1. This blog post. -- "That tells me that much of what I was taught
in “Christian community” as I grew up — how to protect myself from “the
World” — was actually a lesson in how to excuse myself from the hard
work of love."
2. Living, green things. I have 4 of them in my dorm room. And while they can't replace living outside, I think they'll help me survive the winter.
3. Tuesdays. I don't have classes or work on Tuesdays. I probably won't screw around or anything, but I can actually adventure away from campus to do work. Or take a nap. Or not leave my room on really cold days.
4. Glen Hansard. I would really be okay with it if he decided to come play me to sleep every night. Except I probably would forget to go to sleep because his passion makes my soul come alive.
5. When life prevents you from using the internet. The internet's great, but when life doesn't get in the way, I use it a lot more than I wish I did. I'm receptive to any technology challenges you might have to throw at me right now, because I'm not doing so well at self-imposed and unstructured self control.
“We live in a world where people get angry about things that
do not matter. While at the same time, people don’t get angry about things that
do matter… The truth is, some people are looking for a fight because they aren’t
in one. The people I know who are most engaged with the suffering of the world,
the people I know who have given themselves to big, beautiful, healing kind of
causes – they’re generally free from that irrational, petty kind of anger. They
don’t fall into the trap of that low-grade rage that actually increases the
brokenness of the world… We were made to give ourselves to a cause bigger than
ourselves – a cause that increases the peace in the world. A cause, a purpose,
a task, that makes the world a better place. So may you become aware of your
anger. May you learn to channel it, focus it, direct it, into something
beautiful. And may it fuel sacred acts of healing and restoration.”
I really like reading gutsy and entertaining reflections about the world in all its messy complexity. A Mission Year alum from my year has a really fantastic blog full of that kind of reflection. Maybe it's just because I resonate so much with so many of the things she says that I eat up her stuff when I get a chance to read it, but I definitely recommend checking her writing out. This isn't a planned plug or anything. She may not even remember I exist. Just found myself enjoying her brain and thought it should be shared. Anywho, here's one of her latest blogs on church.
I would like to get better at speaking up courageously. I would also like to learn how to be better at being simultaneously hospitable, in conversation, to people who come from very different places.
"I think wisdom is when you want to speak up,
but you’re quiet. I think courage is when you want to be quiet, but you speak
up." --A friend
I have to teach a lesson in edible plants next week at camp, and since I have this week off (hallelujah!), I thought I'd take advantage of it and learn something of value that I can actually bring back and engage 12 year-olds with. I thought I'd look up a few things and be done, but ended up diving into a world of edible plants that I can't seem to pry myself away from. The earth is so cool. I'd love to apprentice an herbalist someday.
Anywho, here are some fun things I've run across:
Cattails: pretty much every part of a cattail is edible at some point during the year. In addition to eating them,
the heads make great torches when you soak them in torch oil,
burning them wards off mosquitoes and other insects,
the sticky juice between the layers of the stalk is a great healing agent and antiseptic to put on cuts and abrasions,
its flour -- which you can harvest from its pollen -- when mixed with water, works well on bites, stings, burns, and rashes, and can be used as toothpaste.
The flour can also be used as a soup thickener or in baked goods. It's highly nutritious and
can reduce stress
If you're interested, here's part 1 (out of 6) of a pretty informative video series on different parts of the cattail to harvest and different ways of cooking them. The guy in the video has a pretty kick ass accent, which ups the vid quality significantly as well.
*Note: Water Iris is a lookalike plant to cattail that happens to be poisonous. They're pretty easy to tell apart if you know what you're looking for, but pretty easy to mistake if you don't. Kick-Ass Accent Man explains how to tell them apart 2 minutes into the video.
Pine Needle Tea: I just took my last swig of the mug I made this morning from pine needles I picked across the street.
Pine Needle Tea is loaded with vitamin C (more than fresh squeezed orange juice... crazy, right?) and Vitamin A. It's also a good decongestant and it tastes good, to boot.
You can use pretty much any kind of pine needle and each variety has its own distinct flavor, but the thing you need to be mindful of is that not all evergreen trees are pine trees. If you're not an expert in tree identification, a solid way to figure out whether or not the needles are safe is to take a needle and bite into it. If it tastes citrus-y, you're good to go. If it tastes like turpentine (or rather, if the taste reminds you of the smell of paint thinner), then that's a no go. The little taste test won't hurt you, but you don't want to drink a cup full of tea brewed from the latter.
Once you've got your hands on some good pine needles, it's not much work:
1. Gather a handful of pine needles (1/8 - 1/4 cup), removing and discarding (preferably in the ground, not your garbage can) any of the brown, papery material at their base.
2. Wash the needles and chop the finely (to help release the vitamins)
3. Add them to already boiled water (as opposed to putting them in while boiling... this preserves the integrity of the vitamin C) and steep for anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour. You can play around with the steeping time and decide how potent you like your tea.
4. Strain out the pine needles and enjoy. You can use sweetener, but it doesn't necessarily need it, especially if you've used fresh, young pine needles.
Honey:
Pretty commonly known fact about honey: It's super good for you. It builds your immune system, boosts your energy, and is a remedy for all sorts of ailments. Less commonly known fact about honey: Putting it in boiling water drastically lessens a lot of honey's health benefits. Hot water destroys honey's enzymes, diluting its medicinal value. It's much better stirred into warm water. This will probably not stop me from putting honey in my tea, nor from telling myself I'm being healthier by using honey as opposed to sugar in my steaming hot beverages, but at least now I am enlightened if I choose to be.
"Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill, their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."
