one fantastic interview with Ira Glass, or produce one fabulous story with him and the TAL crew.

EAT fabulous all-organic high-flavor food with Anne Lamott and a gaggle of girlfriends on a regular basis.

WEAR only handmade orginals like this, or this every day of my life.

ADOPT one fabulous child (or better yet a set of siblings) from anywhere improvrished and scary.

What are you dreaming about today? Put the link to your Mondo Beyond in the comments!

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!

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!)