Day 16... a call

“A story, like love itself, is not “a thing,” after all, but an endless series of single acts.”

— Kathleen Dean Moore

Hello?

silence

click.

Hello…..

please, I need you to answer

click

Yes.

I have listened…

I finally understand…

I have answered this call and will ACT…

One single act at a time.

We continue our peace journey discussing ways to connect with Earth… writing our own and collective stories of how to honor the Earth, a love story for the planet.

This story is comprised of single acts that make a whole.

We aren’t striving anymore for “peace on Earth.”

SHIFT

Now, we need to create “peace with the Earth.”

The call… what is your call?

The time is now to create change one single step at a time.

Reduce food waste…

Eliminate single-use plastics…

Drive less…

Shop at your farmer’s markets and local grocers…

Strive to keep fossil fuels in the ground…

No single act is too small.

“I’m just one person. What I do doesn’t really matter.”

SHIFT

“What I do does matter. My actions demonstrate respect for the planet”

Daily peace tip #16

A new video just came out that is phenomenal… theatrical if you will. It’s powerful, straight forward, edgy and to the point. It was sponsored by R.E.I. Click here to watch.

What is your call to action? No act is too small…

day 15... normal

“The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
To talk of many things...
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.”

— Lewis Carroll

Today, I find myself on the edge of a metaphorical cliff, the day is finally here.

And I must leap into this huge topic…

I must commit to planting seeds of change.

I must accept how the words move from my mind through my hands and land on this “page.”

This week we bring our attention to peace and connecting with the Earth.

I’ve put off diving into this next topic for so many reasons… in part, I’m not an expert. Yet, I continue to question why that should matter… I’m not a peace scholar either however I allow myself to write about peace. Perhaps it’s “easier” with peace?

And yet, I can no longer avoid this topic… expert or not. As John Henry Newman stated “nothing would get done if we waited until no one could find fault with it.

So, here, as the walrus said “we must talk of many things… and why the sea is boiling hot - and whether pigs have wings.”

Climate change, condition, crisis… whatever you wish to call it… aside from nuclear devastation this is the biggest threat to our existence…

yet sometimes it feels like we are still talking about “whether pigs have wings.” “Is climate change real?” “What is all the hype?” “It’s not really as bad as they say.” “Global warming has been happening since the beginning of time… this is just the normal pattern of the Earth.”

True… the Earth does warm up to incredible temperatures and then freeze over for extended periods of time. So, yes, this is a “normal” trend. Recall, what happened to the dinosaurs?

BUT… the rise in global temperatures in the past ~30-40 years has far exceeded any previous trend. Our current rise is a direct result of human activity… the result of a massive extraction of fossil fuels from the Earth to support our daily activities.

I share with you today, the most incredible way of visualizing this drastic change. I’ve talked about Emily and her team from The Tempestry Project before. I want to share a new project they began this past year…it’s truly outstanding.

Meet the New Normal Tempestry.

“New Normal” Tempestries are a visual representation of annual deviations-from-average temperature spanning 1895 – 2018, and were inspired by Professor Ed Hawkins’ Warming Stripes climate data visualization work. Emily and her team use data from NOAA with a baseline averaged from 1951-1980. The darker the blue the cooler than average, and the darker red the warmer than average. The trajectory is painfully obvious.

I was already aware of the rise in global temperature change prior to beginning a New Normal Tempestry…

And while I traveled this fall, at times with incredible guilt for the trans-Atlantic trips I’ve taken, I carried this piece with me. Stopping to knit a few rows in each place, contemplating how this shift impacts us, our future, our children’s future, our grandchildren…

1890’s to 1920’s. A forest in Oslo, Norway

I’ve been moved to tears multiple times while knitting this piece…

1890’s-1980’s. On a tree in Ames, IA

The reality is astounding….

1880’s - early 2000’s. St. Ninian’s Isle, Shetland, UK

I’ve yet to finish… The last 20 years of this piece are powerful and knitting those years, the years my children arrived on this Earth and the years of their childhood … yes, it’s emotional.

It’s a visualization of the reality and as Emily said “the trajectory is painfully obvious.”

Knitting a “new normal” tempestry should be required knitting for all.

I will finish mine after the New Year and send it to the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway for display. People are knitting these for politicians to hang in their office, to use as a talking point for those that might not be as convinced…

Hang them in schools, libraries, hospitals, etc. Place tags on the tempestry to signify key historical dates…

There’s power in knitting…

connecting with the Earth is a pivotal aspect of peace.

Please join me in knitting for peace and climate awareness…

as if your life depends on it…

because it does.

Daily peace tip #15

Visit The Tempestry Project website and peruse all the great information. Please consider knititng a new normal tempestry whether it’s for you, your family, your community, a politician that needs a talking point as they advocate for climate change, a politician that needs persuading, or a museum.

The process of knitting the new normal tempestry is a call to action.

All hands on deck… we have a serious problem.

Winner of give-away #2;

Beth Hansen. Thank you for being a “seed.” Beth wrote:

“I am part of a email group started December 1 to expand on this peace project. There are 16 or so of us, each taking a day or 2 to send a message of peace, share a quote or picture, whatever. We plan to continue to the 21st. But who knows perhaps we will continue on.”

Thank you Beth for being a seed. Please send me an email at thehealthyknitter at gmail dot com so that I can make arrangments to send you some Project Peace stitch markers.

Give-away #3

For the 3rd give-away, please leave a comment on any blog post from Day 15-19. The more posts, the greater the chance to win. This give-away was provided by my dear friend Susan, a woman I met in Cordova. I recall she asked me “now, tell me more about this knitting and peace thing you do?” We’ve been connected through knitting and peace ever since. Susan has graciously provided a skein of Hedgehog yarn in aran weight (Seed), a woolly sheep coaster, a pin and a few other fun items. I’ll add a peace sticker that Dotty from The Net Loft sent me. All you have to do is respond to the following…

Share a way that you currently are or might consider in the near future a way to teach peace. How can you connect with others to cultivate peace?

The 4th and final give-away

On December 20, the 2nd to last day of Project Peace 2019, I’ll ask a final question. I’ll once again, put together a gift from my stash.

Start planning now…

For the past 3 years, we’ve been celebrating World wide knit for peace day on December 21. It’s a day to intentionally focus on peace through knitting. Consider knitting in solitude or in public, with a group or not. So many options. All that’s needed is a chance to stop, knit, think or chat about peace. Make space for peace… especially on December 21.

Day 14... connect

“Eating is an agricultural act”

— Wendell Berry

On this last day of the 2nd week of Project Peace 2019, we finish our focus on “connecting with others.” This week, I’ve highlighted the incredible artwork of India Tresselt, a fiber artist from Vermont. This past year, she created a small piece of artwork each week and titled the collection, 52 Small Meditations on Peace. Each day of this week, I’ve connected her work with a peace-related topic. Thank you India for your inspiration and capturing so many facets of peace. Consider taking the time to visit her online gallery to view more.

“Still life with peace” by India Tresselt

Connecting with others through food…

a meal shared, food given, substance to nourish, flourish and/or heal.

Where does your food come from?

How many hands did your food “pass through” to reach you?

Each morsel you eat came from somewhere…

and connects us in profound ways.

You drive to the store to purchase food… think of the individuals that made the car or bus, the families they support.

You buy the food… the employees that work at the store and the folks that transport the food.

The people that process your food in a “plant…”

The farmers that grow or raise the initial product… the grains, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, nuts, seeds, sugar, coffee, tea, wine, beer and hard liquor.

The web of the food system intricately connects ALL of us. Your avocados from Mexico or California, your wine from France, your oats from Scotland, your asparagus from South America. We’re all intertwined…

We drive to the grocery store to get our food, put food in the cart, pay, drive home, prepare food, eat food, repeat…

So many times we forget to marvel in our intricate involvement in this fragile system. So easily disrupted…

Food is a path to peace…

Food connects us with self, to others, and to the Earth.

Without food, there is no peace.

When we purchase our food, we have the opportunity to connect with others…

but we can take our connection one step further…

we can support our local farmers, good farming practices, our community grocers.

We can say yes to companies that treat their workers fairly and humanely. We can slow down to acknowledge those that “grew” the food.

A still life with peace… taking a moment to be “still” with our food, to connect with our food and all those involved.

My third book recommendation is the “Empires of Food. Feast, Famine and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations.” This was the 2nd book I finished this year (February) and it’s message has profoundly impacted me. The concepts presented in this book are not new to me… they were realizations I had long ago as an undergraduate student taking a World Civilization history class. However, reading this book prompted my further exploration of the food system and the current climate conditions. While my history friends tell me the authors have taken some liberties with some of the details (although they didn’t share specifics), I still think this book is a great introduction into the delicate, interconnectedness of the food system and how we got to where we are today.

Daily peace tip #14

My dear friend, Diana Dyer, a certified organic farmer, and Registered Dietitian is one of the most inspirational and supportive people in my life. We met early in my professional career, ~2003 at a conference where she was speaking about nutrition and cancer. After her talk, I introduced myself and I’ve been highlighting her work each year in my classes ever since yet we went our separate ways until this past summer. Through serendipity, Diana and I reconnected through Instagram. She made a comment on my post, her IG name intrigued me (@the_dyer_family_organic _farm), I looked at a couple of her posts and discovered this person was a dietitian and had a farm… I wrote to her and said “are you the Diana Dyer?”

I share this story with you for two reasons…

1. considering reaching out to someone you haven’t been in contact with for awhile. Allow food to bring you together with others…

2. Diana recently shared her daily blessing with me that she says before each meal. It’s beautiful, just like her and demonstrates the main take-away that I am hoping to achieve today, connecting with those that grow our food.

“We give thanks to all hands and hearts who brought us the food for this meal.”

— Diana Dyer

Where does your food come from?

Week 2 and 3 give-away

I’ll be announcing the give-away from week 2 tomorrow (Day 15). I’ll also share news of the 3rd give-away.

Day 13.. ripples

This week, I continue to highlight the incredible artwork of India Tresselt, a fiber artist from the Champlain Valley in Vermont. This year, she participated in Kate Bridger’s Made on Monday and titled her work, 52 Small Meditations on Peace. Thank you India for allowing me to share.

“Ripples” by India Tresselt

Peace… it begins within and radiates outwards.

One choice…

Your choice… reaches others.

Through our actions, we are all connected.

Project Peace 2017 “Ripple Shawl”

One of The Healthy Knitter blog followers, Elise, leads a craftivist group called the Resistance Knitters. She facilitates the knitting of items such as hats for migrants and in January there will be a call for mittens, gloves and fingerless gloves. There is also a need for washcloths which were requested by migrant mothers to wash babies. And if you can’t knit but want to provide supplies, Elisa will match you up with someone in need of yarn.

If you are interested in connecting with others through knitting in this particular way, contact Elise through the link above.

What a beautiful example of the ripple effect. Thank you Elise for all you do!

Great Tide Rising by Kathleen Dean Moore

I’ve mentioned previously that I’ve read a lot this year. Two books remain at the top of my list and I suspect will always remain my favorites. Seriously, the words in these books have changed me, for the better. This year, I’ve read a lot about climate change and the bleak prospects for the future unless we make drastic changes to our ways.

But this book, “Great Tide Rising. Towards clarity and moral courage in a time of planetary change”… is filled with hope.

I wanted to wait to include this book in the final week of Project Peace because it connects with the “theme” of week 3, however I decided I needed to share this book earlier. This book is a RIPPLE. Please know that this book doesn’t gloss over the serious predicament we find ourselves in… but by the end you’re left feeling like “I/we can do this.”

Again, I’m not providing a link to any specific place where you can purchase this book. I’d like to encourage you to visit/support your local bookstore or library when possible. Buying from local businesses enriches our communities; it strengthens our connections and promotes peace.

Daily peace tip #13

How might you be a ripple of peace?

Knit for groups in need?

Volunteer at your local food pantry, animal shelter or long-term care facility?

Teach someone to knit? or even a group of students?

Collect yarn for a donation at a knitting retreat?

Any other ideas to share?

May your day be filled with peace and ripples!

~Christina