collecting tokens

Dear Jen and Mad,

I want to thank you for starting the Just Posts, and keeping them going. Ever since I read a gift post by one of your original wedding attendees/co-brides, I have been drawn in. What’s more, I have taken it upon myself to draw others in. You see, I think that when a person makes an effort to use their voice for social change or for generally making the world a better place, that person deserves an audience. And I see the Just Posts as a means to that audience.

I think the voices do really matter. Mad, I know you have expressed some doubts about the possible emptiness of online activism. Are the Just Posts really Just Words? For me, at least, they are more than that. I have actually made efforts based on what I have read. I joined a CSA, to support a local farmer and sustainable agriculture. I have donated money. I have given gifts that benefitted a school library. I have considered ways to take action, and have at least in some cases, taken those actions. And, what I feel is most important, I have started to speak out more. I have shared my thoughts and my hopes, and found others who have listened. And I think that this in itself matters.

I must admit that I was taken aback when you started your gift registry list for the baby that the two of you are growing. When you asked for time for volunteering, for actual getting-out-of-the-house actions, I thought that this was too expensive a gift to request. You see, my life has gotten quite busy in the last few months. Pressures are building for school and work, and I’m at a point where I really need to buckle down and work towards my degree. At the same time, I have other demands from family and friends, which I cannot ignore to an even greater degree that I do now.

Here’s something kinda funny. Just a few weeks before you announced this new growth in your marriage, I had started to consider more ways that I could act. I have spent time in the past in volunteering activities, and these have been very important to me. Only few days before the big announcement, likely particulary inspired by this post of Jen’s, I started looking at online databases with volunteer opportunities, scoping out places that might be close to home. But I didn’t get too far. My scoping activities were likely cut short by some other demands on my time and attention. And I thought that this was perhaps not the right time for me to start wearing my volunteer pants again, but that I’d keep looking to see if there was something I could fit in down the road.

So when you made your request, I was thrown into a bit of an existential crisis. I may even have had a wee bit of a temper tantrum. I felt a little like I was being asked to clean my room, after I’d already decided to clean my room later. “I will not clean my room! I don’t want to!” I shouted to the universe. “I don’t need to clean my room!”

But the truth is, you are right. My room is a mess. I need to pick up the piles of stuff off the floor and take some action. Here’s the thing. I can’t promise a thorough job right now. It will have to be a gradual one. For a start, I will share my stories of volunteerism, in the hopes that these may motivate me more, and maybe someone else who sees them. I will look into volunteer opportunities, and share what I’ve learned. I will make some calls. And I will find more actions I can take.

I know it’s not the gift you were hoping for, but consider it more of a gift card. Or a promise of a gift card, scribbled on a greeting card. A re-used greeting card.

So, here’s to say thank you for all you do, and all the ways that you inspire me.

Much love,

alejna

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As the ultimate in tacky gift-giving, this post is being offered not only as a shower gift to Mad and Jen for their Just Post baby, but as an entry to the Monday Missions. This week’s mission was to write a post in the form of a thank you note.

I sent some holiday gifts this year that really made me feel good.

There are some family members for whom it has become increasingly harder to come up with ideas for gifts, since we don’t see or talk to them often enough to know their tastes well. When I can, I try to choose a book or CD that I liked, thinking they can at least pass it on to someone else if they don’t like it. In other cases, when I don’t have books or music in mind, I try to keep the gifts compact or consumable so that the recipient won’t be burdened with storage of something they might not really like. (I wrote some more thoughts about gift-giving at this time last year.)

This year, I was multiply inspired by some blogs I read. First, Mad of Under the Mad Hat described and showed photos of her impressive craftiness, and asked what sorts of holiday crafts her readers were up to. I replied that I had in the past made some Christmas tree ornaments, but that my own days of craftiness were largely behind me. Then Sage of Not So Sage went and showed her own crafty endeavors.

Somewhere along the way, I started reminiscing about the things I used to make with my hands, while dreading the experience of holiday shopping. And I thought to myself, “wouldn’t it be great to spend my time and energy making gifts, rather than desperately hunting for gifts and parking spaces?”

So I decided to dig out my supplies, my brass and copper wire, my tools and my beads, and to make some ornaments. (I’ll post some photos later.) My plan was to give an ornament to these hard-to-buy-for relatives, and supplement with a donation to Heifer International, or some such.

But then my next inspiration came in the form of a post from jen of One Plus Two. In her preamble to the November Just Posts presentation, she mentioned a project described by Jess of Oh, The Joys: the rebuilding of a school library in New Orleans that had been destroyed during hurricane Katrina. There is an Amazon wishlist for this school whereby people can purchase books for this library, and have them sent directly there.

So the idea fell into my lap what I could give to those various people. I picked out books from the wishlist that I thought would be appreciated by the giftees: music books for/from the musicians in the family, a history book for/from a history buff, art books for/from the artists. And for each gift I bought, I printed up an image of the book, and wrote a little note saying “We sent your gift to New Orleans!” (And briefly describing the project.) I got on such a roll, I even bought extra gifts for/from people I already had other gifts for.

I have to tell you, as I wrapped up my hand-made ornaments, and enclosed the notes, I have never felt so good about the gifts I sent.

The Just Posts are up again, and this time, it’s the first anniversary of the social justice wedding that started it all. Go have a look at the posts that are listed at jen’s, mad’s, susanne’s and hel’s. As usual, you can find posts on a range of topics of social justice and activism to get the blood pumping in your activist heart.

I’d also like to direct you to a post that jen put up just this morning. Jen writes beautifully and powerfully about her work in a homeless shelter, and the range of people she meets in her work. I often find myself trying to figure out more ways that I can make a difference, and reading jen’s writing makes me feel more of a sense of urgency.

The Just Posts roundtable is up once more, and I just can’t keep myself away from (or keep my elbows off) that table. The Just Posts are a monthly event where we are invited to join in, by submitting posts that speak to the common goal of making the world a better place. You can see them right now at jen’s, mad’s, hel’s and suzanne’s. (Each of those posts has the whole list, but the hostesses also add a bit more to the discussion.)

And while I have your ear, let me whisper a small confession. I nominate my own posts. Whereas some folks consider the Just Posts an award list (and they are that, as well) the hostesses stress that this is also a roundtable. People are invited to submit their own posts.

The first time I participated, I sent an email with some nominations for other people’s posts. And I hoped that maybe someone would find one of my own posts worthy. But then I realized that there was a good chance that no one else would nominate me, and then I’d just feel bummed and left out and discouraged. So I nominated my own post, and felt a bit tacky. Since then, I’ve gotten over that.

The way I see it, knowing that my post will be a part of a bigger picture is part of what motivates me to write about topics of activism and social justice. And I do think it’s important that I write about these things. For one thing, it eases my own conscience. But for another reason, I truly feel that my contributions, tiny and insignificant though they seem, really do matter. They add to the numbers showing that people really do care. There’s power in numbers.

And in keeping with this philosophy, I also try to nominate plenty of other people’s posts, too. Plus nominating is fun.

I hope you’ll join me at the table. Dig in for some reading. Maybe a bit of writing. Might I entice you try a taste of nominating? (But please let’s not eat that pig’s head shown in the woodcut. That’s just icky.)

A 1484 woodcut from Canterbury Tales.

I’ve been thinking about food these days. Look at me with my bagel here, and my veggies there. And not to mention the stash of chocolate, what with trick-or-treating almost at my doorstep.

Today was a day of eating and running, or running and not eating. I had to go into Boston, and I try to take the train in when I can. There’s a 9:00 train I can catch if I head to the station by 8:30. But what this usually means is that, once I get Phoebe bundled off to daycare, I can barely get myself together in time to, for example, eat breakfast. So since I didn’t have a scheduled meeting till later in the afternoon, I decided to catch a later train. To give myself time to for breakfast, for one thing. Most important meal of the day, and all that. I tend to be hungry in the morning, and if I don’t eat, I get cranky and less than fully functional. So I had my breakfast before leaving home.

It was a bit of a crazy day for public transportation in Boston today. Unbeknownst to me, there was a freakin’ parade scheduled, so I shared my commute in with a trainload of exhuberant teens in party mode.

I figured that by 5:30 or so, when I was heading back towards home, the post-parade chaos would have cleared up. Not quite. As I headed to the train station, I realized I was getting hungry. I thought I’d stop in at the convenience store to get a snack, since I wouldn’t be home till after 7:00. But the train station was mobbed. They had passengers waiting for trains corraled off into lines. I didn’t want to risk being bumped to a later train, so I joined the pen for my train, and missed my window of time to grab something to eat.

It was a long ride home. The train wasn’t as crowded as I’d feared, and I got to sit down. I did a bit of work, but found it hard to concentrate. For one thing, my rumbling stomach kept interrupting my thoughts. It’s hard to focus when you’re hungry.

Of course, my hunger was only temporary. I got to go home, and get something to eat.

Not only did I get to eat, I got to eat foods that I chose. I make efforts to eat well, to eat high quality whole-grain foods, and lots of fruits and vegetables. I find that when I eat well, eat healthily, I feel better. I have more energy, stay healthier, sleep better, work better.

What I find unsettling is that there are so many for whom real hunger is a daily obstacle, and poor nutrition is a regular detractor from health and productivity. Even in the US, where food is plentiful for so many. How can it be that in the same country, where millions are “watching what they eat” in order to lose weight, that others still struggle to even get adequate quantities of food? Restaurants serve up obscenely large servings of food, and we eat more than we should or want, and often waste the rest. Some of us have too much food, while others of us can’t get what we need. Eating healthy foods, especially fresh produce, costs money. And takes time.

Jen at One Plus Two wrote a compelling post reminding us that among those who aren’t getting adequate healthy food are lots of children. 13 million children…in the US alone.

Poor nutrition leads to poor health, poor performance in school, and even impaired cognitive development.

Recent research provides compelling evidence that undernutrition — even in its “milder” forms — during any period of childhood can have detrimental effects on the cognitive development of children and their later productivity as adults. In ways not previously known, undernutrition impacts the behavior of children, their school performance, and their overall cognitive development. These findings are extremely sobering in light of the existence of hunger among millions of American children.

Poor nutrition is one of the many ways that those who live in poverty are denied the opportunities to get out of poverty.

On the bright side, there are things we can do.

We can let our politicians know we find the current state of affairs unacceptable. We can give to food banks. There are organizations who are active in fighting hunger, and advocating changes that will prevent hunger. You can learn more about hunger, and hunger in the US and around the world, from a variety of groups, such as Second Harvest. In Massachusetts, there is Project Bread, a group that organizes an annual Walk for Hunger. (Don’t worry, though. The walk is not actually in support of hunger, but in support of efforts to eradicate hunger.)

Today has been declared Blog Action Day, an event in which bloggers around the world can participate in writing about a common cause on a common day. This is the inaugural year of the event, and the cause that has been chosen is to tackle issues relating to the environment. I feel strongly about the environment. It must be stopped! Down with the environment!

No, wait. I’m all for the environment. I was confused. I must have been thinking about uncomfortable shoes. Can’t stand ‘em. Or overcooked pasta. Yick. That just shouldn’t even be legal.

Where was I? Oh, right. The environment. I should write about how we, as a society, can make progress in protecting the environment. But I’m afraid I don’t have time for that. I have a work deadline looming, and I shouldn’t be blogging at all. So I must be quick, quick. Like a bunny. In a threatened ecosystem. So I give you a list.

Here is list of things that I should be able to manage to improve my own impact on the environment, improve my knowledge of the issues, and to help generally support environmental causes. What’s more, I will set myself a timeline to accomplish these things. I plan to do these things by the end of the year. There are 11 full weeks of 2007 left, so 11 seemed like a good number to aim for.

11 planet-friendly resolutions for (the rest of) 2007

1. cancel 10 catalogs or other junk mail items
2. explore additional local food options, such as for dairy and eggs
3. block drafts in windows in doors to reduce heat loss
4. give holiday gifts that minimize shipping and packaging
5. watch Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” (I’m sorry to say I haven’t yet seen it)
6. write at least one letter (or email) to a company or politician about some action
7. Change our electricity options to include use of renewable resources
8. Give support to an environmental action group (whether with money or by way of petitions)
9. line-dry 1 load of laundry a week
10. reduce my usage of disposable products (I may try keeping a cloth handkerchief in my pocket instead of a tissue. At least if I leave it in my pocket when I wash my pants, it won’t dissolve and decorate the rest of the load.)
11. Cook my pasta al dente. This will both fight the evils overcooked pasta and reduce the time I have my stove on. (Okay, you caught me. I ran out of time, and don’t have a good 11th item in mind. But if I manage all 10 of the above items, I think I can feel like I’ve made some personal progress.)

I have to say, yesterday’s news made me happy. I believe I have already expressed my enthusiasm for Al Gore. So it should come as no surpise that I was happy to hear that he, along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Happy may even be a bit mild. I actually got goosebumps, and got choked up while reading a news stories about the award.¹ (Tears don’t come too easily for me these days, either.) I felt moved by the acknowledgment of the impact that climate change can have on human populations. I felt pleased that scientists are being honored for their research into climate change.

I don’t have time to write more tonight, but I wanted to share my excitement about this news.

And speaking of reading that gets my idealism revved up, the September Just Posts went up earlier in the week. This month’s round-up of posts on topics of activism is the biggest yet, and are once more hosted at One Plus Two, Under the Mad Hat, Creative Mother Thinking, and Truth Cycles. Have a look!

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¹ I can’t find an article I thought I read from the New York Times. The NYT article I found from later yesterday had a very different tone. The one I remember was more in line with this AP article.

Today, October 4th, is International Bloggers’ Day for Burma.

While I still know quite little about the country of Burma (Myanmar), what I have learned recently of the events there has both moved and shocked me. I am appalled by the violence committed against the Buddhist monks and other peaceful protesters by the military regime. At the same time, I am inspired by their bravery, and that of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

She has called on people around the world to join the struggle for freedom in Burma, saying “Please use your liberty to promote ours.”

To learn more about what is going on in Burma, and what you can do, I recommend the following resources:

• A post by Chezzag that is a call to action.
• A post on Bitch, PhD, which gives a brief summary of recent events and of some organizations that are organizaing protests, such as the Women’s League of Burma.
• A New York Times article about the power relationships between the military government of Myanmar and the Buddhist monks.
• Various international websites in support of the Burmese protests, such as the US Campaign for Burma
• You can sign a petition at Avaaz.org which will be presented to the UN Security Council and to the President of China, an ally of the Burmese military regime.
• Saturday, October 6th is being promoted as International Day of Action for a Free Burma. Protests and actions are being organized in cities around the world.

The August Just Posts are up and strong. In case you don’t know them, they are a collection of posts from around the blogosphere where people have written on topics of social justice and all types of activism. Not only are these posts about activism, they are activism. And what’s cool is that you can exercise your own activist muscles, too. Just by clicking on the links.

The posts are on a wide range of topics: race and racism, gender, healthcare, poverty, environmental issues, and more… Have a look. Just visit any one of these folks listed below, now representing 3 continents, for a list of links.

jen   mad   hel   susanne

I usually have to work myself up to writing about topics of activism. Even though they are topics that I think about often. I like to write fun stuff. I try to entertain. So it almost feels like an intrusion when I write about a serious topic. It’s particularly hard for me to write about controversial topics. I am a person with strong opinions, but a quiet voice. I fear confrontation, I fear conflict. So the post I just put up makes me feel vulnerable. I just posted something both personal and political, and I didn’t even have my editor look at it first. At the same time that I want people to read what I wrote, I want it to be buried to save me the risk of attack. It’s silly, I know. I’m working on building up that spine. Are there exercises you can do for that?