Tina's blog

The majority of nonprofit organizations are feeling the need for help in these difficult times. This morning while reading my local newspaper, I noticed a new feature called Wish List. Here community nonprofit groups can lists specific details of their immediate needs and a contact number. One group that helps homeless families needs household goods, a no-kill animal protection shelter is taking donations of crates and grooming supplies, and a ministry that helps shelter abused teens is asking for suitcases. It seems these kids go from place to place with everything they own in a garbage bag! My garage just happens to contain items on each of these wish lists. Regularly we donate lightly used items to various groups but these immediate needs would be even more rewarding to fill. Kudos to The Observer for bringing attention to local charities and facilitating the donation process.

I just took a moment to skim over the Pepsi Refresh Project to see if any of the ideas I voted for received grant funding. Voting closes the last day of each month so get your votes in for the June recipients before midnight tonight. If you haven't heard, Pepsi is providing millions of dollars to fund good ideas, big and small, that may make the world a better place. What a great idea for those of us wanting to help who don't have millions of dollars like Pepsico! But you can participate when huge corporations donate by voting or nominate projects that need funding in your community. Your vote can bring money.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of watching the popular musical "Wicked". This is the untold story of the Witches of Oz before Dorothy arrives but with a twist on the familiar tale told from a different perspective. In the end the circumstances that have caused these misunderstood characters that had been judged wrong are revealed. The stunning production I saw in Dallas lived up to the hype.

I was not much of an Oz fan growing up. Those flying monkeys were just too creepy for my taste. But this version raises many lingering issues that will get stuck in your mind and have you discussing the show days, if not weeks, after you've seen it!

The best way I can sum-up the main message is with a line spoken by the Wizard about moral ambiguity:
“Where I’m from, we believe all sorts of things that aren’t true. We call it — history.... There are precious few at ease with moral ambiguities so we act as though they don’t exist.”

Where to start? Maybe here: I've felt pretty crappy since about the age of 18 (25 years ago). Or here: I've had issues with fatigue, depression, and hypothyroidism. Or maybe here: As a remedy, I've tried gluten free diets, low carbs and low sugar diets, synthetic hormones, natural hormones, various kinds of antidepressants, meditation, breathing practices, strenuous exercise, vitamin supplements, juice fasting, all to no avail. Should I read a Hollywood actress's advice on a diet plan? Why the heck not? What's one more disappointment?

What? A diet that is KIND? Kind to me, the earth, and all living beings? I'll feel better, think clearer, have more energy, and STAY thin? M'kay, Alicia Silverstone, tell me more lies!

My dad...

1 - often took my sister and me to the local Tasty Freeze when we were kids for soft serve ice cream cones.
2 - taught me how to ride a bike, play softball and my favorite outdoor activity... Frisbee!
3 - is a good sport and loves to laugh.

Story: He goes to the Silver Sneakers program at the local YMCA with my mom to participate in their senior fit activities. One of the exercises in the routine is a little sample of the Chinese mind/body practice called Tai Chi. I can't imagine my father doing any group activity that requires expressive body movements and just about fell out of my chair laughing when he confessed to me, "When I look around at the others in the class, I'm the one always going in the wrong direction!" Keep it up, Dad, everybody loves that guy!

4 - took us camping.

Melissa at Operation Nice gave her readers a NICE assignment for this week. She encourages us to blog about the things we love to do. She has just returned from the How Design Conference in Denver and is sharing her enthusiasm for living a life packed with things you love to do. To me, this is as important as breathing!

We get so bogged down with the day-to-day responsibilities and chores that we often forget as we grow older to have fun and enjoy life. For me, that means spending time outdoors with my family just goofing around. We have a beautiful cluster of loblolly pine trees in our backyard and I take full advantage of the view and shade from our hammock on lazy Sunday afternoons.

What do you love to do?

The BP fiasco has inspired me to get more involved with environmental concerns. My husband and I have been discussing building compost for years but it wasn't until yesterday that we finally took action. After a little research we built a compost to recycle yard trimmings, newspapers, and food scraps. We all know that landfills are filling up and composting is one way to not only diminish our amount of waste but to convert it into something useful. We'll be saving money on mulch and hopefully educating our son about ways to recycle other than just using the plastics recycle bin. There are many small things we can do as individuals to be a little kinder to our planet.

I found this short video most helpful and easily explained.

I've been hesitant to blog about the catastrophe going on in the gulf right now. After all, this blog is about kindness and I'm not an expert on the BP oil matter. But when BloggersUnite called for bloggers to raise their voices and spread a united message of change about the current political system, the unethical way big corporations do business, and impotent politicians, I knew it was time show my concern.

BloggersUnite is a community of bloggers joining each other in an attempt to bring attention and action to a wide range of issues in our world. Currently, that problem is not just the fact there is oil spilling into the gulf coast, but the company responsible has put more effort into the cover-up than cleanup. There seems to be nobody in charge. It is time to put an end to career politicians and demand that our elected officials start serving us and NOT themselves.

While dog sitting for our neighbors today, I noticed this new sign along their pathway. This is a beautiful analogy and so appropriate for a home where plants thrive under the owner's care, birdbaths scatter the landscape, and flowers are spread throughout the lawn. Acts of kindness are about nurturing the earth so it may flourish into its full potential; it grows like seeds and is reaped and sowed.

Talking with my teenage nephew some time ago, he said he thought it was strange that my brother (his dad) preferred silence to music while driving. Even though I wanted to be the cool aunt, I had to admit that I too cringed when my son was old enough to hit the radio button. I use drive time to rest my ears and thoughts. When did things change? As a teenager and into my young adulthood, I preferred music in the background as I prepared for school or work and ALWAYS in the car with my cracked speakers cranked to the max.

Now I crave silence. It is like a load being lifted off my shoulders when I enter into it. I feel grounded and reconnected to the earth instead of separated by obstacles life playfully throws in your path. If I can sneak in a short yoga routine I feel even more balance.

When you're feeling threatened or overburdened, make a little time for silence. Be it meditation, stretching or simply sitting in stillness, it is a source of both peace and great strength.