There are so many alternative-payment businesses when you start looking! This week I came across this one...a restaurant with a unique twist on the PWYC model. 

Karma Kitchens do not own their own restaurants. Instead, they partner with an established restaurant whom they pay a fee of about $750 in order to take over their space for one meal once a week. This fee buys them the food, use of the space and use of the chefs. 
On the chosen day, a pack of inexperienced but eager volunteers descends on the restaurant to prep, serve, clean, and essentially run the restaurant.
There are no prices on the menu. When guests finish their meal, they are presented with a bill of $0.00 along with a small card telling them that their meal has been paid for by the previous guest. They are informed that they now have the option of paying whatever they can afford or would like to give...the money they donate will go towards the next person's meal. Not technically accurate, for if you donate $2 it doesn't mean that the next person will only get $2 worth of food - in fact, it is really just a PWYC model, no strings attached. 
However, there is a difference, and it's a mind shift: by emphasizing that you are not donating for what YOU receive but for what someone ELSE receives, and by reminding you that someone else has given for you, there is an increased spirit of community and sharing that is unique to these 'restaurants', often spiraling into spontaneous gift-giving, sharing, and donations.

Karma Kitchen is hosted in many cities around the world, in different ways. One is hosted daily, many are monthly, and some are one-time. There are currently Karma Kitchens operating in: 
Berkeley, CA; Washington, DC; Chicago, IL; Hayward, CA; Ahmedabad, India; Bangalore, India; Delhi, India; Mumbai, India; Pune, India; Surat, India; Jakarata, Indonesia; Tokyo, Japan; Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia; London, UK; Grasse, France; Singapore; Baroda, India; Dubai; Ubud, Bali

Any profits made on top of costs are donated directly to other gift-economy projects. There are no salaries, and no money is kept.

Articles:
Serving Up Trust and Generosity (Washington Post):http://www.washingtonpost.com/…/…/05/05/AR2010050502040.html

Karma Kitchen Has Selflessness on the Menu Article (SF Chronicle - intro by Deepak Chopra):
http://www.sfgate.com/…/Karma-Kitchen-has-selflessness-on-t…

A Restaurant With No Checks (CS Monitor): 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1025/p20s01-ussc.html

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Karma Kitchen official website:
http://www.karmakitchen.org/

Karma Kitchen also provides an official Start-Up Guide for partnering with a restaurant in your own area:
http://www.karmakitchen.org/index.php?pg=start

What can you do when the sky looks like this above your garden except stop and stare?

...and when you have no words, Mary Oliver does.

 I was in the garden the other day trying to find a beautiful flower that I could take a photo of. I snapped a few pictures, but none of them were doing it for me. The flowers didn't look nearly as beautiful in my photos as in real life.
Then I took one of this weed.
Holy smokes.
So pretty and fragile! As I finished taking the photo my leg brushed against it and the fluff blew away as if it had never been there.
As W.B.Yeats says so beautifully, the magic things are always there waiting for us...we're the ones that need the refining.
I find this takes time. And it takes intent. And sometimes a glass of wine.
Even though I'm all about going out into nature, I often resist actually taking the time to do it, and I resist even more having to wrestle my mind away from its musings to notice what's happening around me.

Today I finally did, albeit reluctantly, and here's what happened:
- a hummingbird stopped a foot from my face in mid-air and looked at me
- I found a baby squash
- hundreds of tiny frogs hurled themselves to the sides as I walked down a path in the woods, as if I were splashing through puddles and the frogs were drops of water
- two deer that had been standing just to the side of the path dashed into the woods as I approached
- a heron and I startled each other
- a cardinal swooped in an arc across my path in a dark stretch of woods
- mosquitoes picked up on my scent, passed the word, and swarmed in like a pack of heat-seeking missiles...oh yes, THAT's why I resist! Where the &*#$ is W.B.Yeats when the mosquitoes are out??

Thank-You cards - I have yet to do much in the 'gratitude' line, but hopefully more will come! In the meantime, avoid having to buy last minute cards at the drugstore, and order a package of these! (can be customized as well - just email me)
To order, go to http://astrongdesign.weebly.com/special-occasions.html.

Birthday Collection - Order individually, or as a package of 4 (or more, when I feel inspired to get creative)...priced flexibly to meet your needs! Shipped to your home within a week.
Be ready for birthdays by having a supply of cards at home, ready to go. Everyone loves getting mail! smile emoticon

To order, go to http://astrongdesign.weebly.com/special-occasions.html

If you are someone who has every been 'unemployed', self-employed, who has pieced together various small jobs, or chosen a different way of engaging in work...or if you are just interested in the possibility of what society would or could look like as technology and automation replace the work force, find yourself half an hour of uninterrupted time and sit down with a cup of tea!

This article is a lengthy but fascinating exploration of where things could head: "The possibility seems significant enough," says Thompson, "—and the consequences disruptive enough—that we owe it to ourselves to start thinking about what society could look like without universal work, in an effort to begin nudging it toward the better outcomes."

If you're interested but just don't have the time to read it all, here's a breakdown so you can skim ahead to what interests you:

p.1-13: the history and facts supporting the diminishment of work, why it has comes to this, and what that looks like
p.13-17: the psychological effects on the individual of not having meaningful 'work' (wow did these ever resonate!!)
p.17-25: what a world of less employment could look like ...how can we find meaningful work without formal wages?
p.25-32: how it would affect culture, society, and politics, and what are some out-of-the-box steps the govt could take to promote an engaged, creative, community-based society in the absence of work?

Rather than disheartening, I found this article incredibly inspiring and meaningful. Here's to reporters who are willing to brainstorm and imagine the beautiful possibilities!

Here is the link:
http://www.theatlantic.com/…/…/07/world-without-work/395294/ 
(download as a PDF in order for the pages to match up with my indexing)

These were a hit at the festivals I was at this summer!  Am now offering them online as well, while supplies last.
An easy and quick way to add something meaningful into your snail mail! Choose a magnet that matches your card, or buy them separately. Suggested donation is $2.00 each (to cover cost of magnet sheets and colour ink).
CAN BE MAILED DIRECTLY TO YOU, OR TO THE RECIPIENT!

Go to www.astrongdesign.weebly.com/magnets to order.

Yesterday I hastily made myself a sandwich, yanking food out of the fridge, rummaging for utensils in a crowded drawer, throwing my garbage toward the trash can...and then I stopped, looked contemplatively at the knife I had just used, thanked it, then carefully and gently washed it and placed it in the dry rack before resuming my mad rush through the day.

Thank you Marie Kondo for that moment. I haven’t even read your book yet.

This summer someone recommended that I check out “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing”. Doesn’t seem like hot summer reading material, does it, yet the book had FIFTY holds on 4 copies at my local library. So I did some digging and found an excerpt online (Chapter 4... http://tidyingup.com/excerpt), which maybe I shouldn’t have because now I feel I feel I might need to BUY this book. 
...ironically...since one of its main topics is about getting rid of things.

So why am I mentioning this on a blog about photos, beauty, nature, and inspiration? What relevance could a book about cleaning possibly have here?

Well, here are some of the titles that jumped out at me when scanning the table of contents:
• Selection criterion: does it spark joy?
• Tidying is a dialogue with one’s self
• Storing socks: treat your socks and stockings with respect
• Komono (miscellaneous items): Keep things because you love them—not “just because”
• Photos: cherish who you are now 
• If you’re mad at your family, your room may be the cause
• Reduce until you reach the point where something clicks
• Follow your intuition and all will be well
• Appreciate your possessions and gain strong allies
• Put your house in order and discover what you really want to do
• An attachment to the past, or anxiety about the future
• Do you greet your house?
• Your possessions want to help you
• Your living space affects your body
• How to identify what is truly precious
• Being surrounded by things that spark joy makes you happy

If you’re intrigued by how beauty, purpose, gratitude, presence, respect, and love can be a part of how you interact with the objects in your life, please check out the link above and read about Marie’s minimalist, meditative approach to organizing her house and daily routine, or read this lovely article by someone who tried out her approach:http://www.marthastewart.com/…/konmari-trendy-new-organizin….
I am certainly not advocating that everyone become a minimalist, but as I go through a period in my life where I am consciously questioning which possessions I need and what I can let go of, I am struck by the gratitude and respect that Marie shows for each item in her environment. Whether you want to purge your possessions down to nothing, or whether you want to renew your relationships with the world around you, this book brings new insight and joy into “being in your space”.

And for an opposite (yet oddly similar) approach, check out the ebook “The Life-Changing Magic of Cluttering Up: A Meditation on Meanings in Messes” by Kenneth Evans! Same concepts – more mess. :)

There are times when all the things you know to be true don't seem true anymore;
when beauty is elusive, and all lovely things drift you by, as if through a thick fog,
and the glorious tap tap tapping of rain on the awning,
and a yellow glimpse of finch
and the smell of coffee
are hardly even noticeable...muffled, like you're watching an old silent movie.
Still, something deep down in your brain, or more likely your heart, sees all those lips moving, and they are saying, “hey...hey...remember this?!”
And you do, you do.  For just a moment, for maybe only a second, you are pulled into the present, and their beauty is somehow familiar.  You know it.  
Then it's gone and the glimpse is so fleeting you forget you even saw it before the fog settles back in determinedly like a heavy wool blanket.

but your heart remembers.
even in the fog your heart remembers.

and I have to remind myself that my heart will remember.
today i can just be still.

Interpret as you will:

Fact 1: I needed a canopy for a festival and my old one was broken.
Fact 2: I had put a request out to my friends, family, landlords, acquaintances, and on facebook, and I had zero leads.
Fact 3: The festival was starting in 4 hours.
Fact 4: I had repeated the following to myself (which was also posted on my wall) all week: “Please don’t worry. The infinite wisdom of the Divine has already resolved this problem for you. Just ask to be shown the actions.”
Fact 5: I had pretty much given up on the ‘infinite wisdom of the Divine’, figuring either it didn’t exist, or it had different ideas than I did about what I needed.
Fact 6: Three hours before I had to leave, I went to my landlord with the smashed plastic pieces of my canopy in hand and said, “Hey Ted, do you have any crazy glue and duct tape? I’m going to have to McGuyver these here pieces together because I still don’t have a canopy.”
Fact 7: Ted looked at me thoughtfully and then slowly said (and I kid you not): “I think... I might have a canopy for you. Follow me,” and led me under the porch where there was a box with a canopy in it.

Here is a picture my booth at the Waterloo Open Streets night market with the miraculous canopy. 
Apparently the infinite wisdom of the Divine involves a wicked and timely sense of humour.

SIGH.  There I sat, on a friend’s front porch in the beautiful afternoon sun, ruminating discontentedly.    As I do.

"I dunno, Leanne," I mused.  "This Pay-What-You-Can thing...I love it, in theory, but it’s not quite working the way I had intended. 
"I wanted to focus on giving and trusting, instead of wondering how much I was GETTING from each transaction.  I wanted the ideas and connections to be more important than the bottom line.  I wanted to trust that I can give without fearing - that it will come back to me in other ways."

I had participated as a vendor at a festival the day prior, where my clearly lofty ideals had collided with...what?...reality? greed? insecurity? human nature? societal paradigms? 
The PWYC concept was, in fact, well received by customers - I was the one who was still having difficulty.  If I was really being honest with myself, I had still noticed how much people gave.  I did attach value to myself based on what was offered.  I argued with my inner judge to stop noticing, but with minimal effect.  On the outside I was letting go...on the inside I was attached to a certain outcome.

So there I sat on the porch, reflecting on money, security, and the challenges in giving freely.  It was easier, I rationalized, when people ordered cards online or in person to feel love, sharing, and I desire to help and give.  In a festival setting I shifted almost unconsciously to 'getting' instead of 'giving'.  Is there any way of changing that?  Maybe if I...

“A DONATION BOX,” said Leanne, with finality, interrupting my thoughts. “You need a donation box.”

Hmm.
Nope. Unconvinced. 
It seemed like it would just be another thing I had to source or make.  It might pan out; it might not.  It would require more explanation to customers.  
I decided that if I came across a donation box before next weekend’s Cherry Park festival, I would use one.  Maybe.

I did keep my eyes open all week (half-heartedly, I admit), but nothing was forthcoming.  So I was off the hook, right?  I didn't have to worry about it.
And yet...and yet....the night before the festival, amidst the flurry of packing tables and chairs and tent and equipment, I couldn’t get rid of the nagging suspicion that it WAS somehow a pretty good idea.  I felt it, deep down, but I didn’t feel like making one.
“Damn it!” I finally cried, grabbing a saw, my toolbox, a drill, and some old wood from behind the shed, and I started cobbling together what would hopefully pass for a donation box.

Festival day came, and, much to my surprise (with my dread of crowds and extroverting), it more than panned out.  The weather was fantastic, I had lots of help, my booth was on a corner, attendance was great...
And the donation box?   The donation box???
Did it actually make a difference?
        
                                                      YES!!!!  yes, yes, and yes.

By the end of that day, I tell you, I was ready to write articles glorifying the donation box, to gild the blessed thing, to put Leanne herself up on a pedestal of glory for suggesting it to me in the first place.

And here's why.
THE DONATION BOX ALLOWED ME THE FOLLOWING...

• it disengaged me from the money process – by no longer handling the money directly, I was freed up to speak with customers about the cards, about why the different payment structure, to chat with them about life and listen to their thoughts.  It somehow became much more about connecting than selling.
  
• I couldn’t see how much money people were donating!  So I finally stopped caring and worrying about it. I wasn’t secretly judging people for the amounts they were giving me and then hating myself for judging them, because I had no idea how much they gave.  I felt a sense of release.
  
• People knew that I couldn’t see how much they put in.  Though I don't know this for sure, I sensed that people who were putting in less did not feel embarrassed or judged or worried that they weren’t giving enough.  On the flip side, no one could feel worthier for making a big donation.  People just gave what they could give, or what felt right to them.
  

And what if someone put in $1 and took ten??  Worse, what if someone just walked off with my cards?  And as I asked myself these questions, I realized this:  it's ok.  Yes indeed, it's ok.  
Lord knows I have taken advantage of many PWYC offers in my life (and sometimes still do).  I believe it comes from my feelings of scarcity, fear, and lack of trust: "I don't have enough so I have to maximize how much I get!  Only I am in control of whether I come out ok!"
Truth is, we're not alone and we're not in control.  But enforcing how much people give or take probably isn't going to change that paradigm, for them or for me.  Perhaps letting go will.
Perhaps giving will help me let go and learn how to give.
And THAT might be why I need to do this.  To learn how to give.  Not in a way that lessens the value of what I do or who I am, but in a way that pushes me to trust that things are much bigger than what I see.

We all struggle with scarcity and control.  We all have times where we are blessed to receive and blessed by giving.  Having a donation box makes me no better or worse than anyone else in the world.
But what I can tell you is that this is how I was affected by a lowly wooden box on THIS festival day.

Just for a moment I was able to let go.
Now I just have to figure out how to do that in every other aspect of my life.
SIIIIGH!

Several people have looked at this card and asked if I was the one who painted the words.
I wish I had, but no.
These words were graffiti on a rock, way, waay up in a remote area of the mountains in California. I had been travelling on my own in my van for over a month, and was on my way to find hot springs. 
I was yearning for hot springs.
I needed hot springs. 
My map showed hot springs strewn abundantly, flagrantly, all across the states of Washington, Oregon, and California.
They were, however, proving much more difficult to access than I had hoped. This was my last ditch attempt, and believe me, I was going to soak that day or heads would roll. 
Unfortunately Google Maps had not received this memo and sent me off on a 3 hour expedition in the opposite direction from where the hot springs were located. It probably took me longer than it should have to figure this out. In my defense, I had no GPS or wifi.
As it slowly dawned on me that I was not even remotely where I was supposed to be, it also dawned on me that I was going to have to find a place to sleep. By this time I was high in the mountains, the ranger station was closed, and all I had was old-fashioned paper maps...and THAT, my friends, is when I came across this graffiti on a rock.
It was at a small suicidal pull-off beside a hair-pin turn. Other hapless travelers had felt the need to spray paint their names, their loves, and their grievances on this rock overlooking the valley. And some dear soul felt compelled to write "live wild - be free" right in the middle.

Photo #2 and 3 are the view, taken from the rock, looking back the way I had just come. Yes, those skinny ribbons are the roads I was driving just before sunset, lost and without a plan.

I'll skip to the end for you: all turned out well, there were several serendipitous situations, a crazy and slightly illegal camping experience, and a really beautiful drive. There was angst, stress, and possible heat stroke. There was fun, excitement, and some adrenaline. There were Mexicans with shotguns around a campfire. 
I may not have found my hot springs, but I think I can safely say that I was living wild and being free.

PS. to whichever Guiding Force is planning my journeys...wild, free, AND hot springs would have been ok. 
Next time.

For the whole crazy and humorous story of what happened on that trip, see my roadtrip blog at www.opentopossibility5.weebly.com/ojai-and-krishnamurti.html.