"Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you."
— Rumi

Book/World Trip Project Update....

So, I've been dragging my feet on finishing and launching The Green Wagon's online store. I couldn't figure out why I had lost steam and motivation for something that I used to feel super-charged by, so I started asking myself what I have been feeling passionate about lately. I do have passion for the book project/world trip project I've written about on this blog so far.

I was talking with The Green Wagon web guru, D'nelle, two days ago about this, and it all suddenly clicked together. I'm forming a non-profit that will (through donations and a % of sales from the website), fund the projects the grassroots environmentalists are working on all over the world....the grassroots environmentalists that I'll be interviewing, volunteering with and writing about on that trip around the world!

So much has changed in my life since I first opened the doors to the first Green Wagon almost three years ago, and I need the whole thing to evolve a little bit with me. Fusing these two projects together creates a symbiotic relationship that just plain makes sense & infuses both with more meaning and with the passion and motivation I've been seeking.

It is funny how if you sit with something long enough and patiently, it will start coming into focus! So, I'm introducing to you the non-profit branch of The Green Wagon that I am tentatively calling (until the paperwork all goes through & I know I can use that name) The Lorax Fund. This is my next step. I am as sure of it as I was of The Green Wagon when it was just an idea in my little ole noggin. Feeling happy and inspired today...and now I get to go play with Mister J, Miss M, and Baby N. I'm sure they'll give me some hilarious and insightful words of wisdom today that I can share later with you. Stay tuned.

Last night I met a dear friend for dinner at this amazing new restaurant called The Wild Hare on White Bridge Road. We've been meaning to have dinner for months, but both are in financially difficult situations right now. We are also busy, feisty small business owners, but we managed to make time last night. At the end of our meal, the waitress came up to us and told us that someone had taken care of our tab. It was such an unexpected and wonderful surprise that meant so much to both of us.

What I am reading right now...

I enjoyed the Chopra book on Buddha so much that when I saw The Book of Secrets at the used bookstore for a couple of dollars, I had to get it. There is a lot to think about in this book. It isn't a quick read through like Identity was. Here are some things that have really struck me so far:

"To read this sentence, several million neurons in your cerebral cortex had to form an instantaneous pattern that is completely original and never appeared before in your life."

I keep talking about this period of my life being one of transformation or metamorphosis, so this passage made me smile. I have obviously thought about metamorphosis before, but until reading this, I had never really thought about metamorphosis.

"What goes on invisibly inside the chrysalis remains deeply mysterious. The caterpillar's organs and tissues dissolve into an amorphous, souplike state, only to reconstitute into the structure of a butterfly's body that bears no resemblance to a caterpillar at all.

Science has no idea why metamorphosis evolved. It is almost impossible to imagine that insects hit on it by chance--the chemical complexity of turning into a butterfly is incredible; thousands of steps are all minutely interconnected. (It's as if you dropped off a bicycle at the shop to be repaired, and when you came back the parts had become a Gulfstream jet.)"

Horoscope Update

So, it is after midnight. I think I'm officially in the clear of my daily horoscope I posted earlier this morning, which stated that something "stranger than fiction" would happen to me today. I am glad to report that nothing particularly all that strange (this is of course relative to my bizarre life) happened today. Whew.

Saw a link to this song...

this morning on a friend's Facebook page. Made me smile.

Professing my undying love....

So, I put my small chicken coop on Craigslist, since my chickens don't use that one anymore. After a few weeks, I had a very excited guy respond. His kids had just bought some chickens, so he needed something fast. He came out with his kids to see the coop on Monday, and while I was away from my bed for all of 5 minutes, the dogs tipped a glass with a little bit of herbal tea in it over onto my laptop. My computer won't turn on now, and the guy who promised he'd come back with money & a buddy to lift the chicken coop into his truck never showed up.

I tried letting it dry out on its own, but I finally made an appointment at the Genius Bar yesterday. I tried really hard not to freak out about losing data, figuring out how to now scrape up money to buy a new computer, etc until I got some actual information from someone who knew about computers. I handed my laptop over to Josh, the genius behind the bar, and took a deep breath. Josh examined the laptop, and then kindly explained that even though my laptop was closed when the little bit of tea spilled, somehow tea still got all up in the logic board. I don't even know what a logic board is. Maybe logicboard is one word in computer-speak? Whatever it is, it is expensive. Josh explained that this is normally a $750 repair. Apple Care doesn't cover this repair or accidents involving tea and dogs. I almost puked. Then he said, "But I'm in a good mood today, so we're going to do this for free. As a favor. How does that sound?" I almost reached across the Genius Bar to kiss him! They sent it off to get a brand new logic board & I'll have it back in 5 days. I told my friend, Samantha, about this last night at the farm potluck. She said, "Jen, how is it possible that you have the worst luck and the best luck of anyone I know at the same time?" Haha. I never thought of it like that, but I think she's right. Now, if I could only figure out how to cut the sucker-punches out of the equation, and still keep the best luck, I'll be all set!

So, I'm officially professing my undying love for Apple! Love love love love love them. Love my computer and my phone and all of the pretty little gadgets they make that I can't afford...yet. Love love love.