Revisit Ways to Help the EASY way!

Stop! Are you thinking that to help Shelly get 6720 squares to have put together as afghans for the kids that attend Camp Sanguinity means you and your friends have to crochet or knit tons of squares, causing your fingers to go numb because of carpal tunnel, your children to be unfed, your husband to be ignored (more than you MEANT to? Guess what! It really doesn’t.

I think many of us - when we mention it to others or in our self conversations - come across as if we want LOTS of squares from them. We are so used to being asked to give all. Even I was thinking that way, losing sight of her REAL quest: to have each afghan show the love of FORTY different people. (Well actually make that minimum of 41 because someone has to crochet them all together).

So, what that means is as few as one or two per person and you have helped! Of course, you could do more, in case not enough people participated or in case they DID and she can start donating them to other camps. So, what is needed is LOTS of people doing VERY LITTLE!

With that thought in mind, if you can do lots, great! Others have and more will have the time, but many don’t have the time, why they are wasting it reading this - or are they? I may have an idea that will work for you or someone you know!

It is you out there that is willing to do just one or two or three that REALLY will make this project be as she envisioned it.

So, let’s rethink how we approach people, remind them that this is SHARE a SQUARE, not give us everything you have. Maybe then more people will have time to participate. All they have to do is make one SIX inch square, then make a little tag with name and location (or just use your business card) and tie it on and stuff it in an envelope.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t have that twinkle in your eye, that hint of suggestion in your voice, that smile on your face that says, “but I really really want to see you do a bunch!”

I know if you told me just one I would be more apt to do it than if you told me twenty, although I have managed to get eight done.

I give you, Ways to get more people to do it with you:

- The easiest way: simply ask, it actually worked for me, I was floored!

- Challenge your friends, coworkers, neighbors!

- Challenge the men to put out! (You know what I mean!)

- Invite them over for a desert and coffee and a knit just one square night/afternoon.

- Invite couples over and let the men (unless they do needlework) just do the guy thing and hang out by the pool or over the pool table or in front of the TV while you all knit or crochet a square. They will love the opportunity to spend just a few hours with the guys and you will get to chat without them rolling their eyes or saying, “yeah, right!”

- Bribe those that knit or crochet that have tons of kids and really need to relax - offer to watch the kids for a few hours so they can knit or crochet a square! (OK, I may be pushing my luck now with that idea!)

- If you can knit or crochet, offer to show your neighbors or friends how easy it is (OK, so I haven’t learned to crochet yet, I can knit though.)

- Teach your school age or teenage daughter and her friends. Once they have learned enough to pull off a decent square, let her have her friends over for a girls night, get them a movie for later, snacks, whatever teenagers are in to now. Then show them an easy pattern for a scarf or hat.

- Get the whole family involved on family night! The little ones can stamp or color tags, the one who knits or crochets can do his or her thing, finishing touches or making more, the others can write out tags or further embellish them, someone can punch the hole, tie it on, address the envelope, put the stamp(s) on, and the littlest can put it in the envelope. See how easy it is! Then have a fun desert or play a game the kids have been begging you to play, heck just do Ring around the Rosy or I spy. Make it fun. Count your blessings!

- Write a letter to a relative or friend you have practically ignored for years, tell them you just need ONE little square made, send them the yarn, send them a beautiful photo, a peppermint candy, a cute card. Here is your EXCUSE to write that note you have been meaning to. Send the website url if they use computers.

- Have your children write a letter or allow them to type their first email!

- Do it for yourself if for no other reason, just get lost in the meditative qualities of knitting or crocheting, that quiet rhythm that slows your breathing and quiets your brain. . . and that quietness will envelope a child in love. You will have made a difference to one child by one square, a few minutes (hours?) of your time, even if scattered here and there over several days will affect more lives than just yours — obviously the child receiving the afghan will have the warmth and cuddle factor, the people around the child, especially, will appreciate the time involved and the love behind the time, as they probably have little to give others, and - you will have shown others it can be done, the children around you, especially will have seen that it can be fit in.

You may not be able to fix the world, but you can fix one tiny corner of someone’s heart and expectations of what can be. And that, y’all is one heck of a long term investment in someone’s life that will be passed on down the generations!

NOTE! This is one post you can copy, take pieces of, rephrase, whatever. You don’t need to give me credit or link back here, run with it. . . This does not just apply to Shelly’s Share A Square Project - but to any project. Brainstorming is my favorite thing to do other than tumble words out of my head onto a keyboard. I probably could have come up with more, but I have squares to tag and box up - and I have goofed off long enough! And yes, I am putting this on all my blogs, even their old versions still on Blogspot. Duplicate content, but, hopefully worth your time to read ONCE.

Share a Square, then take on the rest of the world!

What a way to revise your thinking on helping!

The idea? Calling all RVer poets

(Note to Leon: how quickly you forget it was I who suggested I start yet another blog to document our future RV experiences - in the car, on the way to our friend's house. Yes, we did, totally misunderstand each other about the purpose of this blog, I just thought you were being clever because I am a poet at heart.)

So, any RVers out there who would like to see their poem published here? This could be your recreational vehicle for getting your playful words out there without the bother of keeping up a blog - or just to get to a different audience. Just email, it really would be fun to have a section of RVer poetry, after all, although we would all have a lot in common, we would all be so different, minds and emotions are so varied.

For now, my poetry will have to suffice. In the meantime we are brainstorming jobs we could both do on the road to support ourselves, because we certainly won't live in the lap of luxury, but more like the gutters, I just hope clean ones. But at this point, even gutters feel right to me. . . (That so did not sound right!) Leon can do most anything as a job, he is quite coordinated and one of those men not afraid of hard work; I am the problem child, and as such, my mind keeps leaping for things for Leon to do!

Perhaps it is time to treat my writing as a job and try to get paid to think. After all, I spend all day thinking. . . . hmmm.

Happy Mother's Day

Children are oft times recreational vehicles
for their parents, meaning in their wonderment
and spontaneous
joy of everyday things they remind us:
play is very much a part of our lives and
if we observe how they do it, we can relearn.

May your children
or neighboring children
act as recreational vehicles
for you today

-- may they show you the value
in laughter and play today!

That may just be the best
Mother's Day present
you can receive - or give,
I hope you are playing along.

Choices

Life is about choice. If you think about it, every moment of our life involves choice. We either do or we don't. We think we are spending time thinking or planning or even procrastinating, but reality is that every moment we are doing those three things we have made the choice to do those three things and the choice NOT to do anything else for that moment in time.

That scared the heck out of me when I realized that each moment in time involves our making choices. Even if we measure it in minutes rather than moments, the numbers are as staggering as infinity felt when we first learned it in school.

Then I realized that each choice is a domino waiting to fall; its direction determined by one moment's choice. That excites me as much as watching each domino fall in a gymnasium full of dominoes in an intricate pattern that took days to build, knowing how difficult it was to put each one carefully in place without destroying the rest repeatedly and admiring the creators for their work - and patience. But it also scares me, knowing the effect one choice can make on all of us. We all "know" it, but for me the dominoes "show" it. . .

Which way will your next moment's choice cause the dominos to fall - the right way or the wrong way? More importantly, perhaps, have you the patience to start again if you need to and haven't hurt someone else in the process? Can you repair the damage your moment caused? Or was your moment one that lifted someone instead?

You have more moments. Make your choice count and shove the dominoes the kind way, both for you and for others. Life is choice; choice is life. Makes it simple doesn't it, but at the same time it really complicates it.

Category selection

First - I have put this photo on my other blog, but I love it and it is appropriate for RV Poetry's first photo, don't you think? This is on the water next to one of the WA ferry terminals. There is a huge expanse of water and more mountains. In spite of the ferry terminal there was little traffic that day. You can see for miles and miles (sing it). I knew that day that come hell or high water I was going to RV, but then, if I were in Hell (unless a town by that name) I wouldn't have much of a view. If I were in high water, my RV would be flooded, so let me rephrase that: I knew that day that an RV lifestyle was exactly what my mind had been searching for all those years. . . .

So, let's try and keep this blog organized -- a bit more than my other ones -- by setting up categories from the beginning.

Let's see, the obvious one: RV
Next most obvious ones would be: ReVised Living, ReVisited Values

Hmmm, how about: Citified, Countrified, Stagnant, Active, Boring, Enthralling, Peaceful, Hectic, Long, Short, Intelligent, Dumb, Comedic, Tragic.

Looks like I built in categories in my blog description without even trying! Now, unless someone comes up with more, I'll start with these.

Wait! Wait, wait.

I forgot poetry. Well, maybe. I have a poetry blog and I like its title, MeeAugraphie, as strange as it is, and it has become a pseudonym of sorts. But, knowing me, since I throw a poem or two in my Tumbled Words, among others, I'll throw some in here, despite that poetry in the title was more a reference to the poetry of living life and I did promise some in my first post. So, yes, OK, I talked myself into it: Poetry.

There won't be certain days for certain things like I assign post types in two of my blogs -- because if we pull off getting the actual RV, who knows what or when we will be doing anything.

So, to whomever is along for the ride, whether a quick one, choppy one, or extended. Thank you. Oops, I forgot Photo. . . and I even have one on this post. See y'all around.

And for the record, I will try for more use of the Short category than the Long one.

Welcome

Yes, yet another blog, and though I tend to like variety within one blog rather than a single niche, this one will be more restricted on topics.

You fell for that? Then you must be a new reader, welcome!

In RV Poetry you will find occasional poetry of the written kind as well as life poetry: photos and sound bites -- and -- RVs.

You may, however, find my interpretation of RVs a bit broad or even eccentric at times; you did pick up on that in the description, right? ReVised living, ReVisited values and Recreational Vehicles. I purposely built in a bit of flexibility for content, not wanting to misrepresent. Ah, you are catching on to my need to wander off subject occasionally.

As for the title, Leon came up within seconds of my asking for suggestions! Thank you, Leon!

But yes, we have been to eight RV shows in three cities in 2.5 years (the eighth today, 4 hours of walking). Started out looking at every size, now we are concentrating on around 24 feet, give or take. We'll see what happens. We wanted to RV full time and life realities preclude that for now, but that subject definitely fits in the Revised Living category as well as Revisited Values. Again, we'll see what happens.

Check back soon, but I won't be writing every day here at first. . . so, let your curiosity be satisfied simply by clicking on the RSS feed (for now, in the address bar of your browser). You wouldn't want to miss a photo would you?