Coffee for a Cause *OR* Help save my hostas!

I've seen people taking bags of used coffee grounds from my local Starbucks for years now and always wondered just what they were doing with them. Some research (a snippet of which is below) this morning led me to two things...

1. I want to use spent coffee grounds in my garden for ecological reasons. They're free organic fertilizer that most people use to fill landfills. Boo! (I'm a coffee drinker and now I am sorry to say that I was throwing out my grounds.) This very morning there is a can in my kitchen for collecting them! I learned that you don't need to be a composter to use the grounds.

2. Apparently they will help me deter the slugs that make my hostas look like they have LACE for leaves!

Oh, and #3? They used the word "reclaim" in a way that had very meaningful connections for me... go figure!

So, what FREE and EASY action can YOU take?

Pay heed and begin to recycle your own used coffee grounds and tea leaves (they work too) by way of the garden, house plants or compost bin. You will be a part of saving 7.5 million tons of organic material from our landfills.

Make your local coffee shop and conveneince market (franchise, corporate or independent) aware of the benefits of making their spent grounds available to their customers. On a national basis, Starbucks already does this with their espresso grounds... because a customer asked them to! You can make a difference.

Find a neighbor, neighborhood or community garden and donate them.

If I know you... Save them for me! I'll happily take them (coffee or tea) off your hands and use them. Just put them (filters/bags and all) in a ziplock bag or sealable container. Need a container? I'll supply it.

This site is good: http://www.mastercomposter.com/survey/coffee.html but there is a lot more information available. Just Google "Coffee Grounds Gardening"
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This year, world production is estimated to reach 7,658,780 tons of coffee beans. If we just reclaim coffee grounds, we can make a significant difference in the volume of organics recycled rather than landfilled.

PIGGIES!

Went for my very first-ever pedicure last night with two wonderful girlfriends! Wine, cheese, conversation and the cutest PIGGIES!


p.s. the kanji on my left big toenails says: fantasy (in my dreams, eh?!)

Flip Side

A conversation with M yesterday led me here...

Of course there are two sides to the flip side (of my previous post)...

1. That my shielding disrespects the Divinity of the other person just because i don't think enough of them.

2. That NOT shielding them from the whole enchilada disrespects their will to know more than they want to know!

i'm not doing a good job of figuring out item 2. i tend to err on the side of waiting to be asked a question directly, to respond directly. Seems fair... but what if they don't even know what to ask? hmmmm...

Where do those boundaries lie with each person? Do i get to determine that? How dense shoud my filters be?

Oh hamsters.

Striving

One way that i now know helps me overcome my sheilding nature (shielding you, sheilding me - there's a song in there somewhere) is to create a personal "safe space"; one with no threats, judgments or retribution to be exacted. This is not to say that there are never repercussions or discussions to be had from what i have shared/said, just that the respect for the Divinity of the human (me) please be respected as i do with whomever i speak.

Yes the people in my life deal with "damaged goods" (ouch!), but getting through to a place where i can risk my whole self (where it's appropriate) and be strong enough to see it through is my goal.

Yep, people have made it difficult for me to do that along my way and i in turn learned well from it. i'm also now learning to get over it, not to carry the baggage of mistrust and doubt with me, to give people just a wee bit more credit (tough stuff) and to be most fully myself.

If i have the space to do it where it's not quite so terrifying i know i can... and i will.

Nailed

One exercise in which i have been taking part is to look at the resentments, hurts and anger that i "bring with me" on a daily basis. Of course i also have to listen to T's list (aka: The Book). Today he nailed me good with something i've been working on for a while now. You can see it reflected time after time here in my blog.

Here's the path it's taken:
i grew up n a family in which i never measured up - the makings of a "black sheep" came very early on. i am 5 years my sister's senior. i am independent and headstrong and i have outlandish ideas about how the world "should be". (lol)

Over time i learned to protect myself from the harsh scrutiny and judgement of my family by selectively reflecting what i felt was positive and that would gain me positive feedback. i was shown time and time again that they had no interest and could not tolerate hearing my musings about the world or how i'd mucked up something... so i stopped sharing that.

It's human nature to want people to think well of you, yes? Well it's my nature.

Clearly, i have carried this protective pattern into adulthood. i protect myself from the harsh judgements of others. i protect others from me too. i do not allow most people to see who i am "warts and all" for fear of their reactions. Yes, i'm afraid. i have not developed faith that anyone would love me for who i am, or that i am strong enough to handle the repercussions of sharing my full self with no political exclusions.

The Universe knows me. my spirit knows me. So, should anyone else?? Do they really need to? well... YES!

It took me a long time to come to this conclusion but it happened a few years ago. Since then i have been striving to show more of myself to a few select people... yeah, even i can be horribly vulnerable, afraid to my core and still risk the level of honesty towards which i am proud to continue to strive.

Never Let 'em See Ya Sweat

i had no idea how strongly i have lived this iconic phrase until i realized the limited number of people with whom i share who i really am... All of me.

Who am i kidding?!? The list is 3 people long.

Those who only know the one or two aspects of me rarely get to see more unless it's necessary. i've always felt that's how it should be and i work harder than i ever thought to keep it that way.

Appearing to deal with every day life with grace and humor is something i value and try my best to live.

It's no wonder people think that i'm so insanely capable!!
blessing/curse