by Heather Plett | Apr 29, 2009 | parenting
She rolls her eyes at yet another story of Africa. She cringes when she catches a hint of a social justice rant erupting from your lips. She doesn’t want to hear you talk about hunger or human trafficking or unfair trade rules. She gets embarrassed when you tell the sales clerk you don’t want a plastic bag and would rather carry your items out of the store in your hand. She’d rather go shopping than just about any other activity in the world, and she doesn’t want to know about the stuff that’s produced by child labourers in Bangladesh, or about the mountains of waste created by overconsumption. She gets annoyed when you insist she can walk to the mall instead of burning extra gas to run the car.
But then one day, she comes home and tells you “I’m doing a project for school about the political situation in Zimbabwe – about how Mugabe stole the election.” And then she adds, incredulously, “most of my friends don’t even know where Zimbabwe is!”
And then, another day, “Mom – do you want to watch this with me? Tyra Banks is talking about sex trafficking. Can you believe what’s happening to those little girls?”
And then there’s the day when you’re at the mall with her, and she tucks her new shorts into her purse and shakes her head no when the cashier offers her a bag.
And your heart does a little leap of joy, because despite her best efforts to ignore you and be as different from you as she can, some of it has gotten through.
by Heather Plett | Apr 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
Our dishwasher has been broken for a few weeks, and though there’s been a fair bit of grumbling at our house (have you SEEN how many dishes a family of five can produce?), there have also been a few blessings in disguise. For one thing, despite their protests, the girls are learning the fine art of washing dishes by hand. For another thing, as I learned with my own mother years ago, some great mother-daughter bonding can happen over a sink of dirty dishes.
My favourite blessing, though, has been the fact that spending more time over the sink means also spending more time at the kitchen window. There’s an unruly hedge just outside the window and it’s always been the gathering place of a myriad of birds. Until recently, however, I had no idea just how much variety there is in the types of birds that frequent our backyard.
Maddie spotted me gazing out the window one day, and she wanted to join the fun. Her and I have since become avid bird-watchers, digging out a bird book and trying to identify the species as they appear.
On Saturday morning, Maddie went out with a bowl full of bird seed and set up a bird restaurant on the old bench in front of the hedge. “It’s called Birdie Buffet!” she said.
For the rest of the weekend, she and I would periodically tiptoe to the window to see what birds had come to dine. She named the first one that appeared after she ducked back in the house “Bravery.” The others hovered in the hedge, waiting to make sure it was safe.
We managed to capture a few of them on film (or rather, the digital equivalent), but the most interesting ones (the blue jays, and the red-headed finch Maddied named “Finchie”) were also the most shy and they quickly disappeared when we showed up at the window.
The little grey wrens with the yellow beaks were the most bold and apparently the most hungry. Maddie had to replenish her buffet a couple of times, and she was convinced that they’d gained weight by the end of the weekend.
by Heather Plett | Apr 25, 2009 | hope
There’s a song called “It might be hope” by Sara Groves that has come to mean a lot to some members of my family, especially my sister. A year ago, we had no idea whether we had reason to be hopeful or not. Her son Jack was waiting to be born, and with a tumour nearly the size of his head, we didn’t know what the future would hold for him.
Most of you know the “rest” of the story. Jack was born healthy and beautiful, the tumour disappeared, and he is now a joyful, expressive and fun little boy. Nearly every Sunday in church, I get to hold him while he sleeps and I could hardly feel more blessed.
A few weeks ago, at his cousin’s birthday, I took this picture of Jack. It struck me that this picture tells a story of Jack’s place in our life – a story of hope and looking toward the light, even when it feels like fear will never loosen its grip on us.
Hope has a way of turning it’s face to you
just when you least expect it
you walk in a room
you look out a window
and something there leaves you breathless
you say to yourself it’s been a while since I felt this
but it feels like it might be hope
A few days ago, I decided to try my first attempt at painting a face. Jack’s hopeful expression seemed like just the right place to start.
If I were to name this painting, I would call it Hope.
If you want to hear the song, check out the video my sister made for Jack’s baby dedication. I’m warning you, though, have a kleenex handy.
by Heather Plett | Apr 22, 2009 | random
Random thought #1… I had a lovely wisdom-sharing dinner with two friends last night. They are both wise women leaders who have mentored me in the past. One of them is turning 50 next month, and is celebrating the passing of time with a trip to Paris with her son. She carries 50 with beauty and strength. The other one is embarking on a new direction in her career. She told of how a massive de-cluttering for her team led to wonderful new doorways opening up for four of the people involved, including herself. I am blessed by the wisdom I carry with me from the women of integrity and authenticity (like these) who have shared in my journey.
Random thought #2… My elbow hurts from an embarrassing little tumble on my bike yesterday. It was one of those moments when you wish that you could hit the rewind button and make a different decision than you did thirty seconds before.
Random thought #3… Yesterday afternoon, Maddie was sick so I had to leave work to look after her. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we spent most of the afternoon painting together. I made little paintings of the Peggy’s Cove lighthouse for the women I was meeting – women who have served as lighthouses for me in the past, guiding me toward safe passage when I didn’t know the way. Maddie painted a dolphin, and when I said “maybe you’ll be an artist when you grow up”, she looked at me in that long-suffering way and said “of COURSE I’ll be an artist when I grow up.”
Random thought #4… There’s just one thing I have to say to Madonna – we do NOT have 4 minutes to save the world. The world is not ours to save. Perhaps we have 4 minutes to stop participating in its destruction, but don’t think of yourself as the great salvation. Take the words of my wise African friend to heart, “you North Americans need to stop thinking you can FIX everything.”
Random thought #5… I have been blessed with good conversations this week. I met my friend Steve for lunch on Monday and left feeling inspired and invigorated. We talked about finding our calling, working toward authenticity, searching for beauty, and offering our gifts to the world. I love the clarity that comes from a good conversation with a like-minded friend.
Random thought #6… Happy Earth Day, everyone! Celebrate it by remembering that we are part of creation and we have been gifted with the opportunity to actively participate in the appreciation, sharing, and protection of the beauty of the earth.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change things build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Buckminster Fuller
by Heather Plett | Apr 21, 2009 | Spring
Even though it snowed on me as I rode my bike to work this morning (arrgh!), the frogs still believe it is Spring! It was a most glorious ride home (making up for the miserable ride this morning), especially the part where I rode past the frog pond. I had to stop for a moment to listen to their chorus. It was the least I could do, in memory of my dad who taught me lessons in mindfulness by honouring the frogs every year on his calendar.
She rolls her eyes at yet another story of Africa. She cringes when she catches a hint of a social justice rant erupting from your lips. She doesn’t want to hear you talk about hunger or human trafficking or unfair trade rules. She gets embarrassed when you tell the sales clerk you don’t want a plastic bag and would rather carry your items out of the store in your hand. She’d rather go shopping than just about any other activity in the world, and she doesn’t want to know about the stuff that’s produced by child labourers in Bangladesh, or about the mountains of waste created by overconsumption. She gets annoyed when you insist she can walk to the mall instead of burning extra gas to run the car. 
