Be a Good in the World: April 21

Top of the Mornin'!

 One of our fabulous interns here at Viva Editions, Sara Wigglesworth, has a lovely way of saying “Good morning” upon arriving that ensures it will actually be a better day. I have to admit that greeting coworkers sometimes slips my mind, so it’s helpful to be reminded of the power that a simple, well-intentioned, and sincere greeting can have. It is a wonderful way to start the day with elegance and ease.

Be a Good in the World: April 17

Extend an Invitation to Life's Rich Banquet

If you see a uniformed soldier or veteran in a restaurant, arrange to pay for their meal. Anonymously is perfect unless you want to thank them personally and "enlist" a new friend into your life!

Be a Good in the World: April 15

Be a Good in the World: April 15

Eat for the Environment

Cutting back on meat consumption is good for the environment, your health, and your wallet. Producing one pound of beef puts as much carbon dioxide into the environment as driving a typical car 70 miles! Read "Livestock's Long Shadow," the 2006 UN paper about the effects of the meat industry on the environment and human populations, at fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM.

Be a Good in the World: April 14

Hold a Closet Swap Soiree

You can share your surplus clothing with friends and acquaintances by throwing a “naked lady party.” This is a fun way to exchange clothes as well as other items. First, set a date, and invite a group of friends to your house (we do ladies only, but men could be included, too) and ask everybody to bring some clothes that they don’t want anymore. Set up your living room as a shop, designating different areas for guests to deposit their items—dresses in one pile, sweaters in another, and so on.

Be sure to make a bedroom available for those friends who are too shy to try on clothes in company. We usually drink wine and have some snacks, and we end up with bags of new-to-us clothing. Don’t be bashful—things that you are heartily sick of will be starring in somebody else’s wardrobe, and the surplus can be dispatched to the thrift store.

Got gratitude?

Operation Gratitude

I learned about this from my mom, whose church regu- larly sends cards, letters, and care packages overseas to the armed forces. My mom and her fellow church ladies bake some of the best cookies in the world, so they gather up all kinds of goodies and treats and send them over- seas where the taste of down home surely brings many smiles of satisfaction. Those who are less gifted in the baking department (such as me!) can make a $15 dona- tion to Operation Gratitude, which pays for one care package for one serviceperson. Operation Gratitude (operationgratitude.com) has sent over a million of these kindness kits around the world! 

The gift of yourself

When I lived in the Lower Haight district of San Francisco, I drove for an AIDS food bank in my rusted-out little car I had brought with me all the way from West Virginia. I had arrived in the mid-eighties, which we may all remember as the height of the AIDS crisis. My best friend delivered meals to patients in their homes and I gave rides and also hauled groceries donated to the food bank by the Church Street Tunnel. One early morning, I was walking to the Market and Church Street MUNI station and there was the bank, with giant pink letters announcing itself as a place to lend a hand for the AIDS cause. I went in and within two minutes had a shift and assignments for the week. Everyone in there seemed extremely cool to me and they were not grim at all, but seemed to have a mission of importance. It seemed such a small way to help during that scary time, and I learned that regardless of what you can give, large or small, it is important to give of yourself. And it all does add up. Feeding America is the largest hunger relief organization the United States and they need you. Please visit www.feedingamerica.org to find your local food bank or hunger organization. Get involved – you’ll make a difference and you’ll make friends along the way. I sure did, and they remain my friends to this day.

Hugged a tree lately?

Trees Are the Lungs of Our Planet

Have you heard about the amazingly ambitious goal of The Nature Conservancy to plant a BILLON trees and restore the forest of the world? From the rainforests in South America to China and even in the Arctic Circle, this hardy group of tree huggers is doing their darndest to recreate the woodlands and rainforests everywhere they can.  I urge you to look at the map to see how far they are getting; it is impressive and gives me so much hope about our future.

I grew up in a deeply forested state, West Virginia and was taught from a child to know and love trees. When I visited last time and drove all around to see relatives in far flung counties, I noticed huge swaths of brown amongst the green and asked what the heck was going on that seemed to be killing trees. That is how I learned about “acid rain,” an unfortunate by-product of coalmining, logging and too many chemical plants. On our 300-acre farm, no trees are cut, only planted so we are doing our part. In the settled of the great prairies and western states, trees were felled to “clean the land.” That is, in part, being rectified by a special effort to protect trees in the “last frontier.” Check out www.americanforest.org to see how you can help. Oh, and start in your own yard. Got room for a couple of trees? Start digging and planting and know you will enjoy years of beauty and leave behind a legacy for generations to come from your own efforts.

With each passing day, as I read in news about 2014 being the hottest year in recorded history, I feel it is incumbent upon each and every one of us to do everything we can to cool down, slow down and give back to the planet.