Keep an eye out for more blog posts... and lots of fun things happening in the branches of TreeBed Design. For example, there will be a house concert at the Hammac Hostel (south) on Feb. 25th. The Hostel joined Concerts In Your Home last fall and has already hosted one concert with Carrie Clark, and is excited to host Emma Hill on the 25th. If you are interested in the concert series email me for more info, and you may end up hearing lovely music like this...
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
... Where was I?
Yes... it has been awhile since I have put attention towards blogging, or anything else related to TreeBed Design. Aside from a little Etsy energy... TreeBed Design has been pulling in nutrients, and preparing to leaf out during the Spring!
Keep an eye out for more blog posts... and lots of fun things happening in the branches of TreeBed Design. For example, there will be a house concert at the Hammac Hostel (south) on Feb. 25th. The Hostel joined Concerts In Your Home last fall and has already hosted one concert with Carrie Clark, and is excited to host Emma Hill on the 25th. If you are interested in the concert series email me for more info, and you may end up hearing lovely music like this...
Keep an eye out for more blog posts... and lots of fun things happening in the branches of TreeBed Design. For example, there will be a house concert at the Hammac Hostel (south) on Feb. 25th. The Hostel joined Concerts In Your Home last fall and has already hosted one concert with Carrie Clark, and is excited to host Emma Hill on the 25th. If you are interested in the concert series email me for more info, and you may end up hearing lovely music like this...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Remembering (again)...
As I have listened to the September 11th anniversary coverage the past week, I have been deeply connected to the stories. I have been thinking about my own story... Walking into the Graceland University library to use a computer, and seeing the image of the World Trade Center burning on TV. "What a bizarre accident..." I thought to myself. Later I sat alone in the Iowa shack I was renting, and cried as I watched the horrific story unfold on the news. There was nothing sensational or overblown about the coverage... it was a pure scrambling and grasping for answers about what was happening. My heart grew heavy with the weight of the events, and more so for the implications for the future. Hate, fear, grief, struggle, war, revenge, pain, blood, suspicion, divisiveness... I heard a distinct voice from inside that said, "time to step up to the plate". Someone would need to meet the extremes of these difficult times with the same force of energy that carried out these attacks, and all the reverberations of horror it would unleash. A retaliation of love, hope, peace, joy, acceptance, forgiveness, understanding, healing...
On the first anniversary of the attacks, I was ready. Our collective response had already dissolved from the unified shock and vulnerability that brought us together as a community. Fear was now dividing us, fraying our shared pain into weapons of sorrow. I challenged my community (anyone who's e-mail address I had) to take a different kind of remembrance... to respond by planting a tree. A political response and action to support beautiful life in the face of our destructive times (I had read E.F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful earlier that year). I was putting myself out there, learning, planning... working towards better times.
I am writing this now, because I have lost that energy. On the 10th anniversary of an event that changed me (and so much else), I am feeling trapped under the weight of this undertaking... to create a loving response to our broken world.
Why is this a post in my design blog? Finding the energy to move forward, to heal, to grow a beautiful world to be a part of... will take intention. We will need to rely on, and use the tools that we have gathered, the lessons we have learned (often through pain), the knowledge passed down from our ancestors. All of the systems and spaces we are a part of were designed by people just like us... and in many cases there are better designs out there if we choose. We designed our own internal systems for dealing (and coping) with our life experience... nobody is going to fix us. We must do that for ourselves (often with help from others), and if we do... perhaps we will find the energy to stand up for better design in our communities, nation and world.
This is what I want TreeBed Design to be about... working toward "regenerative design" for ourselves and the world we are a part of. My first step will be taking a course that has been on my mind for a number of years called Ecology of Leadership. I hope to use this time (and space of learning) to regain energy and focus for my own path.
This is a path that I hope to share, and by writing this down... I am creating the first steps of intention. It is true that "we must always remember" the major events that create the grief we carry, but it is what we choose as actions that will reflect how we honor those memories. And so I will begin... again.
On the first anniversary of the attacks, I was ready. Our collective response had already dissolved from the unified shock and vulnerability that brought us together as a community. Fear was now dividing us, fraying our shared pain into weapons of sorrow. I challenged my community (anyone who's e-mail address I had) to take a different kind of remembrance... to respond by planting a tree. A political response and action to support beautiful life in the face of our destructive times (I had read E.F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful earlier that year). I was putting myself out there, learning, planning... working towards better times.
I am writing this now, because I have lost that energy. On the 10th anniversary of an event that changed me (and so much else), I am feeling trapped under the weight of this undertaking... to create a loving response to our broken world.
Why is this a post in my design blog? Finding the energy to move forward, to heal, to grow a beautiful world to be a part of... will take intention. We will need to rely on, and use the tools that we have gathered, the lessons we have learned (often through pain), the knowledge passed down from our ancestors. All of the systems and spaces we are a part of were designed by people just like us... and in many cases there are better designs out there if we choose. We designed our own internal systems for dealing (and coping) with our life experience... nobody is going to fix us. We must do that for ourselves (often with help from others), and if we do... perhaps we will find the energy to stand up for better design in our communities, nation and world.
This is what I want TreeBed Design to be about... working toward "regenerative design" for ourselves and the world we are a part of. My first step will be taking a course that has been on my mind for a number of years called Ecology of Leadership. I hope to use this time (and space of learning) to regain energy and focus for my own path.
This is a path that I hope to share, and by writing this down... I am creating the first steps of intention. It is true that "we must always remember" the major events that create the grief we carry, but it is what we choose as actions that will reflect how we honor those memories. And so I will begin... again.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Spring is... Over!
Remember when I was going to have a "big" push of stuff for Spring... well, sometimes things don't go according to plan. Spring has come and gone, and I have barely been in the studio or able to work on Etsy. world (or any other world of mine). What have I been up to? Work. Lots of making coffee and selling of spices. Sometimes thats how it goes. However, I do plan on getting some energy put into TreeBed Design soon!
Stay tuned...
Stay tuned...
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Spring... is close!
I am planning on a big Spring roll out... so lots of new activity in the TreeBed Design Shop... and on Etsy starting March 20th... the first day of Spring!
Details coming soon... Have a happy St. Patrick's Day (what ever that means)!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Baggage.
Sometimes the thing that keeps us from an efficient (and healthy) process... is our own baggage. We accumulate all sorts of mental "stuff" (good and bad), and it can often get in the way of using our full energy to accomplish goals. There are ideas or ways of doing things that may have been useful to us in the past... and now, those things might be road blocks to progress. Have you looked at your baggage lately to see if you still need it? Everyone carries their baggage in unique ways, and we all sift through it differently as well. I have decided to donate some older bags to the birds.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Process (the journey) = the Good Stuff
I was hoping to be a little more active with my blog posts this year... instead, I have been putting all my energy into trying to produce. I have felt this huge weight to be creating. The weight leads to a debilitating stress, and then a lack of understanding about what it means to be productive.
In the past few weeks I have discovered (or perhaps re-discovered) the joy the process. It started about a month ago when I was faced with my 15 mile bike ride home, in the dark... on a not so bike friendly route. I was tired from my full work day, and not feeling much like peddling home. However, I had no choice. I began to refocus and redefine the task at hand. I decided that I didn't have to view the ride home as, "how fast can I commute home". If I chose, I could view it as an opportunity for a moonlit bike ride through the Napa Valley (oh yeah!). Something that was healthy, and potentially enjoyable. About 10 minutes into my ride a giant full moon began to show it self above the hills of Napa. Beautiful. It was like my little gift for redefining and refocusing.
I have found a similar gift in approaching my creative tasks (all tasks really). Attempting to let go of what I will "produce" has allowed me to savor the act of "producing". The result is better production, and more knowledge gained along the way. I can hear the questions in my head that lead me to better answers... the answers (and questions) that keep me right in the middle of the good stuff.
In the past few weeks I have discovered (or perhaps re-discovered) the joy the process. It started about a month ago when I was faced with my 15 mile bike ride home, in the dark... on a not so bike friendly route. I was tired from my full work day, and not feeling much like peddling home. However, I had no choice. I began to refocus and redefine the task at hand. I decided that I didn't have to view the ride home as, "how fast can I commute home". If I chose, I could view it as an opportunity for a moonlit bike ride through the Napa Valley (oh yeah!). Something that was healthy, and potentially enjoyable. About 10 minutes into my ride a giant full moon began to show it self above the hills of Napa. Beautiful. It was like my little gift for redefining and refocusing.
I have found a similar gift in approaching my creative tasks (all tasks really). Attempting to let go of what I will "produce" has allowed me to savor the act of "producing". The result is better production, and more knowledge gained along the way. I can hear the questions in my head that lead me to better answers... the answers (and questions) that keep me right in the middle of the good stuff.
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