A New Year, A New Start?

I've missed blogging this year. For one reason or another, it was the thing that I let go in 2014. Along with it went my feeling of being a creative person, of being a person who writes, who can connect with others and who makes things that are beautiful and useful. Not blogging has almost been a way to hide the struggles of the year from myself by not giving them words or space. As I reflect back on the year that has been, I want to make the next year different in so many ways. I want time, time to be, time to make, time to create and write and spend quietly, without so much noise in my head in the background. I want space, space outside of work, space to move and grow and change.


How will I get there? What specific goals do I want to reach? I'm not sure yet, but I hope that you'll pull up a chair and listen along the way. I hope that one of the goals that I reach this year will be to spend more time in this space to inspire and motivate myself this coming year.

What are your hopes and dreams for the year ahead?

Wish you Were Here

Source: tumblr.com via Gillian on Pinterest

You know how all of a sudden, you can catch yourself singing along to a song in your head unconsciously, the soundtrack of our lives...and you're sitting there wondering what thought process caused a certain song to pop into your head. How can one particular line in a song capture our attention and embody all that we wanted to say and couldn't? Pink Floyd's I Wish you Were Here has been on a loop in my head tonight. Do I just miss those I've lost and left behind? Am I just stuck running over the same fears, no matter now much ground I cover? Am I just feeling a bit maudlin, at home along on a rainy night? At any rate, I wish you were here.


Source: jeriella.tumblr.com via Gillian on Pinterest

Source: jackiehj.deviantart.com via Gillian on Pinterest

♥ Craftzilla

Memories, and Moving On

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You know the thing about holidays that seem to have lots of chocolate around in stores, like Easter? I will buy lots and I will eat it, and likely be sick of chocolate before the holiday even gets here.

However, hopefully I'll work it all off this weekend since I'm going home to help my parents sort through my grandma's house before the new owners move in.

Wow, that's even sad to write :(

Grandma is still hanging in there and actually moved out of palliative care about a month ago. She moved into one of those assisted living kind of places, which are high on independence, still have 24 hour care, but are super costly. So unfortunately, her house had to be sold. Luckily it sold in record time, and over the asking price, so she will be comfortable and cared for.

But it's that same sense of impending loss that came over me when my parents sold my childhood home. All those memories, from the years our family lived in the house next to my grandmas will be gone, in a way, because the spaces will be filled up with all the memories and laughter and tears of other people. Other families will eat dinner together, and other kids will build snowmen in the front yard and draw on the sidewalks with chalk until their grandma gets upset at their mom for letting us draw there (what else are you supposed to do with chalk, really?)

You know how it is - another touchstone of your life isn't there where you left it anymore, and things have aged and fallen apart quicker than you could have guessed they would. And it's hard to take in, hard to participate in their destruction, but sometimes it's the only option.

The reality is that I'll probably never live in Peterborough again, my sister has her own house, and my grandma can't live on her own there anymore. Tenants are more of a hassle than it's worth for my parents, and hopefully the people who bought the place will make it a home and enjoy living there.

For me, I've got a spot set out in my dream apartment (or really, the next place we move) for one of the pieces of furniture that my grandfather made, to remember the times we spent there at this house before it was done. I chose the table and chairs - good, strong chairs, that look nice but are really hard to sit on, especially when you're occupied in a long lasting game of Monopoly or a Sunday dinner with a dessert to linger over. I want to be in that  new apartment that has space for this memory of how my Grandma's house used to look and the time I spent there, because I'm sure by the time I get there tomorrow, most of it will already be boxed up and packed away. And not to accidentally quote Dawson's Creek or anything, but I don't want to wait for my memories to be over/ fade before I can sit down on these super hard chairs in my own place, and remember.

Not to be a total downer, there should be at least some fun this weekend - my sister is dragging me and another friend of ours to see her husband's band play tomorrow night, so hopefully I can stay awake past 10pm and have a big girl drink or two. I also haven't visited Grandma at her new digs, so looking forward to that  and hoping she's up to it, as she had a bit of a fall the other day.

At any rate, I should stop eating chocolate and go pack for my trip now.

Happy Easter friends! Hope you are spending it with as many loved ones as you can :)

♥ Craftzilla

Back to School and Saying Goodbye to Summer

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Today is my first day of my field placement for my degree, as well as my first day of class. I'll be doing my placement 2 days a week, working 3 days a week at my job, as well as taking a night class and an online class for my placement, so I'm expecting a lot of long days and busy weeks to come, especially since I'll be back to commuting out of town two days a week again. I have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks trying to get our apartment fully organized, and working out some schedules for meals and chores, since Zen will also be attending university at the same school as me, and will be doing his own commuting and classes. so both of us will be crazy busy in the months to come.

So overall, I'm trying not to freak out, trying to schedule in some time to do all the things I have to do, as well as some more downtime than I managed last school year, as I was definitely starting to crack a little bit under the pressure of everything going on. However, I guess I just have to focus on the positive bits: I have a steady job now, so there's less worry about finances as long as I keep to a budget and plan ahead well for things like meals, I'll have enough to pay for my courses and get through this placement, and come out on the other side with some more knowledge in my head and more experience under my belt, that can lead to eventually working in another field.

I am also trying to be more organized about blogging, so I don't neglect you lovely friends as much as I did last year, and ensure that I keep my aura of craftiness and sanity intact throughout school. I already have some posts and photos taken for some posts for next week, and have set up a new blogging notebook to keep track of my ideas, posts and to do lists. I'm also still really pleased with my blogging update, and have a rough schedule in my head of how many times a week I can reasonably post given my workload and other things going on. I also made the decision to stop sponsorship other by swapping/displaying ads from a few of my bloggy firends, as I honestly lack the time to dedicate to sponsorship, and it's not always the part of this blog that I love the most. I do want to incorporate a few interviews and shout outs to bloggers and shops I enjoy though, so I'm putting on my thinking cap of how to do that in a way that works well for me and is an interesting read.

Overall though, I'm sad to see the end of summer, which has been filled with lots of time to putter, to hang out with the boy and the pup, to meet up with friends randomly and go on adventures that end in ice cream and walks by the river and meals and laughter and good times. I'm worried a bit that things will be as lonely and over-filled as they were last year, and that all of this work and effort will begin to seem not worth it again. However, I guess all I can do is really focus on the positives of the summer, stay organized and on top of things, hope for the best and trust that this year is a new year with no mistakes in it yet. (Case in point of super nerdery: I think I just quoted a line from the Anne of Green Gables series  in that last bit which has been one of my re-reads over the summer) I also need to hope that I can manage a bit more in the way of balance this year in order to stay happy and focused and getting things done.

Any tips for keeping life balanced in the middle of work, school and life? I'd love to hear them!

♥ Craftzilla

Letting Go of Expectations

Source: facebook.com via Nichole on Pinterest

It's hard to admit sometimes, but we all have bad habits, and I'm no exception. I have been trying to address some of them, but it's easy to slip back into those habits again and feel like a failure and even a bad person because of it. And some of them, like the crazy mess going on in my apartment right now,  I can write off as being due to the craziness of school or on starting a new job or blame it on my partner's messiness or the smallness of the apartment.

I can blame things like my mood, and being cranky to others on the same sort of things, but ultimately, blame doesn't accomplish anything and doesn't make me any happier. 

Many of these bad habits and things I want to change were even important enough to make it onto my 30 before 30 list, because I really did want this year to be one where I changed things, like getting enough sleep, having regular time for crafting, having a tidy and organized living space, stepping away from TV in favour of other activities and limiting the frequency of me taking out my temper and tiredness on the boy and the pup.

It's not that I haven't been trying, but the stresses of the past year made everything sort of fold into itself for me. There was only school work to do, and bills to figure out how to pay, and constant stress and not being sure if anything in my life was making me happy and having little time to connect with anyone, including Zen, as we were both caught up in school and just trying to get by.

But let's face it, I'm not perfect, and I'll never be able to accomplish everything I want to 100 percent of the time, and being unhappy that I haven't isn't helping anyone, especially myself.  My apartment will never be totally clean all the time, and sometimes I'll be cranky or overtired and the dog is probably going to pull while we're walking, and  I probably won't accomplish everything I set out to do on my 30 before 30 list before I actually turn 30. Perhaps some of that is that I set my expectations too high, and perhaps some of it is due to looking at things from too big of a picture. Or perhaps as the quote above points out, my expectations are just too high and unrealistic and need a bit of an adjustment.

So I will adjust.

I will do what I can.
I will let it go.
I will prioritize.
I will make room for what's important.
I will let things happen and not try to force them to my own timeline.
I will share what's on my mind.
I will take pride in what I have accomplished.
I will eliminate what's not necessary for my happiness.
I will take pleasure in the little things.
I will breathe.

♥ Craftzilla

                                 

Tax Day : Drowning under Paperwork

I actually didn't realize today is Tax Day in the US when I decided to try to get all my tax stuff finally together today, since Canada's deadline isn't until the end of April, but boy howdy, am I still ever wishing that I got all of this done a lot sooner. I'm also wishing that Canada celebrated more boring things like doing your taxes with drinking and deals on tasty comfort foods as seems to be the case in the US, if my Twitter feed and tons of posts on Facebook and the internets are any indication. Clearly the US is definitely more enlightened in some respects.

Here's a hilarious stock photo that captures how I could look if I did my taxes in my underwear and a men's dress shirt, and owned such a gigantic calculator:

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At any rate, I have no tasty snacks, and am trying to gather up all the stuff I need for taxes for regular stuff, school stuff, and operating my Etsy store for it's first 6 months in 2011, and all I have is a headache and the need for more coffee, but here's hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel and a nice refund in my hand sometime soon! Additionally, I definitely need to think up a better strategy for keeping everything organized for next year, because my current system is just not working.

Any tax tips for me, lovely readers? Especially those of you who run your own crafty businesses?

♥ Craftzilla

Blog Positivity Week and World Social Worker's Day

The administrator of my social work program sent this on to all the students to wish us a happy World Social Worker's Day, which is followed by the United Nations Social Work Day on March 26th. This day is being used to mark the release of the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development: Committments to Action, that outline the areas that the social work community is going to focus on for the next four years. The Global Agenda document is pretty interesting, and prioritizes these goals from 2012-2016:

- Promoting social and economic equalities
- Promoting the dignity and worth of peoples
- Working toward environmental sustainability
- Strengthening recognition of the importance of human relationships

So what does this have to do with Blog Positivity Week you ask?

Relationships - When I think about these four goals, I couldn't help but thinking of blogging, and the ways that it is in line with promoting these goals in my own life.  I feel that blogging for me is a large way that I make connections with people, and strengthen and build true and lasting human relationships in my life that are positive and have the scope for change, equality and movement towards reaching my own goals.

Business - Now, a lot of the bloggers that I connect with are other women, many of whom are running their own crafty businesses, who are trying to get ahead in their businesses, and make a living for themselves that is not necessarily dependent on having an office job where they work regular hours. Part of blogging and being a part of this community is supporting others in their business ventures, and helping to carve out a niche for economic stability in these kinds of businesses.

Sustainability- Sustainable business, reusing old materials, thrifting and connecting across borders without travelling? Bloggers, we definitely have sustainability and crating a better world for ourselves and sharing how we're doing so with others around us in mind.

Dignity and Worth - Overall, blogging for me has been a way to find my own dignity and worth again after going through a lot of tough times that really left me questioning the why of everything and wondering how I was going to find the strength to keep living through the grind of day to day life. I haven't even been blogging seriously for a year yet, and already it has allowed me to share my craftiness, my photography and my unique perspective on the world.

I'm closer today than I was to finding a true sense of myself and what I need to do to be happy, and I can't thank all of you enough for coming along for the ride and reading my blog, leaving a comment, or being open enough to share your secrets and fears and happiness on your own blogs.

So thank you so much for living, loving, sharing with me, and coming along for my journey as well!

♥ Craftzilla 

For more blog positivity posts, head on over to After Nine to Five's blog.

Secrets Week - I Couldn't Make it on my Own

This week, I'm linking up with Ashley from After Nine to Five for Secrets Week, to share some of our secrets, get some hard stuff out in the open and get to know each other a bit better.

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I've alluded on here to having issues with jobs and keeping them during school, but I haven't quite come out and told you all exactly how hard things have been, because I'm struggling with even thinking it to myself some days, and I haven't really even told a lot of the people I see day to day.

Basically, everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Lost jobs, work for contract positions put on hold, not qualifying for unemployment insurance, not qualifying for Student Loans this semester for school since I'm now in a part time program and made too much money when I was working last year.

So things got hard. There wasn't money for the necessities, there wasn't money for anything fun, and eventually there wasn't money for bills, and new jobs have not yet been forthcoming.

I grew up in a house where we never had a lot of money and were always thrifty, but we had a roof over our heads thanks to my grandma, and usually had enough to get by and be pretty comfortable.

But this was different.

So even though I didn't really want to, I didn't have a lot of choices left, aside from buying a bunch of scratch tickets and hoping to win it big in the lotto.

So I ended up applying for social assistance.

Now, I'm in a social work program currently--I know as well as anyone and better than most that stigmas against using social assistance programs are largely ideology, and created to deter people from using these kinds of programs. Society as a whole looks down on those who use social assistance for any reason, and I guess I've internalized a bit of that feeling, that using these resources, even when you're desperate, is a bad thing. And there are problems with these kinds of programs - in terms of what it takes to get them, the amounts of money that are deemed enough to live on, and how these are always the first programs to be cut when the government is "trimming the fat", but I'll save those rants for a paper for school.

I know too, that I'm in a better situation than most-I'm university educated, I have professional job experience, and a few months has been the most that I've really ever been out of work in my whole working life, because I usually end up finding something fairly quickly once I start looking for a new job.

But I'll admit--this has been a hard couple of months. Stress has been high, money has been tight, and I considered just giving up on school, my dreams and pretty much everything because there have been a lot of terrible moments that have not made for a lot of happy times or hope for the future. This is partly why I've been quieter on the blog too, because I just wasn't ready to share my troubles, and it was hard to be motivated to put on a happy face or get excited about taking photos or crafting.

So although it's been a bit of a new and weird experience for me to have to fork over all my costs and bills and keep track of my job searching and other tasks in order to keep qualifying for social assistance, overall, I think it's just given me the buffer zone for a month or two in order to focus on job searching and doing what work I can for my current job contracts, without feeling that great sense of despair that I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent or buy groceries in the coming weeks.

Things are still tough, but I think I'll come out the other end of this with an even greater appreciation for the value of working, ingenuity and keeping things together in the midst of a stressful situation. Although, after I'm done learning all my lessons , I am definitely looking forward to a bit more comfortable time ahead financially, with a nice steady job and the ability to finish up my degree.

Happy International Women's Day: Beyond the Stats

When I thought about all that I wanted to say about International Women's Day and why it's an important date to recognize, I was a bit lost on how to sum up everything that I wanted to say about how great it is to be a lady, the specific challenges and barriers faced and how we can move forward to make things better.  I ended up heading to the resources page of the IWD, and found this video that sums up everything I want to say as well as my thoughts on how we can start to truly love ourselves, feel fulfilled in our lives and inspire the next generation of girls to be leaders where we have been scared or held back.

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So sure, there's statistics about how women are still not equal in terms of education, employment, leadership position, wages and health, but to most people, statistics are a detached thing that exist, but which don't have a lot of obvious impact on their day to day lives, nor are there obvious ways that one person can change things for the better.  I came across the video below on the IWD site, which is a promotional video for the documentary Miss Representation, a documentary about all of these kinds of issues with some specific suggestions about what one person or a group of people can do themselves in order to make their lives better and more meaningful, as well as how to improve things for other women and girls and your community as a whole.

The suggestions to rise above the stats suggested in the video really spoke to me, although they almost seem like they should be obvious. In order to highlight them and remind myself of what I'd like to do to make myself happier and healthier in mind and body, I've reproduced them below.

1) Get Healthy

• Be Conscious of Your Media Consumption, online and off
• Take a Media Break
• Focus on Achievement over Appearance

2) Value Yourself

• Find out What makes you happy
• Appreciate your Uniqueness
• Celebrate your accomplishments

3) Be a Role Model

• Personify the characteristics you hope to see in the world around you
• Be a mentor to others 

4) Get Involved 

• Volunteer in Your Community 
•  Boycott Harmful Media
• Use Your Voice to Create change, Online and Off 

5) Be A Leader

• Don't be Afraid to Step into Leadership Roles 
• Encourage and Invest in the Leadership of Women
• Remember that you are the Lead Character of the Story of your Life 

Tonight I'll be celebrating International Women's day with my favourite group of ladies as we knit, chat, create and support each other at our local yarn store and hopefully talking a bit about International Women's Day and how we will go forward in the next year to make ourselves healthier, happier and more successful in our own right.

♥ Craftzilla 

Overwhelming Week

Source: sayingimages.tumblr.com via Gillian on Pinterest

I am feeling exactly like this lately. The need for more employment, a cleaning everything out project that has gotten out of hand (there is stuff in the middle of being organized everywhere) and trying to get everything done for school, the Etsy shop and every other thing going on right now is making me pretty darn tired and overwhelmed. Thank goodness next week is Reading Week! Although we may not get too much time to actually relax, as we are actually going on a little trip to Niagara Falls, courtesy of an awesome gift voucher that my parents gave us for Christmas! But I just wanted to pop in and let you all know I'm still around, just might be a little quieter in the next little while. So I'm get ready for Brownies tonight, but if you need a pick me up, there is always Whitney, which I've been listening to in order to prepare for a possible Skype karaoke memorial Whitney session sometime soon with a friend or two.



Enjoy the rest of your Monday!

♥ Craftzilla

Making a Living and Resolutions for the Coming Year

Source: favim.com via TML on Pinterest

These words are ringing true to me this week. The whole point of me going back to school was to be able to work in a field that I'm interested in (social work) but the reality of student life at this point in my life is largely that I am having to work every day at other kinds of jobs that aren't necessarily what I want to do. And that these jobs are by their nature temporary, have variable and weird hours and are just generally unstable or short-term. I had a seasonal contract that I thought would be extended which wasn't,  and I've been a bit down over the last few days when I try and think about how exactly I can find another job really quickly, and how I'm going to make ends meet in the meantime. I have another part-time job for January and a bit of February at least, but I'm not sure that it will really be enough.  Throw in a few conflicts with people in my life, and some post-holiday blues and I'm altogether an unhappy camper of late, and I'm looking to the  new year to bring with it some new opportunities in life,  jobs, and in my relationships with friends and other people in my life.

So in thinking of this, the usual thoughts of New Year's resolutions come to mind. I think largely I'm going to focus on finishing as many of my 30 before 30 goals as I can, as well as to focus on a theme for the year which encompasses all the individual things which I would resolute, which for me will be Balance.

Source: peacelovejoynlife.tumblr.com via Isla on Pinterest

I have had such trouble this past year in balancing work and play, yoga, puppy walks, studies and work and crafty endeavours lately, as well as my moods, that I think that a focus on balance will be really helpful for me in the coming year. I'm sure I'll have to think a bit more on the specifics of how I'll bring more balance to my day to day life and what things will need to change in order to accommodate more balance in my life, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Have you made any resolutions for this coming year?

♥ Craftzilla 

Ten Commandments for Positive Thinking

I just found this list of "Ten Commandments for Positive Thinking" amongst Zen's papers for college, and thought it was pretty interesting, so I copied out the list and fancied it up a little.



I know I'm guilty of at least a few of these things, and I also know I'd like to train my brain to think a little more positively. I often find myself giving up on things or ideas  in my head, just because I know I lack the time at the moment, rather than just doing what work I can on an awesome idea when I have a bit of free time.

Do any of these ten commandments really speak to you?

♥ Craftzilla

Give Thanks: Accentuate the Positive

Source: crafts.slides.kaboose.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Given the busy and the stress of everything lately, I've been having trouble giving thanks.

I've been having trouble getting through the days without wishing they were already over, and that everyone would go away and allow me to be a hermit by myself and stop making demands on my time.

I've been having trouble not dwelling on all the things I can't do right now, due to lack of money, lack of time and not being at the right place in my life, right this minute.

So I think today's linkup party is the perfect time for me to spin all these thoughts around and accentuate the positive. ( have you ever heard this song? I have it totally stuck in my head now!)

So here it is, my laundry list of things I'm thankful for right at this moment:

I'm thankful.....

....that  I made the decision to go back to school, and to leave my job at the end of August to be able to finish my prerequisite courses in time to start my program in January. I'm feeling crazy at the moment, but things will get better, and I'll be doing something I really want to do, and I'm still managing to get really good marks:)

...that I have such a great boyfriend and puppy to come home to at the end of each day. And that somehow we still all like each other

...that I'm managing to make ends meet so far this semester, and that I haven't had to borrow any more money to do it

...that my parents lent me that tuition for school

..that I'm still finding a bit of time for crafting, and that some people are starting to come to my Etsy shop. It's fun to make things for people --and better still to get paid to craft!

... that I have such great friends here ( I was a bit worried when I moved here!) and that I've made so many others through blogging and Twitter

....for my 20% discount at work...yay for more craft supplies for your buck!

...and most of all for my little spaces on the internet, in particular my little blog, for being a place to go to when I'm happy and inspired and for a bit of a helping hand when I'm feeling down

Remembrance Day: Lest we forget

Guelph is pretty serious about Remembrance Day, since John McCrae, who wrote the poem in Flanders Fields, was from Guelph. Schools are named after him, his birthplace. McCrae House is now a museum, and the war memorial pays homage to his poem.

The war memorial is even kept vigil over the night before Remembrance Day which I haven't seen anywhere other than here. I snapped a sneaky photo last night while out on my dog walk, since it's something you don't see everyday.



There are some army vehicles out in the downtown as well, which you also don't see everyday



And firefighters hang a Canadian flag over the street





I walked out the the ceremony this morning as well. There's something about singing O Canada in a crowd and hearing bagpipes that make it easier to remember.







If you haven't, remember to take that moment of silence, and remember.



♥ Craftzilla

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day

Did any of you ever read this book when you were a kid? I always think of it whenever I'm having the worst day ever and nothing is going right for me.

Today and this week has been one of those days so far--I've been having issues getting my student loans released, lots of work for school, I lost my glasses, I haven't been getting enough sleep and fights have been happening a lot with everyone around me.  I'm just having a coffee right now, waiting for a bus to take me back to Guelph and then to work, and counting the hours until I can go home, hug my puppy and hide under the covers for awhile, as well as do my favourite stress busting things:

1) Bath - nothing like a hot soak in some bubbles with a book to set things to rights

Source: google.com via Jay on Pinterest

2) Tea and cookies and lots of both!

Source: citified.blogspot.com via Barbara on Pinterest

3) Puppy Cuddles



How do you recover from terrible, horrible no good very bad days? I'd love some feedback!

♥ Craftzillas

Farewell Mr Sniffles 2003-2011

We just got the news that Zen's bunny Mr Sniffles, passed away :( Mr Sniffles went to live with one of the ladies who is a Brownie leader with me when he moved in with me last year, since dogs plus bunnies don't mix well in a small apartment, and they keep tons of bunnies and even have a bunny run!

Here are some pictures that she sent me of Mr. Sniffles when he first went to live with them, exploring his new habitat.





Mr Sniffles had a bit of a hard life--he and his lady bunny, Bunnamaroo, were abandonned in a room at Zen's old house by some terrible tenants, and he luckily found them and cared for them. Mr Sniffles had at least one litter of baby buns with his lady love, and they were very happy until she passed away due to crazy roommates of Zen's letting a dog into their room.













Farewell sweet bunny friend,  you will be missed! I'm glad that your last year was full of fun outside with other bunny friends!

♥ Craftzilla

Blog Action Day- Poverty and the Importance of Food

I'm participating in Blog Action Day this year, a day where bloggers get together to talk about a specific topic. This year, the topic is food, as today is also World Food Day. 

Since I've been in this Social Work program, I've had to think a lot of poverty and food and the impacts of this on every day life and how people deal with the lack of money to buy good food, and it's an issue that keeps coming up in discussions of poverty and community action that needs to take place. I even wrote a paper last year for a community development course that used a community development model to highlight areas where poverty persisted in my community and how to resolve them. In my reasoning, the issue of food banks and access to good food is one that keeps coming to the top of my mind, as food bank usage continues to rise, even though the economy is apparently pulling out of it's slump.

There are a few local organizations that we discussed in a class whose focus is on food and the need to increase the amount of money that people on social assistance are given to go towards necessities such as food. Challenges such as the "Food Budget Challenge" and Do the Math Challenges which challenges participants to live on $20 a week, the average amount that many people on social assistance have to spend on food. Personally, I don't even know how this is possible and think that the suggestion of immediately increasing the amount of money that people on social assistance get for food by $100 may provide some temporary relief for those on social assistance, but the solution to the problem entirely is not forthcoming. More and more people, people who have jobs even, and by token of our economic system should thus be earning enough to feed themselves are using food banks, are falling on hard times and poverty due to the fluctuations and whim of the economy, and a solution does not really present itself readily that works within this current system that we live in that actually leads to radical change. This site also highlights the difficulty of choices when you have limited resources, and how easily you can lose everything based on making the "wrong' choice of paying bills or buying food or medicine. It's actually  bit like a realistic online game of the Game of Life.  


I guess I also have a few of the tenets of the Occupy Wall Street movement on my mind, especially since the movement's protests here in Guelph are just up the street from my apartment (I can hear the drums of some of the protesters even). A handful of Occupy Guelph protesters are out camping in tents in the downtown square, to protest the way that profit and the bottom line currently prevails over the needs and realities of real people. 





Their chosen slogan "Life over Profit" is pretty much in line with my thoughts on how food and the real life needs of people has ceased to be the bottom line for governments, especially when it comes to making needed changes to social programs and making them quickly and comprehensively enough so that people are helped when they need help. 


At any rate, I think we need to think a bit more about what's important, and how to make sure that everyone gets the necessities that they need, especially the greatest necessity of all, food. 


♥ Craftzilla 

http://blogactionday.org