A GENTLE PLAN

Welcome to everyone from the blog party. More about me and my blog at the bottom of the page-giveaways too.

You have arrived on a special day, please read on...

"I always wondered why somebody doesn't do something about that. 

Then I realised I was somebody." Lily Tomlin

Today is the day I'm saying "I am a somebody".  At the end of 2012 we were again shocked by senseless tragedy.  For whatever reason this is the one which pushed me to the limit. This is the one which has moved me from talk to action.

This is what I am asking you to to do:

Take something ugly and make it beautiful

Why?

Let's just say I have known ugly and it hurt. Beauty has made me whole again. Given me laughter, joy, freedom and peace. 

“Beauty will save the world” Fyodor Dostoevsky

Will it?  I say its time to give it a try. Save a little part. Then a little bit bigger and so on....

I'm not going to tell you what to do specifically.

The key for me has been creating beauty in my garden .Then I moved beyond my garden and started volunteering in a very small, local way.

I'm setting up a website 

A Gentle Plan.com

"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." Mahatma Gandhi

My aim is for it to become a repository of ideas and an avenue for discussion. I need YOU to fill the pages with your experiences, plans, ideas and opinions. With things you have seen, heard, made, bought or done. Want to guest post? There is a space for you here.

The definition of beauty will be fluid. If you think you can make something beautiful, and it does not create distress for any other creature, then go ahead. Conversely, if you think something is ugly but someone else thinks its beautiful and its not hurting anybody then leave it alone.

Beauty can be in an action, in a person, in design, in a location, in an idea, a product, a business practise, in art and nature. Just write and tell me what you are doing or draw attention to some special place, person, organisation or business that makes the world beautiful. It can be in your home, yard, workplace, school, neighourhood, city or half way around the world. I like small ideas as they are usually more achievable but let me know about small things that have grown into bigger things too.

A Gentle Plan.com needs some last minute tweaks so isn't online yet. I couldn't, however, pass up the opportunity to make my announcement as part of Vicki's blog party.  The party itself is a beautiful idea and Vicki being a somebody and making it happen is beautiful too.

Included in the party are lots of give aways. Here are my contributions

1.

Made byThe Rocky Mountain Soap Co in Canmore, Alberta. Kudos to the company for not only using natural ingredients but also remodelling their store in an environmentally responsible way. They hire local which gets them on my beautiful list. I use their soap all the time.

2.

                                       

These are from Lee Valley Tools, a Canadian institution. A great many men dream of retiring and going to work in a Lee Valley store. Until then they wear their Lee Valley sweatshirts and baseball caps and pretend to work at the store. 

Here is the catologue blurb so you know what you are getting: 

"These are not feeble plastic tools. Made from glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene, they are lightweight, strong, and non-rusting. Children will enjoy learning to garden with this brightly colored selection of tools, suitably sized from 8" to 9" long. Adults can also use them for indoor gardening, as they are easier to store and less cumbersome than traditional hand tools, and they won't scratch surfaces the way metal tools can.The set of six includes a wide trowel, four-prong cultivator, weeding fork, narrow trowel, two-prong cultivator, and weeder. They are also appropriate as a beach or sandbox set."

I find them useful for potting and ideal in therapy programs.

Leave a comment if you would like either of these gifts. Please indicate if you are interested in one or the other or both. I will mail overseas. You do not have to follow to be eligible to win.

If you are interested in A Gentle Plan I encourage you to follow by email to be certain of receiving updates. I value your opinion so please let me know what you think.

If you are reading my blog for the first time, you can get to know me here and here.