Foxy fun

A Free Press article inspired me to try something fun and spontaneous today. I read about the Foxy Shoppe on the weekend, and stopped by there (at 87 King St.) on my way home from a meeting downtown this morning.  Supporting local businesses is important to me, so I wanted to check this place out...

As soon as I walked in, I met Pamela, who owns the Foxy Shoppe (I think her last name is Fox).  I told her I was feeling a little flattened from a few  challenging things happening simultaneously in my life.  She told me that I'd come to the right place.  I guess she was right because I left with a spring in my step and a little giggle under my breath.


From the outside, the Foxy Shoppe looks like a lingerie store.  But its so much more... I tried on a vintage style dress WITH A CRINOLINE!!! I cannot tell you how fun it was to put that dress on and spin around in front of the mirror!  I also tried on this blue number because Pamela said it was a great colour for me.  I think she told me I was lovely 6 times during our short time together.  Her soft spoken little kindnesses were timed just right!


This store is all about fun, fancy dresses and lots of things to help women feel confident and fun. What caught my eye about the article in the Free Press was that the store wants to help women feel good about being women, celebrating all their curves and femininity.

I am definitely planning to return, and next time (since I now know what to expect) I will buy a fun party dress. (Lisa, if you're reading this, I'm hoping that New Years Eve could be a wear-your-new-party-dress kind of affair?)

I hope some of you Winnipeggers will go visit the Foxy Shoppe and support Pamela.  Her blog tells a little bit about her dream for this little boutique, and I hope our city could help it be one of those dreams that comes true.

You can like The Foxy Shoppe on FB - there are giveaways on there every once in a while and updates about new inventory.  Stop in for a browse around when you're in the Exchange. Just so you know...  apparently they are getting a lot more dresses in over the next couple of weeks.

oh, and by the way, if you're someone who asks about where goods originate, you'll be happy to know that Pamela is committed to buying Canadian or continental wherever she can.  She even has a couple of local designers showcased in the store. The fact that she does  her purchasing with a conscience sealed the deal for me, I know I'll be back!

movin' on up

I am the owner of an iPhone.  How strange.

Telus announced a free 3GS iphone package recently, and after investigating the details, we discovered that the monthly costs were only a few dollars more than our current rate.  So, we took the plunge and got the free phones.

It was weird walking away from the mall with the new phones in hand.  I actually felt nauseous, like I'd sold my soul to the Man or something.

In the last few weeks though, I've become a huge fan.  I think I spent a whole evening surfing through the app store.  Here are my favorite apps so far -

• runkeeper.  keeps routes, kms, records, and records other exercises (walking, cycling)  Plus, it tells you your pace every five minutes, like a personal trainer.  Told me I ran just about 7k on Sunday morning, I was pretty happy with that!
• loseit.  incase i needed the reminder that i consume more calories than I should 3 days out of 5.
• whitenoise.  i actually use this in counselling sessions, clients like the soothing background sounds. (so do I)
• cardstar. keeps a barcode image of your reward points cards. (airmiles, sobeys, petro can, hbc ...)  Great because my husband and I often shared rewards cards and ended up not getting the points when the person with the card wasn't the person at the till.
• groupon.  i've bought a few groupons (the body shop one was a great deal!), and this app keeps track of them so I don't need a paper copy.  another convenience thing - how often have you clipped some coupon, only to leave it stuck to your fridge, then had an opportunity to use it and not had it on hand.  I do that all the time!

The main reason both my husband and I wanted the phone was to have a portable dayplanner and calendar.  With school assignments, community life, and kids activities we often are supposed to be in several places at once.  We've both heard the other say: 'oh, no, i forgot about that ... again' a few too many times lately.  

It's also pretty nice to have the camera.  We've lost all our photos twice in the last three years (crashing laptops with failed backups), and since the last time, I haven't even taken pictures off the camera - my heart just wasn't in it anymore.  I'm a little ashamed to say that it took this new 'toy' for me to get back to loving taking photos!  Here's a couple from lately...

We had a fundraising carwash for our daughter's upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic with her dance team.  Fun times!

First bbq nite in the greenspace this year.

lenten exercises and friendship offerings

Over at Flats this year, we decided to do an interesting experiment/exercise during Lent.  It came about through some dialogue during our house meetings ...  we were wondering if there was some way we could observe lent together, as a community.  This was an interesting discussion, because how/what we sacrifice is a personal decision, related to the things we individually feel led to release.  Still, we wondered if there would be some way to observe lent and practice spiritual disciplines together in preparation for Easter and the meaning of Resurrection.

Someone suggested that we become more in touch with our consumption patterns by trying to buy fewer groceries and being really intentional about using what we have on hand.  Then someone else suggested that we make it really 'visual' and put the contents of our cupboards onto a table that would stay right out in the open in the shared kitchens.  We could watch the stockpile diminish as Lent progressed.  I found that to be a powerful visual reminder week to week.  The suggestions made shaped the plan we embarked on on Ash Wednesday.  We ate some really creative meals (even more so than usual!), and got rid of a lot of canned and dry goods (not to mention at least a dozen jars of pickled things!), plus we emptied a lot of the frozen stuff that accumulates over time in big chest freezers.  The concept got off to a bit of a slow start (I was one of the grocery shoppers during the first week of lent, and my co-shopper actually had to stop at the end of the trip and remind me of our lenten plan - after I remembered,  we ended up putting a bunch of stuff right back on the shelf!)


Right from the start, the plan was to buy less and see if we could save a few bucks.  We decided if we managed to do that, we might be able to do something creative with the savings after Easter.  Last week, we put our heads together and decided to make care packages for 4 families in the neighborhood with the $200 we saved during lent.  It was fun shopping for them and assembling the packages, even more fun to think of who we'd like to surprise with the gift.

The thing that astonishes me about this exercise is that we already eat, shop, and live very simply at Flats.  The whole community got involved at some level (right down to kids helping with the cards for the care packages).

For me, it was such a vivid picture of sacrifice as invitation to something that can't be understood any other way.  I saw the grasp consuming has on me in a new light .... maybe a bit more clearly.

spaces

I did a post last year about aesthetics, and I find myself thinking on that topic some more. This time, I'm thinking about physical spaces more than I am about beauty.

 I'm intrigued by the influence our physical environment has on us.  I wonder how much we can be swayed because we believe the environment is a really important influence.(Does it matter as much if we have no idea its supposed to matter?!?)  I find myself wondering how much the media message (in magazines, on sitcom sets, in the weekend lifestyle pullout section of the paper, on TLC programs, ....)  that tells us what a desirable space is supposed to look like has influenced us to feel more or less at peace depending how well we've achieved the right look.....

Even though I am aware that there is some level of influence between state of mind and the external environment, I continue to be resistant to over-emphasizing the importance of decor/space/aesthetics.  I wonder if our culture has been too prone to poorly ordered priorities, and if our 'space' may be one of those things that gets more attention than it should.

I found this old issue of a Manitoba periodical called the Birth Vine in my office, and there in the middle of it were a few pages penned by one of my good friends, a midwife who spent some time working at a birthing clinic in the Philippines a few years ago.  She wrote a lot about the state of healthcare in developing regions where poverty is widespread.  But she also wrote about her family's adjustment to living in very cramped quarters that were very different from the North American home they had come from.   Many of her patients pooped into a bag because they didn't have a toilet.  She gained perspective when she compared realities around her to the desire to have her place set up 'just so', or to have enough rubbermaid containers to feel more organized.  What would some of her clients - who might not even have electricity  - have to say about the fact that we have huge superstore-warehouses devoted to light fixtures,  so that homeowners can find just the perfect accent piece for a certain wall.  (I know this ... I was in one today!) Or how would they respond when we get all bent out of shape because lighting isn't 'just right' and a desired 'ambience' hasn't been achieved?  What does ambience look like in a one room hut, anyway?

The conclusions I'm drawing have to do with rightly ordering things, which I think is what I ended up saying in my other post on this topic last year.

Sure, space and environment are worth thinking about.  But maybe we should think about them in the context of how they support priorities like relationship.  Maybe we should be wary of a preoccupation with 'spaces' that might displace other things that should be more central.  And maybe we should draw lines for ourselves so we can say 'stop' before we've crossed over and given 'spaces' more weight than we should.  And maybe we should think about how the rest of the world lives.

April Raintree

We just got back from our yearly family vacation in Whiteshell Park. We had a great time!! This year was a bit different, we added a new cabin to the mix and couldn't really plan in advance for the ways it changed the dynamic of our time there. As always, we were all sad when Sunday morning arrived and packing up started.

On the long drive to Manitoba, I read April Raintree aloud to the family (well, mostly Brendan, the kids think my reading is dumb now that they are so old! - but Owen did listen to the last third or so of the story...)

Have you read this Canadian classic? If not, or if its been a while, you should pick it up again this summer. Beatrice Mosionier is the author. It is a fictional (but entirely plausible) account of two biological sisters and their journey as women of Aboriginal ancestry, as they reconcile personal and cultural realities. It is an easy but profound read.

Here is an excerpt from book, written by one of the sisters:

White Man, to you my voice is like the unheard call in the wilderness. It is there, although you do not hear.
But, this once, take the time to listen to what I have to say.
Your history is highlighted by wars. Why is it alright for nations to conquer one another in an attempt at dominion?
When you sailed to our lands, you came with your advanced weapons. You claimed you were a progressive, civilized people....
White Man, when you came, most of our tribes began with peace and trust in dealing with you. We showed you how to survive in our homelands. We were willing to share with you our vast wealth. Instead of repaying us with gratitude, White Man, you turned on us....
When we, the Indian People, realized your intentions, we rose to do battle, to defend our nations, our homes, our food, our lives. And for our efforts, we are labelled savages. Our battles are called massacres.
When our primitive weapons could not match those that you had perfected through centuries of war, we realized that peace could not be won, unless our mass destruction took place. And so we turned to treaties.. and ran into your cunning trickery. We lost our lands, our freedom, and were confined to reservations. And WE are held in contempt.
White Man, there is much deep, simple wisdom from our forefathers. We were here for centuries. We kept the land, the waters, the air, clean and pure, for our children and for our children's children.
Now that you are here, White Man, the rivers bleed with contamination. The winds moan with the heavy weight of pollution. The land vomits up the poisons that have been fed into it. Our Mother Earth is no longer clean and healthy; she is dying.
White Man, in your greedy rush for money and power, you are destroying. Why must you have power over everything? Why can't you live in peace and harmony? Why can't you share the beauty and the wealth given to us by Mother Earth?...
White Man, you say that we are a people without dignity. But when we are sick, weak, hungry, poor, when there is nothing for us but death, what are we to do? We cannot accept the life that has been imposed upon us.
You say that we are drunkards, that we live for drinking. But drinking is a way of dying. Dying without enjoying life. You have given us many diseases... the worst disease, for which there is not immunity, is alcoholism. And you condemn us for being its easy victims. And if you don't condemn us, you weep for us and pity us.
We, the Indian People, are dying. The land we lost, it is dying too.
Weep not for us; weep for yourselves.
Weep for your children.
Because you are taking everything today.
And tomorrow, nothing will be left for them.


I found so many parallels to scripture in this little essay. Can you hear Mark's admonition to have eyes that see? Can you envision one of the prophets delivering a stern, profound message like this? Can you see Jesus reaching toward, offering dignity that had been unjustly robbed?

Might is NOT right. I pray that someday, we, the powerful will get that.

Sitting there being fascinating....

In December, I was looking for something good to read and I took a book off the shelf in my room called 'Hope's Edge'. (authored by Anna and Frances Lappe) I remember buying this book ages ago for about $1 from some second hand shop somewhere... but I didn't pick it up immediately. I'm not completely done yet, but its been inspiring me lots, so I'm sharing a bit today... I can't believe this book was just sitting there on my shelf being fascinating all this time and I waited so long to read it!

Somehow this book seems to be helping me to answer the question of 'why bother?' - as in... "How can my choices have any impact on the world I live in - not just my local community, but the whole globe.. there is so much madness, and I'm just one person.. WHY BOTHER? I can't make a difference anyway "...

But.. my personal choices DO have an impact. I can respond to an economic system that makes wealth a priority at the increasing expense of those who already have the least. (and doesn't seem to have any problem at all with the ongoing pursuit of wealth - doesn't anyone else feel compelled to say ENOUGH!!!????) I can speak out in small ways when I have an opportunity. I can have a social conscience without being obnoxious. (At least, no one has told me I'm obnoxious lately... ) And I can continue to try to make sense of it all, realizing that any awareness I gain can only help and that I don't have to feel entirely helpless. I don't have to embrace the direction or principles of the majority.

Here's my simple start: Consume less. Not because its trendy to simplify, but because we recognize that the principles learned in Economics 101 (If we demand, supply will follow) are very much at work in our world. We North Americans demand stuff at low prices. (Hurray for Walmart, right?). If we stopped demanding so much, supply would respond. And if we were willing to pay fair prices for goods, producers wouldn't be forced to find ways to make everything cheaper at all costs. Shop less.. you could save the world! (How's that for a slogan?)

Does anyone else think its outrageous when our politicians and leaders tell us to consume more to keep the economy strong? Everything is changing.. so.. GO SHOPPING!!! That is our salvation - spending money?? Then we're really sick!!! I know there are global economic reasons to ensure a strong North American Economy... but do we ever stop and say .. hey.. wait a sec... what if we let the structure collapse into a heap of rubble.. then we rebuilt in ways that learned from our former mistakes and were sustainable for the whole world.. ?? I know.. I'm idealistic and uninformed. Forgive me for my idealism and belief that we're more than consumers. Forgive me for thinking that our existence is more about how we care for all of our neighbors than how we can exploit one another. And forgive me for hating the idea of having nothing more to offer than going to the mall or buying a bigger house to store all that stuff I don't need.

Ooopps... back to the book - rant completed... The title 'hope's edge' refers to the many ways that our world is on the edge of hope.. pushing our ability to recover to the very edge of hope. (Global warming as an example). Yet there are stories and people who just defy the norm and do amazing and inspiring things right there 'at the edge of hope'.

"We must warn you though; this kind of hope isn't clean or tidy. Honest hope has an edge. It's messy. It requires that we let go of pat answers, preconceieved formulas, confidence that our sailing will be smooth. Its not a resting point.. honest hope is movement." (from the book's intro)

The first chapter is called 'Maps of the Mind' - and talks about how we get enslaved into thinking the majority perspective. How we become hopeless.... It refers to finding our voices and providing REAL leadership that is creative and innovative and HELPFUL instead. (as opposed to being primarily concerned with preserving the status quo)

How can people be empowered to believe that they can actually DO something? How can a sense of powerlessness be overcome?

.. we need to see the examples regularly. We need to stop the flow of overwhelmingly negative images and messages that we receive from the media. We need to believe that those sporadic feel good stories are more than an occasional occurence, but that THEY are the norm. (My life does demonstrate that, by the way.. I see some very innovative, creative, hopeful people on a regular basis - and they're doing wonderful things. I believe we are far more selfless than any of us give ourselves credit for being)

"we don't see ourselves as creaters and choosers in this world. Our planet in decline is 'just happening'. ... we dont perceive the assumptions which, once in play, silently fuel this destruction of life. As long as we're blind to our own assumptions, other paths are invisible... what we have is all there is." (p20)

"We view ourselves as thinkers.. I've come to see that we're not only thinkers, we're absorbers. We mold our perceptions of reality and of ourselves to conform to the ideas we hold. We absorb ideas in fact WITHOUT thinking." (p21)

Our acceptance of outrageous 'groupthink' behaviour is cited:

-No one among us would choose to let any child die of hunger or preventable diseases. But it happens, thousands of times over, each and every day and we think we're powerless.

-No one among us thinks its okay to make choices that result in permanently destroying plant and animal species crucial to ecosystems all over the world. But it happens, each day and we think we're powerless.

-No one would choose to poke a giant hole in the ozone, and steadily increase the rate of cancer and death. But it has happened, and we think we're powerless.

-No one wants to return to a world where class and status determine everything.. but we don't despair when we read about millionaires who keep accumulating while the working poor can't own property without astronomical debt from moneylenders whose activities are more criminal than commercial. it's all happening... we think it 'is the way it is'.... and we're powerless.

There will likely be more from this book on this blog at some point... the surface has barely been scratched. I've especially enjoyed reading about landless Brazilians who have been equipped to force the government to abide by their own land-return policies by community action, belief in something better... and the local church.

Read more from the authors of Hope's Edge here, or a review of the complete book here.

A closing quote that has been on my mind for so many reasons - especially as I consider my faith: "... private interest is the only immutable point in the human heart."

What do you think?

Can you feel it?

There are a couple of repeated messages/news items that I keep hearing lately.. some people are connecting them. I'm with them...

First, the economy is the biggest news item going. Even the seasonal cards and letters we received at work were laced with references to our sagging and struggling economy. You can't open a magazine or a news site without hearing about how bleak and difficult things are.

Second, is a growing desire to return to simpler lifestyles, frugal choices.. consuming less and losing the motivation to accumulate stuff. Being more contemplative about how we live... a desire for more being replaced with a desire for less... Macleans had a cover article about frugality recently that helped me to see that this is a bigger trend than I had thought.


Have you noticed it too? This week, I was reflecting on this and wondered if the Spirit of God is behind it all.. you know, we (I?) tend to think of the Spirit often in terms of our personal lives, our own needs, relationships, our context... (or maybe thats just me) - we sometimes neglect to consider the larger picture, the ways that a sovereign God interacts with humanity and creation. It seems like there is something afoot in North America. I'm excited about what this means for North American Christians... Many people are listening, caring, longing to rightly respond... I read their books, blogs, and articles. Even though I have difficulty connecting the overall state of Christianity in our culture with the individual people that I interact with and know... the truth is that the church has somehow failed the rest of the world. It feels like we're realizing that, and wanting to do more about it. It feels like real justice, mercy, compassion, selflessness are increasingly pursued and noticed. It feels like we're seeing that we need to do more than send a few missionaries or service workers overseas, or more than sending a cheque in the mail. It feels right.

__________________________________

So often during this advent season, I've bowed my head to pray and the prayer that springs immediately to mind is: 'Come, Holy Spirit..'

So now, I pray it for our world.. Come.. Holy Spirit.. be sovereign over our lifestyles, our culture, our blind spots, our priorities.
___________________

My growing Christmas wish list:

• I wish for children all over the world to be cared for.



• I wish for diseases and medical concerns that could be easily treated in the first world to be easily treated everywhere.



• I wish to be cured of Affluenza.



• I wish for no children to be involved in the sex trade.



• I wish for no children to ever have to become soldiers.



• I wish for access to clean water for people all over the world.



• I wish for people with much to be willing to share, to take responsibility.



• I wish for sustainable lifestyles all over the world.



• I wish for corrupt governments to become just.



• I wish for the horrible disease of greed to be cured.



• I wish for people people to stop doing nothing because they think they can't make a difference anyway.



• I wish for courageous, innovative, inspired leaders to show us how to rethink our faith and our responsibilities.

I hope some of you readers will interact with these observations.. I know I'm not the only one thinking about this stuff...

...think about it!

It's so expensive!!!

How often do we say that? In my mind, anytime I'm in a retail establishment, that statement is like a skipping CD over and over and over as I shop and compare and decide what to leave on the shelf and what to take home ... and how do I determine what is expensive and what is affordable? By comparing items to each other, of course. I do this all the time!!

But I was just doing a little surfing (explained once again by the fact that I'm supposed to be writing a research paper!) and I was on the Me to We site... I heard Craig Kielberger in Winnipeg a while back, at the Delta (where all the best breakfast meetings were always held with the tastiest orange juice in the city!.. and a parking lot that took me ALL the years I lived in that city to figure out!)...anyway, Me to We is marketing clothing now, so I was having a look. and of course, it ran through my head.....These t-shirts ARE SOOOO EXPENSIVE. and then a post began to form in my mind.

I was remembering a video I watched on Jeff's site, all about the product chain from production to consumption to disposal ... and one of the things mentioned was EXTERNALIZING COSTS. -Fancy phrase for something that retailers and manufacturers conspire to do in order to make other (poorer) people pay so the wealthiest people in the world can have more stuff for less money. (Thats the kelly interpretation)

Think about it.. I'll tell you a little of my journey with thoughts like this. I have been thinking about it. You know those shoe boxes we send to children in developing countries? Our family did them for years, some years we'd do 5-6/year. Then, one year, there was this great new store to help us with the shoebox items... Dollarama. I shopped at the first one in Winnipeg, on N. Henderson. It was awesome! They had much better selection than other dollar stores we'd bought items from, and I could get stuff for boys or girls, all ages, all in one stop. Great! Doing good deeds and convenience all wrapped up in one nice package with big green and yellow lettering. Makes me all ready for the holidays.
But hold on... how can these toothbrushes and pens and puppets and books and flashlights and crayons and socks and dolls and masks and toys all be $1 each?!?!??! How can the overhead, the wages, the shipping, the marketing, the manufacturing, everything be covered by my measly little loonie?

Something is fishy here... It just doesn't make sense. Someone, somewhere is paying for this because there is NO WAY that the costs and profits (and you can bet your very last loonie that Profits aren't the thing being sacrificed for me to pay low prices!!) are being covered by the retail price I'm paying.

Hey... wait a minute... I wonder if the economic circumstances in all those countries where the thousands and thousands of shoe boxes are being sent are helped or hindered by my ability to buy goods for $1 and ship it back to them in a nice Christmas-y box? ... Hmmmm...

So back to Me to We... that 'expensive' clothing? Here's some info about it...

"Our product line is domestically produced, sweatshop-free and made using certified organic cotton and bamboo. In addition, 50 per cent of our profit goes to our charity partner, Free The Children, to support development projects in rural and impoverished areas across the globe. It’s responsible clothing for responsible living."

Not really that expensive, now that I think about it.

... when something is INEXPENSIVE for me... its likely EXPENSIVE for someone, somewhere. So comparing items on the shelf to each other... probably not really the right considerations to determine what is or is not expensive.

Happy Shopping.. and Merry Christmas.

Local Events

We're planning to check out a couple of events locally this weekend:

World Vision is presenting One Life; a presentation that will promote understanding and awareness about AIDS as a global concern.

http://http//www.worldvision.ca/ContentArchives/content-stories/Pages/OneLifeExperienceKicksOffCross-CanadaTour.aspx

There is something that I heard about called the We Are Many festival. Its a multi generational fair, with childrens performers, workshops, an arts emphasis, and lots of other informative stuff that helps us understand and bring home sustainability concerns.

http://www.wearemanyfestival.com/

What I'm not reading, and "stuff"

I haven't been doing any 'spiritual' reading lately. Not a devotional book, not the Bible, nada. I'm sort of disappointed with myself, because I usually do spend time reading those... especially on vacation. Normally, I come away from vacations filled up with some insight or new learning, something that energizes me for weeks afterward. Not this time. Hmmm. I don't like it. I feel sad about it.

While I've not been reading, (at least very recently), I've been at home sorting and decluttering and re-organizing our house. Sydney is now in the basement, and the office is in the process of coming upstairs in the recently vacated spare room. I'm amazed at the stuff we have. Actually I'm amazed at the s**t we have.

Granted, the move here was quick and we didn't really sort anything, we just threw things into boxes and threw the boxes onto a U-Haul .. I started work after living here for two days, and so we'd still not really unpacked a lot of stuff. (Who knew a year was so short?!) But still, I'm trying to be self-evaluative here, and I keep asking myself: "Kelly, why did you ever bring this into the house? What makes you think you need this? Why are you looking to make space for this?"

The answer is inevitably something that starts with 'what if....' or 'maybe....' As in 'maybe at thanksgiving, I'll fill this wicker cornucopia thing with fallen leaves and autumn florals' or 'what if I get really crafty someday and then I'll need these needles/pieces of fabric/ribbons/10 year old pine cones' .... WHO do I think I'm fooling? I've carted around tons of CRAP for years!! And, yes, I sometimes use it, but mostly, it just moves from house to house - but not only that, it GROWS from one house to the next. I really want to stop this behaviour. I think I might need an intervention.

The one thing I defend (at least for now) is BOOKS. I love books. And I've read at least half of the books I own. Maybe even more. Someday I'll read them all. Really, I will.