Our Giving Tree

Welcome to this blog, a collaborative effort of many different and diverse good people who share a similar vision and very well synched values.  Since the written word doesn’t always express tone and inflection, I suggest you read it out loud and see how it resonates.

The link is correct-the name is Our Giving Tree but the domain is Community Giving Tree-sorry for any confusion-trying to fix it, but wanted to launch today as promised.

   The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, is my favorite book of all times.  Not only does it speak to me, it yells at me and shakes me when I need to be shaken.  It is supposedly a children’s book, and it can be, but not unlike Robert Munsch’s “ Love Me Forever”, another favorite, it is clearly a very adult book, with all the nuances and messages that entails.  I have gifted it often and taught it at many levels in 2 countries, and I always get something new from it. I am using the idea for the name of this blog, just making it closer, more personal and in tune with who we are and who we want to reach.

   While the book has many themes and messages, I am focusing on the one closest to me, that of our natural life cycle and all it implies.  Put yourself in it, wherever you are on the journey, and enjoy the ride.

   The more I get into my third act, the more I think about this topic and legacies and my place in all of it, the more what is truly important and vital becomes me and the change I want to see in the world.

   The book itself is simple and on the surface seems very simplistic.  It chronicles the travels of a young child and friend, the tree, through their life cycles.  It is about giving, taking and receiving, all very different yet interconnected verbs.  It is about friendship, love on many levels, winning and losing, and the symbiotic relationships  of all living things.

   My take is pretty simple.  Humans and nature all have different roles at different points in their life cycles.  We all start out as tiny little seeds and many of us are blessed to grow, evolve  and blossom-differently and same-and we all ultimately end up at the same place-differently and the same.

   The sameness is obvious, I believe, in some form or another.  We are nurtured, many are loved and appreciated, we learn, appreciate, grow and become and then continue becoming.  The lucky ones amongst us view this process as a gift-to give, take and receive as the need and want might be.

   The differentness  is what we do with this cycle  and therein lies the big, grating, scratching rub. I am always trying and my latest project is what prompted this change. Here is the story.

When living briefly in Niagara on the Lake, I discovered the Buy Nothing project and was the recipient of many lovely gifts that now grace my local home.  Stuff that was destined for landfill, all of it.  All was gifted from the heart, most had little monetary value, and all is  appreciated and loved in its new home. 

   While planning my next move to this community, I discovered there was no local Buy Nothing group, so I started one-easy peasy. Reached out, did the training and was in completely, expecting maybe some local interest. I found members of like-minded groups (Green Living in Dundas, Dundas,Small Town,Big Challenges, Buy and Sell Dundas and Action 13 just as a start), got a little free press and we are flying (750 members and growing every day) and my heart is singing.  I am writing this while wearing a pair of capris I received and drinking from a mug that I love and was gifted.  A friend will soon be dropping off some goodies and in the days to come I am spending part of the day helping a member, overwhelmed with an upcoming move, declutter and list stuff to give away.  

   Giving, taking and receiving-like the tree and the child.  Like a parent and a child. Like lifelong friends.  Like  humans and nature. Like local residents and local businesses-whatever ‘like’ that resonates with you.

   I have always, however, struggled with the end of the book and the old stump piece.  And, through the group and others, I have finally figured it out.  I may be an old stump (turning 67 in a couple of weeks) but I am certainly not useless and neither is that stump in the book.  That stump is full of a lifetime of deeds, some regrets, learning, growing,  memories, actions, love, respect and appreciation.  That old stump can be a stool, a chair, and little table for grandkids, repurposed as a planter or bird bath or it can simply be a reminder and symbol of past, present and future.  And this old stump of an old hippy, golden girl, still has purpose and life in her.

   This group and others have the amazing transformative possibility of opening our eyes and souls to all that is good, right, spiritual and connectedness.

   Join me please in giving a thumbs up, a hug, a show of love and gratefulness to old stumps everywhere! We are all in this together-with each other, nature, spirits, hearts and souls.  How will you be different and express your uniqueness? Share freely and without judgement-there are no right answers and no one size fits all actions or solutions.