"Consciously Tapping Our Local Resources" A CFC Message from the Midwest, USA
"Consciously Tapping Our Local Resources" A CFC Message from the Midwest, USA
The library. One of the simple pleasures in my life. It's peaceful. It's warm in the bitter Wisconsin winter, cool in the suffocating summers. A sort of shelter from the storm. I am a mother of two. One of the many women in the United States of America who tries so fiercely to have it all - - - to achieve the delicate balance between family and career. And on the days when I am at home with my kids, I consciously and endlessly try to provide my kids with fun, stimulating, economical activities. I am a master of economical activities. So when we need a change of scenery, somewhere welcoming, somewhere soothing, we go to the library.
I am blessed to live in a community where libraries are plentiful. We know the Brookfield branch, the Elm Grove branch, Oconomowoc, Wauwatosa, and Milwaukee, to name a few. But our most favorite is the one just 2 miles away. We play with the puzzles, lounge in their kid sized chairs, read books on their cozy benches, play hide and seek in the rows and rows of books, pick out new music, rent Baby Einstein DVDs, movies on My First Ballet . . . I could go on and on. It is such a gift to have all of these resources FREE at our fingertips! Was the library a place where the idea of recycling first began? Please don't get me wrong, my kids have shelves upon shelves buried in books we own, but there is just something so wonderful about borrowing a book, and then returning it. Pass it on. You pass on the pleasure. How many little boys and girls have shared this same Olivia. Goodnight Moon. Corduroy. Harold and the Purple Crayon. Many, as I can see from the well loved pages.
We live in a disposable age. Or at least we have been living in a disposable age. While some of us have always leaned more towards the "frugal" side and managed to reuse every scrap of paper twice, I see many others who take delight in buying every book they ever had even the slightest interest in. I look at the financial situation this country is facing. I look at many of my friends who buy buy buy, charge charge charge. Where has it gotten us? Nowhere. This life isn't about who can own the most. It's about being the best person you can be, and as a parent, guiding your children to being the best they can be. Not achieving. Not owning. But living consciously. Caring. Caring about our earth, caring about our neighbors, caring about those who are NOT our neighbors, caring about the creatures who share this space with us.
So next time that shiny new hardcover is calling your name. Stop. Think. Every time you buy it, you remove one more tree from this earth. You displace one more creature. You use natural resources. Try the library. I promise you'll lose hours there. :)
Amanda Clark Krause
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I am blessed to live in a community where libraries are plentiful. We know the Brookfield branch, the Elm Grove branch, Oconomowoc, Wauwatosa, and Milwaukee, to name a few. But our most favorite is the one just 2 miles away. We play with the puzzles, lounge in their kid sized chairs, read books on their cozy benches, play hide and seek in the rows and rows of books, pick out new music, rent Baby Einstein DVDs, movies on My First Ballet . . . I could go on and on. It is such a gift to have all of these resources FREE at our fingertips! Was the library a place where the idea of recycling first began? Please don't get me wrong, my kids have shelves upon shelves buried in books we own, but there is just something so wonderful about borrowing a book, and then returning it. Pass it on. You pass on the pleasure. How many little boys and girls have shared this same Olivia. Goodnight Moon. Corduroy. Harold and the Purple Crayon. Many, as I can see from the well loved pages.
We live in a disposable age. Or at least we have been living in a disposable age. While some of us have always leaned more towards the "frugal" side and managed to reuse every scrap of paper twice, I see many others who take delight in buying every book they ever had even the slightest interest in. I look at the financial situation this country is facing. I look at many of my friends who buy buy buy, charge charge charge. Where has it gotten us? Nowhere. This life isn't about who can own the most. It's about being the best person you can be, and as a parent, guiding your children to being the best they can be. Not achieving. Not owning. But living consciously. Caring. Caring about our earth, caring about our neighbors, caring about those who are NOT our neighbors, caring about the creatures who share this space with us.
So next time that shiny new hardcover is calling your name. Stop. Think. Every time you buy it, you remove one more tree from this earth. You displace one more creature. You use natural resources. Try the library. I promise you'll lose hours there. :)
Amanda Clark Krause
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
posted by erinmccabemusic | 9:08 PM
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