Where planned obsolescense fails, psychological obsolescense takes over.
​~Richard Foster

Buy what you need
Want what you have

There's nothing wrong with possessions; it's just that they have value to us only when we use them, engage them, and enjoy them. They're nouns that mean something only when used in conjunction with verbs. ~Rob Bell in Love Wins

Nature gives to every time + season some beauties of its own.  ~Charles Dickens

Spring is the time of plans + projects.  ~Leo Tolstoy

Tom: I consider what I need is mine, and everything else isn't mine. It came to me through a system that I don't support. And so, I'm getting wealthy by getting involved in Invisible Children or ending the child soldier problem.
Carson: You're rich beyond...you're richer than you've ever been.
Tom: I'm a fat cat, man.
~Tom Shadyac + Carson Daly, on living simply + giving money away

It isn't enough just looking for quality in the products we buy, 
we must ensure than there is quality in the lives of the people who make them.
~Orsola De Castro

"A simple closet is the gateway to a simple life. 
​
Once you begin to enjoy the benefits of dressing with less, you'll get very curious about living with less. Once I realized how little I needed in the closet not only to get by but to thrive, I wondered what else was holding me back from even more thriving and happiness."
~Courtney Carver in Soulful Simplicity

artwork by the amazing Bodil Jane

It has been a heart wrenching two weeks. The immense weight of grief + anger over what the community at Marjory Stillman Douglas High School is enduring looms large in our thoughts + conversation. The fear, helplessness, + determination that is felt by children, teens, young adults, teachers, + parents as students walk into school every day in this country is a disgusting reality. We've witnessed the emergence of a new progression of the stages of grief...terror, helplessness, sorrow, questioning, anger, resolve, action. 

This is a whole new form of clean power. From ashes to action in a matter of hours. Innocence + brokenness demanding more from those tainted by greed, compromise, corruption, + dishonesty...demanding more than complacency.

There is just so much to be sad about these days...so much to be rightly angry about. I'm feeling it seep into every pore + quiet space between thoughts. I carry it + my girls do too. I do not want them to live in a suspended state of fear or helplessness + I do not want to either. I want to convert anger into action. I want to see the rise of clean power, + I want to be a part of it. 

So our art supplies become protest sign supplies + we march + shout at the sides of buildings in the biting wind. I research + attend meetings + strategize + organize. We make postcards + phone calls + my voice shakes with nerves + feelings that bubble in my throat. I want my girls to know that we are not helpless. I want to know that I am not hopeless.

For anyone who might be looking for a way or two to join the fight:

Everytown is taking action against gun violence. Let's help make it a force to match the NRA. Ask companies to shed their support of the NRA. It's working. Get ready to march. Find out how much influence your representatives are under from the NRA. Let them know how you feel. Demand action. Hold them accountable. Vote accordingly.

Much more quietly, Trump + our current Administrator of the "Environmental Protection Agency", Scott Pruitt, are in the process of repealing the Clean Power Plan which set goals for reducing the amount of carbon emissions power plants release. Two more listening sessions are coming right up + comments are open now. 350.org + the Sierra Club are working to demand clean power for all of us.

It's been a heart wrenching couple of weeks...but there are glimpses of hope there too. Let's be part of the clean power at work for change. 

Love,
Jane

Strong back
Soft front
Wild heart
~Brene Brown