Midnight Ramblings, in spite of the cat...

Oh sure, he looks innocent enough...

Dear Friends,

It's midnight, and I tried to sleep. Oh, how I tried. But my brain was whirring, churning, spinning so fast that I had no other option but to climb out of bed, put on Kurt's old blue bathrobe, come down to the kitchen where my computer is sitting on the table and pour myself a bowl of Cheerios (just because I live at an Ecovillage doesn't mean that I always do what is best for me!). So here I sit, brainstorming the next steps in my business, plotting tomorrow's photo shoot, and attempting to think of fabulous, verging-on-genius ideas for The Green Mom's Carnival in which the wise and generous Karen Hanrahan has invited me to participate. But the cat (Fionn McCool) is taking turns running up and down the stairs at top speed and clawing at the tablecloth so that the glass water pitcher inches ever closer to the edge of the table ("Mom! Pay attention to ME!!!) while the very patient but not-a-cat-fan dog, Baloo, keeps coming over to let me know just how annoying the cat is. So I am doing my best, but if this is less than coherent, it's all the cat's fault.

Baloo, who in spite of his obsessive compulsive behavior regarding throw toys, is a fine dog...

OMG. Now the cat has rolled himself up, enchilada style, in the throw rug in the living room. Things were much calmer before I turned on the light...

But anyway, it has been an amazing week. Actually, it was last week that was amazing - I'm just now recovering from recovering from it!

The absolute tip top highlight was the opportunity to be on a panel at the West Suburban Women Entrepreneur's (WSWE) Sixth Anniversary Event. Joining me on the panel were the irrepressible and hilarious Jodi Murphy of Murco Recycling Enterprises, and the absolutely delightful Tracey Robertson of Share Wear in Chicago. Wrangling, er, moderating the conversation was the warm and gracious Jenniffer Weigel, who managed to be both down-to-earth and totally "woo woo" at the same time - what stories she had! We spent an hour and a half talking about our businesses - what inspires us, how we came to do what we do, appreciating our bodies, how we deal with the current economic downturn, and much, much more. What pleased me the most was that the four of us were able to have breakfast together in a private dining room before the event, so that we could get to know one another better before being "on stage." As we talked and shared our ideas, we realized that we all shared a belief in gratitude and abundance. Thinking good things (and doing the work) really can make good things happen. It sounds very Pollyanna-ish, but I know from my own experience that when I follow my heart, amazing things happen, doors open, and the right people appear right out of the blue. When I try to force things, to do what I think I should instead of what I feel I should - well, the results just aren't the same.

It was wonderful to be in a room full of 190 business women (and five men), and feel the support and encouragement from each and every one of them. I was so happy to see Maria Moran of Green Home Experts again (if anyone needs information or help with green building or rennovation, Maria is your girl - she's not only creative and knowledgable, but impeccably honest), Falise of 24/8 Book Club (who confessed to eating Cocoa Krispies, giving me the courage to confess my own sugar ceral jones...), Denise of So Tell Me, creator of So Tell Me Medical Organizers (which I can't wait to carry - oh, to have had these when my parents were ill), the aforementioned Karen Hanrahan, and the Revolutionary Muses, Joanne Stone-Geier and Sue Reardon.

I love being in business, at least the way I am choosing to run my business. And the women I am meeting continue to inspire me to do exactly what I have set out to do - create a community-centered, successful, sustainable, ethical, truly green business.

And speaking of how I choose to run my business, this blog has turned in a direction that was unintended. And so I am going to go with the flow (see 4th paragraph, above) and make a change. This blog, Ecovillage Musings, will morph into an unofficial blog for Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. As I travel and talk about my home and where the Milkweed Mercantile is located, I am told again and again that the DR website is huge and almost incomprehensible. So I will present our little Ecovillage in managable bites, here, with a name that suits it's purpose.

My business and personal blog, will be new. It is almost ready to go, and as soon as I figure out all of the settings, I will launch it, hopefully by tomorrow.


So that's it for tonight. If I can't sleep now, I'll pull out the latest Henning Mankell book - I'm loving his Kurt Wallender series. It is set in Sweden, and so I make up ways to pronounce the names. They are most likely VERY wrong, but it sure is amusing!

more tomorrow!