Cage Free Family

There it is... in the background...our new home ;-)

More pictures coming.....

The house is empty :-)
St. Vincent de Paul dropped off the truck again this morning; thankfully, because our stuff did not even come close to all fitting in the first load.
Then, that's it. Last stuff gone tonight.

So much has happened in the last few days that I haven't been able to write about.
For all of you trying to keep up with us, I promise a bunch of catch up posts as soon as we hit the road next week!

We have been showered in love and kindness from friends and virtual strangers alike. I don't know how we could've done all that we have without the help and support we've had!

We'll be hitting the road for Longview, TX very soon, then up to Wyoming, so if you're between Longview and Wyoming drop us a line. We'd love to meet you!
As we go I'll try to update our general direction and make a plan to include those of you who have extended invitations. Meeting people is the whole point of this blog, afterall!

I'll work on a slightly less disjointed writing style for the next post ;-)
My brain is still in the land of work and details....looking forward to bringing it back around to the moment and the beautiful future!

xo

We found our new home!!!

Alas, it is not a bus, but rather an RV as so many recommended.

I will share pictures as soon as possible...meaning, when I get the pictures from the camera ;-)

It is a cute, very retro, little 30 footer, complete with orange upholstery and velvet curtains.
I love it.

What I love even more is that it meets all of our requirements for safe and comfortable travel. Jeff spent about an hour and a half checking it out, inside and out, underneath, on the roof, and all around.

It's had a fair amount of work done recently and is in amazing condition, including brand new tires and a new spare.

We're so excited and going to pick it up on Wednesday and after a farewell party on Friday, we hit the road north Saturday morning! Woohoo!!!

Today we continued boxing up our things, sorting out the few keep items from the mass of donate items. At first is was dragging and overwhelming, but the more things we discussed and let go of, the more free we felt. We are leaving some things, like baby books, trinkets, tools and pictures, with friends and family and truly asking ourselves what it is we need to be happy and comfortable. I had a great conversation with a friend about it all, and she mentioned how differently people who "lose everything" in a fire report feeling about stuff once it is all behind them. I feel a renewed sense of excitement and happiness today, and hope to post more about this process of letting go...when I'm awake enough to actually type with my eyes open.

Every day you'll see the dust... as I drive my baby in my Magic Bus...Too much! Magic bus!

P.S. In order for us to contact you, you have to leave your contact information in your comment or send it in an email ;-)
Oh, and if anyone wants to throw some good road atlases, camping gear, or a digital SLR camera (ha!) our way we won't turn it down ;-p

xoxo

Dear Quinn and Nichola,

We're standing on a cusp right now, looking forward to the journey of a lifetime.
Someday, much sooner that I can imagine, you will be grown...leaving for journeys of your own, and we will be looking back to this one.

My sweet babies, I want you to know that you are my raison d'etre.
It is all for you.
Sometimes I feel as though I could dissolve into nothing more than the love I feel for you. My heart swells with such power at your smiles, joy, tears, questions....
I survive on your happiness, wonderment and beautiful presence.

It's all for you. When I have dreams of the future, they're always of you...saucer-wide eyes staring up at the redwoods, squeals of delight bouncing across the cold water of a creek, hushed whispering questions while fingers point in a museum...warm, toasty bodies snuggling up for one more chapter...pleeease.

Each time I step outside my box, in the face of misunderstanding eyes, to inquire about the chickens these eggs came from...."they're for my children...I just have to ask..."
Each time I stand up for our rights...hoping that you'll understand that you can too...

My heart beats in time with yours and I know that your's is in time with mine. When I seek joy for myself it is also to seek joy for you...to show you that there is something more to this life...that you can be as full of wonder, peace and happiness as an adult, as you are as a child.
I hope to lead you, seamlessly, and whole, into your future and the place from which you will soar...high above, but always, always in my heart.

I hope that when all is said and done, and I am but a memory to you, that I will exist within you as the knowledge of love.

I love you.
Always.

Mama

I found an organization to take our things!

St. Vincent de Paul is going to be dropping off a truck on Tuesday and leaving it for us to load as we are able.
!! This is me twirling ;-)

What's more is that they were so gracious...and present! Of all of the charities that I spoke to, they are the only one to stop for a second and ask me why and then even went on to have a brief conversation about healing, faith, charity and trying to do the right thing. We had different words to express what we were speaking about, but the message was the same, leaving us saying, "Yes, yes, exactly!"

So awesome.
It turns out that they are in the process of trying to expand and it couldn't be a better time for them to wind up with a whole ton of things. How beautifully serendipitous.

I think we're going to try to get a box stuffing/truck loading party together....

Yahoooooo!

Now, on to the next question: Dude, Where Our Bus?? ;-)

I thought I'd try and come up for air here for a minute!
I'm sure you can imagine the level of intensity around here lately. In all honesty, it is those beautiful words that you all have shared with me that keep me going every day.

Many of them have become my go-to nuggets of wisdom. Words that pull me into a more peaceful place and back into functionality.
I'm a huge fan of Eckhart Tolle and am reading one of his books, The Power of Now, right now. It speaks about being in the moment,the now, losing the ego mind, and letting go of all resistance to what is. It's brilliance. Love it.

I work every day to anchor myself in the moment and just be. Though, I'm finding myself struggling a little bit these last few days....forgetting the feeling, the power of that peaceful knowing...the purpose of everything that we're doing, and accidentally slipping into a place of repetitive contemplation, bringing about some not so fun resistance to the flow of all that energy.

We still have not found a charity capable of taking our things in donation! When I tell people this, their response echoes my feelings...Are you kidding??
Nope.
It's not that they don't want it, it's just that there is so much stuff, and now that we've gotten down to the wire, and the deadline is right there we're having to contemplate what to do with it in the event that we can't acutually find anyone to come and take them.

So, as I often do ;-) I've gotten off track of my point...
When I get to this place of fear, confusion, pondering...your words come back to me and fill me with that motivating energy at the source of all of the wonderful things which have happened.
What's more...your words aren't just motivating me! They're lifting up a great many people! So many friends and family have now quoted you all! What an awesome little community and place of support and friendship! Would that I could share some of the emails I've gotten...some of the truly inspiring stories...

You all are the whole reason for this blog. I wanted to find others like us, hear others stories, get some good experience based advice and share the love. I didn't realize what I was in for, but I can say that I am so very glad for everything which has happened and no longer want to imagine doing this without you all!

It's taking me some time to get to all of the words you have shared with me because I'm really trying to be there with them...really pay attention, and feel what you have put into them and give the same back. I'm learning! Learning about you, about us, about myself and the human spirit. Learning to see the beauty in what people are sharing, even, and sometimes most especially, in the words which challenge. What is a challenge, if not a question? My work there is to see that question seperate from myself. Hold it in my hand, take a look at it and let it move through me rather than trying to put it in a box and define it by my answer.

I am a passionate person and I can see that I am not alone! I hope that this place we've created together can be a safe place for us to all share that passion...without resistance!

How truly beautiful would that be?

My greatest skill has been to want but little.

-Henry David Thoreau,
naturalist and author (1817-1862)


Our blog doesn't generate income. It's an online journal where I write about our family's thoughts, feelings and daily activities.
Some of those daily activities include (but are not limited to) preparing to donate all of our things in order to simplify our lives and allow us the ability to travel, learn about organic farming, and natural healing (and I'm pretty sure a whole bunch of things I never realized I needed to know) and offer free use of our supply of herbs, tinctures, oils and essences and reference materials to help people along the road to heal themselves the way we have.

Can you imagine having the ability to be together as a family, spend copious amounts of time outdoors, travel the country, meet new people and have a whole life where you dedicate yourself to learning and giving.

What could a child learn from a life like that?
How to grow food they can eat. How to live in a truly sustainable way. How to make friends, climb trees, catch fish... They learn the awesome energy of being able to help someone. How could life be if you really loved, loved, what you did to support yourself.

We want to be able to help people. We want to learn everything that we can about life, providing and caring for ourselves, and being happy. We want to teach that to our kids. We want to be able to say that we really, really did something to make the world a better place...that we really, really did whatever we knew we could to increase the chances that they will inherit an earth and a life that is healthy and happy.
Life! Liberty! And the Pursuit of Happiness!!
That is what we're trying to teach our kids.

What does that mean??

Let's take a look at life...

Life-health "the general or universal condition of human existence".
What is it we believe to be the "general or universal condition of human existence"?
How many people do you know who are sick in some way? What are the current numbers of children with Autism spectrum disorders? MS? Fibromyalgia? Cancer? Heart Disease? I could go on, but I know I don't need to. We all know a great many people who are suffering illness in some form. How many ads do you see for drugs for the sick? The tired? The sad? The dying?

What if it could be different? Did you know that even the top hospitals in the country are now embracing, using and studying what they refer to as CAM; complementary and alternative medicine? What if true healing in the form of real, sustainable nutrition, herbs, accupuncture, massage, reiki, you name it, were available for free? What if every person with Fibromyalgia could utter the words, "I used to have Fibromyalgia"?
I say it now. I live it now! Others are doing it too, surviving and curing all manners of dis-ease with non-traditional therapies. What if healing were free?? What if every person had the right and the ability to acquire health?
I believe such a thing can exist. Deb Talan says that "Anything worth anything takes more than a few days and a long long night." What if it began with a handful of people and spread like a wildfire? What if someone built it? Would you come?

Then there's liberty...
Liberty-ib·er·ty -- freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.

2.	freedom from external or foreign rule; independence.

3.	freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.

What are we doing to ensure the continuation of the those freedoms and are we actually being granted those rights?
And who is it that is granting us rights/freedoms/liberties?
We used to have this bumper sticker that read I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway! It got a lot of chuckles and agreement. I used to think it was funny too. Now, I'm a bit concerned about truth behind that statement. Why is it funny? It's sarcastic comment to the unsaid... "Fine! Take them!"...I wasn't using them anyway...
How sad is that? I want to make sure that I'm exercising my rights, and I'm not just talking about our so called "God given rights" but about those rights that we believe that we have as free people, protected and served by the documents on which this Free Country are based.
I want my children to see the Constituition, the Bill of Rights....
I want my children to understand what they mean...what they promise...why they are so important!
I want my children to continue to have the rights that I didn't mean to take for granted.
I want my children to live in a country where those who abuse their power at the expense of others are held accountable for their actions!

I received an email the other day equating the process of capturing wild pigs to America.
I could write an entire book on examples of how our liberty is being lost. Can you?

Then there's the final one...seems simple...the pursuit of happiness....

And the Pursuit -

2.	an effort to secure or attain; quest: the pursuit of happiness.

3.	any occupation, pastime, or the like, in which a person is engaged regularly or customarily: literary pursuits.

What are you pursuing? We've spent an aweful lot of time pursuing income. To spend.
What is wrong with a country when our president suggests that in response to 9-11 we go shop?? Shop?
People, do we really need more stuff?

Then the kicker...Happiness...
Happiness- hap·pi·ness -- the quality or state of being happy.

2.	good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

—Synonyms 1, 2. pleasure, joy, exhilaration, bliss, contentedness, delight, enjoyment, satisfaction. Happiness, bliss, contentment, felicity imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction. Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good: the happiness of visiting one's family. Bliss is unalloyed happiness or supreme delight: the bliss of perfect companionship. Contentment is a peaceful kind of happiness in which one rests without desires, even though every wish may not have been gratified: contentment in one's surroundings. Felicity is a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind: to wish a young couple felicity in life.

I'm not going to ask if you're happy. Happiness is subjective, but let's take a look at something...

Google: number of americans diagnosed with depression...see what you get.
Google: incidence of childhood depression, number of americans being treated for depression, antidepressants in drinking water....

What was that I was asking about "the general or universal condition of human existence"?

People seem pretty concerned that we are going to drive up to Vermont and unload ourselves, blindly into the mercy of a climate and lifestyle to which we are completely ignorant.

Ouch.

I'm not sure where to begin with that one, but here goes...

The bus is key for us because it will allow us great mobility for the purpose of learning from those who already know how. The idea is not to be a family on the road, but to be a family without roots enough to hold us to one location, so that we may follow our path of education more easily and quickly.

How better to learn to extend a growing season that to go see, touch and try with someone who is already doing it? What better way to learn anything, than to do it with the kind support of a wise teacher? The point of the bus is to provide ourselves with a home that can come with us...a home that will allow us to meet with, stay with, work with those who would be our teachers, whether or not they have space in their home for us.

We are fully aware of the price of gas, the mpg of a bus, and all plans that we make keep those points in focus. How much does the average family spend on gasoline commuting in the city? How many people are commuting close to an hour to get to and from work every day?
We do not intend to drive on a regular basis and most certainly not every day. We live minutes from nearly everything we do and yet somehow we manage to spend at least $255 per month on gasoline for our minivan, which is one of the most fuel efficient models on the market; having the ability to drop to only 3 cylinders to conserve fuel.
$255 would get a bus (at 8mpg) 400 miles. Four hundred miles is a long way to go when your purpose is to park to live and learn.

Worry not, internet masses, we are neither "hippy-dippy" nor "ignorant romantics"... don't believe everything you read.

It can be hard to know another person when you have access only to bits and pieces of information. Please don't assume that because you have read some things about us that you can define us, label us and put us in a box.

I will continue to write. I cannot express how much all of your kind, helpful emails and comments mean to us.

For those would be judges...please do take the time to at least read the blog before passing judgment, and try to have the presence to understand that not everything is disclosed, and perhaps a question should be asked before your answer is given.

We are working hard. Very, very hard.
I will post as soon as I can about how we healed my Fibromyalgia, about how much I care about each and every person who has written to us as well as those who couldn't possibly even know about us, about education and how important it is to us, about who we actually are and what is the real point of it all.

I am simply one person. One person trying so hard to do the right thing, learn everything that I can in order to do that, protect my children from the storm of it all while educating them to the purpose and the beauty of life and relation with other people, cook everything that we eat from scratch and just be.

Please be patient with me. I am only one person and I cannot answer all of the questions so quickly. This is not to say that I don't want you to ask them.
I do! I do want you to ask them! In every question, there is education for me.
I will keep writing and hopefully, in my crazy stream of consciousness kind of way, I will begin to answer your questions.

Peace, love, health and joy to you all!

I appreciate you more than I can express.

xo

Not only are we having trouble finding someone to take all of our stuff, but we are having trouble finding a safe and livable bus!

Ack!

Unfortunately, being that we're donating everything LOL we don't actually have $100,000 to buy a bus ;-p

We're hoping for something less corporate/giant bus, more homey/organic skoolie/pusher....

Do you have our magic bus??

xo

My beautiful, amazing, couragous baby sister (by a whopping 18 months) is jumping out of a perfectly good plane today. First she blew my mind by moving to Brazil when she was a whopping 17 years old, then again when she up and moved to Portugal. Well, she makes me feel proud and amazed all the time, but these days it's with wonderings about how she can really do something. She's called me to discuss joining the Peace Corps. and most recently about moving to live in a shanty town in Brazil to teach. Today she jumps from a plane. Talk about trusting and living and courage. How exciting!

My sweet Ella, this is one that I couldn't do, and today I am so inspired by you.
I expect you to call me the second you get your bearings!

Internet family...if you could send my sweet sis some loving vibes of safety and support today I would appreciate it ever so much!

Hello World!

We're celebrating and saying good-bye to friends and family here in the Big D this weekend, but we're so excited about Mr. Blumenthal's eloquent and honest article that I just had to check it out and come over here to see what's happening.

So much to say, but tonight I'm going to take this little vacation for all it's worth and head to bed at the very early hour of 11pm.

I've started to read comments and emails, but it will take me awhile to catch up. Keep 'em coming though...I can't tell you how much I love hearing your stories and ideas and oh the love!

Peace and Love to you all, and many, many thanks to Ralph Blumenthal and Ben Sklar; what a pleasure it was to meet with you both!

xo

We're donating pretty much everything. We'll keep our practical clothes and shoes, some utensils, our cast-iron pots, beds, blankets, etc.
Many things will be donated because they are not in the most usable form to us right now. A good example is our dishes. We have no need of a 12 piece, breakable set of dishes and will replace them with enamel coated metal dishes, cups, bowls for traveling and camping with. I have no need of high heeled shoes and purses and will replace them with some sturdy Goodwill boots and a back pack. Things of that nature.

I honestly hope that what we need will come to us in it's true form, and not as cash that will have to be turned into something usable, but I have received enough emails from concerned strangers to see the value of having the ability to have and use some cash. Some things, like hosting our site and buying gas will require it.

Right now we are very lucky that my partner has proven himself able to do his job from any location which has high-speed internet and will maintain income from that during this transition period. However, we are working very very hard to stretch our creative minds and discover and work our natural talents in ways which will allow us to be fully self sustaining. Thanks to the love of strangers, and their urgings, I have been working on a line of clothing that I hope to begin selling soon. It just takes time that I haven't had while working on this transition, to sew and stash available inventory. Once upon a time I was a private dog trainer and supported myself this way. I'm sure that this will come in handy again. The point is reasonably manageable transition into a new life and a new way of being. We are giving everything that we have, in heart, mind, action and our stuff to live a life more in line with our values.

We are keeping only those items which are necessary for clean healthy living and donating the rest.

Though I tried to prepare myself, I am amazed and hurt by those who would claim that there is something dirty or untruthful about what we are doing. I literally cannot comprehend.
We are just people. People trying really hard to do the right thing. We're figuring it out as we go along. We don't have a support team working out the logistics of all that we are trying to do and what the world's reaction to it will be. We're doing it because it feels right. We're sharing because so many people have asked us to. Many people have been inspired by us the same as we have been inspired by so many others! I cannot tell you how many times I have posted on someone's blog thanking them for sharing their lives and inspiring me to make change or giving me a sense of community. We share in order to connect with others...connect with the people with whom we can give and receive freely for the greater good

The donate button is there in direct response to friends and family who would like to help us along the way because they believe in what we are doing and feel that they would like to help monetarily.

Some things require money. We are trying to put together a full apothecary of herbs, herbal tinctures, flower essences, books, supplies to give to people in need that we meet along the way. This is a stock which will not only take a great deal of money to put together, but will have to be replenished as we give it out. We would never ask someone in need to pay for what we have to give, but I can see no good reason to refuse support from someone who believes in what we are doing and wants to help us keep it going and pull it off if they are able. I have often made money donations to people and organizations which I only wish I could give more than money to. However, running off to join the peace corps or work for World Vision is not in my cards. So I do what I can, and I give when I can, in all the ways which I can. There is no duping. This is what we are about and I have no delusions about how hard it will be.

Originally we were going to hold a silent auction and accept money in exchange for our things, in order to fund the bus, and the supplies, and all of the things which we do not have, for living a safe and healthy life on the road.

The process didn't feel right though. While sorting through our things we kept bumping into the question of how to put value on a thing. We wanted it to go to people who really need it, yet we felt like we needed to request money for them in order to not land ourselves homeless. It wasn't adding up. How much is a dresser worth? How much should I ask for the shirt that my son wore 3x a week, but I cared for it and now it can be a favorite for someone new? I couldn't do it and began to worry that by doing it this way the things would not wind up in the hands of those who need them the most. But what about us?

This is where we realized that we already held the answer in our hearts. Donate it. Let the universe/god/spirit...decide who's hands it should land in and let the universe decide the value. What is our dresser worth? We pay it forward and find out! Perhaps it will come to us in the form of salvaged wood, not needed by someone else, but a gem to us! Perhaps it will come in the form of $50 just when we really need it to rent a tool to work on the bus. We're paying it forward and taking that leap of faith. A real live leap of faith that the universe/god/karma whatever will provide to us through the many people who we meet and have something to give us when we are in need.

As Deb Talan would say, "Anything worth anything takes more than a few days and a long, long night. Don't push so hard against the wall. You can't do it all alone and if you could would you really want to?"

I don't really want to do it all alone and that is why we have opened ourselves up to the world. Some hurt will trickle in, but I believe that it will be drowned out by the cries of love and support and I know that at least one person out there will be better for our sharing.

We ask no one to give us anything.
We are giving everything that we have to making our dream a reality.

We are fully aware of the difficulty of the road ahead of us and believe fully, that if we give as much as we can, that what we need will come to us how and when we need it.

I SO want to write all about what I see for our future, and why we're doing everything, but I find the words get jumbled as I try to answer all of the questions. I'm new to this blogging thing and even more new to this open my life up to the comments of the world thing and I suppose some part of me is holding back and protecting my dream.

I'm not yet ready for people to doubt my life purpose, so I can't quite get it all laid out in the open. It spills forth with such power and beauty when I can just be in the presence of someone and tell them, but laying it out in a way that speaks to everyone....
well that's a completely different thing with which I have much less experience.
The crazy level of things which need to happen in this physical plane in which we live tend to get in the way a little too.... Day to day life hasn't stopped just because we're ready to get off. These days we're lucky to make it to bed before 2am and then we're up with the kids by 7.

In my heart I know that I am SO on my life path and really, really working to do better by the world and my family and myself.

I cannot wait until we have a place where we can offer refuge and healing to everyone we can hold. I see no reason why we should all be so sick, why everyone must have money to be happy and have a healthy life.
We will take the education which we get on the road and we will use it to build a farmstead and a community capable of helping, supporting and healing a great many people - free of charge!

I apologize for the rambling length of this post. These stream of consciousness writings aren't always the most concise thing, but they get the point across ;-)

Peace and Love to you all
I am ever ever so grateful for all of the supportive, happy, inspired emails!
Leaving comments here is even easier ;-)

"...You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one"

We've been getting emails about the Red Paper Clip guy, Kyle, who began with a red paper clip and 14 trades and a year later, he was in possession of a house in Saskatchewan.

That's pretty cool. Awesome, if you ask me.

So, we thought we'd give it a try, only in the spirit of giving everything we can, we're going to begin with our wedding rings.

So, here goes.

Up for trade, one set of wedding rings...let go not because of a lack of love, but because of the sheer, powerful abundance of it.

As if that wasn't enough, both rings, purchased from Jared/Kay, come with a lifetime service warranty like none other:

We've been getting a lot of questions about our wedding rings, mostly along the lines of, "how could you give up your wedding rings!?".

So many emails that we began to question ourselves.

I know the answer now and I want to share it.

The question began initially because our wedding rings have been living in a box for a long time. Jeff's because it was many sizes too big, and having a continuous design, can't be resized without damaging the design. Mine because it just isn't me anymore. My sentimental attachment of self to items slips away without plan these days. One day I worried about forgetting to put it on and one day I realized that I hadn't worn it in many months.

Then, last night we were gifted with the most amazing, beautiful, touching, intimate set of photographs of our family; taken by the amazingly talented Whitney Martin.

As I sat there gazing at the photos (there are over 500 of them) I was near tears with the energy that she captured. I feel so very lucky to have been given such an amazing gift. These are photos that will be cherished by my family for all our lives.
About 45 minutes into the slideshow, near the end, began a set of photos of Jeff and I hanging out at the park while the kids played. First let me say; being photographed by Whitney was the easiest breeziest thing ever. She just melted into the background and we forgot that she was there after a short time. What she captured was a casual conversation between husband and wife that somehow manages to convey a level of loving intimacy that blew me away.
So. Talented.

Watching the slides of the photos progress...seeing how we interact...a touch of the leg here, a leaning in, a look, a laugh, a tease, loving instinctual and totally unconscious intimate communication. And I'm pretty sure we were discussing the difficulties and virtues of the diet we are trying to learn to stay within...nothing that you would guess by the pictures.

I realized that after 9 years we are quite literally more in love than ever.
How cool.

It's not to imply that we are some sort of fairy tale couple. We have our moments when the stress smacks into the fatigue and the total logistical overload. They aren't so much fun, but we've worked out a sort of dance. A dance of give and take and space and care that seems to work. It's something we really made effective in order to survive the damage of years of illness and pain. Now that those things are gone we can really feel the magnitude of the strength of relationship that comes of truly sharing hardship.

No rings necessary here. This relationship is the foundation of my life and it stands on its own.

I thought I'd share some of Whitney's beautiful work.

A dear friend wrote to me today about walking without fear into the unknown, and her words reminded me of one of my all time favorite songs:

Fearless

You say the hill's too steep to climb,
Climb it!
You say you'd like to see me try,
Climb it!
You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb
The hill in my own way
just wait a while, for the right day
And as I rise above the treeline and the clouds
I look down hear the sound of the things you said today
Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd, smiling
Emotionless the magistrate turns 'round, frowning
and who's the fool who wears the crown
Go down in your own way
And everyday is the right day
And as you rise above the fearlines in the frown
You look down
Hear the sound of the faces in the crowd
-Pink Floyd, Meddle

I just love this song. The mellow tempo totally befits the uplifting words...
and as you rise above the fearlines in the frown...

Feeling strong and intrepid today.

I think we may have picked a charity as well. There is a battered women's shelter here in town which runs a store like Goodwill to benefit the shelter, but the kicker for me, is that the women of the shelter are able to take things, which they need for a new life, free of charge from the store.
Awesome.

When I was 8 years old my mother, sister and I lived in such a shelter during the literal coldest winter in Texas history. My sister did not have a winter coat and the shelter provided her with one.
I can also clearly remember the bliss of forgetting the pain when they took us to see a real live play! It was December, right before Christmas, and I will never forget it.

This feels so very right.

I spent many years running from whence I came. Head down, charging forward, throwing anything that I could between myself and that place in life. The fear was too great to see it clearly. I am finally living without fear and am realizing that I do not need anything (most especially material things) between myself and the world...past or future.
It feels so very right to unload that baggage, which now seems heavy to me, and pass it to one who does need it now.

This feels like a rebirth and who needs anything but their birthday suit for that?

Today I've realized that something has been missing from this blog; Discussion of the point. Why are we doing this?



What was that thing I said about applying our true values to our lives?

Because we have a dream. A dream of a better life and a better world.
A dream of a reality where people get what they need... where all people have a right and the ability! to live within their natural state: Health, Freedom and Joy! A world where we truly use our minds and our bodies to their fullest intended abilities and really, truly, enrich our souls!

I can hardly wait to see the full potential of people, blooming like flowers transplanted from a sidewalk crack to an organically tended garden! Talk about miracle growth of highest kind!

We have a dream of a lush and beautiful community place, filled with the things which a person needs to accomplish such a state of beauty.
A working farm to provide our bodies real nourishment; the kind where you know what's in your food. If we are what we eat, I would sure like to know exactly what I'm made of. A library, a wall-less school for all ages.... so so many things.

A cooperative effort towards the highest good for each individual and thereby the community as a whole.

Okay, Universe/One/Spirit/God/Mother/World Community,

We offer every thing which we have to make it happen!
We keep our souls, our selves and our faith in the path set before us and the help we have always received.

We believe in the all balancing power of the universe to provide us with what we truly need and to the people we need to know in order to truly do the highest good that we can for our family and the world.

We will be donating all of our belongings to a charity (to be decided very soon).

Do you have a suggestion for a charity organization which is in line with our values and able to take our things?

Leave your comments, suggestions, wishes, etc. here so that I can keep track

We've taken a few hits....

• Four weeks less time that we thought and needed
• Both childcare options have fallen through
• An out of town wedding we must attend taking 3 of our 22 remaining days
• We still have hundreds of items to catalog, photograph, tag and upload to the new online auction program

In terms of time and energy, we're slowly bleeding to death y'all!

Add to that our need to acquire and prepare food for a very restricted diet of meat, veggies, fruit, seeds and nuts. No easy convenience like pasta or bread or dairy products. :*(

HEEEEEEEELP!

Anyone out there have experience running a fundraising auction?
Anyone out there crazy about organization or cleaning or sorting or photographing?
Anyone want to come over with our without kids and help with ours while we chat and work?
Anyone want to come over and give me a massage? HA! Like I have time... ;-)

I think the Beatles said it best: