December 14, 2004
Greeting Cards
I sure want more than "greetings" from the people I really care about! And I want to connect with them more than I can with a hasty signature at the bottom of a card. The waste of exchanging holiday cards bothers me, but it is the one time of year that we reach out to a lot of people who aren't a regular part of our lives, and that's a good thing.
This year, as my live changes in the course of starting a new publishing business, I have a yen for paper and pen and the time to remember just why I'm staying in touch . . . time to tell certain special people that I care, and catch them up a little on what's really going on in my life.
Here's my plan for the hectic holidays of 2004: I'm going to write real letters to a dozen distant friends, old-fashioned letters with an enclosure or two, an article they might enjoy, or a copy of an old photo. Then I'm going to email another dozen people I've lost touch with. This is going to be my season of renewing connections, and for that I don't need a box of greeting cards.
(By the way, aren't e-greeting cards the worst idea ever?)
Posted by Karen Christensen at 06:47 AM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2004
Simply Salt
Over the weekend I was catching up - well, not catching up at all, but trying to get a little less behind. I found a couple of old-fashioned Mason jars and filled one with epsom salts and the other with plain old kosher salt. As simple (and cheap) as you can get in the world of beauty products, and I found myself thinking that I should put this in the blog. But, I said to myself, what good is using salt going to do, really? Will this help save the planet?
No, it won't, by a long stretch. But what counts is the connections. Damage to the planet happens by a domino effect, and it's little things we do that reorient our thinking, and can reorient our connection with the natural world.
(The epsom salts, by the way, are good for soaking tired feet or a tired, stressed body, and the kosher salt I mix with rose-scented almond oil to make a body scrub.)
Posted by Karen Christensen at 05:50 AM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2004
Giving Thanks
We've just celebrated the most American of holidays, Thanksgiving, with a free-range turkey, mounds of mashed potatoes and garlic-roasted squash, and even homemade pies this year. After the U.S. election result in November, it's been hard to feel thankful and even harder to feel happy about being American. But there is something special and restorative about an event we all - red states and blue states, vegetarians and meat-eaters, old and young - celebrate together. And it's good to see the earth's bounty so much a center of our festivities - unlike what you see in the manic shopping that started the next day! More about Christmas shopping to come.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)