The last number of weeks I’ve felt a little unraveled…maybe its the change in the seasons…but things are fractured…my nagging back ache, the death of my office printer, the collapse of the house furnace.

I was feeling very “woe is me” about it all…until I (figuratively) smacked myself on the side of the head…

What was I moaning about…I’m not in parts of California where one is in fear of having their house burn down or live without power for a week…or in Syria where the value of a life of a Kurd just sank to zero.

Where we end up often times is just the luck of the draw…I wasn’t born halfway around the world…but here in the US. I’ve been able to determine my own path in my life and not be condemned nor prosecuted. I have been lucky…but also hardworking…and conscientious.

The holidays are about to begin…the time of year filled with messages of peace and good cheer. We don’t do a lot of celebrating here at my home…we try to be grateful for the life we have all year long.

And though its not possible to stop the wildfires in California nor the bloodshed in the Middle East, I’m taking on the task to try to lighten the load of others here as much as I can…acknowledging people on the street with a smile, collecting food for the food bank, letting the garden go to seed so the birds have winter food, sending out handwritten cards to let others know that they matter. Small concessions to be fair…but if everybody did it…yes…what if…

And here’s what else I’m going to do…until the end of the year, if you order something from my Etsy shop or come to our Holiday Studio Sale on November 23…and you mention this newsletter post…I’ll take 10% off your order…and I’ll donate that 10% to a humanitarian cause.

Here’s to the holidays…hopefully a little brighter for all of us…