An article I wrote about Easton, CT farmer Al Barney called, “A self-sustaining farmer.”
Check it out.
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/nutmeg/early-winter-2011-12/working-the-land.htm
A message to my blog
Dear Blog,
Well, in a few short weeks it will be two years since I started writing in you. And so much has happened in my world – and the bigger world – since then.
As it should be, don’t you think?
Trying to keep things the same is just too hard – and counter intuitive really.
Positive relationships can appear seemingly out of nowhere. As long as we don’t settle for sameness. They are connections that enrich our lives. And we should never maintain anything less.
Blog, I am so glad I started writing in you.
Since we have met …
One thing I have come to understand is that change really does start from the inside and work its way out. Another lesson I have learned is that progress is not always linear.
Also, it has become clear that life is not worth living if we don’t at least try to fulfill our dreams and live by impulses.
At least for me.
I started writing in you, my toddler blog, because I finally asked myself the question that I had asked so many friends – “What would you do if you knew that you would not fail?”
“Write a blog on farming,” I responded to myself.
As we both know the blog – that’s YOU – did not remain strictly about farming. It is a place I write about returning to a simpler way of living. You have become a blog that also incorporates societal issues and personal quandaries.
Your evolution has been a pleasure for me. The way I see it I followed my heart when starting you and by continuing to seek in my life you have become what you are today.
None of us stay the same and so I think our dreams and aspirations also must evolve. I believe that if we head out in the direction of our dreams we will make choices that are true to us. And each step will reflect a progression in our evolution.
We will come to understand that it is unequivocally about the journey because the idea of a set destination will cease to exist as we recognize life as being fluid.
You and I, we are travel companions.
Thank you for being a place that I can editorialize. A place where I can vent and question and query.
How great is that!
I am fully aware that it is not just the two of us though. That our relationship gets watched by more and more people all the time (yay)!!
I like to keep the most private parts of my life to myself (i.e. off the Internet) but I do try to always give you my personal truth.
It was two years ago, during the December holidays, that I made the decision to start our relationship. It was a gift to myself in a way.
One thing I like about the December holidays is it takes us out of our normal routine. It throws our lives into disarray. And we can tap into that and see potential fresh horizons.
Alternatively, I guess, we can wait patiently, stoically and statically for the time when we can return to what has become routine for us. And we can say that is normal. But is it?
I hope that during this December holiday people might look to us, dear blog, as inspiration. So that they might look into themselves. To ask questions that help get at what is true for them and end up sailing off into their dreams.
When the year turns from 2011 into 2012 I hope we have all learned a thing or two about ourselves. And, I hope we live by those truths.
I am glad that you are always here, my blog, waiting, accepting and true.
If you could speak back to me I would hope you could say that you feel appreciated, because you are.
Thank you for everything!
Laura
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Posted in about my blog, Blog Birthdays, society, The Internet
Story in this week’s Easton Courier newspaper …
Story I wrote -
How does your garden grow? For at-home grower, fall is a season for reflection
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Posted in Uncategorized
My 2011 Holiday Web Design Special!
As you may know, in addition to being a writer I am also a Web designer. And, I have just added my annual Holiday Web Design Special to my site.
This year’s special is …
The Placeholder Web Page!
A custom-made one page design which will encapsulate all the relevant information – in text and images – about your company, your group, your talent … or that great new idea!
So, if your site needs a an update or you want to create something entirely different, this will give you a way to get started.
Read more here! – http://aspetuckmedia.com/2011holidayspecial.html
Have a great holiday!
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Posted in The Internet
Occupy Yourself – Have yourself a very simple holiday
If you are like me you are already fed up with people telling you the most meaningful way to spend your money this holiday season.
Fill your heart with love this holiday season.
Whether or not you blame banks for the country’s decay, do yourself and the future of the economy a world of good by emerging from the holidays debt-free. And you can enhance your relationships in the process.
The other day, I was talking to a friend about being meaningful this year for the holidays. We started joking. I suggested, for all the warm-weather-loving-friends, it would be thoughtful to do something like bottle sunshine from the summer.
There is nothing more beautiful than an uncomplicated, innocent gesture of caring. And, yet, it is not sold on any store shelf.
Once you put a price tag on something don’t you limit its meaning?
I can already imagine the hoards and nuisance that will be swarming around the stores in the coming weeks. What I do not imagine from all that brouhaha is joy.
What brings you joy?
At best, shouldn’t we give the ones we love our time?
Our relationships are reflections of our selves. Shouldn’t we give them our best?
Relationships are about feelings, about shared experiences, understanding and support.
Those are not commodities. They are seldom heard about in relation to gift-giving because there is no profit for manufacturers, retailers or chain stores. Harmony and understanding do not pay for media messages.
But what exactly are the messages we most want to hear?
The saddest words are those unspoken – and all-too-often they have to do with love. How wonderful would it be to give the gift of loving words to those you care about most?
I can imagine some of you scoffing right about now or eye-rolling. But there is nothing bigger than beautiful connections between people. And the time – and cost – saving marvel is we do not have to find the right box or wrapping paper.
So, let’s say you decide to give of yourself to your loved ones this year – how would you set your budget? Love is not love until you give it away, so it is only to your advantage to set a really high budget.
Not money though. Not gadgets or gizmos or the latest, brightest and most glittering marvel on a store shelf.
If you really want to help the shape of the country make the people you love feel good about themselves. Help them bolster their self-esteem to achieve their dreams.
Those are gifts that will not be returned or the wrong size.
When someone asks what you would like for the holidays – ask for something that will enhance whatever is most special between the two of you. Or whatever you want FOR the relationship.
Have yourself a wonderful holiday season – of your own intent … and making.
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Posted in Community, Feeling Connected, society
Leave that sales pitch at your portal, please
A woman I know has been posting promotional bits on a linkedin.com group message board where we are both members – and it has become overkill. And someone recently told her so as a response to one of her ads.
She and I have exchanged a few messages on the topic and it is amazing to me that she is at a loss as to how to move forward.
It is as if this is the only marketing tool she has. How is online the only way to go?
She is a smart, interesting, caring woman who could certainly show her talents in any of a number of ways.
I think along the way someone must have put the word out that marketing to the masses is easy online. After all, that group I’m talking about has over 3,000 members. Why shouldn’t she use that as a resource?
Because it is not exactly a resource these days.
There was a time when, if you could reach 3,000 people, chances are you would sell to several. But that is when you were actually meeting these people. Talking to them and making that connection.
Online promotion and “social” networking have become so ridiculously saturated with advertising (thinly-veiled or otherwise) that posting something on a message board or social networking status is no longer clever – or effective – marketing.
I design Web sites and have said all along – and I started well before Facebook or Linkedin were around – that the three reasons people go to the Internet are: entertainment, information and shopping. And when I say “shopping” I mean to buy something they know they want – not what someone else is promoting.
Nobody – and I mean NOBODY – goes online for marketing ads. Nobody wants it. And we are all becoming savvy to the ways people hawk their wares.
Whether it is posting helpful or expert advice or special offers – we get that you are trying to sell us something. And we don’t want to engage in your marketing campaign.
Ugh.
So, what is a business to do?
I think it is hard for everyone nowadays. People don’t have a lot of money and getting them to spend it on what you are selling is rarely easy.
Hmm, maybe that is a problem. Marketing on the Internet was promoted as easy. People were told that it is simple. And then all the lazy people – and let’s face it, if they’re that lazy they likely don’t have something useful to sell – got online and started marketing their junk.
It worked for a little while. People got excited about finding stuff in this newfangled way. And the sheer volume of what was being done created a mass appeal and the big guns stepped in to make big bucks.
Then, marketing turned into something anyone with a modem could do. So, now the entire world can sell online and most of them are not being entirely classy about it. And “marketing,” in turn, became synonymous with “unpleasant.”
What sells?
In my opinion, the same thing that has always worked. Relationships. Communication.
And maybe there we have it again. Maybe people aren’t finding a lot of depth in their online associations. Online is virtual and we all yearn for what is real and meaningful.
And what is real and meaningful when it comes to business?
Give your customers or clients value and quality and good service. Work hard for their business. That is the real sustainability, in my opinion. We’re all keyed into the all-too-common method of raising prices and lowering quality. And now that we are all recognizing the value of our money, we are rapidly losing patience with that lowbrow tactic.
And apart from having a well-made and informative Web site, there isn’t all that much you can – or should? – be doing online to market your business.
Well, unless you’re running a big site that attracts a lot of people who want to sell to the masses. And then you use their numbers to get your own advertising dollars.
After all, the people getting really rich from online marketing have the sites where the little guy thinks he can strike it rich.
When I login I still want either entertainment, information or to buy something specific that I already know I want. The rest is just white noise to me – and it’s getting louder and more irritating!
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Posted in society, The Internet
Losing power is not just an electricity issue
I never thought I would be so grateful to be able to wash my dishes, refrigerate and cook food, sleep in a warm room or work at my computer. The power failure in New England following last weekend’s freak October nor’easter has realigned priorities for a lot of people.
But I have to wonder how far people have let themselves go in terms of this rethink.
The morning after last weekend's freak October 2011 nor'easter.
Spending time in a cold, dark house allows you to think about what your soul needs. What will nurture you and make you feel good. It is true that while you’re cold and hungry nothing else matters. But we’re lucky if these are temporary conditions.
And maybe we’re overlooking a lot if we allow other power losses to be permanent.
For, while we need the basics for our physical needs, and we all know what those are, I think it is important to measure, or gauge, what our hearts and souls need.
These are also important issues. Just oft-times overlooked perhaps.
The storm aftermath will become the past soon. It does, however, shape us. And I think the choices we make as we get back to our lives matter. All life really is is a series of choices anyway.
On all sorts of levels, we choose failure over success when we take offense by the lessons or blame the messenger.
I am definitely not saying we should be grateful for the horrendous weather situations we have been through here in New England. C’mon, really. Blizzards, earthquake, tropical storm, floods, nor’easter…. It seems relentless.
We have come to wonder what will happen next.
But to recognize that even in affluent areas like Fairfield County, Connecticut, we are not in charge, is a big and good lesson to learn.
I think it could go a long way towards learning to appreciate each day AND recognize what we do have the power to control and change.
There is nothing we can do about extreme weather. But we can try the roads we have always dreamed of traveling. We can learn new skills. We can rally for better relationships and more love in our lives.
It would probably be a good idea to do some storm preparedness but at a more basic and primal level, I think we would do well to put some of our focus on achieving happiness.
So, consider making an effort to change the situations you have always wanted to alter. Just do it. Don’t worry about when the next natural disaster will happen. Find what makes you happy.
Because, I gotta say, that while the basics that electricity allows us are a big deal, we should not let the fundamentals for our soul experience long-term outages.
There is no physical grid for things like self-respect, nurturing, learning and compassion. But there can be a personal one when the lights inside of you turn on.
And then just you wait and see how the winds of change blow wild and free!
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Posted in Feeling Connected, Nourishment Reunion, Simple pleasures
The 5 things you really need for winter
I don’t know about my fellow New Englanders but I am getting a little stressed about the approaching (encroaching) winter season. The nightmare I have is that last year’s record-breaking horrendous winter will look tame by comparison.
This year, though, I am going to be ready!
Even the snow people were stressed last winter.
Forget the roof rakes, ice melt and shovels … according to my extensive research, here is what you must stock up on in preparation for winter:
1. Vodka
This is the perfect cold weather beverage to have on-hand. Think of the winter-themed White Russians. And you can make Jell-o shooters with your friends. Vodka looks like water, so it is almost like being healthy. All-in-all, a perfect winter condiment.
2. Cake mix
Well, I do like stirring cake mix. It is really soothing and distracting to pop the little batter bubbles. And decorating is a lot of fun. Just steer clear of the sprinkles and those little candy flakes. They might be too similar to snow and frighten you out of your vodka-induced mellowness.
3. Frozen pizza
Get the healthy kind, of course. Chop up vegetables and other toppings. Just be careful with a knife after drinking the White Russians. Oh, bonus: Running the oven is a good way to get the kitchen warm and toasty.
4. Tequila
When you feel like taking a break from the Vodka drinks, slip away for a bit to Margaritaville. It will help you remember that somewhere out there are white sand beaches. The lime juice gets your fruit for the day in and is packed with vitamins.
5. Movies
Don’t be a wimp and get movies with summer themes, distracting love stories or exotic warm weather locales. Show your family and friends how tough you are by renting films like “Misery,” “Into Thin Air: Death on Everest” and “Alive.” A good family film for winter is “Eight Below.”
What did you really need last winter?
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Posted in Being Seasonal, Learning from nature, Simple pleasures
The taboo topic of LOVE
People joke about feeling sentimental and loving. We wrack our brains screwing up the courage to admit feelings of love. And we don’t talk about love as a matter of course in polite conversation.
Other topics like sex, war and politics are fair game. Everyone has feelings about these topics. Sometimes strong emotions easily conveyed. But heaven forbid we were to have love as something people talk about in their daily lives. Something you chatted about with the clerk at the grocery store or the guy who fixed your washing machine.
What’s up with that?
It is on everyone’s mind. Everyone wants to feel loved and accepted. It is a common thread through humanity and in our hearts. And yet it is denied to people in their daily lives all too often.
People should not have to seek it. There should be an abundance on offer everyday. After all, love is not love until you give it away. But, I think the crux and pity of it all is that we people mostly do not know how to love. So, we are awkward about the topic.
And, really, we should all easily be experts.
Some might believe that love is just something we utter in a darkened room or in passing at the end of a phone call or email or get together. But it is an emotion that is all-encompassing, enriching and deserving of more than a cursory glance.
Last week, I was getting a coffee drink at a place I go to on a fairly regular basis. I know most of the people who work there. The guy preparing the drinks on this particular day is one of my favorites.
He is just really nice. And really courteous for someone so young. Plus, he seems to care about what he does.
Well, that day I made a comment about how I like the way he prepares the coffee drinks. A lady working there said that he has a secret ingredient.
I said, oh, he makes the coffee drinks with love.
The lady said, no, he IS love.
I thought that was kind of an odd statement to make. But this guy, when you look at him, appears to not have a mean bone in his body. He just seems friendly and kind.
And, when you think about it, that really is love.
I replied that people don’t talk about love much in general conversation. And they both agreed, which made me feel kind of sad.
I have been thinking about this. Love should be THE ultimate easy topic to discuss. It IS the best thing around. And, it might be the only real thing there is out there – and inside.
There is nothing bad about love in its purest form. It is the ultimate in organic and natural.
Maybe like with natural healing remedies – it cannot be patented so there is no money in it. Hmm, maybe love IS the ultimate healing remedy. Maybe if love were a commodity it would be everywhere.
But love is not for sale. Just ask anyone who tries to buy it. Love is free. The one caveat being you gotta give it away to get it.
Nothing else really matters though.
Does it?
So, why is it so hard for people to discuss? Why do we give so much more attention to the shallow – or ephemeral – aspects of life? Why don’t we focus more on love.
Maybe, for many of us, we never really learn how to love. Or, maybe our innate capacity to love is snuffed out. Maybe the inherent hurt in life destroys our ability to love to a degree.
And maybe we should make it a priority to recapture the feeling of love we have when we come into the world.
Maybe love should be taught in schools? I mean, most of us can say, I never use Algebra in my daily life but we all seek love all the time. What is more vital for our happiness and success in life?
I know a lot of people who can do math either in their heads or on a computer. But I know very few in happy marriages. And then our leaders say that families are the foundation of our society.
Curriculum changes perhaps?
Two Pugs who know how to love.
I think this need for an openness about love is a reason people have pets. Dogs, for instance, will love you unconditionally. All you have to do is be nice to them and they will give you all they have to give.
And that reward is love – warm, caring, affectionate and joyful.
Maybe in this world of gotta have, need to get, we have become too evolved for love. And maybe this is a big part of returning to a simpler way of living.
Learn to love. Make it a priority. It is, after all, the most important thing you will ever do in your life. And that is worth discussing out in the open.
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Posted in society
They should not have remade “Footloose”
I don’t really care if the “Footloose” remake is a good movie or a bad one. To me, it is just a symbol of the lack of originality, creativity and effort in our society.
The new version of the movie, which opened this weekend with lackluster numbers, is basically a reconstruction. For all of you out there who watch television, it is a repeat but not a repeat.
You cannot duplicate originality.
A film is unlike a house, where the paint peels and floors scuff. The first “Footloose” is always available in its original glory, sparkling clean.
And, in fact, I would hazard a guess that a large part of what people connected with in the first film was/is its originality.
And even if the techniques have been used again in the interim and the story has been alluded to since its premiere. There will always be an innocence — and a spark of recognition of the creation of something new.
Try as you might, you cannot duplicate that.
Kevin Bacon owns the starring role in the O.R.I.G.I.N.A.L. And if you review popular culture since the film’s premiere nearly three decades ago you will see that his performance has been emulated and revered.
But, then, in large part popular culture here in 2011 is bland, ineffective and ephemeral. Few seem willing to take an original stand or act with real vision.
When I started this blog, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what would make it popular. Eventually I realized that I did not care. That I just wanted to write something that I would enjoy reading.
Of course I want others to read it, but I cannot project what will make that happen.
I guess what I am getting at, is it seems lately that there are more and more committees trying to second-guess the public and outsmart them. And the people on these committees are not experts on people or all-seeing. How could they know what people will connect to when it hasn’t been created yet?
The best any of us can do is speak from the heart and try to produce something genuine.
The original version of Footloose had heart and soul and asked some timeless questions. It used classic storytelling. The soundtrack was great. Songs included, “Holding out for a hero,” “Let’s hear it for the boys” and the title track, “Footloose.”
And I don’t really care how much respect the retelling cast and crew used in their efforts. That is just saying, I really respect someone else’s idea. Nice but it doesn’t make you copying that idea particularly innovative. They are two separate issues.
If they wanted to capitalize on the first “Footloose” maybe they should have done a sequel. They could have followed the original characters to 27 years later. Seen what impact their efforts to restore joy to their town manifested.
Maybe it would have been nice to see the legacy they created by standing up for themselves and their community? And it might have reminded people of how important it can be to take a stand and follow your heart to do something nobody else dares to do.
Because, hey, it gives future generations the impetus to try the same approach. And to know that anyone can make a difference.
The original film stirred something in audiences and in popular culture in the mid-80s. It changed things, pushed things along on a path. The retread might revisit that but it will not recapture it.
But, then, I don’t think the re-filmmakers are out for originality. And so, ultimately, they might reflect a large portion of our society in 2011 even if they fail to redefine it.
