Have you ever caught a hint of a scent that has transported you back to another place and time? Over the last few weeks I've had three different reasons to remember, reminisce and reflect. A blocked sink forced me to sort out the collection of lotions and potions that resided underneath it and amongst the bottles and dust I discovered the dregs of several perfumes I used to wear. Each one evoked memories from a different chapter in my life and for an instant I was transported back to exam season and a summer's afternoon in a field of daisies, the unexpectedly bright lights in the foyer outside a student night club and the hazy, blurry, euphoric, exhausted fog of the new born phase of parenthood. The scent from a new packet of soap brought my Grandma and Granddad and their house into vivid view for a split second.
We have just started to try and organise our collection of photos and videos. With each one we want to keep we want to tag the people in them, the place and key words to make it easy to find photos in the future. There are thousands to go through and it is slow task, especially as I find myself distracted by the memories that surface.
The third prompt, perhaps more for reflection than reminiscing at the moment is that it will be our tenth wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks. I find myself wondering what the ten years younger me would think if she could see me now. I think she would be very happy with where we live and the friends we have, shocked at the bank balance (and not in a good way), perhaps a bit sad that work-wise I have consistently slipped down the career ladder, but more understanding as to the reason why and probably slightly surprised when she sees that we have two children. I think she would be pleased at how well they seem to be growing and learning and amazed at how beautiful they are. She would probably be quite judgmental of many of our parenting skills. But most of all I think she would be disappointed at the lack of progress we have made in living a more environmentally sustainable life and our lack of action and intent to challenge the inequalities and injustices we see in the world. What she wouldn't appreciate is just how demanding and time and energy consuming being a parent of small children is. How they bring home one illness after the other, which the whole family catches, one after another, until everyone's immune system steps up a gear and starts to resist the bombardment. How months which have turned into years of sleep deprivation dulls the inner voice of conscience, which previously prompted thoughts and action. But then she would question what sort of home environment our children are experiencing where we only focus on meeting our own needs and planning our own enjoyment? What sort of example we are setting in our attitudes, aspirations and hopes for our children? How are we equipping them with the emotional, social and intellectual tools they need to become successful adults who are emotionally secure, confident, positive contributors to our society? As the ten years younger me isn't here to come up with all the answers we're going to have to work them out for ourselves and decide what, if anything we want to do differently. I hope that in another ten years I'm not prompted to ask the ten years older me same questions.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
We've just got back from a meeting in our favourite local cafe to discuss ideas that initiated from chats between a few friends, have begun to be formulated in to practical action by a few key individuals and are now been thrown open wide to all interested parties on how to improve our local town using the energy, enthusiasm and skills of local people. All of which were represented overwhelmingly this evening - inspiring and encouraging in itself. One idea is to take over a disused building in the town (there are many), and use it a a central community hub. From discussions tonight I realise, as is to be expected, that everyone one has different ideas on the building and what it could and should be used for. While the ideas are still buzzing round my head, here is my vision of the hub, as it stands at the moment, although this will change as my ideas continue to evolve. I hope it will be of interest to those local friends, and for those of you further afield, I'd be interested to hear if what I describe would appeal to you.
My vision of a community hub is a large, glass fronted building, centrally located in our town. It is large so that parts of it, maybe an upstairs if it has one, can be hired out to to small business start-ups, as low cost, low risk investments, to provide an income to cover the basic running costs of heating, lighting and staffing the building. It is glass fronted so that the community can see in it, see what is going on, and there are no barriers from stepping inside. It isn't a very beautiful, historically important listed building because this will be costly to maintain, difficult for people to see in to, and perhaps have the courage to enter, and will potentially have significant limitations as to how the space inside can be configured.
The building's entrance is wide, the doors open easily so buggies, walking sticks and wheelchairs feel welcomed. Inside the entrance are large and small lockers, similar to those at a public swimming pool. The lockers are large enough for bags, buggies wet coats, umbrellas and shopping so people can free themselves of their belongings as they enter. There are light, bright, spacious, warm, clean toilets, baby change and baby feeding facilities. Everything is designed to be safe and easy to access for children, older people and disabled people, or as I like to call them in my head, differently-abled people. There is possibly a manned reception desk where everyone is welcomed with a genuine, pleased-to-see you smile.
Inside the building is made up in such a way that there are movable wall panels that mean that meeting rooms of almost any size can be created as well as a huge open space when they are all removed. There is easy access to power sockets, network or wireless connections and where needed, projectors and screens. The space is light, bright, airy, warm and clean. The flexibility of the venue makes it attractive to hire. There are plenty of comfortable places to sit.
I hope you are getting an idea of the building and the space. So, what will you do when you are in there? The possibilities are endless, but here are a few.
There could be art displays from local artists, local children, visiting collections, some of which are visible from the outside to catch the eye of passer bys and encourage them in. Displays would regularly change to encourage repeat visits. There could be workshops - we recently attended a bread making workshop organised with friends that was a fantastic social as well as learning experience. Cooking, craft, gardening, writing, sewing, IT, the list goes on. Semi-informal gatherings where those with skills and experience share with those keen to learn. Costs are kept to a minimum for each workshop or where possible are free. In order to support local businesses as opposed to taking away trade, partnerships are established where for example, a local chef, knitter, IT trainer offer a taster workshop at the hub. An opportunity for the local business to advertise to an interested audience, an opportunity for someone to try something out with out financial or long-term commitment. Space could be hired out by groups including, but of course not limited to those that offer children's activities.
Key to the success and long term viability of the hub are the links it facilitates between the generations and different groups of people (in my world, the hub is for everyone, with appropriate safeguards in place. If Alcoholics Anonymous want to hire a room, great). I'm not sure if the hub has a dedicated cafe area open in the day (as much as I do love the idea of spending my days baking cakes for people and making them tea). There are a number of excellent independent cafes in our town centre. I wouldn't want the hub to become competition. However, I would want it to have kitchen facilities available for cooking workshops. I also love the idea of holding communal cooking evenings. There must be plenty of parents who find themselves thinking what do I feed the kids tonight? I'm certain there are single people and elderly people who don't want to cook for just one, again. So, we get everyone together, share the cooking, sit and eat together, wash and clear up together. Kids have playmates and new people to learn from, lonely people have company and the opportunity to be reminded what it is like to see the world through a child's eyes and tired parents get an escape and practical support for one evening from the drudgery (if that's how it feels) of feeding their ever hungry children. Bedtime stories could be read by willing volunteers and hot cocoa served - or maybe that is a bit too Enid Blyton. To take the communal eating idea one sustainable step further, we try and use ingredients from local suppliers including grocers and butchers that is on the edge of not being suitable for sale.
I think those are most of my current thoughts. What do you think? Does the hub in my head appeal to you? Want to come a real, communally created version of it? Let's make it happen.
My vision of a community hub is a large, glass fronted building, centrally located in our town. It is large so that parts of it, maybe an upstairs if it has one, can be hired out to to small business start-ups, as low cost, low risk investments, to provide an income to cover the basic running costs of heating, lighting and staffing the building. It is glass fronted so that the community can see in it, see what is going on, and there are no barriers from stepping inside. It isn't a very beautiful, historically important listed building because this will be costly to maintain, difficult for people to see in to, and perhaps have the courage to enter, and will potentially have significant limitations as to how the space inside can be configured.
The building's entrance is wide, the doors open easily so buggies, walking sticks and wheelchairs feel welcomed. Inside the entrance are large and small lockers, similar to those at a public swimming pool. The lockers are large enough for bags, buggies wet coats, umbrellas and shopping so people can free themselves of their belongings as they enter. There are light, bright, spacious, warm, clean toilets, baby change and baby feeding facilities. Everything is designed to be safe and easy to access for children, older people and disabled people, or as I like to call them in my head, differently-abled people. There is possibly a manned reception desk where everyone is welcomed with a genuine, pleased-to-see you smile.
Inside the building is made up in such a way that there are movable wall panels that mean that meeting rooms of almost any size can be created as well as a huge open space when they are all removed. There is easy access to power sockets, network or wireless connections and where needed, projectors and screens. The space is light, bright, airy, warm and clean. The flexibility of the venue makes it attractive to hire. There are plenty of comfortable places to sit.
I hope you are getting an idea of the building and the space. So, what will you do when you are in there? The possibilities are endless, but here are a few.
There could be art displays from local artists, local children, visiting collections, some of which are visible from the outside to catch the eye of passer bys and encourage them in. Displays would regularly change to encourage repeat visits. There could be workshops - we recently attended a bread making workshop organised with friends that was a fantastic social as well as learning experience. Cooking, craft, gardening, writing, sewing, IT, the list goes on. Semi-informal gatherings where those with skills and experience share with those keen to learn. Costs are kept to a minimum for each workshop or where possible are free. In order to support local businesses as opposed to taking away trade, partnerships are established where for example, a local chef, knitter, IT trainer offer a taster workshop at the hub. An opportunity for the local business to advertise to an interested audience, an opportunity for someone to try something out with out financial or long-term commitment. Space could be hired out by groups including, but of course not limited to those that offer children's activities.
Key to the success and long term viability of the hub are the links it facilitates between the generations and different groups of people (in my world, the hub is for everyone, with appropriate safeguards in place. If Alcoholics Anonymous want to hire a room, great). I'm not sure if the hub has a dedicated cafe area open in the day (as much as I do love the idea of spending my days baking cakes for people and making them tea). There are a number of excellent independent cafes in our town centre. I wouldn't want the hub to become competition. However, I would want it to have kitchen facilities available for cooking workshops. I also love the idea of holding communal cooking evenings. There must be plenty of parents who find themselves thinking what do I feed the kids tonight? I'm certain there are single people and elderly people who don't want to cook for just one, again. So, we get everyone together, share the cooking, sit and eat together, wash and clear up together. Kids have playmates and new people to learn from, lonely people have company and the opportunity to be reminded what it is like to see the world through a child's eyes and tired parents get an escape and practical support for one evening from the drudgery (if that's how it feels) of feeding their ever hungry children. Bedtime stories could be read by willing volunteers and hot cocoa served - or maybe that is a bit too Enid Blyton. To take the communal eating idea one sustainable step further, we try and use ingredients from local suppliers including grocers and butchers that is on the edge of not being suitable for sale.
I think those are most of my current thoughts. What do you think? Does the hub in my head appeal to you? Want to come a real, communally created version of it? Let's make it happen.
Monday, 16 April 2012
A high that money can't buy
I've heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. The 'village'
that is helping us raise our children is both physical and on-line. How did
parents ever cope with all the 'Why?' questions without Google? Social
networking is also fantastic for arranging real- life meet-ups, particularly
last minute ones when there are bored or hyperactive children who need
playmates. Without the power of the internet to connect people it is unlikely
that we would have met the people that we now class as good friends, and form a
vital part of our 'village'. Without having met them, and grown and nurtured
friendships through a combination of online communication and doing real life
stuff together, then I don't think my life would be as full and rewarding as it
is now.
The thing that our village seems to have in common, apart from most of them being parents, is that they not only look for, but see the really good and positive things around them, and when they see an opportunity to go, learn, do something, they take it up enthusiastically. I think if everyone had friends like ours the world would be a much happier place. We come from different backgrounds, political positions and religious viewpoints, but there is an unsaid connection with regards to trying to live a more sustainable, ethically considerate life, with our amazing and beautiful children and their life experiences at the centre.
One of the most enjoyable things I have done recently involved a large number of our 'village', who between us had a very informal bread making workshop. I can't really pinpoint exactly what it was that made it so special, but I think it was an experience that money really couldn't buy and I've been carrying a happy glow inside ever since, thinking about it.
I must admit I had low expectations of the actual bread that we would produce, but thanks to an excellent recipe and two friends who had attended a proper bread making workshop and who got the whole event rolling, by offering to share what they had learnt, we all managed to produce something delicious! Perhaps part of the feeling of the day was the feeling of baking success, perhaps it was the feeling of acceptance and equality for everyone involved, reaffirmation of existing friendships, initiation of new ones, everyone united in their desire to learn and have fun. Perhaps the stress levels dropped because the children all played really nicely and there was a wonderful smell of baking bread, perhaps it was the lovely weather and view of fields, beach and sea from the window, perhaps it was the practical nature of it - really getting our hands dirty, and the physical exertion of kneading (our informal instructor said you always need to knead more than you think you need to knead - Mum, I think this is where we went wrong all those years ago when we tried to make bread on a plastic table cloth on the kitchen floor, or maybe it was because we used dried yeast instead of fresh). Perhaps it was the feeling of working as a team, some people preparing ingredients, others washing up, everybody working together. Perhaps it was the taste of homemade soup that people had brought to share, or fresh hot cross buns with melted butter that tasted so good because of the knowledge of the huge amount of effort that had gone in to making them. Perhaps it was the chance to learn something new, different from normal and something that has the potential to be used in everyday life that made it all so satisfying.
Perhaps the feelings that I enjoyed were a result of our mini- village working as a community, to produce things that can only come from a community effort. I know there are a million and one reasons why communities don't work, but our little bread making workshop has reminded me that it does take a village to raise a child, and a child is best raised with the love, help and support of the village, whether it be a physical, geographical village, or bunch of internet village people.
The thing that our village seems to have in common, apart from most of them being parents, is that they not only look for, but see the really good and positive things around them, and when they see an opportunity to go, learn, do something, they take it up enthusiastically. I think if everyone had friends like ours the world would be a much happier place. We come from different backgrounds, political positions and religious viewpoints, but there is an unsaid connection with regards to trying to live a more sustainable, ethically considerate life, with our amazing and beautiful children and their life experiences at the centre.
One of the most enjoyable things I have done recently involved a large number of our 'village', who between us had a very informal bread making workshop. I can't really pinpoint exactly what it was that made it so special, but I think it was an experience that money really couldn't buy and I've been carrying a happy glow inside ever since, thinking about it.
I must admit I had low expectations of the actual bread that we would produce, but thanks to an excellent recipe and two friends who had attended a proper bread making workshop and who got the whole event rolling, by offering to share what they had learnt, we all managed to produce something delicious! Perhaps part of the feeling of the day was the feeling of baking success, perhaps it was the feeling of acceptance and equality for everyone involved, reaffirmation of existing friendships, initiation of new ones, everyone united in their desire to learn and have fun. Perhaps the stress levels dropped because the children all played really nicely and there was a wonderful smell of baking bread, perhaps it was the lovely weather and view of fields, beach and sea from the window, perhaps it was the practical nature of it - really getting our hands dirty, and the physical exertion of kneading (our informal instructor said you always need to knead more than you think you need to knead - Mum, I think this is where we went wrong all those years ago when we tried to make bread on a plastic table cloth on the kitchen floor, or maybe it was because we used dried yeast instead of fresh). Perhaps it was the feeling of working as a team, some people preparing ingredients, others washing up, everybody working together. Perhaps it was the taste of homemade soup that people had brought to share, or fresh hot cross buns with melted butter that tasted so good because of the knowledge of the huge amount of effort that had gone in to making them. Perhaps it was the chance to learn something new, different from normal and something that has the potential to be used in everyday life that made it all so satisfying.
Perhaps the feelings that I enjoyed were a result of our mini- village working as a community, to produce things that can only come from a community effort. I know there are a million and one reasons why communities don't work, but our little bread making workshop has reminded me that it does take a village to raise a child, and a child is best raised with the love, help and support of the village, whether it be a physical, geographical village, or bunch of internet village people.
Friday, 24 February 2012
Three dimensional excitement
I'm not one for wanting to know the future particularly. I must admit to being surprised at the number of Facebook friends who have horoscopes appearing on their wall. However, there's a difference between supposedly knowing, and imagining the future. Imagining is a little luxury I allow myself probably more time than I should and one recent news report about 3D printers now available to buy for home use got me quite excited. Many years ago a former work colleague was enthusiastially telling me about 3D printers. I could see the potential but wasn't sure of the practicalities. Now they are a much closer reality, so Julian, if you happen to read this, I'm with you now. I am assuming that most people like me about 8 years ago, won't share my excitement for 3D printers, so let me explain the potential.
3D printers work by printing thin layers on top of each other to create a three dimensional shape. The domestic printers available now can print something up to the size of a loaf of bread, using melted plastic as the 'ink'. My inital thought was how good it would be to be able to 'print out' replacement parts for broken toys or missing puzzle pieces, or even print out new toys. If the plastic used could be re-used, then toys could be recycled at the end of their life rather than thrown away. A whole new industry could spring to life selling designs, rather than the objects themselves. You could simply download a design for the latest 'thing' and set your printer to work. There is also mention of software to enable you to create your own 3D designs. I'm sure many of us have had at least occasional ideas for a new gadget, and this combination of design technology and 3D printing would make is possible for us to have a go at creating our very own 'thing'. What a fabulous learning resource for kids as well.
If the materials used by the 3D printers could also easily be returned to their pre-printing state by being melted or crushed, each household could also have a recycling machine. Imagine how much clutter could be got rid of. Melt down everything you don't need, just print out what you need, when you need it.
So my ideas were focussing on fixing broken toys and other potential household objects when I read another article detailing how a 3D printer had been used to print out a new jaw bone for an elderly lady in the Netherlands. Titanium powder was heated by a laser and the bone was then printed out one layer at a time. The replacement bone was successfully attached in only 4 hours, a fifth of the time reconstructive surgery would take. The woman was able to swallow the next day and go home after 4 days. Wow. This blows my mind.
So in the future I can imagine each household having a domestic 3D printer and using it to print out things like extra cutlery for additional dinner guests, picture hooks, replacement keys and even shoes. Then there would be specialist printers that could print for example, car parts, medical equipment and larger items. To me this is an exciting and very different world to where we are now. A real and significant threat to the manufacturing and retail industry. An exciting opportunity for the creative industries. As it becomes easier and cheaper to produce so many everyday items, the possesions we have might be divided into two types - those that can be easily replaced by printing and those that can't, resulting in more value being placed on the latter.
So, if I had spare cash to invest, 3D printing is definintely where I would be investing it.
3D printers work by printing thin layers on top of each other to create a three dimensional shape. The domestic printers available now can print something up to the size of a loaf of bread, using melted plastic as the 'ink'. My inital thought was how good it would be to be able to 'print out' replacement parts for broken toys or missing puzzle pieces, or even print out new toys. If the plastic used could be re-used, then toys could be recycled at the end of their life rather than thrown away. A whole new industry could spring to life selling designs, rather than the objects themselves. You could simply download a design for the latest 'thing' and set your printer to work. There is also mention of software to enable you to create your own 3D designs. I'm sure many of us have had at least occasional ideas for a new gadget, and this combination of design technology and 3D printing would make is possible for us to have a go at creating our very own 'thing'. What a fabulous learning resource for kids as well.
If the materials used by the 3D printers could also easily be returned to their pre-printing state by being melted or crushed, each household could also have a recycling machine. Imagine how much clutter could be got rid of. Melt down everything you don't need, just print out what you need, when you need it.
So my ideas were focussing on fixing broken toys and other potential household objects when I read another article detailing how a 3D printer had been used to print out a new jaw bone for an elderly lady in the Netherlands. Titanium powder was heated by a laser and the bone was then printed out one layer at a time. The replacement bone was successfully attached in only 4 hours, a fifth of the time reconstructive surgery would take. The woman was able to swallow the next day and go home after 4 days. Wow. This blows my mind.
So in the future I can imagine each household having a domestic 3D printer and using it to print out things like extra cutlery for additional dinner guests, picture hooks, replacement keys and even shoes. Then there would be specialist printers that could print for example, car parts, medical equipment and larger items. To me this is an exciting and very different world to where we are now. A real and significant threat to the manufacturing and retail industry. An exciting opportunity for the creative industries. As it becomes easier and cheaper to produce so many everyday items, the possesions we have might be divided into two types - those that can be easily replaced by printing and those that can't, resulting in more value being placed on the latter.
So, if I had spare cash to invest, 3D printing is definintely where I would be investing it.
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