It's Eclectic!

Spoon rings by, Mike Smyth for the Eclectic Shoppe

I recently told someone that they reminded me how I want to spend my life surrounded by the makers of the world, not the breakers of it, and it's true, it's where I feel the most alive.  If you're creating something, growing something, fabricating something, or teaching something ... I want to be part of it!  I am, quite frankly, done with all of the bitchers, twitchers, and even the do-nothing belly-itchers.  Meaning, obviously there's a time for every purpose, and it's healthy for folks to rest, clear the air, or blow off steam, I'm definitely not a big cheerleader of toxic-positivity where it's all smiles all the time ... or else!  What I'm talking about are the attitudes that keep people stuck, stagnant, and small.  I'm happiest when I'm living a life that's expansive, and abundant, and I can't occupy that space when I'm experiencing crushing negativity.  I'd argue that no one can.  

Might Not Know It Now...

Baby, But I Are!

FTC Affiliate Disclosure
I haven't shared a recipe in a while, and with the Northern Hemisphere being in the full swing of Summer, I figured some refreshments were, maybe a bit, overdue.  

May We Forever Stand

Lift every voice and sing   

Till earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the listening skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.   

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,

Bitter the chastening rod,

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;   

Yet with a steady beat,

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,   

Till now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,   

God of our silent tears,

Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;

Thou who hast by Thy might   

Led us into the light,

Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,

Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;

Shadowed beneath Thy hand,   

May we forever stand.   

True to our God,

True to our native land.

- James Weldon Johnson

A Vision Without a Plan is Just a Hallucination

"Dreams without movement are delusions, escapes, kid's play. You have to put your feet into your dreams if they're ever going to be reality. The dreamers we know and love today are the ones who worked the hardest." -Paul Newman

Grow it Like You Mean it

Bunkhouse Acres, the 20-acre sustainable farm heading into its first year of full-time production, and brainchild of Shellie-Ann Kerns is gearing up for a robust Summer season, and she'd like our help...

Rewilding

"He found the wild trapped within my heart.  Instead of trying to tame it, he tore the cage apart."
-Vivi Dale

Reset

 

How is everyone doing?  How are things going?  Are you getting into the swing of the new year, have you set your intentions, are you sticking to your resolutions?  Yes?  No?  Maybe you're a little like me, and would find it useful this time of year to press pause, take a little stock, and check in with yourself.  I know a lot of my posts lately are about "what do I want to take with me throughout the year," or, "how do I want to experience this or that," but that really is how I use my Winter months.  As the year winds down, I take a look back at what worked, and what didn't, what I want more of, and what I'd like to have a less of, and spend some time figuring out exactly how to make that happen for the incoming year.  I focus on what I want to grow, and expand, more than the things I'd like to quash, mainly because I've found in my life, what I dwell on, I just get more of ... You know what they say:  What you fight, you ignite!  So, instead of battling all of the things I'd like to eliminate from my life, I like to keep my attention trained on everything I want to increase, and as the good things proliferate the bad things just kind of naturally get pushed out entirely.  

Overall, it makes for much more peaceful transitions, a happier experience, and is a lot less exhausting.

Once I've decided what I'm working toward, I begin each January by mapping out, and practicing how I'd like to spend the rest of the year ... A little "try before you buy" sort of thing.  Like, can I really spend 12 whole months on this journey, in this way, or do I need to change up a couple of things to make life run a little more smoothly?  And that's what I use the Lunar New Year for.  To me, it's the perfect time to reassess everything, lift the hood, kick the tires, and make the necessary changes for a successful year.  If you celebrate the dawning of a new year on January 1st, and you had all of your intentions in place, and you've managed to slip off the wagon, or you're clinging by a finger ... Here's your reset!  And frankly, I think it's going to be a doozy, so you'll want to hop back up and get a good seat.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not encouraging folks to go out and start appropriating things that aren't ours to be fussing with.  We don't need to be invading, and taking things over, and acting like we invented them, but I definitely think it's a worthwhile activity to learn about cultures that are not our own, and partake in celebrations, and incorporate pieces that we find uplifting and useful into our own regularly scheduled lives.  I mean, honestly I think we should all be celebrating a lot more holidays anyway, because I've always felt that anything that causes us to slow down, savour the moment, and increase our joy and the pleasure of being alive is a wonderful thing.  

Plus, there's this Christmas-horse-skeleton-thing I'm really looking forward to getting into if I can remember it this year.

Anyway, the Year of the Ox is upon us, and with it, a time of unwavering determination, and strength of character will be ushered in.  Everything I've read about it sounds refreshing, and hopeful in that some of the very best change in life comes as the direct result of putting a little elbow-grease into whatever you're doing, and I think this is going to be a year that involves a lot of hard (but rewarding) work, discipline, and organization— three things that will always have a spot in the dictionary of my Love Language, so I am stoked!  Besides, what better time than now to correct your path (if need be) than with this confident, and steadfast energy fueling your decisions?  It seems like we've got the perfect opportunity to lay down a solid foundation before 2022 (Tiger) roars in with all of its excitement, and passion.

So wherever you are, and whether this is your first Happy New Year of 2021, or your second, may you have good luck, good fortune, and an abundance of happiness all the rest of your days!

Rain, Hail, Sleet, or Snow...

Some friends just always deliver, and I have to say I've got a pretty great batch of them!  So I was at once surprised, and not at all surprised when this delivery of gorgeous Lebkuchen cookies arrived ... Can I just tell you that when I sliced into that vacuum sealed pouch - the aroma that erupted instantly made my dining room table seem as though it had been dropped in the center of a fancy bakery somewhere far, far away, and totally fabulous - ah, l'amour.  Truly, I wish your screen was scratch 'n' sniff, because these goodies are a whole experience!  Anyway, the woman behind them is (said without even a hint of irony, or exaggeration) living, breathing, walking art; effortlessly enchanting everything she puts her hand to.  I say "effortlessly" because even though a great deal of work goes into the things she does, she makes it all look wonderfully easy.  Mmhmm, yes.  In case you were wondering, even in your own group of chums, your perfectionist friend also has a friend who takes everything to the next level.  I don't consider myself a perfectionist in that I do everything "perfectly" ... It's more like, I have a hard time wrapping up my projects because I always find something that can be improved upon.  And yet, with my hyper-focused eye for critique, girl friend still blows me away.  

Ok, ok I get it.  You're probably thinking, lady, calm down, it's just a cookie with some frosting on it...

First of all, wash your mouth out! 

I mean, it's so much more than that.  February to February has been a hell of a year for folks, and the fact that people are taking their time to care, and nurture one another from across the country is heartwarming, and beautiful.  These cookies—oh my god, wait, her pies!  I never mentioned her pies!  Well, they're incredible too, and they're all lovingly baked in a charming 100+ year old home nestled in a picturesque New England town ... Is it just me, or is the YouTube series just writing itself here?  I don't know about anyone else, but I would binge my eyeballs out watching a magical kitchen witch conjure artisanal cakes, and confections in a snow-covered cottage.  I obviously think it's a hit, but I also subscribe to a channel where a girl talks about serial killers while she applies her make-up.  Alright, back to the point, it's been a weird year, and I think it will get weirder still before it ever gets any better, and people are out here doing small things for each other, that are actually kind of big things, and I absolutely love them for it.  You know, they say it's the thought that counts, and a lot of times the "they" in question are just gift-snobs looking for a nice way to say, "Thanks, I hate it" without hurting anyone's feelings, but it really is true!  The thought, and intention does count.  It counts for a whole lot with me.  This lady baked her ass off, and then carefully packaged I don't know how many kits, and sent them all over the country to members of this kooky little cookie-coven (in my case 3229 miles door-to-door), ensuring they arrived as fresh as they were the day they were baked JUST to say, "Hey, how ya doin'?" and lift our spirits, and make us feel closer, and more connected, and better about everything?  Yes, the thought counts, indeed.  The fact that the thought came attached to one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten in my entire life certainly didn't hurt either!

I believe I've mentioned it here before, and I'm sure I'll mention it many more times after this, but I am not an "Oh, you shouldn't have" kind of girl.  I promise you, I will never say those words.  In fact, it is one of my fervent prayers to see the phrase eliminated from the English language altogether, because yes you should.  We all should. 

We all should be doing whatever we can to show the people we care about that we do, in fact, care about them deeply, and earnestly, without hesitation, or expectations.  Don't wait for the right time, or for signs, or an eerily accurate horoscope, or a good hair day, just do the thing.  Do it even if it's inconvenient.  Do it especially because it's inconvenient.  Be awkward, be random, be a happy surprise, be the reason someone else feels good today, because it really matters.

 xoxo