Walking the labyrinth? or just running round in circles?

A dark night of the soul? Maybe not quite. A crisis of purpose? Well, yeah, sort of.

Last week we met with a packaging guru, an expert in personal care products. Loved the guy, a real character. Reminded me of someone I knew, very cool. Challenged our every belief about the business, though. Whew. Some tough decisions as we make the move to be present in stores.

First, the inevitable discussion of ‘parabens vs. no-parabens’. A couple of horror stories put the fear of contamination into me, as it would any other personal care products manufacturer. Hey, this guy is good. He’s already convinced several companies, attempting to be all-natural, to be ‘realistic’ and use parabens preservatives. How do they still manage to call themselves ‘all-natural’, these other companies? Well, they just don’t list all the ingredients, now do they? Never mind that the law clearly requires full disclosure. A wink and a knowing look. I guess we should have known. Well, now we do. It does not inspire us, though, to use a tiny secret amount of toxin. I’m clear on that.

Luckily, we have an ace up our sleeve. First, we’ve had our products shelf life tested, and our all-natural formulations, are, in fact, well preserved. Also, we are already in talks with a manufacturing lab that now uses natural preservatives, with great success, for several other product lines. After all, that’s the idea behind the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. We need to be just as safe from mold and bacterial contamination, as from toxic ingredients. If it takes a little more research and development to find non-toxic preservatives, so be it. I’m firmly convinced that Inanna products meet that challenge. And our new manufacturing associates agree. We do not have to use toxins to ensure a good shelf life. So, no real torment there. The packaging guy is, (as my daughters would say) just... wrong!

The packaging maestro, did, though, have some good points, regarding packaging. True, so true, that we now use a real dog’s breakfast, a mish-mash of packaging styles and materials for our various products. Oh, and nobody uses glass anymore, he says, way to heavy and too costly. Time to rethink and update all the packaging we use. Think 'plastic'. A huge task. And all we really wanted was new labels!

Ever have one of those times where you can’t do A until you answer B, and you can’t answer B until you hear from C, and none of it can happen without D, which isn’t available. Stuck. Can’t decide labels without packaging, and vice versa. Overwhelming. What to do?

PD James to the rescue! Sometimes you just have to let it go, and settle in for a yummy good read. Since I’m not such a fast reader, getting through a 660-page novel represents a real break. I took the whole Victoria Day weekend off! And the next day, too! In 4 blissful days, I thought of and did nothing but read that book. Transported to London, England, and a murder in a church! Delicious!

Closing the book, I went and checked the health store shelves. Yep, lots of companies still use glass. Since it is both inert and impervious, there’s good reason! And, lots of other brands are all over the map in terms of containers, too. Unified by their labels. Oh sure, we’ll simplify a bit. That’s where we were headed…before we started going round in circles of containers, labels, and contents. Back to square one.

Frustrating, as it seems as though we are moving backward, for a while. How can we ever tell whether we are just running round in circles, spinning our wheels, or if there is some point to the work? Spiraling in, and spiraling out? Walking the labyrinth? Don’t know for sure, but I have a clue. I think, when we finish, we may find we have actually accomplished something. We’re back where we were, alright, but now standing firm, with a clear resolve, and a deeper grounding in what we actually know to be true.

Here’s hoping we can all be walking that labyrinth, spiraling in and out, even when we think we’re just spinning round in circles!

the lazy gardener

Okay, okay, I admit it. i often start more than I can finish. It's true. That can be a problem, like when you start doing your income tax, but never finish, or start baking a cake, but neglect to take it out. But with gardening, starting is really all you have to do! It's perfect for someone like me.

We've planted perenniels in the flower garden. That's a great example of starting something, with no need to continue the effort. Mother Nature just keeps on providing~~daffodils and hyacinths, peonies and lilies, lavender and echinacea. All perenniel, and practically effortless. The lazy way to garden. Perfect, if a bit overgrown.

The vegetable patch, though, is another story. I'm so lucky that dear husband turns over the soil, weeeds it, enriches it, and creates neat little mounded rows for me to plant, complete with trellises. A lazy gardener's pleasure. Only 6 rows, it's a city garden, and it's in the front yard. Memories of Cabbagetown. We ask a lot of this little plot: it needs to be pretty to look at, neat rows of green for the veggies, and a cascading rock garden at the front, with flowers. And it needs to produce as much as possible, especially as food prices are expected to continue to rise.

Here's what's in the 10 by 10 plot this year: lavender, strawberries, scarlet runner beans, snow peas, calendula, mesclun salad greens, bunching onions, arugula, shallots, garlic and kale. Not to mention the dandelions, that are kept off-leash throughout the garden. it's exciting to think that, no matter what happens, whether we weed every week and water assiduously, or neglect it benignly(hope not), there will very likely be some veggies produced. It's pretty low maintenance. I'm so grateful for that. i love how, since it's beside the front walk, it has become a 'snacking garden'. It's easy to pluck a few snow peas or strawberries on the way out. It's great to snip a lavender bud to keep in a pocket all day.

Planting a garden, no matter how small, brings such connection with the earth, and pushes that 'gratitude' button. It's one of my very favourite things. In a week or so, we'll start watching for the first snow peas to push through, solid, if bent. A real gardener's joy, and a delight of springtime. Happy gardening, all.

stone soup democracy

May 10th is mothers day. We know that. Did you also know that May 10 is Stone Soup Day? East Vancouver's Britannia Community Centre is holding its 13th annual Stone Soup Festival. Inanna Herbs will have a booth there this year, for the first time. We're excited.

I love the concept of Stone Soup. Here's my abbreviated version of the old European folk tale.

Some soldiers came to town, just passing through. As usual, the villagers hid their daughters...and their food. They'd had such visitors before, and been eaten out of house and home for their generosity. They had little to eat as it was, and none, they thought, to share.

The soldiers started a cooking fire and filled a big cauldron with water. As the water came to a boil, they added a big stone. Curious, the villagers strolled by, one by one, to ask what they were cooking. "Stone soup", came the reply, "It's delicious. We'll be happy to share it with you...only..."

"Only what?" "Only...it could use a little seasoning. Do you have an onion we could add?" Of course, it's not so hard to find one onion, if pressed, or a bunch of parsley, or a potato. Each of the passing villagers asked about the soup and, when invited, added what they had to spare, a bit of cabbage or beet or salt or herbs. Before long the smell of delicious soup filled the air, and they all sat down to a lovely meal.

The moral of the story, of course, is that the sum of all the parts of a community add up to something much greater than what each individual could create alone. I do believe that's true. And I'm happy to be involved with a Stone Soup festival that celebrates our coming together in community. But it also reminds me of a different kind of stone soup. The democratic kind.

In the last few days, I've received 5 or 6 emails warning about Bill C-51, proposed Canadian legislation that will seriously impede the ability to market alternative remedies, herbs and supplements, playing into the hands of Big Pharmacies. This bill is being rushed through to second reading, giving dissenters little chance to react. Anyone in Canada with an interest in alternative medicine needs to sit up and take notice. More than that, we all need to spread the word, and to write letters to our members of parliament and the health minister, stating our views.

This is the new democracy: immediate, individual, accountable. It's powerful and exciting. Each of us now, through the internet, has the opportunity to become informed and to react in a timely fashion to effect change. Each of us may think: 'I don't have much to add. What's the point?' But, boy, put it into that magic cauldron, with all the other bits, and it soon adds up. Here's the key: it must be done quickly, before the legislation in question actually goes to the vote.

I've seen it work before. In the past, we were part of email campaigns to legalize gay marriage, and to save the CBC, and other issues we found important. It feels good to speak out, make a contribution, voice a point of view.

I know, I know, we all hate spam, and feel inundated with campaigns. But if we stop, and find out what's up, it really doesn't take long to weigh in and express ourselves. And make a difference. It really is democracy in action. Great stuff.

And that's my 2 cents.