We're all working from home these days...whether that involves childcare, telecommuting, learning, cooking, cleaning, homeschooling...we're doing it at home. Some of us might be dressing exactly like we did before + some of us might be finding it hard to get out of pajamas.

I know clothing isn't really important right now, but I do think that it can affect our feelings + mindset...and heck, I need something else to focus on for a minute...so...  :)

I noticed that some of my clothing just isn't going to get worn for a while + instead of letting it jab at me every time I go to get dressed, I decided to go ahead + create a collection of go-to pieces to wear these days when leaving the house involves nothing more than a walk or bike ride around the neighborhood.

I like to start with silhouettes, so here are the ones I'm wearing these days:
:: Leggings make it easy to get onto my yoga mat + out the door to be active with minimum fuss. I like to pair leggings with a tank + sweatshirt...a button-up...a tee or tank...depending on the weather (it's spring!).

:: Linen overalls are a favorite as the days warm. I like to wear them with fitted tees + tanks.

:: My third comfortable silhouette involves soft pants + a tee, tank, sweatshirt or button-up.

Choosing three different silhouettes ensures that there is some variation built in. Having a little bit of variety in home wear is really nice, and surprisingly little is needed to provide quite a lot of it. I've found that focusing on bottoms first works well for me...as I did with my three silhouettes above (leggings, overalls, soft pants). One or two of each is plenty.

I like to keep my tops simple + solid. Again, an extensive collection is not necessary. A variety of outfits can be made from mixing those bottoms with a small number of button-ups, sweatshirts, tanks + tees. Spring weather offers a range of temperatures, so that helps vary my outfit choices from day to day as well.

A couple of other silhouettes that I can imagine being lovely for home wear are flowy dresses + soft, worn-in jeans. Some may find it helpful to their productivity mindset to just get dressed as usual during working hours. In any case, I think it might be helpful to sit down + think about a strategy for dressing in these new circumstances. Making a plan helps me to take a look in my closet rather than turning toward shopping in unbridled frustration (or boredom). The way I dress has a huge influence on my mindset, so I know that time spent shifting my wardrobe is not wasted. Moving my wardrobe around so that I'm not looking at all of the clothing that I won't be wearing for a bit enhances my ability to choose positivity each day, because I don't need any more points of frustration.

Loads of love to you my friends,
Jane

And the people stayed home.
And read books, + listened, + rested, + exercised,
+ made art, + played games, + learned new ways of being, + were still.
And listened more deeply. 
Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. 
Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed.
And in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless,
+ heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

And when the danger passed, + the people joined together again,
they grieved their losses, + made new choices, + dreamed new images,
+ created new ways to live + heal the earth fully,
​as they had been healed.
~Kitty O'Meara

Like a lot of people I enjoy listening. Walking out the door yesterday, one of the first things I noticed was that so many birds sounded happy with the day (thank you, spring!). I like to listen to NPR + my favorite podcast is probably The Daily. These days, however, I need purposeful breaks from the news. 

This week I enjoyed listening to Chris Martin chatting + singing live on Instagram. I think I smiled through the whole thing...because...you gotta love Chris...which reminds me of this. Chris Martin had the idea of #togetherathome + hopes that these live chats/concerts will have a pass-it-on effect. Listening to (+ watching) Hillary was the perfect accompaniment to mending earlier this week (loved hearing about her earlier years). I'm also tuning in for Oh Wonder who are going to play a song live each day for 37 days.

What are you enjoying listening to? Please share!  :)

Love,
Jane

Getting outside for a long, brisk walk with my girls led to feeling about as good as I've felt in the past few days. We dodged puddles + worms after the rain. We said hello to everyone we saw (from afar)...more people than I've ever seen on a walk in our neighborhood. There was a dad outside playing a lively game of basketball with two teenaged girls...three adults laughing + making videos of one friend in a full, furry, dog costume walking a dog + another dog driving a toy car...and two people running on opposite sides of the road that we thought might be doing a social-distancing run "together".  :) We walked further than usual...noticing all the new little sprouts popping up + a few fully formed daffodils too. I ended up feeling a little bit stronger + more connected + more hopeful. Hope you are able to get outside a little bit too!

Love,
Jane

Over the past few days, I haven't felt like there's much I can do to make things better. So, today I mended. Halfway through this lovely article that classifies mending as "a quiet, global protest movement", I decided to gather a few mending projects + make something a little better.

Mending always has the effect of adding value to these utilitarian objects rather than downgrading their value in my mind. The pieces I'm mending are always the most loved pieces of clothing in our home. They are the hardest working...the most worn. They've taken on the shape of the wearer...someone I love. 

Both of these pieces had holes at the elbows. One was repaired with a lightweight patch + the other received heavy-duty elbow patches made with fabric leftover from a pair of vintage army pants that were shortened into shorts. 

I suppose mending reflects what we are trying to do together with all of our social distancing + staying at home...trying to add a little strength to the fabric of our collective health. ​Thank you for all the sacrifices you've made for our collective good...not that I'm any sort of authority or anything...I just feel like we could be showing our appreciation for each other right now. I appreciate you, friend.

Love,
​Jane

Nature is not a place to visit,
it is home.
~Gary Snyder

Oh, these are heavy times, friends. I'm guessing that you are feeling it too. I'm having those mornings on repeat when I come into consciousness + for just a second I'm unaware of all the heaviness of a virus confirmed in our own city + all the questions that come with it. My girls work in a library + a grocery store coming into constant contact with people. My parents are in their eighties miles + miles away. We can't step out of the house without hearing someone coughing. 

The leader of our country speaks of "therapies" + "miracles" which lays bare his constant misrepresentation of truth + elevation of the economy over human life (talk about pro-life ??). The race to become his opponent is a mess. Polling places are being closed in areas where minorities + less affluent people live. ​The number of insects found in Germany has decreased by seventy-seven percent in the past thirty years. Prisoners are making the hand sanitizer that is banned for use in their facilities. ​Asylum-seeking children are still being held away from their loved ones, and a for-profit facility to hold them is proposed to be built in our city far away from the border. Refugees from violence are being met with more violence in Greece. 

I know all of these things...the weight of them falls before I open my eyes in the morning.  I also know that whales sing + play. I know that trees communicate with one another. I know that oysters are amazingly circular + beneficial creatures. I know that one shy girl furthered a worldwide movement. I know that humans do things that are very rare among living things...we teach each other...we are kind to strangers...we cooperate altruistically. I know that politics is important, but it does not entirely hinder or exclusively enable truly amazing human discovery, innovation + collaboration.

As soon as we are able to recognize a problem we are able to be a part of moving toward a better way- offering compassion, asking questions, educating ourselves + our children, signing petitions, showing up to rallies, voting, encouraging others + considering ourselves running for office, showing up, doing the work, thinking deeply, having conversations, collaborating + acting strategically.

Fear debilitates, isolates + makes us dangerous to others. Love + hope empower ...expand imagination + possibility...and move us toward each other. Like fear, love + hope spread and reproduce. Seek hope with fervor...awaken love with purpose...and will them to take hold.

I'm still singing for my age + I'm still believing in the change.

I'm singing for my age
'Cuz I'm believing in the change

The links starting in the third paragraph of this post have nurtured my hope recently. Fingers crossed they do the same for you.  :)

Love,
Jane

Before searching for wrap pants inspiration, I was thinking that their styling possibilities were sort of limited to fitted tanks + tees. The photos above offer so many more options + I'm even more excited than before to get some wrap pants back in my life. 

Let your children grow up to be farmers.
Let them know what it is like to be free from fluorescent lights and laser pointer meetings. Let them challenge themselves to be forever resourceful and endlessly clever.
Let them whistle and sing loud as they like without getting called into an office for “disturbing the workforce.”
Let them commute down a winding path with birdsong instead of a freeway’s constant growl.
Let them be bold.
Let them be romantic.
Let them grow up not having to ask another adult for permission to go to the dentist at 2 p.m. on a Thursday.
Let them get dirty.
Let them cry at the beauty of fallow earth they just signed the deed for.
Let them bring animals into this world, and realize they don’t care about placenta on their shirt because they no longer care about shirts.
Let them wake up during a snowstorm and fight drifts at the barn door instead of traffic.
Let them learn what real work is.
Let them find happiness in the understanding that success and wealth are not the same thing.
Let them skip the fancy wedding.
Let them go.
Let them go home.
~Jenna Woginrich

After having a hard time locating hand sanitizer in stores or even online this week, I searched for a homemade hand sanitizer recipe + eventually came across this one (via Julie). I thought I'd share in case anyone else is interested. 

​Homemade Hand Sanitizer ::

• 2/3 cup 99% rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) 
• 1/3 cup aloe vera gel 
• 8-10 drops essential oil, optional (lemon + grapefruit sound fresh + clean to me)
• 1 tsp vitamin e oil

Mix the ingredients + use a funnel to pour the mixture into recycled sanitizer containers.
(I noticed that it matters into which containers we put liquids involving alcohol. It seems that the container needs to be hard plastic rather than softer plastic.)

Other considerations: In terms of zero-waste + general cleanliness, I prefer hand-washing to using hand sanitizer. In the face of the current spread of novel coronavirus however, I do want to be vigilant about having an option for cleaning our hands when we are away from home. It is recommended that we use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content, + this recipe would meet that standard. I am not necessarily in favor of purchasing multiple bottles of ingredients for homemade recipes, because this can create more waste. We just need to make thoughtful decisions...which may be different at different points in time.

Hope you + those you love are healthy + remain so.  

Love,
Jane