Connecting
I just finished addressing and stamping my holiday letter while watching the two different woodpeckers & a female cardinal peck at the suet cake I left out for them and the geese are flying north. It is cold and icy outside but I am taking this part of my day to sit in a room surrounded by windows. The last few weeks I have been terribly busy in my studio and it is windowless. Even a blustery day provides some light. If Santa wanted to give me something really great ~ a window in my studio would be what I really wanted.
Even being so busy in my studio and with Espen I signed up and participated with glee in 2 different "stranger" swaps and I purchased a "cause box". It is great to be so connected!
The first was sponsored by oh comely in England. I saw a potter in England post the link on her facebook page and after investigating I decided I wanted to do it. The magazine paired participants from the GLOBE randomly. Our task was then to send a gift valued at about $12 to our stranger by November 24. I put together a lovely little box and shipped it off to Singapore by the deadline. My inexpensive contents cost three times that to ship! I am not certain it arrived, the last I tracked it was in route. I hope when she receives it, she is just happy to be connected with a stranger from some place!
I signed up for the swap not because I wanted a gift. There is something so fantastic about connecting with someone from someplace else. I knew very limited information about the person I was paired with. The project was not about rushing out to purchase something expensive and quickly shipping it. The organizers encouraged creativity, handmade and personal. I used the project to just pack a box of some of my favorite things, I wrote some notes, asked my friends to send a postcard and I wrapped it so nicely!
How cool is it suddenly to get a box from a total stranger in a distant place and feel connected with a human being! How great is it to share small things and be part of a bigger world. For these reasons I participated in the stranger gift swap. I know my stranger sent a box (at least she messaged me and said she had and I can only trust that as the truth) but I have yet to receive it. Maybe I will. Maybe she will too. It makes the world a bit smaller if we feel like those humans in distant places are just like we are. It makes me believe in the magic of kindness and good deeds.
Then I was "researching" fun Christmas letters. Every year I do one. Sometimes silly. Sometimes classy. I honestly don't care if people like them or not. I like to do them! And I actually wish more of us did them. We all spend so much time on a computer, at a job, with our families that the Christmas letter is a way once a year to connect! I love to see the pictures of families and a little note! So if I am on your letter list, keep me there! (You see a theme in my life here? Connecting with people???)
Anyway while looking for ideas, I came across a website out of Chicago hosted by a story teller/instructor/producer called Christmas Letter Swap. I read the whole site. And I signed up! I was already working on my letter so it seemed easy! The task was to send 6 letters to random strangers (the host randomly provided addresses to all participants). All participants needed to mail the letter by December 15 or risk being on the hosts "wall of shame" ~ even that made me giggle! The letter could be fictional, factual but simply fun. No information with the strangers was exchanged. I only have addresses, no names! (The host gets one copy of each participants letter with my name on it so he can track who failed to participate and all the letters are put online). My Christmas letter this year was hand painted, hand written, doodled and drawn. I made color copies of it. I included photos and important things about our year! I will not post it online until after the new year so if you want to have one... you should give me your address. The whole point is to actually get a piece of mail. To have it and read it and share it! And for that moment, feel like you are connected to our family. To our silly lives. We are real people. Not just a facebook friend! So this week I am eagerly waiting for 5 random letters to arrive! I'm giddy with anticipation.
The last random thing I did was to purchase a "cause box". Sevenly, an amazing company started by 4 friends, began by creating 7-day cause campaigns, inviting customers to purchase products that gave $7 to a weekly charity. The mission of making people matter and giving back is important to me. (Just why do you think I nearly always wear Toms? And just bought socks from Bombas?) For every box sold, Sevenly gives $7 to one of 7 partner charities (after much deliberation in my mind between adoption and autism, I decided to rotate). On top of that, the box features products from companies that are committed to doing good all over the world. Some give one-for-one, some give meals, some medical aid, others give money to help various causes.
I can support companies that support good missions. Companies that are not all giant corporations that do good with what they have. I support the small ones. It may never matter what I buy or how I spend my time but it might! I can feel like I am doing something good for someone. It may be in buying socks (which I would buy anyway) or a t-shirt. If my purchase gives one to someone else, that is worth it. I connect with people across the globe in such a small way. But it is that human connection that make us all part of the bigger picture.
I do my part.... I connect....
Even being so busy in my studio and with Espen I signed up and participated with glee in 2 different "stranger" swaps and I purchased a "cause box". It is great to be so connected!
The first was sponsored by oh comely in England. I saw a potter in England post the link on her facebook page and after investigating I decided I wanted to do it. The magazine paired participants from the GLOBE randomly. Our task was then to send a gift valued at about $12 to our stranger by November 24. I put together a lovely little box and shipped it off to Singapore by the deadline. My inexpensive contents cost three times that to ship! I am not certain it arrived, the last I tracked it was in route. I hope when she receives it, she is just happy to be connected with a stranger from some place!
How cool is it suddenly to get a box from a total stranger in a distant place and feel connected with a human being! How great is it to share small things and be part of a bigger world. For these reasons I participated in the stranger gift swap. I know my stranger sent a box (at least she messaged me and said she had and I can only trust that as the truth) but I have yet to receive it. Maybe I will. Maybe she will too. It makes the world a bit smaller if we feel like those humans in distant places are just like we are. It makes me believe in the magic of kindness and good deeds.
Then I was "researching" fun Christmas letters. Every year I do one. Sometimes silly. Sometimes classy. I honestly don't care if people like them or not. I like to do them! And I actually wish more of us did them. We all spend so much time on a computer, at a job, with our families that the Christmas letter is a way once a year to connect! I love to see the pictures of families and a little note! So if I am on your letter list, keep me there! (You see a theme in my life here? Connecting with people???)
Anyway while looking for ideas, I came across a website out of Chicago hosted by a story teller/instructor/producer called Christmas Letter Swap. I read the whole site. And I signed up! I was already working on my letter so it seemed easy! The task was to send 6 letters to random strangers (the host randomly provided addresses to all participants). All participants needed to mail the letter by December 15 or risk being on the hosts "wall of shame" ~ even that made me giggle! The letter could be fictional, factual but simply fun. No information with the strangers was exchanged. I only have addresses, no names! (The host gets one copy of each participants letter with my name on it so he can track who failed to participate and all the letters are put online). My Christmas letter this year was hand painted, hand written, doodled and drawn. I made color copies of it. I included photos and important things about our year! I will not post it online until after the new year so if you want to have one... you should give me your address. The whole point is to actually get a piece of mail. To have it and read it and share it! And for that moment, feel like you are connected to our family. To our silly lives. We are real people. Not just a facebook friend! So this week I am eagerly waiting for 5 random letters to arrive! I'm giddy with anticipation.
The last random thing I did was to purchase a "cause box". Sevenly, an amazing company started by 4 friends, began by creating 7-day cause campaigns, inviting customers to purchase products that gave $7 to a weekly charity. The mission of making people matter and giving back is important to me. (Just why do you think I nearly always wear Toms? And just bought socks from Bombas?) For every box sold, Sevenly gives $7 to one of 7 partner charities (after much deliberation in my mind between adoption and autism, I decided to rotate). On top of that, the box features products from companies that are committed to doing good all over the world. Some give one-for-one, some give meals, some medical aid, others give money to help various causes. I can support companies that support good missions. Companies that are not all giant corporations that do good with what they have. I support the small ones. It may never matter what I buy or how I spend my time but it might! I can feel like I am doing something good for someone. It may be in buying socks (which I would buy anyway) or a t-shirt. If my purchase gives one to someone else, that is worth it. I connect with people across the globe in such a small way. But it is that human connection that make us all part of the bigger picture.
I do my part.... I connect....
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