A Glimpse of my April Activities ~ Time Well Spent

So, what have I been doing all this time???

  

Well, my approach to the pre-launch process has been one of “action while planning,” an idea I picked up very early along the way from a business planning guide (here’s the PDF link) written by Andrew Wolk, founder of Root Cause in Cambridge. Andrew Wolk is incredibly active in the movement to bring social innovation to bear on society’s greatest challenges and inequities through a multi-sector approach, including the effective use of an enlightened market-driven economy when possible.  I encourage blog readers to check out Andrew Wolk’s blog or just google his name ~ you’ll learn a great deal more than I could write about here…

   

Very simply put, action while planning means that, along with doing scads of research online, I’ve also been doing tons (that ’s more than scads) of learning through doing, testing of ideas and networking in person.  Go to page 22 of the PDF to read Wolk’s description of action while planning.

  

All that said, following my action-while-planning approach to Time Well Spent’s pre-launch phase, here are just a few events I’ve attended this past month, one way or the other, along with links to some relevant posts and websites:

  

 

Bentley’s Fifth Annual Leadership Forum

  

All the speakers had so much to share and my alma mater made me proud yet again! I attended from the comfort of home, having been given a heads up to the great numbers expected and not feeling up to the early morning departure that would have been involved. It was almost just like being there. I attended last year and being there was really something special.  Click here for my post-event comments.

  

I also joined Bentley’s Center For Business Ethics this past month and hope to attend a Catalyzing Conscious Capitalism two-day conference there at the end of May. Reading the description reminds me of many things I’ve thought about and/or written in the last year with regard to my vision for Time Well Spent and the good that conscious capitalism can accomplish.

    

  

Massachusetts Social Entrprise Networking Group Spring Meeting 2009

    

The topic of this meeting hosted by The Center for Applied Philanthropy was “Non Traditional Funding Sources for Non-Profits and Social Enterprise.” This relates to the financing end of “doing good” and was specifically focused on Program Related Investment, a potential funding source for non-profit social enterprises, and perhaps Time Well Spent, a social enterprise start-up, which will ultimately be financially-self-sustaining. My mother always says, “It takes money to make money.” So, yes, some initial funding and/or creative financing is required for the next step. Glad I’ve been able to make a difference with my DeClutter For Good events in the meantime!

  

Click here to go to the LinkedIn group page to learn more about the Massachusetts Social Enterprise Networking Group, yet another connection to good people and good organizations, striving toward their mission-driven goals. I’ve had the honor of working with Anne Wunderli with this group. Anne works at the Pine Street Inn where she is the Director of Facilities and Social Enterprise, overseeing PSI’s Abundant Table. Still, in her spare time (!), Anne manages  to sit on the board of the Social Enterprise Alliance and serves as a local leader to non-profits interested in furthering their mission and generating income through creative social enterprise initiatives.

 

  

Greater Newburyport Eco-Collaborative’s Earth Fest at Maudsley State Park

 

The Eco-Collaborative is a forward-thinking group of environmentally-aware people who have every aspect of green living covered, from business opportunities to architecture to eating, it’s all green and it’s all good.  They are involved with a myriad of eco-conscious initiatives.

  

Here’s  a link to the post announcing the Earth Fest event, providing info on Hamilton-Wenham and Ipswich Earth Day inspired events, as well, and linking to all the relevant websites.  And, here’s the link to my post-event thoughts about the Earth Fest events.

   

   

So, that’s a glimpse at three days of April ~ And, yes, it has been Time Well Spent.  Meeting so many incredibly hard-working and well-intentioned people along the way has been a great part of my pre-launch journey. The experience has been inspiring and humbling and I look forward to connecting and working with many of the good people I have met in the future.

   

Carpe Diem! Nancy

DeClutter For Good April Results ~ 50 Game Goal Met ~ Teen Community Service a Plus!

With special thanks to mother/daughter team Robert and  Casey C from Georgetown, we reached the April DeClutter For Good goal of 50 board games, puzzles and computer games for kids… 

 Casey and her mom gave a quick heads up, via email, to friends and neighbors about the drive and accepted donations in their breezeway. They carted them over on the DeClutterDay and even manned the office while I attended the Earth Expo. The donations they delivered all but reached the 50 game goal on their own. Not only did Casey take care of some community service hours she is required to complete, but Roberta tells me that Casey learned about service to those less fortunate and awareness building about choices in how we spend our time and our money. Thanks, ladies!

If you didn’t have a chance to make it by but have board games, puzzles or computer games to donate, feel free to comment here, send me an email or text (go to my contact page for info). If you missed the details of April’s DeClutter For Good focus, click here to go to the post about the drive and the recipient organization, Cornerstones Ipswich.

Those games that are too grown up for the young kids at Cornerstones will be donated to Cradles to Crayons, where we know they will be distributed to older pre-teens in need.

I’m still working to help Cornerstones with their many needs. Click here for the tally post. I’ll update there once I hear from Elissa Covello, House Manager at Cornerstones who has her hands full trying to provide a safe and cozy environment for the special residents under her charge.

Earth Expo @ Maudsley was Time Well Spent

I met many wonderful folks today at the First Annual Earth Expo at  Maudsley State Park in Newburyport… People who are pursuing worthwhile, environmentally-minded business initiatives. Call them what you will ~ social entrepreneurs, conscious capitalists ~ these hard-working, values-driven small business owners are where it is at as far as I’m concerned. I left physically tired but emotionally energized after sharing the day and many great conversations with others who share my vision for a bright future where consumerism is less about auto-pilot and conspicuous consumption and more about authenticity, simplicity and value.

Simplifying doesn’t mean we pare down to the bare bones. It does include a less cluttered lifestyle ~ literally and figuratively ~ where those items we do choose to have in our lives, our homes, even our refrigerators, matter more to us and do more to feed our hearts, minds, souls and bodies than the cluttered days of the recent decades gone by. I’m speaking from personal experience!

The folks I met were much further along their journey to living with mindful awareness of the impact of our daily lifestyle choices on self, family, those in need and the environment. Still, they were approachable and enthusiastic about my concept for Time Well Spent and about helping others on the journey to eco-friendly, socially-conscious lifestyle choices and changes ~ looking forward with promise, support and encouragement  rather than back with judgement or self-righteousness.

Kudos t o the Greater Newburyport Eco-Collaborative for organizing the event and for their leadership in the Greater Newburyport area… One suggestion ~ add Ipswich to your defined Greater Newburyport geographic area!

Lots of Earth Day Events on Boston’s North Shore

Earth Day, Spring Vacation, April Showers… Bring it all on…

It’s so easy to be on autopilot in our daily lives, just doing our best to get through, feeling a bit overwhelmed for all our intention to do our best to simplify, the latest swing of the trend pendulum to counteract a decade or more of overcommitment. Though we often feel overly busy and over-scheduled,  so much so that the last thing we want to do is add another event to our calendar, sometimes it’s a healthy change to make the time to get out and do something that is outside of the daily grind. The lovely spring which has finally arrived and the celebrations around Earth Day certainly provide a number of chances to do just that…

The neat thing about giving ourselves permission to truly enjoy a day off and go on a day trip is that it can be really inspiring. It’s kind of like a wake up call for the brain. Getting out and seeing what’s going on locally, connecting with the energy, meeting new people, even if just to share a friendly hello and learn a bit of what they are up to…

Okay, enough analyzing, time to “just do it” (with a nod to Nike for recycling used sneakers to make rubber sports flooring). So, following are a few suggestions of events in Ipswich, Greater Newburyport and Hamilton-Wenham for those who want to get outside, connect with nature and the community and spend a great day celebrating the beauty all around us that we often take for granted, in spite of our best intentions. I’m sure it’s just the tipp of the proverbial (and hopefully not melting too fast) iceberg, so feel free to add more Earth Day events as a comment to the post.

IPSWICH

Ipswich Clean-Up Day is an annual event. This year, there will be a two-day effort to make Ipswich extra-spiffy, in honor of its 375th anniversary celebration.  To learn more about the year-long list of Ipswich 375 events, go to the website by clicking here.  (Of particular note, there’s an Ipswich Goes Green Day on Sunday, July 12th – I’m on the organizing committee so expect more details to follow!)

 Here are details of the Ipswich Clean-Up Weekend:

 “Ipswich – In preparation for the town’s 375th anniversary celebration, the Ipswich Shade Tree and Beautification Committee is sponsoring a town-wide clean-up weekend Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26. The committee is asking residents to clean up the areas in front of their homes and for businesses to clean up around their buildings (front, rear and parking areas).

“It has been a long winter and now that the snow has melted it has left an abundance of sand and trash all over town,” the committee stated in a press release. “Let’s all come together for this community effort. If each resident gives a little time, AND with everyone’s participation, the town will be clean and free of trash. The town will be ready to celebrate in style.”

In conjunction with the town-wide cleanup, the Friends of the Wharf Committee will hold its annual spring cleanup of the Town Wharf Saturday April 25, from 9 a.m. to noon. All area residents are welcome to come with gloves, rakes and weeders to clean up the wharf area. Plastic trash bags will be provided. Coordinators for the wharf cleanup are Dan Morrow.

For information on the Town Wharf cleanup, e-mail Dan Morrow at danieljmorrow@comcast.net or call Carol Williams at 978-356-7354.

For information about the town-wide cleanup, contact a member of the Shade Tree and Beautification Committee: Jim Foley, Charles Surpitsky, Armand Michaud, Janet Taisey Craft, Maria Hebbel, Denise King, Martha Varrell, Dan Morrow, Jen Tougas and Nancy Thompson. “

HAMILTON-WENHAM

Hamilton-Wenham Green is a strong and active group that meets monthly at the Hamilton-Wenham library.  Expect more great things from this group. For Earth Day, they are encouraging participation in a clean-up event on Saturday morning, April 25th:

Community Earth Day Trash Pick-up Saturday, April 25th, 10AM-Noon

Patton Park Basketball Court, Hamilton

 Join a group of Wenham Cub Scouts and parent volunteers to help clean up our communities. All are welcome and more hands make light work. Please bring gloves and any creative trash picking up devices you can think of! Children will receieve a Treasure Hunt Map to help in the trash quest!

 

NEWBURYPORT

The Greater Newburyport Ec0-Collaborative is promoting more events than you can shake an eco-friendly stick at! In fact, Newburyport is taking a whole week to honor and celebrate Earth Day. There certainly must be something for everyone  as they hightlight over 50 events taking place throughout the entire week, culminating with their First Annual Earth Expo at Maudsley State Park on Sunday, April 26th,  an event in which I’m participating – with a table and some repurposed inspiration, spreading the word about Time Well Spent.

Click here to go to the calendar page listing ALL the events.  Check it out, quick, before you miss something ~ There are events scheduled for nearly every day of the week.

 

ONE MORE IDEA!

Of course, DeCluttering For Good is always an Earth-friendly way to spend the day, people-friendly, too. This month, Time Well Spent’s focus is on collecting board games, video games and puzzles for those less fortunate. Click here to read all about it! 

Bentley’s Leadership Forum Follow Up ~ You Guessed It ~ Time Well Spent

I posted my thoughts on the LinkedIn Bentley Alumni discussion board, but thought I’d drop them here as well… If you want to read my other posts about Bentley, just use the search tool in the right hand-column… You can also search for conscious capitalism for a few other posts on the topic…

I was a virtual attendee at the Fifth Annual Leadership Forum. The technical abilities at Bentley did not disappoint either – I felt like I had a front row seat… I only regret not being there to meet Priya in person. After attending my daughter’s National Honor Society induction the night before and staying up late with her collating 31 local scholarship applications, my body just couldn’t get there, through the 128 morning traffic and the crowd expected to far exceed the allowed seating… Enough excuses. Shoulda… Coulda…Woulda BUT it was still awesome…
As a social entrepreneur, I found the speakers, their stories and their message inspiring and empowering. And, the Tomorrow 25 “kids” that were introduced, don’t even get me started!

Click Here to go to the Leadership Forum Video Highlights. (Check out Van Jones speech, around the 5-8 minute mark for a favorite clip.)

The Leadership Summit is the perfect illustration of Bentley’s dedication to “doing well by doing good.” Given the recent (and, I believe, inevitable) upheaval in the economy, I am hopeful that, in addition to Bentley’s current student population, Bentley alums will help lead the way toward conscious capitalism, a concept with considerable merit and in need of passionate support. Given their leadership role in business ethics, among other things, it only makes sense that Bentley would be a major part of the conversation to promote positive change, socially and environmentally, while embracing and espousing the benefits of a capitalistic economy in which ethics, morality, transparency and stewardship to our future generations, those less fortunate, and our environment are all part of the equation.

It is my greatest hope that our society will reach a point of critical mass, where conscious capitalism, the triple-bottom-line and impact on stakeholders are all part of the mainstream business vernacular. Kudos to Bentley for their leadership, not only in their conversations and events, but also their actions on this incredibly important topic at this critical time in our nation’s history.

I could go on (and on). If you are interested in digging deeper, your time would be well spent checking out a couple of related links.

Whole Foods President John Mackey’s commencement speech 2008 at Bentley:
http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/2008/05/21/bentley-college-commencement-speech/

For those who may have missed it, Bentley has a partnership program in support of City Year that should serve as a model to all institutions of higher learning:
http://www.bentley.edu/giveayear/

Bentley grad Joe Marchese, the speaker at the Tomorrow 25 Luncheon, is walking the walk of conscious capitalism through the creation of his website that harnesses the potential for social media to serve as a positive changemaker, simply by helping organizations drive profits by promoting their socially responsible initiatives:
http://www.socialvibe.com/#

It’s with pride that I watch Bentley continue to raise the bar and lead the way in ethically-based, cutting-edge business standards that promote and encourage business initiatives and innovation that, in President Gloria Larson’s words, “are both good for business and the broader social good.”

If I sound gushy about Bentley, that’s how I truly feel. Being my authentic self is a great part of values-driven business – working each day in service to a mission that is in synch with my own values and aspirations to be a part of the positive change that is upon us. Not bad work if you can find it or create it!

DeClutter Your Games & Puzzles For Good ~ April Collective DeCluttering Drive Update

Spring is (finally) springing… And, another school vacation is (already) upon those of us in Massachusetts with school-aged children.

 

Please help

Time Well Spent

reach our goal of

50 games and puzzles

donated!

 

April vacation is a great time to get the kids decluttering to help other kids (and make life at home a little more peaceful and organized in the process) ~ Helping kids who are less fortunate ~ a teachable moment about service and gratitude, for sure. Let me know how your kids feel about contributing to our collective decluttering efforts.

 

      

For Whom?            Kids! Especially Pre-School – Pre-Teen

 

       

With Whom?         Cornerstones Ipswich

 

           

What?                       Games, Puzzles, Personal Computer Games

                                    Some educational aspects preferred.

Please, no violence-themed donations.

                                    Gently-used condition preferred.

 

                                    No or VERY FEW missing pieces.

 

                                    Classic old toys like Scrabble and Bingo

accepted regardless of condition.

See explanation below.

             

 

When?                      Sunday, April 26th 10am-4pm* 

                             Note the date change from 3/19.

             

       

Where?                    Time Well Spent Pre-Launch Office

                                    89 Turnpike Road/Route 1, Ipswich, MA

                                    Click here for driving directions.

                                            

*If you can’t make it, please reply to this post or contact me for alternative drop-off arrangements. 

 

FYI, some older games and those with missing pieces may be kept at Time Well Spent as potential material for eco-arts projects as pictured in the examples on my photoblog called Picture This @ Time Well Spent. The vast majority of donations will be given to Cornerstones Ipswich.

   

If you know of other local organizations that could use some gently-used games and puzzles, please encourage them to contact Time Well Spent. Any extra games and puzzles, or those that don’t meet the needs and criteria of Cornerstones Ipswich, will be donated to Cradles to Crayons and The Salvation Army, based on the condition of the games and puzzles.

 

To learn more about Cornerstones, click here to go to my first post about the organization or click here to go to their website.

 

To learn more about Cradles to Crayons, search for their name in the right-hand column for all of my posts that reference C2C or click here to go to the Cradles to Crayons website.

 

Thanks and Carpe Diem!

Eco-Friendly Tips & Repurposed Products @ Eco-Etsy

When the day finally comes that Time Well Spent is officially open for business, as a business, in addition to a service-driven organization, there will be all kinds of wonderful treasures for sale made by artists, both established and novice. The sales floor will connect the different dedicated centers in the multipurpose space. In addition, there will be art for sale on the walls and furniture spattered throughout the entire establishment.

There’s a full page dedicated to the use of space you can read by clicking here. Or, here’s a quick visual:

  

All that gray space is sales floor featuring consignment sales of the work of various eco-artists, from novice to expert... From greeting cards to coat racks, eco-jewelry to functional eco-furnishings... Gifts for family, friends and home. And, you can drop off your clutter for good use when you visit!

For more visuals of inspiring products that will be sold, here’s a peek at some “trashion” or you can go to my photoblog :

 

 Cool stuff, huh?!

If you just can’t wait to buy something eco-friendly to “make a statement that goes beyond fashion,” you could find all kinds of wonderful examples all over the internet.  I know I have!  Part of my job, as I see it, is to help people make good use of their time, spending their time in a way they feel really is well spent.  So, if you don’t want to overwhelm yourself with a million different (and quite wonderful) blogs and online stores about repurposing, upcycling and all things renewed, you really can simply take a quick cyber-visit to just one place: Team EcoEtsy:

 

Read on to find out more of the trash to treasure found at Etsy.com… 

Going to Harvard ~ Kind of… (Okay, not really…)

A dear friend (and art teacher) shared the following free workshop info with me.  Made her think of Time Well Spent!

 

Bring me your Broken and your Disfunctional

 

and 

 

I will make them Whole

 

    

I love how art can convey a message without a single word...

 

and/or join workshops to

  

Mend Your Wares

   

broken pots needed to create composite vessel pieces for 

     

A Place at the Table  

    

sustainable art, design, and food banquet, exhibition, installation

to provoke consciousness and action on resource conservation

 

Creative Mending Sessions: Tuesdays, April 14, 21, 28, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Free participation, bring broken pieces, other shards and glue provided

 

I knew I've been saving all my broken pottery for a reason!

 

 Here are the contact/direction details:

Nancy Selvage

Ceramics Program

Office for the Arts at Harvard

219 Western Avenue

Boston, MA 02134

directions: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~ceramics/cerdir.html

Nancy’s email: selvage@fas.harvard.edu

  

 

I’m planning to attend the workshop on the 28th.

    

If anyone has old broken dishes for me to bring along and contribute to Nancy Selvage’s awareness building effort, let me know.

  

Thanks for sharing, Deb!

Nancy

Cause of Grey Clouds ~ Chronic Lyme Disease

While my mission for Time Well Spent gives me the motivation to move forward to the best of my ability each and every day, those who know me realize that my challenges to start a social enterprise (as if that’s not complicated enough) are sometimes overshadowed by my challenge to get through the day with a modicum of productivity…

Briefly (I mean it this time), I’ve faced a myriad of symptoms over the last several years, the vast majority of which fall under the general term “chronic fatigue syndrome.” Bear in mind that term references a group of symptoms and, by itself, is not a diagnosis. Since last summer, I’ve been working harder than ever to get to the bottom of it, this as a result of a worsening of my symptoms. It frustrates me to no end that my body can’t keep up with all my ideas and thoughts and that, at times, even my own mind can’t keep up with all the thoughts racing through it.

My first infection with Lyme was in July of 2005 – and it was a doozy – one experienced that same summer by several folks within the dozen homes closest to me. Without going into all the details of all the symptoms, suffice to say that I was again bitten by a deer tick in late July 2008, was put on meds which were stopped when I seemed to react with an allergy to it. The early cessation of the medication and the addition of prednisone, to treat the “reaction,”  caused a sever worsening of my symptoms… 

Rather than read the details of my chronic Lyme ordeal, may I suggest that, if a ‘chronic lyme’ search brought you here, go to the link for a new documentary on the subject: Under Our Skin.

Under Our Skin is a documentary about chronic Lyme disease. Click on the picture to go to the website.

 Read on for more about Under Our Skin…

Another Reason Why I Love my Alma Mater – Bentley Leadership Forum

“Cheating” on this post, for now, as all I did was cut and paste it from an email. But, I wanted to share this event, The Leadership Forum was a special moment last year, early on in my Time Well Spent saga. This year, I have a lot more knowledge under my belt, but miles to go. To be inspired and humbled by the good, hard work of others is certainly time well spent.

 

This year’s speaker biographies (I hope the links work below) are all quite impressive, from Van Jones on. I’ll try to blog about them if I have the time. In the meantime, if you are surfing around some evening, go through one of their links. You are sure to be inspired:

  

 

 

The Business of Healing Our World:
Leveraging Innovation, Social Enterprise and Service

Hear from one of the first “Green Visionaries…”

Profiled in Oprah’s O magazine,The New Yorker,TIME, The New York Times and Fast Company, Van Jones has been called the “Prophet of the Green Economy.” He is the founder of Green For All, an organization focused on creating green jobs in impoverished areas. He is also the co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change, and was the author of the 2008 New York Times best-seller, The Green Collar Economy. In his new role as Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Center for Environmental Quality, he will advance President Obama’s agenda of creating 21st-century jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources, in addition to helping to shape and advance the administration’s energy and climate initiatives with a specific interest in improvements and opportunities for vulnerable communities.

TIME Managing editor Richard Stengel will open the forum and introduce Van Jones. Following Jones’ address, Stengel and Jones will have an on-stage conversation.

The 5th Annual Bentley Leadership Forum,
in cooperation with TIME:
Thursday April 16, 2009
8:30 to 1:00 p.m.
on the Bentley University campus

Featured Speakers Include:

Ophelia Dahl, Executive Director of Partners in Health
Priya Haji, Co-founder/CEO, World of Good
Leigh Blake, Co-founder, Keep a Child Alive
Milton J. Benjamin, President/CEO, Initiative for a New Economy
Joseph Marchese ‘03, Co-founder and President of SocialVibe.com

The event is free and open to the public and includes admission to the Tomorrow25 luncheon. However, registration is required if you haven’t already done so.

For more information go to www.bentley.edu/leadership-forum/ or call 781.891.2120 or 781.891.2070.