Many of us grew up with the adage "Don't Go Empty Handed" ... meaning that when we accepted the hospitality of another, we contributed in some way. Maybe we brought desert to a dinner or flowers to the hostess. Maybe we provided a bottle of wine or treats for the kids. It was a way to show appreciation and respect for our hosts and the gifts we were being given.
Thinking about this custom, it occurred to me that the idea behind it could apply to our current Change The World Wednesday challenge which asks us to give back to the environment. On a daily basis, we enjoy the generosity of nature ... we eat foods from the land, use fuels from the earth ... we enjoy fresh air and clean water and a multitude of natural resources. What if we decided to bring something to the party ... to contribute in some way?
The "thank you" gifts we brought to a dinner host were never huge ... they were small offerings meant to show our gratitude. In the same way, our gifts to the environment can be small. For example, we can put up a bird feeder and help bird populations. When we walk the beach or hike in the forest, we can pick-up trash. Composting and replacing nutrients in the soil is another way to give back. We can plant trees and bushes, improving air quality. Most importantly, we can approach everything we do with an attitude of appreciation. We can consciously consider what we can do to give back ... to help the environment rather than deplete it.
When we entered a friend's home with full hands, they smiled and felt appreciated. The environment offers us it's hospitality every day ... let's not go empty handed!
As always ... I would love to hear from you!
Great post today! I am working on getting a group of my friends together to go pick up trash on a walking path I was on last week. I think I found where the homeless sleep and kids party :) -Melanie givebacktoday.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteNicely put! (Also easier said than done.) I agree that the attitude of appreciation is key -- if we could start with that, I think it would influence our daily actions to a profound degree.
ReplyDeleteSome day, I would love to plant heritage varieties of fruit and vegetables. The loss of biodiversity in modern agriculture is scary for us and for other organisms, so it would be one small way to help restore balance.
what a excellent way of putting it, although I have to admit inviting that bear to dinner was a mistake, he kept asking where the woods were? and he didn't use a napkin.
ReplyDeleteEE
amen! i'd rather have people just tell me why they love me than bring me more stuff! funny, today we had a joint birthday lunch for myself and a coworker and someone said "i think we should start a new tradition of telling the birthday girls why we love them so much" and people smiled nervously and changed the conversation. so much easier to order lunch, i suppose. interesting huh...
ReplyDeleteMy mom has a rule, we can bring her anything so long as she can eat it or wear it ... that way, she doesn't have to make room for it!
ReplyDelete(The closet being infinitely compressible I guess ;-)
One of our favorite things to bring people is little fruited vodkas. Whenever we empty a nice-looking bottle, we half-fill it with cherries or blueberries or (for our very adventurous Andalusian-American friend) finely flaked horseradish, top off with vodka, and wait a couple of weeks. These make excellent housegifts, as they are pretty to look at (horseradish flakes glint gold in the sun!) and are tasty in shots (WARNING: horseradish vodka is DANGEROUSLY HOT! consider diluting with tomato juice!!!)
Anyway, people love little gifts "for the house", particularly if we make clear that it's not necessarily something to share during the current visit, which might be felt as an obligation, but just a little present for whenever, just out of appreciation and/or a sense of fun!