Recent Justification I'm a Decent Human Being

Recently I had to fill out paperwork justifying that I'm a decent human being. I answered questions about my moral aptitude, moral compass, volunteerism, and community spirit. I had to justify why I was -- or am -- a good person. Further along in the paperwork I had to provide four references. Individuals that would substantiate my morality, authenticity, and integrity.

I have to go down the references side road for a minute. References are absurd. Who is honestly going to provide a shitty reference? "Hey Bob, will you be my reference? I know I promised I'd water your plants and get your mail, neither of which I did. And that time you pissed me off, yeah it was me who keyed your car. But I was hoping you'd say something positive about me?" Really? Come on. You're only ever going to ask the people who'll vouch for your awesomeness.

Nonetheless, I had to ask four people to vouch for me. One told me to go public in the People's Court (social media) to expose the "ass for what she is" (I'm not the ass in this story). Another wrote: you didn't [bleep] her? To which I replied: that's not part of my rehabilitation. A third wanted to give someone a piece of their mind only for me to say "keep walking" to which he replied "if I'm called, I'm going to use this incident as an example." The fourth person has been a personal reference for my awesomeness for so long, I didn't even call her to ask.

Tonight I was cleaning out old files. For some reason I've kept every certificate I've ever received. Ever. I am awesome. I have certificates proving I'm a good citizen...from 1982! I have thank you cards and certificates of gratitude from far off places, like Nepal for donating 200 lbs (yes, pounds) of clothing. I have congratulation and thank you letters from the Bozeman City Commission for my appointment and work on affordable housing and neighborhood recognition. Along with this supporting documentation of my moral aptitude, I have several, maybe 20 or more, certificates of achievement for all sorts of weird stuff. I'm certified to use fire as a means of habitat rehabilitation in the State of Florida. I am certified to save your life should something befall you in the backcountry and dig you from the debris of an avalanche. Buried in the pile of certificates was my favorite:

Congratulations! You won our drawing contest. Unfortunately, we are unable to use your artwork for our cover as it does not fit the overall message we're hoping to convey. 

Love it. I'm a winner and a loser in the same paragraph!

Filed directly behind "Certificates" was "Credit". Since purging files was the task of the evening I continued. The credit file contained things like the payoff documents for my house in Montana and Colorado, an old speeding ticket I got in Utah. And one other ticket -- dog off leash from Boulder, Colorado marked "paid". I couldn't help but laugh at the irony in finding this gem. The reason I was filling out a form justifying my worthiness all started with a dog off leash. Only this time in California.

In the old west (Montana and Colorado) dogs off leash are handled quite differently. In Colorado it costs $50. But in California you have to prove you're a decent human being. Prove your moral compass hasn't gone haywire since your certificate of good citizenship in 1982. Find four people to justify that you're rehabilitated from the heinous crime of walking a dog off a leash.

And in Montana? Well, that's a funny story. I was in Ecuador climbing and my housemate was watching my dogs in our downtown Bozeman home. He opened the door and in a split second all three dogs (one his, two mine) ran out to the street where a man was walking by. One of the dogs bit the man. My housemate felt horrible. He helped the man and assured him that the dogs were all vaccinated and that if he wanted to have the wound checked out just bring the bill back to the house. The man, in his late 70's, early 80's, went to the care clinic. He came back to the house with a receipt and knocked on the door. The dogs, SAFELY INSIDE THE HOUSE, started barking. My housemate was not fast enough getting to the door so the man decided he would just leave the receipt behind. He opened the door and walked inside. Inside the house that contained the dog that actually bit the man just two days earlier. Inside a house that was not his, his friends, or his relatives. When he walked through the door, he called out, "Hello. I'm just dropping off the receipt from the care clinic for the dog bite."

My housemate came in from out back, paid the man the $30 or so for the care clinic bill. On the way out, the man patted each dog on the head. And my housemate shook his head at the ridiculousness of it all.

And that is how a dog off leash is handled in Montana.

(Connie Garrett aka Samaara Robbins -- apparently still running with dogs off leash!)

Today Things Are Amazing -- Check-in

I woke up this morning like most days “ah! Good morning Theo my snuggle bunny.”

It's been a month and I have yet to eat at a chain restaurant - including Starbucks, picked up a few things at a "big" supermarket, shopped at a store-in-the-box, or really even left my little community in Truckee, California.

What I've learned is that I can do without a lot of things that I used to have to have. And I have resources that I never knew I had.

I'm converting my fifth wheel to a tiny house. I need a table saw to rebuild my closet that I'm moving from one area to another. I was turned on to Truckee Roundhouse. It's a community "makerspace". They have everything I could ever imagine. And it's heated. Friday I attend an open house and tour the space. I'll be building my closet next week. My goal is to have my place ready to host my friends for the Olympics. Tic Toc. I recently confessed that if I still shopped at Lowe's I would have purchased a table saw. For one project. Really? Do I need a table saw? Maybe, but not right now.

When I began this journey, I shopped at Trader Joe's. I've since stopped. Trader Joe's has a horrible environmental track record. In 2016 it settled a case with the EPA for violations of the Clean Water Act. Trader Joe's will be required to pay a $500,000 fine and spend up to $2 million in repairs to refrigeration equipment. The grocery chain is constantly under fire for is overuse of plastic packaging and consumers are demanding (and receiving to some extent) better quality. However, the sustainable agricultural watchdog group, Cornucopia Institute, cautions consumers about organic store brands. Trader Joe's remains secretive about where it resources it's store brands. Earlier this month, a petition was launched by Crate Free Illinois urging Trader Joe's to stop buying pork that uses gestation crates in its supply chain. According to Chicago Tonight "sows kept in crates have lower bone strength and muscle weight and are more likely to exhibit abnormal behaviors, such as repetitive bar-biting." You might think, who cares? Remember that the food you buy comes from somewhere other than the shelf you found it on.

What makes a great photo - organic and cheese - two favorite things, is just that a great photo. There are so many other things I'll miss about Trader Joe's, but for now it's sayonara baby!

My special find: Natural Grocers. I've already spoken about Natural Grocers. I still love it! All organic produce. Always. I don't even have to think.

I'm also really loving New Moon in Truckee (don't hold their website against them, they're re-building). I also found an amazing company Urban Moonshine. I purchased, at New Moon, the Citrus Digestive Bitters. I'm a bitter freak (ha ha!). I am really enjoying this blend and look forward to trying some others.

I came across an Etsy store for Un-Paper Towels. Super environmental, super minimalistic. No waste, no storing rolls of paper towels. Mine are on the way! Here's a little tidbit about Etsy -- most of the stores are local, community based, hand-crafted. And there's a ton of stuff on Etsy.


Along the lines of environmental stewardship, what's with the junk mail! I've decided that should cancer come to claim my body, I'm going to reply to all of the credit card offers and charge to the max! I'm going to go out in style! In this pile of mail, I can literally charge over $200,000. Really? Not OK for so many reasons!

One bonus of living local and making my dollars count is that my credit card bills are decreasing rapidly. I don't have a lot of credit card debt, but I had a revolving balance at Lowes -- not anymore. I was the queen of "just one more camera lense" from Best Buy -- not anymore. I'd cruise the sale racks at Penny's, Macy's, and Nordstom Rack -- not anymore. I don't even like Penny's or Macy's. Sorry, I'm human and can't say the same for Nordstrom Rack. I love Nordstrom Rack! I traded Nordstrom Rack for REI. SUPER LOVIN' REI!

I find that I have a ton of time on my hands and time is amazing. Time is a commodity -- it's the only commodity we don't get back. Once your time is spent, it's gone forever. Leaving existential thought and belief about time out of this conversation, time is all we have to spend. Having sat at the helm of the chemotherapy brigade, I really value my time. Because my side project: 21 Days to Happiness includes daily exercise, I'm out everyday. Of course, my right foot is not a happy camper, but I'm out there. I've discovered there is no poop fairy. I've made a very conscious effort to pick up after my favorite four-legged friend Theodore -- even "off piste". This is in-line with my actual New Year's Resolution, which is to be the best version of myself.

I've found new snacks that I can make. They're super delish. Thanks to Trina at Big Water Studios for the great idea and to Kathi Keville for sharing some great recipe ideas for peanut butter (or almond butter) protein snacks. Here's a simple recipe: A blob of your favorite nut butter, 1 Tbps of protein powder, a little cinnamon, cardamon, and ginger. mix it up, adding more powdered ingredients until it shapes nicely into a ball and tastes good. Wrap in parchment paper to take with you.

Of course, I'm enjoying the tough days at the office...especially the commute. :) Practice "happy." It's a thing!

Sharing Ideas with Woody

A few weeks ago I started an experiment -- can we really shop completely local. Buying from CSAs, farmer's markets, family-owned, employee-owned, and co-ops. Since then I've dedicated my shopping to a bit of pre-planning research and re-con missions to, what I'm calling local, shops.

On December 27th I posted Commitment to Community outlining my "plan". Since then, I've been shopping for food, clothing, wool dryer balls, eateries, hardware-type items, and sunglasses. I've also researched some of my favorite addictions, namely climbing gear. I've done extensive pre-planning for grocery stores within 30 to 40 minutes of my house looking for ethical and responsible places to shop that meet the definition of "community" or "local".

Yesterday, I listened to a FB post of Woody Harrelson. Not only to I love Woody ("Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, Kelly..." and Natural Born Killers) I love his message. It's what my experiment is all about: making your dollars count.

A few days ago I learned some really cool things. Scheels is a HUGE general sporting goods store and it's employee-owned.

Natural Grocers, aka Vitamin Cottage, began in Colorado, similar to Whole Foods. Natural Grocers made conscious decisions about what to carry in their stores, how to grow, and what would drive their business. Unlike Whole Foods, Natural Grocers did not sell out. Instead they said "hey, we can do this." Natural Grocers only sells organic produce, hormone, GMO-free meat, nothing in their store has artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. Before it was cool, they went bag-free. Natural Grocers was built on the foundation that a healthy lifestyle can be affordable for everyone. Natural Grocers is traded on the NYSE under the ticker NGVC. (More about voting with dollars in the stock market in another post.)

I've received some criticism that shopping at Natural Grocers or indulging in an In N Out burger and fries is not shopping local. I want to be perfectly clear that my experiment has nothing to do with income. I don't think any business should be limited in growth. Just know that the hamburger you're eating didn't come from the shelf you picked it up from. It came from an animal that lived somewhere and ate something. Community is a bigger picture than items on a shelf and number of stores.

Last night I walked the downtown Truckee strip. I stopped at Mellow Fellow for dinner. I had a glass of wine at Uncorked (visit Uncorked in Truckee, Squaw, and Northstar). The owners also own Soupa at the base of Squaw Valley where their ingredients come from the Food Hub, the soup is home made. It can take some time to get through the line at Soupa, but it's definitely my go-to, and has been for years, at Squaw. I finished at a little shop carrying all things local, including a much needed wool dryer ball. I also found a handmade silver ring to adorn my left hand.

Being committed to the community is taking time to mindfully shop, understanding that what is on the shelf came from somewhere, and being conscious that every dollar you spend is a vote for something.

Happy shopping!

#makeyourdollarscount

TED Talk - Happiness

Earlier today I posted a TED talk on FB about happiness, challenging anyone to join me for 21 days beginning this Wednesday, January 10th.

Several years ago I created a gratitude book to get through a very dark time in my life. When I was diagnosed with cancer I had a mentor, someone who walked in similar shoes. Sometimes we know our mentor or have some connection to our mentor. Sometimes we don't. And later, we become a mentor for another. I remember my mentors and thank them for their strength. The first time I was a mentor was to a beautiful woman. We chatted on the phone, via email, and social medial. We became friends and even met in person even though we lived a time zone apart. Then one day just before Thanksgiving she stepped in front of a train. I will never know why. The first few pages of my gratitude book was filled with simple things: Sampson, yoga, mountains, memories. I remember staring at the blank pages trying to come up with three words once the obvious things I was thankful for had been written. I wrote that I was grateful for snow in 20 different ways just to come up with three words a day. But as time passed, it got easier. And at some point I could fill a page with words and sentences and paragraphs. Eventually, I got through this time and have turned to my gratitude book several times since. I found this simple tool immensely helpful.

In this TED Talk, Shawn Anchor challenges us to be better humans. To live in a world of happiness. Beginning this Wednesday, I will share my 21-day journey. Please join, whether vicariously through me or on your own.

Here's the specifics:

• Each day write three words of gratitude for the day, either in the morning for the day ahead or in the evening for the things you were grateful for that day.
• Write one journal entry of a positive experience for the day.
• Find 10 to 20 minutes each day to exercise, whether that is a walk, yoga class, or all-out workout
• Meditate for 5 to 10 minutes a day, increasing to 20 to 30 minutes a day. Use an app on your cell phone or combine the meditation with a morning walk (exercise and meditation)
• Complete one random -- or conscious -- act of kindness everyday. Shawn Anchor proposes writing a thank you note via email or social media to someone in your social circle. I believe you can practice a random act of kindness almost anywhere. But, if it's easier, write a thank you to someone you know. 

What you'll need: 

• Journal
• Pen
• A list of people to thank in your social circle
• Install a meditation app on your phone

Spend tomorrow gathering supplies and let's get ready to find happiness in the simplicity and beauty of life. 

To happiness...