Poetic, Inspirational Living

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Wow, I wish they would have taught me this in school”? You’re not alone. Last month, a writer over at the Positivity Blog created a list entitled, “16 Things I Wish They Had Taught Me in School.” It includes things like “Mistakes and failures are good” and “Your attitude changes your reality.” These are some great inspiring tips to keep in mind.

If I were to construct my own list, in addition to plagiarizing several of these 16, I would add the following:

• Life is short, so make the absolute best of it.
• Don’t waste too much time on regret; rather, use it to mold your future in the way that you want.
• Ask for help when you need it. Always.

You might also check out the comments under that post.  Many blog readers added their own ideas as well.

We live in an age of conscious consumerism, which I think is a very good thing. Yes, there is still a lot wrong with the corporate world, but at least such issues are out in the open and most people (depending on their financial state) are able to make their own decisions on who they purchase from and what they support with their dollars.

Speaking of which, I am trying to find a good brand of Fair Trade decaf coffee. Can anyone help me out? I had a major adventure in the supermarket the other day

I wound up buying Yuban, which is, from what the Internet tells me, Fair Trade Light? Fair Trade Sort-Of? Better than Starbucks? I don’t know - CoffeeHabitat.com had some interesting thoughts on this. Regardless, I enjoyed the 30 Ways to Make a Difference list on the Yuban website.

I have this in my head today because: a) I struggled with the coffee purchase yesterday and b) I saw an article in the New York Times this morning about more child slave labor in China. It just makes you think about where your products come from, and who was potentially harmed in the process.

And then I thought to myself that I could never write for a t-shirt company that exploits people, so I am really glad that 302designs is 100% sweatshop free.

As most of you know, Tuesday was Earth Day. Earth Day has always been a great reminder to care for the environment, but even more so in this age of awareness and “going green.” Since Al Gore released “An Inconvenient Truth,” many people are concerned about the future of our world and how our actions today can alter it.

Many of us are trying to do our part in our own way. We might ride the bus or walk rather than drive somewhere. We might be shopping with reusable bags instead of plastic ones and recycling at our homes. Every small step counts, and every large step counts more.

Here are some resources to help you get started if you are interested in going green:

MyFootprint.org

National Geographic: The Green Guide

An Inconvenient Truth

Amazon Listmania! List, “It’s Easy Being Green”

I’ve only just discovered the 101 things in 1001 days project. I know it’s been around for awhile now but I only just stumbled onto it last night. And this morning it got me thinking, mainly about whether or not I think I could actually do that and perhaps more importantly could I even think of 101 things I want to do or think I should do. OR think I should want to do. And even more importantly, if I couldn’t think of 101 things I want to do, something is seriously wrong with me. Not that I’m assessing my level of happiness or fulfillment based on whether I can make a list from an internet meme, but my notions of happiness and what makes me happy has been under investigation lately and this meme could perhaps push me over the edge in to the abyss of total and complete confusion.

What I like about this project is that it’s based on concrete tasks. So no “I want to achieve a spiritual balance in my life” sort of projects, because as hard as you may try,  telling yourself that in 294 days you will be spiritually fulfilled is not very realistic.  I’ve been looking at other people’s lists and I’m finding it fascinating the things that are on them - learn how to cook four vegetarian meals from memory, visit my grandmother in Tuscan, fly to South Africa, establish a schedule of cleaning my bedroom once a week, learn how to sing opera….OK I would also like to do all those things, except the Tuscan one. This project isn’t necessarily about completing dreams, which is another aspect that appeals to me.

As I’ve mentioned before, goals and dreams cannot always be interchanged yet we are always told to strive for our dreams, making it difficult to decide on what is a feasible goal and what is a pie-in-the-sky-when-I-win-the-lottery sort of dream. I’m tempted to try this meme, I am. I don’t really know why I’m so hesitant about it. Any readers signed up for this?

One of the great appeals of the blogosphere is that you are bound to come across people of the same thread as you, whether it be there politics, lifestyle, style of writing, or family situation. In a way this can make you feel unbelievably average or you can take it as a great way to connect with people across the world. My foray into finding bloggers that I connected with started when I was pregnant. Previous to that I had found political bloggers that motivated and challenged me but the personal connection had been minimal. Suddenly, with the idea of starting a family, I searched for other people in similar situations.

PutYourFlareOn quickly became a favorite of mine. Not only was Aimee an expat living in France, but her baby was the same age as mine. Her knitting, photography, parenting style, and writing struck a cord in me and I quickly became a fan.  There was also something nostalgic about Aimee’s blog. She lives in Paris and often writes about places she goes to - it made me miss my childhood home and strangely wish that someday my little girl could have her own memories of Paris.

But besides her everyday antics, Aimee recently did something amazing. She bought a cafe. In Paris. She bought a Parisian cafe.

99.2% of the world dreams of sitting in a Parisian cafe, sipping knock-your-socks-off expresso and meeting the man/woman of their dreams. It epitomizes the Parisian life style, the French laissez-faire attitude. It’s about throaty singers, philosophizing in the afternoon, meeting strangers and sharing life’s mysteries. The French cafe is about sitting down and taking it all in, while not feeling as if life is passing you by, but rather that you are living it, fulfilling dreams. Which is what Aimee’s cafe is all about: a dream that has become tangible.

I suppose this is why Aimee’s recent adventure has been on my mind alot - what do we hold as dreams and what do we hold as goals? How do we draw the line between the two without either become unrealistic or completely devoid of inspiration? I think about these questions while trying to decide the future for myself, my career, my happiness. I’m not sure if making dreams realistic goals does any good, since the idea of a dream is that it is ephemeral, metamorphosing according to our life experiences. Dreams are not necessarily meant to push us or drive us, whereas goals are almost the opposite. They are a way to steer our life, pace ourselves, and motivate ourselves. And do we all subconsciously work our way towards our dreams? I don’t think that’s true or else more of us would say we ‘are living the dream’.

I have no answers to these questions. Aimee’s story touched me and made me realize how much I have ignored my dreams.

I was listening to Italian music today, which reminded me of my brief stint living in Italy. It brought to mind one particular recollection: the time I ducked out of a Venetian opera. I had been lying on the divan in the living room of my apartment, reading a copy of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Mermaid Chair. Reading in Venice is unlike reading anywhere else - you can hear water rushing beneath you if you are quiet enough to listen. Anyway, I was really enjoying myself when I remembered that I had purchased a ticket to the opera, and should probably get ready.

I dressed up and walked over to the Opera house, which was about 20 minutes away. I seated myself and read until they began. I soon learned that rather than being an actual opera, it was a collection of songs from different operas. So rather than following a storyline, I just listened to song after song, performed by people in wigs.

At intermission, I felt disappointed. I had wanted to follow a storyline like all the operas I had been to in the past. I hadn’t signed up for a concert. Then I had a thought: what I would really like to do is go home and read the rest of my book.

I immediately dismissed this as ridiculous. I can read any time I want to in America, so am I really going to waste an Italian evening on staying at home and reading? Eventually I decided that my happiness was more important than adhering to some arbitrary foreign country leisure activity policy, and I trotted home happily, book in arm.

There is a moral in there somewhere, I’m sure. I recall the story whenever I feel obligated to do things I don’t want to, just because I am “supposed to.” Life is short. I think, barring serious obligations, we are all “supposed to” do what makes us happy.

*Photo taken by April D. Boland, (c) 2006.

We recently revamped the whole way we create t-shirts here at 302. We’re going the open collaboration route with the spirit that bringing together passionate, opinionated people is a good thing. So, I’ve brought all of our designers, poets, along with some 302 enthusiasts into a open dialog discussion board format where the whole process from brainstorming to finalization is there for you to participate in. I’m slowing bringing more people onboard that are interested in this collaboration. All past customers of 302 are invited to join in and not only watch the designs being created from scratch, but to help guide it along. It’s been fun so far! If you’re interested in participating, send us a note!

Here’s a screen shot of the forum with a long list of all the active discussions thus far:

I found a great site recently.  It is called “Joe’s Goals” and it is an online habit tracker.  You simply enter behaviors you want to perpetuate and behaviors you want to curb, and then you track your progress on a day-to-day basis.  I have found it really helpful!

I remember a few years ago I was in a summer program where they required us to sit down at the beginning of the summer and create a list of goals that we wanted to achieve in those few short months.  We were then given that list at summer’s end, to remember what we had hoped for, to see what we had gained, and to compare how the two matched up.

Thinking about this again inspired me to create a goals list for myself.  I created a spreadsheet with three columns:

1. What I Want to Achieve This Week
2. What I  Want to Achieve This Month
3. What I Want to Achieve This Year

Perhaps it is because I am to-do list oriented but this has really helped me!  I love the feeling of satisfaction I get from crossing things off

I have to admit that while I spend may too much time browsing tee sites and finding out which brands are going organic and whose still employing sweat-shop workers (again…), I’m not devoted to brands (except 302 Designs, of course!). And I hate wearing logos.  If I wanted a little crocodile on my polo shirt, I’ll buy one that isn’t so small.

When I was little, I remember my mom telling me that wearing a logo was giving free advertisement to a company. Of course, the complexity around logo and brand politics can be presented in a more complex form, but it’s still boils down to getting a name out there and cash. Of course for some of us, logos are more then just advertising. They represent identity, lifestyle, and sometimes political values. However, I with Naomi Klein on this one when I say that brand identity loyalty is a false choice. And this is best defined by the fact that there exists things like Baby Dior. Because apparently little kids care whose designing their bibs. Considering how quickly children grow out of clothes, and I realize this is one of the attractions of that demographic, branding kids really, really bothers me.

Wait! I digress. This is not a post about the evils of branding. No, I’m bringing it back to the presidential campaign again.  While branding kids really bothers me, using them as political billboards doesn’t bug me as much. Because I don’t see it as advertising, but rather getting them involved with politics at an early age, which is why my kid walks around with “Future Feminist” onesie on most days.

Since this is a tee shirt blog…check out the following stores for baby political clothes:

• Babies for Obama
• BabyWit
• BabyPolitico

What’s your take on political clothes on children?

Since March is National Women’s History Month, I thought we could highlight a few women who have really made significant contributions to the world.

• Harriet Tubman - Antislavery activist who led countless American slaves to freedom through her Underground Railroad.
• Hatshepsut - Female pharaoh who was responsible for serious development in Egypt.
• Benazir Bhutto - Prime minister of Pakistan who was the first woman to lead a Muslim nation.
• Eleanor Roosevelt - American First Lady and humanitarian who worked for various social causes.
• Rosalind Franklin - Scientist who greatly contributed to the discovery of DNA, though her work was credited to her male colleagues.
• Andrew Dworkin - Writer and activist who raised awareness about crimes against women such as rape and violence.

Who are the inspiring women in your life?

More information on notable women can be found at InfoPlease. Painting of Rosalind Franklin done by Denise Wyllie and courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.