Wabi-Sabi Home

February 17, 2011 Ronnie

Earlier this week, I wrote a green interior design post for Care2 about bringing into our homes the Japanese elements of wabi-sabi - the beauty of imperfection.

3 Elements of wabi-sabi: Nothing lasts. Nothing is finished. Nothing is perfect.

3 Questions wabi-sabi asks: Is it useful? Is it beautiful? Is it meaningful?

It seems we could ascribe the beauty of imperfection to so many of life’s essential moments. Couldn’t we?

To find 3 ways to bring wabi-sabi into your nest, CLICK HERE.

Photos: Michael Paul for Marie Claire

All You Need Is Love

February 14, 2011 Ronnie

There's nothing you can do that can't be done. DIY Love Headboard – Style Files

Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.

Pom Pom Flowers – Domesticistuff

Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.

Love Match – Interior Design Houses

It's easy.

Ceramic Hearts - Remodelista

There's nothing you can make that can't be made.

Alexander Girard Heart - Curbly

No one you can save that can't be saved.

Tea Three Ways - Design Sponge

Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time – It's easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love,

All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

Cradle The Kids

February 6, 2011 Ronnie

“Our goal is a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world, with clean air, water, soil and power – economically, equitably, ecologically and elegantly enjoyed.” ~ William McDonough Can we all agree that this is the world we want to leave to our kids? If so, how can we bring the principles of McDonough’s revolutionary book, Cradle To Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things to our children? Cradle To Cradle calls for the “transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design.” The book approaches a framework for sustainability that follows products through their lifecycle – from cradle to grave.

Since it is my prerogative to bring things that matter to Econesting, I’m going to apply the simple premise of Cradle To Cradle, in all its advocacy, to education...The education system needs to be remade.

Having worked in progressive education for many years, I believe leaving positive footprints (instead of just reducing the negative ones) is what we should be teaching our kids. This is not only for the fate of our ailing environment, but to nurture our children to make the choices needed to close the loop and create a sustainable future.

I know, you’re thinking I’ve gone off on a tangent and landed on a lofty soapbox. Let me step out of that cloud for a moment and confess that this is not an earth shattering observation, or a newly minted connection made by just me. Think about it, your education and mine is tunneled so deep into our core. It runs through our veins and deposits its decisions in our words and actions. These decisions (and those of our predecessors) have screwed up our cradle – our planet.

Blame game done. Can we pick up our heavy footprints and figure out what tools to give our babes to make the important decisions that will lighten the load and close the loop? You bet. Here you go…

The Institute for Humane Education believes that quality humane education covers four elements which include:

1. providing accurate information about the challenges of our time 2. fostering the 3 C’s of curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking 3. instilling the 3 R’s of reverence, respect and responsibility 4. offering positive choices and the tools for problem-solving

Call it Humane, call it Progressive, call it Humanistic – as long as it calls to action an educational system that helps our kids learn how to think with those 3 C’s, make decisions based on those 3 R’s and discover a fifth element:

5. Teach Cradle To Cradle to insure that our kids can rock it...and live in a “delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world.”

Fern photos: Brian Whitney for Garden Design Magazine.

Why ferns? Ferns embody the 3 E’s - they are endearing, enthralling and enduring. Their ancient beauty has been around for millions of years. Ferns have truly developed a sustainable lifestyle!

Armchair Creative

February 1, 2011 Ronnie

Do you read your horoscope? You don't need to answer that. I believe many of us do and won’t admit it. I'll confess to reading those snippets of monthly predictions, and of course at the time of the reading, my horoscope (Gemini) always seems spot on. Then I forget all about it and get on with the month.

Today I clicked onto the February horoscope from The Sister’s Project, a companion blog to A Way To Garden…

"We live in very modern times and many of the old rules no longer apply. One of those changed rules is a very important one for you to remember—“it’s OK for an artist to be an intellectual and it’s OK for an intellectual to be an artist.” In other words, do acknowledge and nurture the many wonderful dimensions of yourself and allow your creative and intellectual energies to work together."

OK, knowing that my month will now be in sync, I deleted the post and headed down my long, snowy driveway to retrieve the mail. I grabbed a packing envelope that I immediately knew held the dimensions of my creative and intellectual energies.

A Twilight Zone moment? A celestial success story? An alignment of the stars? A serendipitous coincidence?

Whatever the reason, the Spring issue of Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces Of Extraordinary Women hit the newsstands (and my mailbox) today, and I am elated to be one of the profiled women that will "nourish your soul and inspire the creative process."

Now, you may ask…How did an environmental writer/blogger end up in a magazine about the work spaces of creative women?

The short answer is…A fateful phone conversation with the fabulously energetic and passionate editor, Jo Packham led to an invitation to submit my story of reinvention with pictures of my work spaces.

My thoughts about it at the time…No way this will happen. I may be creative, but I'm an "armchair creative." It's not that I sit and watch others work, my work takes place within the confines of a chair and a computer. Where Women Create profiles famous (and not so famous) artists and crafters.

An Armchair Creative's Story

Reinvention is a buzzy word that seems to coincide with life shifts. In my case, a bunch of eco "re" words like: reinvention, recreated, reworked, renovated, repurposed, reimagined, were playing out simultaneously in my life. I did not lose my job. I chose to leave it. That is what I wrote about.

Three photo shoots later with the talented Jen Kiaba, which included many images of my work spaces (dining room table, couches, one of my kid's repurposed bedrooms, comfy chairs, a window seat…), I can now share with you the humbling acknowledgement of the convergence of the creative and intellectual.

Thank you Jo, it is a true honor to be among the creative women profiled on the pages of Where Women Create.