Mental Post-Its

Thoughts, Notes, and General Mental Mayhem


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Purchase With Purpose

You may be surprised to learn that I’ve done more this year than be sick, but it’s true. 😉

Over the past few months, a few Not For Sale Georgia friends and I have been working on an ethical buying guide called Purchase With Purpose. It’s definitely been a labor of love—a three-month labor that felt like the full nine! It started earlier this year when I learned more about the problem with child labor in the chocolate industry. I then wanted to make sure I was purchasing chocolate that was free of slave labor. From there, I wanted to expand into other areas of my life. I felt convicted to make sure that as many of my buying choices as possible reflect my values and concern for modern-day slavery. This trek wasn’t new to me as I had previously worked in the environmental sector, and had already made “green” a priority. Luckily for me, these worlds overlap in many ways.

But then I began to think about my friends and family. I wanted to help them make better choices. Even though this cause wasn’t theirs, I know many people who would do good by making safe buying choices; they just needed to be educated to do so. Think about it for a moment. If there were two pair of jeans, about the same price, style and quality, but one had a safe supply chain one was questionable, which would you buy? Many people I know would by the ones from a company who was doing good things. It’s the reason we all own TOMS shoes. You buy them not just because their cute, but a child in need receives a pair of shoes. Easy decision. I own four pairs!

I then approached my Not For Sale state directors about the idea. What if we created a buying guide that gave people a list of companies with safe supply chains? (A safe supply chain simply means that the items you buy were made without slave labor. From the raw materials to the finished product, all workers were treated fairly, paid a livable wage, and not forced or coerced to perform their job. Sadly, with over 30 million slaves around the world living today, you may find yourself surprised to know the reality of how your chocolate, clothes, soap, lamps, toys, electronics and anything in-between came to be.) And to build on that idea, what if we focused our fall quarterly meeting around the idea of buying ethically for the holidays?

They were both on board, and the project was given the green light. I’d seen some other buying guides, so this wasn’t a revolutionary idea. However, I wanted to help create one that 1) didn’t focus a lot on niche brands which most people didn’t know and didn’t have much access to, and 2) included local businesses. I wanted to make it approachable for the everyday consumer. And I wanted to reward and recognize local businesses who were going good.

A few others jumped in to help, and we began in late August. It’s been a wild and crazy couple of months. We unofficially debuted the guide at Not For Sale’s annual conference, the Global Forum, a few weeks ago. This was particularly exciting because the NFS main office became interested in what we were doing, and also very supportive. In fact, Emily, my partner on the project, and I were asked to speak at the event on our guide and how consumers can become more engaged in the issue. Our little audience responded well to what we had to say, and many gave us their email addresses to receive a final copy of the guide! That was definitely a highlight for me, as it was exciting to share all this research we’d been doing. And I wanted people to understand that, in reality, this wasn’t that hard. Since then, we’ve been invited into Not For Sale’s conversations on supply chains.  They have an excellent resource called Free2Work that I recommend if you want to learn more about forced labor and safe supply chains. They are able to do much more extensive research than us, and always adding to their list of reviewed companies. Additionally, F2W just released a report this week on ratings in the apparel industry. It’s good stuff. We are really thrilled to be a part of this conversation with them.

However, tonight was our big night! This is the night we’ve been counting down to. We officially debuted the Purchase With Purpose guide tonight at our NFS GA quarterly meeting! It seemed to be a big hit, and if it helps people buy better, then it’s done it’s job. All I wanted in the beginning was a tool to help the people I know buy better. I wanted my dollars to make sense. And I am proud to say I’ve done that.

Along with the guide announcement, Emily conducted a panel featuring speakers from several ethical companies: Foojee, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Co., Noonday Collection, Socialvest, Ten Thousand Villages and The Learning Tea. These folks were great! They educated and inspired the audience, and I truly believe they helped change some buying habits tonight. It was fantastic company to be in.

I’ve gotta say, I am still kind of amazed at how much this project has grown. I was hoping for the guide to 100 companies—we ended up with 250+ local, regional, national and international brands. And we still have plans to expand it. There are talks about making it an e-book or a website. Someone at the Global Forum even asked us if we were going to start writing or petitioning legislation on the matter! At this point, though, who knows. I just want it to be a resource for people like me, people who want to do good in the world. I think there are a lot of us out there. In fact, I think it’s the future of business. If you look closely, you are seeing it all around. As I saw with the eco-friendly movement, I believe supply chains are the next big issue in retail. More and more people care about what corporations do with their dollars. They want to support companies who have heart. They want to be a part of something that matters. And if they can do that by buying better toothpaste, then why not?

Start small. Start somewhere. Start today. Purchase with purpose.

 

To grab your own FREE copy of the guide, visit http://bit.ly/purchasewithpurpose. You can view and download it from there.

And if you’d like to connect with Not For Sale Georgia, text “NFSGA” to 50500.


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You’re Invited! (Not For Sale GA Quarterly Meeting)

Not For Sale Georgia Quarterly Meeting

Thursday, November 15, 2012

7-9 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)

M. Rich Building in Downtown Atlanta (Parking will be validated for the adjacent garage only.)

Please RSVP

 

You may think you only vote during election season, but that’s not true. You vote every day with the choices you make, including the products you buy. You have significant purchasing power, and what you do with your dollars tells companies a lot about what is important to you.

Join us at our next Not For Sale Georgia quarterly meeting as we focus on ethical shopping just in time for the holidays. Ethical shopping is done through a safe supply chain, which simply means that the items you buy were made without slave labor. From the raw materials to the finished product, all workers were treated fairly, paid a livable wage, and not forced or coerced to perform their job. Sadly, with over 30 million slaves around the world living today, you may find yourself surprised to know the reality of how your chocolate, clothes, soap, lamps, toys, electronics and anything in-between came to be.

Hear first-hand from companies who strive for a safe supply chain, and learn easy steps that you can take to purchase with purpose. We’ll also debut our Ethical Buying Guide featuring 250+ local, regional and national brands. And we’ll recap member’s of our core team’s experience to the Global Forum.

Driving Directions

Enter 115 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 into your GPS or Google maps.

Follow directions to the address. You will need to park in the adjacent Underground Atlanta Parking deck. This deck is at the corner of Pryor Street and MLK Jr Dr. Be sure to note where Pryor Street is relation to your directions. Enter into the deck from MLK and park. Exit the parking deck onto MLK and go to your right. The building will be at your right, we will have a sign outside the door. We will have parking validation for this deck only available for all event attendees.

MARTA Directions

Alternatively you may use MART. Get off at the Five Points Station, and take Peachtree Road South to MLK Jr. Drive. Turn left and walk down to 115 MLK (building will be to your left).

About Not For Sale

Not For Sale is a campaign of students, artists, entrepreneurs, people of faith, athletes, law enforcement officers, politicians, skilled professionals, and all justice-seekers united to fight the global slave trade and end human trafficking.
The campaign aims to recruit, educate, and mobilize an international grassroots social movement that effectively combats human trafficking and modern-day slavery through “Smart Activism.” It deploys innovative solutions for every individual to re-abolish slavery–in their own backyards and across the globe.


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Political (Insane) Asylum

At least once every four years, I wish I could seek asylum somewhere else. I wish I could skip campaign season and vote from afar.

I really can’t stand politics. So much fighting, slander and backbiting–from all sides. Tell me what you believe, not how bad the other guy is! I’ve seen some really nice people (both Christian and non) say some pretty horrible things when it’s under the guise of a political opinion, as if that makes it ok. Many people simply change when they start talking politics and, frankly, it scares me. So I tend to stay away. I have only a few people that I’ll discuss politics with because they can be calm and objective. Those last two adjectives are key, and rare. Half of those conversations are just me pumping my friend, Raechel, for information because she’s in law school and a walking political dictionary.

My friend, Daron, has always said of me that I don’t “play the game” and what he means by that is politics. I’ve never liked politics when it comes to relationships or the workplace or church. I frankly don’t see the point. So I simply don’t participate. I try to be me wherever I am, go figure. That’s hard enough, so anything else just seems like too much work.

Don’t read the above and hear me say not to vote, or participate in the process or do research. I think you should do all of those things. I think they are important because they move society forward. I’m simply saying I don’t like it. But in reality, I don’t have to. It’s not my system, just one I’m a part of. And I am extremely thankful for those who fought for the right for me to do so, therefore I don’t want to take it for granted. I’m not taking it for granted, but I’m not hugging it either. Kinda like when you say you don’t like someone but you love them because Jesus does. 😉

As with many aspects of my life, I just don’t feel I fit into politics. I don’t consider myself a Republican or a Democrat (or an Independent, though I am quite independent). I don’t think that if you’re conservative, you must be a Republican. I don’t think if you’re an environmentalist, you must be a Democrat. I personally feel we are all a little too complicated to fit into on column on a ballot. I try to find who most lines up with my beliefs, thoughts and opinions, and I go from there. (Side bar: if you are unsure who to vote for but want to take those ideas into account, check out www.ISideWith.com. I totally wish they had local and state on here, too.)

With the election season coming up, I ask you to remember only two things before and after November 6.

1. If you are a Christian, please choose what kind of Christian you will be. Will you be the kind of Christian who only checks the box, and then says and does whatever they want regardless? Or will you be the kind of Christian Christ asks us to be? I think all the Christians I know would say the latter. If that’s the case, please remember you are called to pray for your elected officials and obey them. Sure, you can be disappointed that your guy/gal lost if that’s the case, but that doesn’t give you free license to bash and forward hateful emails about the winner. Unity is not uniformity. You can disagree with the person, but you are still called to pray for them and obey them. Make the best of the situation and quit giving the rest of us who are trying a bad name. If more people prayed for their leaders, who knows what would happen? Your leader may just surprise you. And if not, hey, you get the chance to vote him/her out later. But the point is, be the Christian described in the Bible. The other person is not the devil incarnate (most likely).

2. Christian or not, I’ll share with you a little story from Rob Lowe’s autobiography. Fascinating, by the way. There are a lot of jaw-dropping stories in his book, but one of the things I loved most was when Rob described his visits to the White House. The cast of The West Wing was invited several times to visit the White House over it’s AMAZING seven seasons. He says that he visited under two different administrations, a Republican and a Democratic. And he said that he was struck by the fact that, when it all came down to it, these were guys who were fathers and just doing what they thought was right. It didn’t mean he liked everything they did. But he truly believed that these men were handling a very hard job the best they could, and were simply acting according to what they thought was the right thing to do. I loved that. So simple, yet so profound. We have terms like armchair quarterback (yes, I do know a few sports terms) and backseat driver, but I probably hear more commentary about what people think they’d do as President than anything else. Ignorance, in my opinion. I mean, come on, this is the most powerful person IN THE WORLD. You know what most of us would do in that position? We’d be in the fetal under the desk in the Oval Office praying for our four years to pass. It’s hard work. That’s why hardly anyone runs. When push comes to shove, 99.9% of us don’t want that job–nor should we have it. So, let’s cut these people some slack. You don’t have to agree. You’re entitled to your opinion. I’m not taking that from you. But let’s be careful how we act on that opposition. These are just people who made it to a big-time public decision-making level who, in their heart, are just trying to do the right thing.

If your guy/gal loses, the world will not end on November 6. And if your guy/gal wins, it’s not a time to gloat. Remember, we still have like a whole month after that according to the Myans, so let’s make it good. In all seriousness, though, be a good citizen. We all live here.

Do you research. Participate in the process. Vote.

Just remember to give some grace. Plenty has been given to you.


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Biofeedback: Better Than Medicine

This post was updated on September 14, 2013. For the updated post, please click here.

____________________________________

I wanted to let you all in on a secret that should be shared with the world: biofeedback. I went to have this done for the second time in my life this past Friday. The first time I did it was about a year and a half ago to fix my gluten sensitivity (it worked, by the way). This time I went because of all my health issues the past few months. (Five+ months of mono, kidney infection and gallbladder removal. It’s been a rough six months.)

Anyway, I would love for those of you who have any kind of health issues (or simply are interested) to consider going. I plan to start going every year like a physical. After reading, you’ll probably think it sounds like magic, or too good to be true, but of course, I’ve seen it work on myself–twice. Here’s the link to the page of the place I go: www.atlantamedicalinstitute.com/Stress-Reduction/biofeedback.html with their contact info.

(If you don’t live here, you can find biofeedback all over the country but they may each work a little differently.)

Here are some of the things I’ve already asked about with a few of you guys in mind:

  • Gallstones
  • Kidney stones
  • Eczema
  • Food allergies
  • Indoor/outdoor allergies
  • Stroke
  • Autism
  • Depression and mood disorders
The process:
Sit in a recliner for two hours and then get a foot bath. While sitting in the recliner, she puts sensors on your wrists, forehead and ankles. These measure the electrical flow of energy in your body and look for problems. While monitoring on a computer screen, she looks for both emotional and physical issues. This part is about an hour. The second hour she uses the biofeedback to help correct the energy blockages in your body. You can barely feel it. Then, the last part is the ionic foot bath which pulls toxins out of your body through your feet. The water turns different colors depending on what its pulling out. It’s crazy. (I even saw parasites in my water this time–yuck!)She always sees more than I ever tell her. She can see what emotions your struggling with as well as foods, environmental stressors and physical issues. I had told her about the mono, kidney infection and gallbladder. She also asked if I’d been having lower back pain and sleeping issues–both true. She could see how shot my immune system was, vitamin/mineral deficiencies and major lack of energy. And unlike my regular doc, she could explain why I had headaches when the weather changed for the past year or so. (Turns out it was when my gallbladder had become swollen and sensitive to humidity, and that was the result. Since I’ve had the surgery, I haven’t had the weather headaches!)

The cost:
The long process I’ve done twice (outlined above) is $250. If you have to do follow-up sessions they are usually the one-hour sessions at $100, I believe. And then, depending on what she finds, you’ll have nutritional supplements as well. I took home six things supplements last time and it cost around $120, I think. I’ll have to do some follow-ups to get my immune system back online since it was completely shot, and there will be more supplements to complement the biofeedback each time. Usually the rounds of supplements are about 30-60 days, from my experience.

The day before I saw her, one of her clients had been working with Blue Cross Blue Shield for over a year trying to get it covered by insurance. It finally happened! She said if your primary doc would write the prescription, you could get it covered by your insurance provider–terrific news! I’m going to contact my doc soon.
I know it sounds expensive, and maybe time consuming, and it is, for those of us without a lot of extra funds or who can’t get insurance to cover it. However, I would’ve rather done this six months ago than having mono for so long and my gallbladder removed. Several hundred could’ve saved several thousand. Now, unfortunately, I’m doing both. And also I’d rather be on supplements for a while then all kinds of Rx meds, short or long-term. She told me she could’ve fixed my gallbladder issues and I wouldn’t have had to have it removed. I could kick myself because I truly believe her.I really do think this would benefit so many people. I can’t understand why more people don’t know about it! She had an answer for everything I threw at her. I know the process sounds a little crazy, though. I’d be skeptical if it hadn’t worked for me twice. I just saw her on Friday and have already had noticeable improvement in energy and sleeping. For those of you who are not into the homeopathic thing, I’d encourage you give this a try if what you are doing now isn’t working or is only managing your issue and not curing.

The lady who does my biofeedback here locally has some really remarkable/amazing/unbelievable stories of how biofeedback can help others, both personally and first-hand as well as stories she’s heard. I named all kinds of afflictions and she had a biofeedback answer or story for them all.Quick story:
She did biofeedback on her brother, even though he was resistant. His heart area showed a lot of issues during her session, and she told him he need to go to a specialist right away. He told her he was feeling fine and put it off. She bugged him and he finally went to his general doc, who said he was fine. She kept telling him to see a specialist. So, he finally did, and was admitted to the hospital right away with a 95% heart blockage! He was a heart attack waiting to happen! She has all kinds of cool stories like that.

And it is safe for children for those of you who wondered. She is currently doing biofeedback on her two month old grandson because he gets frequent earaches.
ALSO, if you live here and would like to go in the next couple weeks, I got an email I can forward you for 20% off during October. It doesn’t say new customers can’t use it.
Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll answer anything I can, but I am a huge believer as you can tell.By the way, they also have a really good vanilla-flavored pea protein shake mix (that’s gluten free) if you like to make protein shakes. It definitely dilutes the taste of the supplements! 😉

Stay healthy!


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Gallbladder Surgery Tips and Tricks

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Diagram via WebMD.com

Like me, my friend Sara will be soon be walking around without a gallbladder. Since I just had mine removed three weeks ago, I decided to write down a few things for her. She thought I might share my knowledge on cholecystectomy (the surgery) with the world, so here it is. Hopefully it’s helpful to those of you out there who may join our little club in the future. Mine was removed in an emergency situation, so I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, mentally or otherwise. For those of you who have some time to digest the information (pun intended), you might feel more equipped going into it now.

  • They kept me one night after my surgery because I live alone. They needed to make sure I could get around on my own. If you live with others, you’ll probably get to go home that day, if your surgery is early enough. Big plus, in my opinion.
  • You have to go to the pharmacy right after leaving the hospital, unless you can get someone to grab your Rx for you. It’s not a great time to run errands, and I personally think it’s ridiculous. I thought I was going to pass out by the time I was home! You’ll need the pain meds right away probably. If you can get your pharmacy to allow someone to pick it up, do it. Maybe there’s a form to sign or something. But you’ll just want to go straight home.
  • They gave me pills for nausea at home. I think maybe for the first three or four days I had to take maybe one a day. But it wasn’t bad or anything. If you like ginger, maybe have some ginger tea, ginger chews or ginger-ale ready at home if those will help. But the pills do work great too.
  • I had some blood in my urine for about two days following the surgery. That seems to be normal.
  • Very important: You can take a shower about 24 hours after the surgery. Just be careful not to get the bandages wet, so keep your back to the water stream. Which reminds me, move everything within reach. Stretching will be off limits for a while. So, move all your shower stuff to the back of the shower. I even had to move my nightstand closer since I typically reach for my lamp at night.
  • They say it helps to get up and move around as you are able. So I did laundry, emptied the dishwasher, got food or drink, etc, and found ways to be upright and walking. Being upright isn’t very painful.
  • I am not sure if it’s everyone, but my worst immediate pain for two days was my right shoulder. I think it’s how they have to position it during surgery, but it felt like they dislocated it. And the Percocet did nothing for the arm pain. In the hospital they said they couldn’t do anything for it, but once I got home I used Icy Hot patches and they helped a lot. Just have something available in case you need it. The main issue is that I’m right-handed, so I couldn’t use it to help prop myself up. I just had to force my abs to do the work, which is what can be so painful (see previous blog post link). But if you have people at home, they can probably help you sit/get up.
  • Again, not sure if it’s everyone, but they put me under via IV, but kept me under through a throat tube. So when I woke up, my throat hurt for a couple of days. Have soft foods around. I also like these throat drops.
  • I barely had any appetite for a week or more, so maybe have foods around that are comforting and you feel like eating. For me it was soft bread with cheese, bananas, apple sauce, etc. I wish my appetite hadn’t come back—that was actually a perk! 😉  I made chicken and rice thinking it would be plain enough, but the smell made me nauseous (anything with a strong, lingering smell probably) so I didn’t eat it for a week or so. But I also have a sensitive nose.
  • They’ll tell you to eat low sodium. I’ve discovered I kinda eat that way anyway, so I really haven’t had to adjust. And the ONLY thing I craved was Pad Thai, for some strange reason. It’s not low sodium or low fat (the things your gallbladder used to absorb which now happens via liver/stomach), but I ate such small portions each meal that I didn’t have any issues. Many people evidently have diarrhea with the adjustments to their systems, but I’ve not had any issues. Just have some meds on-hand, if needed.
  • My Percocet was only good for about five days. About day three or so, I started spacing out the meds so they’d last longer. But do this only once you can take it. These were supposed to be every six hours, but in the beginning, you feel like you need them every three. So don’t do space them out or drop them until you feel you can. Then switch to Ibuprofen. I was kinda surprised that helped, but it did.
  • I couldn’t lay on the couch for almost two weeks, too low and hard to get up. After a few days, I could sit on it with pillows behind me because it isn’t hard to rise vertically, only horizontally. (So, going to the bathroom wasn’t bad either because it’s vertical.) Then I’d just remove pillows as I could and eventually be able to lay down. So, my bed is high, and I had pillows to help me stay propped up and get out of bed easier. If I’d have known about it at the time, I would’ve ordered a pillow like this or this.)Anything you can do to avoid being horizontal is good! (I stayed propped up for multiple nights because I typically sleep on my stomach and didn’t want to roll over in my sleep. I just watched TV in bed on my iPad. And, of course, slept a lot.
  • I would say I had pain for almost a week, and then it was more soreness, except when I had to use my ab muscles. I didn’t watch comedies or medical dramas. 😉  I made sure to keep taking allergy meds, too, because sneezing and coughing isn’t fun.
  • I could drive about a week later, and when I went back to the doc to get the staples out, I was surprised it didn’t hurt. But I didn’t realize they used staples at first. About a week after surgery, I looked under the badges, and wish I hadn’t! I tried to immediately stick it back on but it didn’t work—I looked like Frankenstein with all the bruising and staples. And then I was nervous about getting them out since I’d never had them. But giving blood was more painful than getting them removed. Finally, a nice surprise.
  • After the staples, they had me keep gauze bandages on the different incisions (three—don’t need at belly button) which you change 1-2 times per day. (I had to buy some, so grab ahead if you can.) I had to wear the main bandage for about a week after. And I kept my back to the shower water stream until my bandages were ready to stay off completely. It just seemed like the water pressure would hurt otherwise, but that was a feeling more than a fact. Do what feels comfortable to you! They told me to leave the little clear Band-aid type things on until they fell off—they’re under the gauze. Two have fallen off now, and it’s about three weeks since the surgery. The main ones should come off in the next couple days, I think.
  • Probably because I have mono as well, but I’m still pretty zapped of energy/tired. A week and a half later I went to work for a few hours on Monday and Tuesday and ran some errands—big mistake. Knocked me on my butt for about three days. So, start small and build. And I hadn’t worn jeans since before the hospital either, so those didn’t feel great at my belly button. And any regular clothes in general. I felt really swollen for several days all over, and a few days later still around my abdomen. But I was on an IV for three days due to this emergency surgery, a kidney infection and waiting to have surgery. Hopefully you won’t be the same. Nonetheless, lounge clothes are your friend. (As sick as I’ve been this year I should have my own line of lounge wear.)
  • I’d say I still have some discomfort from time-to-time around the abdomen but not too bad or too long.

That’s it! I hope this process will be easier for you now!

PS: If you go to the ER with an unknown pain on the upper right side of your abdomen, just do yourself a favor and pack a bag to take with you! Once I was there, I wasn’t allowed to leave.

 

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