Often, by the time a book I put on hold arrives at my library, I've forgotten how I came across it. All About Love by Bell Hooks stands out as the book Brene Brown referenced in the piece I mentioned yesterday. It does not disappoint.

​Minimalist health.
A very good use of my time.
Sustainable.
Identity crisis.
Don't buy it if you don't need it.
A simple wardrobe.
Use what you have.  :)

Yesterday we wished we could send our rain to Australia. Today snowflakes are falling outside our windows. Wherever you find yourself this weekend, take good care of the world.

lots of love, 
Jane

Love is the only sane + satisfactory answer to
the problem of human existence.
~Erich Fromm
(via this read that I loved)

Not only are the photographs in Making a Life beautiful + transporting, but the words of the artists are thought provoking + stretching. This is a book about the why of making rather than the how. 

Simplicity often prods me to think about the necessity of objects being made + where sales come into the picture. Yes, I receive value from creating beautiful things, but do those things have value in + of themselves? Do they have value if they are not necessary? How much stuff do I need to bring into this world? 

At the same time, what do I lose by not making?

Lots of family's thoughts on values-driven holidays.
A reminder that we are teaching "Christmas".  :)

No need to feel guilty about celebrating the holidays with gusto! But also...there is still time to rethink (+ return) something.  :)

Lots of love + wishes for a meaningful, relaxing, exciting, joyous, light, holiday full of love + laughter + gratitude + good food + dear ones! You are loved + appreciated!
Jane

"We sought not merely to improve the world, but to remake it." The Water Dancer was a good read. I tried not to listen too closely to this interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates before reading it + enjoyed it again afterwards.  :) 

​Self-built.
Yes, there is something we can do.
We're actually paying more to store our stuff than we are to store ourselves.
I'm much more grateful for the items I own.
There were no safety features.
Person of the year.

Enjoy the weekend, friends!
Much love,
Jane

It's been a couple of weeks since I poured over A Garden Can be Anywhere by Lauri Kranz + Dean Kuipers, but these images have stuck with me. I mean...jumpsuits, straw hats + wellies...also gardens!  :) I wrote this book down in my planner, so that I'll remember to check it out from the library again in March for some garden planning inspiration. 

I also reread one of my very favorite books, Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston within the past couple of weeks (with Julia). I highly recommend the audio book brought alive by Ruby Dee...so good!

A plant-based house.
​"I personally like a disheveled, worn garment, " he says. "I like that patina things take on when they look well-worn."
Wear clothes? Then you're part of the problem.
​Feel the burden of excess + refocus.
We do not need that illusion of past unity in order to actually unify people today.
​Handmade.
​Winter coats.

We'll be celebrating a birthday over here this weekend! Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend too, friends! ​

Lots of love,
​Jane

The library has been good to me this week. I happily happened upon 150 Best Tiny Space Ideas + A Tree in the House while browsing there. Many of the homes highlighted in the Tiny Space Ideas book are familiar to me, but this is an impressive collection. Worn in New York is another offering by Emily Spivack that I felt focused more on story than clothing. Her first book Worn Stories is my preference of the two. I've also been reading The Great Gatsby all over again with Julia this week as well.  :)
​
This is the city where I'm from + where I'm raising my children, and putting that money back into my city is very important to me.
Some amazing (+ focused) secondhand autumn finds.
Inspiring grandpas + grandmas of the umbrella movement.
​Make it organic, please...or better yet...recycled.
An earth + trash house.
Is new clothing even an option anymore?
​An October playlist we're loving.
Truth.

Hope you are enjoying some lovely transitional weather this weekend, friends!

Love, 
Jane

This week I've thoroughly enjoyed Creative Spaces by Ted Vadakan + Angie Myung, the owners of Poketo. I enjoyed reading about the artists, their careers + the spaces they inhabit. The fashion was pretty inspirational as well.  :)

Protect. Restore. Fund.
See ya.
​That's a good example of how changes in the ocean can affect even people who live far from the coasts.
​Are vegan leather alternatives better for the planet?
In case this was missed over there.
Another 100% merino wool fleece jacket substitute.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Love,
Jane

I wrote these words back in March + wasn't quite sure about sharing them. Coming across them this week...somehow they feel right, so...

This planet has moved toward globalization in the past few decades. I'm old enough to have observed the change. I didn't encounter a kiwi (fruit) until I was twelve...a mango until I was married. When I was growing up I knew that tomatoes ripened in late summer + that we only ate apples in the autumn...because we could pick each one close to home. Today I can find all of those things at the grocery store in March, because they come to us from around the globe. 

Globalization has revealed that our morning cuppa connects us to coffee growers + sugar cane farmers half a world away. The tags inside our clothes reveal a fraction of just how far they have travelled from farm (or oil field) to closet. We. are. connected.

Just as all of this connection is stretching many of us to embrace the necessity of action on behalf of our sisters + brothers around the world...nationalism crashes in like a tidal wave churned up by an earthquake of fear and greed and violence and war and unrest and hunger and need.

Our focus these days is on immense issues. The global scale of the refugee crisis + climate change is overwhelming. My girls are coming of age in the midst of this. They enter spaces always with the thought of an exit strategy...the existence of an active shooter ingrained deep within their realm of possibility. They feel record breaking temperatures on either end of the thermometer becoming the norm...see wildfires + hurricanes + floods devastating disadvantaged populations with increased frequency. Closeted skeletons revealed day after day feel like evidence that the chances of finding a partner with character + integrity are near hopeless. 

Just as globalization has led many to nationalism, it is not surprising that the deluge of all of these issues has coincided with a rise in suicide rates. I know...these are heavy words. The connection I mean to make is that our issues today are big...and each of them requires action. We've become a culture of protests...and we need to speak out loudly on every issue...police brutality, immigration, racial inequity, gun violence, climate change, sexual violence, equal pay, higher minimum wage...... We need to speak up, and we need to advocate for change.

I just wonder about the toll that the enormity of all of this is taking on our children + emerging adults. I feel like I need to do more...like I need to make a difference. I feel like...otherwise, what is this life for? And I see this pull on my girls as well. They care deeply. And they are angry. And they want things to change. I'm so proud of them for that!

But...they also need to know that laughing with friends + reading good books + walking in the woods + drinking warm drinks + discovering a song + sinking bare feet into sand + turning their faces toward the sun...all of that + all of the little things...those are the stuff of living too. 

How will we measure our lives? What is a life well-lived? My hope is that we don't forget that it is both the big + the small...the global + the right here...humanity + the shoulder-to-shoulder...the planet + the single bite. There is so much to be done + there is so much to be enjoyed, observed, lived.

Love,
Jane

I try to keep this space positive, but I am telling only part of my story here. I try to stay on the side of hope...the side that believes our actions can make a difference. I try to believe that all of us here on this tiny planet can thrive together. I try to believe that my girls will have all the opportunities that I have + more. I try to focus on my own actions. I try to believe the best of people + that their logic skills are functional. I try to believe that people who spend time every week listening to the teachings of Jesus understand + believe what He said. 

But people we know carry guns to church + post fake news online + scoff at the idea of climate change. People we know defend the greedy business practices of corporations + argue that embracing renewable energy is not profitable or wise. People we know defend immigrant family separation as a deterrent + say disgusting things about gay couples that dare to look for a loving community within our church doors. People we know support this disgusting, reprehensible, lying, hateful highest elected official to which we are currently subject. People we know can't be bothered to care about who made their clothes or how much trash they send to the landfill. People we know tell us that their actions don't make a difference. People we know post pictures of their National Park vacations + then vote for politicians who deregulate protections for our streams + lakes + wild lands. So, yeah. I'm angry. A lot.

Please listen to 16 year old Greta Thunberg's speech given to the UN today. Anger is 100% appropriate. 

Photo via link.

Love,
Jane