Every year, my husband and I head off to a retreat called Relationship Rising. It's not one of those get-pampered-and-relax type retreats. It's one of those getting down into your shadows, dealing with the things you have been putting off all year, learning more about your inner world and how you relate to everything and everyone around you type retreats. One of those experiences where you pop out the other side lighter but a little roughed up, and take the rest of the year to integrate everything that just happened through you. Why am I telling you this? Well, there are two reasons. 🌱 Firstly: I will be away all of next week. I should have time to check in on comments daily but won't have time to create any new resources. 🍅 @Lynne Vella your indoor tomato-growing information is at the top of my list for when I get back. 🌱Secondly: how we do one thing tends to be how we do everything. How we move through the world and relate to everything is worth taking note of. When we strengthen our connections with the world around us — the planet, people, animals, our homes and even our ‘things’ — we tend to relate to them differently. 🙏 I recently read a story about a factory in Japan where a piece of machinery broke down and could no longer be repaired. Everyone who worked with the machine came together to hold a small ceremony and thank it for its years of service. This had quite a profound effect on me and one that I know will continue to shape my relationship with the world around me. This is where the consciously curious part comes into this community: exploring how we relate to the world around us and how this shapes our daily decisions. When we feel more connected to something, we often take more care with it. We might pause before replacing it, wonder where it came from, or think about where it will go when we have finished with it. For me, conscious living begins with noticing. Getting curious about our habits, our relationships and the things we take for granted. From there, even a small everyday choice can become a way of caring for ourselves and the world around us. 🌿

Welcome to Start Small. Live Well. @Lynne Vella 🌿 I am so excited that you decided to come on over here. It will be great to see how you can incorporate more of this into your journey. I know that you are doing some amazing things in your community so please feel free to share your community in this post and tell us what it's all about. Health and well-being all ties in with what we are trying to achieve here too. It sounds like you have already made some great progress on your conscious and eco buying journey so I look forward to learning more about that. It doesn't matter whether we live in an apartment or out on 1000 acres, there is always a lot we can do. I am creating this community and it's resources based on what the members are exploring right now, so I will let you know when I have some information put together to help get you started on growing tomatoes indoors. What a great place to start ...I'm already super excited 🌱

Welcome to Start Small. Live Well., @Kate DuBois 🌿 We are really honored to have you here with your experience and everything that you are doing over in your community. Feel free to share your community in this post and tell us what it's all about and what you are doing. It sounds like you’re ready to dive deeper, with better cleaning products on your mind - you have come to the right place! I am creating this community and it's resources based on what the members are exploring right now, so let me know in the comments if there are any areas or products you want to learn more about first. Let's go with our small meaningful steps that ripple out into something much bigger.🍃

It is school holidays so our house is full of friends coming and going and living life alongside of us. One thing that I have been really aware of over this first week is that there are so many things that people just don't know are out there. For example, the dishwasher soap bars that I make to replace dishwasher liquid that comes in a plastic bottle, or the soap nuts that come from a tree that can replace laundry detergent, or our toilet paper that is made from the byproducts of manufacturing sugar cane and bamboo rather than using the wood from unsustainable pine plantations. This is a big part when it comes to making small changes. You need to find your inner curious child and go exploring to see what is out there, to be brave enough to ask questions and try something new (I can tell you I have had plenty of 'failed attempts' at finding things that work for us), committed enough to give it a good try and discerning enough to know whether this is actually going to work for you or not. So, this is my invitation to you to get curious. If you see something that is interesting, spark up a conversation and ask about it, when you have 5 minutes do an internet search and see if there are alternatives out there, and even if you think something might not be for you - give it a try and then tell me you 'told me so'! Go out and get curious!

We have a different kind of new member today. These two lots of fluffy goodness arrived yesterday night out-of-the-blue. A quick zoom around the property to sort out some temporary accommodation this morning and away we go. I now how 6 chicks living in my kitchen until they are big enough to head outside. Last year we had an orphaned duckling living inside ....taking bets for what we will have living in our kitchen next year 😆 Here's to this lot starting small, and living well for these little chicks 🐣