Cast off your watches!

Hello everyone!

I've had a revelation and thus had the overwhelming urge to share it with you. I recently returned to work after a two-week break over the festive season. Although I didn't travel to a exciting/exotic/breathtaking holiday destination, I had the time of my life (which tends to happen during holidays) and I think I've just gathered why. I very rarely (if at all on some days) checked to see the time. I just lived from morning to night, going about my business and catching up with friends and family, without caring to know the time. Now, this reminded me of a passage I once read that talks about timelessness being one of the features of happiness. It certainly struck a chord, hence I've italicised the bits that bowled me over.

"Before time was promoted to a primary guiding force, people's lives had a distinct orientation in the present. With little more than the sun as a rough guide to phases of day and season, this timeless fabric enabled spontaneous engagement with the moment. It enhanced sensation and fostered a crisp awareness of the immediate surroundings. Very importantly, it allowed people to fully experience a wide range of emotions, including happiness.

Research shows that people living in future-oriented cultures have higher average stress and anxiety levels than cultures that are more present-orientated. This is because living in the moment offers greater predictability and control, as well as more certainty about one's own experiences. On the other hand, the future is always a gamble. Its unpredictability locks future-orientated people into a state of tension as they blow in the winds of uncertainty and far-flung hopes." In Search of Happiness, by John F. Schumaker

As a side note, I tend to believe that being silly also pertains to being happy.

Me, on holiday, pretending a slice of watermelon is my smile.

Hope for the hopeless

I’ve been mulling over this for a few hours now as I wasn’t sure which way to put it. This weekend just passed, a few things happened that saddened me, angered me and, momentarily, lessened my positivity and hope regarding humanity.

Firstly, while riding on a bus headed into town, someone hurled a rock at a window towards the rear of the bus. It sounded like a bullet, the driver hesitated and, naturally, I felt quite scared and upset that someone would do that. Had we been travelling on an older-style bus (with regular glass windows), the rock no doubt would have launched right through the window and hit the passenger sitting beside it.

Secondly, following the rock incident, the driver stopped the bus and called the police to report the incident. The police told him that the passengers had to disembark and wait for the next bus while the police were on their way to investigate. A group sitting towards the back of the bus whined and harassed the driver as they were going to be late for whatever event they were headed to.

Thirdly, on another occasion, a schoolgirl made a racist slur under her breath that, had they heard it, would have offended just about half, if not all, the people on the bus.

Finally, while standing at the side of a road last night, waiting to cross, I turned to see a car suddenly swerve towards, then away from, me – if for no other reason than to scare the crap out of me. Following this incident, I got home and felt really down. I felt that people have no regard for each other and I started to harbour very negative thoughts. I felt helpless and sad for those who seek ways to torment others.

My boyfriend then said something that helped. “Ok, even if you tracked that kid’s car down and threw a tonne of bricks into his windscreen, his Dad would find the car in the morning and be very upset. He’d probably give someone else a hard time because he’d be so outraged. And the person he takes it out on might go and do the same to someone else. So the end result would be more unhappy people.”

This inspired a brainwave. If I woke up tomorrow morning, and was the nicest I have ever been, smiled at everyone I crossed paths with and just generally became, for lack of a more articulate expression, a beacon of light … that might set off a chain of goodness that stretches further than I could imagine. And then I thought of SuperForest. And how this is exactly what Jackson had in mind when he created it. To turn negatives into positives. Mission accomplished, dear friend.


Hugs to Daniel Gimenez for the pic.

Clothe yourselves!

When you think of environmentally conscious clothing, does a hessian sack for a dress come to mind? London-based Fashion-Conscience.com has set about sourcing clothes that fall into one of five categories: organic, fair trade, sustainable, recycled or vegan. If you're wondering what "ethical" clothing really means, and why it's important, read on:

Organic Although organic cotton is more expensive, you are supporting the environmental and ethical approach to growing the world's biggest fabric fibre. Choosing organic cotton sends a clear message that we don't want chemicals in our clothes and allows growers to take precautions against pollution in their own environments.

Fair trade Many companies exploit workers by paying them below official wage rates, making them work excessive hours, they may use underage workers, use "sweatshops", treat workers poorly in poor conditions, don't invest in their workers' skills or communities. Buying fair trade clothes means you won't abide by this kind of treatment.

Sustainable Choosing sustainable designs means you are sending out a clear message about how you'd prefer your clothing to have minimal impact on the environment, as well as potentially reduce the fabric and discarded clothes mountains already in existence. Plus, sustainable clothes encourage developments in biodegradable materials.

Recycled This prevents the waste of useful materials and reduces the consumption of fresh raw materials and their associated energy and consumption.

Vegan This relates to clothing that has not been made using meat by-products or any animal or animal-tested by-products.

To illustrate how beautiful and wonderfully funky such clothing can be, I've pasted a few pieces below.

Give it a big, fat hug

I read something today about melancholy in Tom Hodgkinson's book How To Be Free. It made me smile and, as everyone has found themselves a little blue at one time or another, I thought you'd all enjoy this passage.

"It may be true that, aside from external factors, melancholy is just a fact of life. So, instead of rejecting it, a useful way to deal with melancholy would be to embrace it... A very simple trick for those looking for an antidote to melancholy is to engage in some physical work. Baking bread, gardening, carpentry: all these things are productive, creative and use the body. They unite the body and soul; they are acts of harmony.

Keats, in his 'Ode on Melancholy' (1820), suggests going for a walk and gazing at the flowers and recognising that melancholy is a sister to joy and must be embraced."

Love to Melinda Webster for the image.

War is Over (via NASCAR & Coors Light!)

Wow!

Seems we can all just get along.
It's great to see companies like this shaking off the whole "Red state/Blue state" nonsense.

After all, more Peace = more beer drinkers and NASCAR viewers, and that's a big plus.

Sweet.

A huge SuperForesty "Congratulations!" to NASCAR and Coors Light for promoting Peace.

Love to All,

Team SuperForest