water folk and the enviroment

when you care about where things come from and where they are going, it isn't always easy to find what you are looking for. from food to clothing to a surfboard bag, there IS someone out there doing the right thing.

one of our favorite companies is Patagonia. everything about them tells you how much they care. we have been involved with these guys for many years. from having buddies in the company, to wearing their gear, to chowing down on some organic grub in the private cafe in Ventura, Ca, we absolutely love these guys. if you aren't familiar with the company, take a peek at:

http://patagonia.com/

everything that they make has a purpose, a history, and a future. things are meant to last, they strive for organic, fair trade and for function. it isn't about fashion seasons or to keep up with others, it is for making tracks and for saving what we have.

we recently read Yvon Chouinard's, the founder and creator of Patagonia, book, 'Let My People Go Surfing.' if you want to see how people should live, play and work, this is a good read. he isn't your normal business man. in fact, he is a huMAN with a business. this book only makes you admire what Patagonia stands for even more than the products alone. it is a tale of his journeys from a young man climbing, starting a business, watching his prints and caring for the folks who have helped him build an amazing conscious company. their misson statement:

"Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis."

we were on the hunt for new surfboard bags and have been disappointed with what we were finding out there. alas, we remembered that Patagonia introduced board bags. not only do we know that we are supporting a good company, we also know that they support 1% for the planet, meaning that Patagonia gives 1% of it's sales to worldwide environmental efforts.

so, two big ole 10 footer board bags arrived the other day and we couldn't have been more excited. just in time for a roadie to Rhode Island and Maryland, these bags come with an ironclad guarantee, another one of Patagonia's efforts to stand behind their products. we shall put them to the test and see if they are just as wonderful as everything else that we have bought from them.

so, make what you buy worth it. put some thought into your money and don't buy disposable garbage. use what you got until it falls about beyond belief and when you are ready for something new, DO THE RIGHT THING. as waterfolk, we know that what you what you dispose of ultimately ends up in the wrong place. nothing ever goes AWAY.

homebirths and 'the business of being born'

when you begin to live a simpler life, there seems to be a trend toward home-everything. homemade. homeschool. homegrown. homebirth. it isn't a coincidence, it is the greater force of growing from within, from our homes and from our souls.

when we found out that we were going to have a baby, we immediately looked at our homebirthing options. it all seemed so new to us, but what wouldn't, it was our first baby. if we were mainstream, we would've scheduled an appointment with our doctor before even conceiving for a pre-pregnancy interview, then we would have gotten the go ahead from the doc and then we would've tried to get pregnant. once most couples think that they are pregnant, they need a doctor to tell them for sure. huh??????? women are losing what we have been gifted with and that is intuition. pregnancy and birth have become so mechanical that most people have no intuition when it comes to one of the most beautiful and natural acts that a woman's body is equipped to deal with.

our decision to have a homebirth was an easy one. i was a low risk pregnancy and the thought of bringing life into this world in a hospital was out of the question. we chose to birth in our own home. when the day came, we were already where we needed to be and we waited for the midwives to come to us. what a wonderful way to introduce our baby into the world.

she was born within 4 hours and all went well. there was nobody there to whisk her away before we got to hold her in our arms. it was all so blessed and so slow that it felt like a lifetime. we shared hours together, alone with our new life, quiet and peaceful. she was surrounded by love and bliss. no monitors, no needles, no bright lights and no noise, just love.

this is so not true for the majority of children born into this country. the experiences are generally not happy nor blissful and it shows in the children. how we are conceived and how we are born set the stage for how we are. we truly believe that conscious conception and homebirths make loving and more centered children.

we aren't alone in our beliefs though we are a minority in the states. we recently came across a documentary, "the business of being born". it is a wonderful story of many homebirths and many conventional hospital births. they speak to midwives, doctors, health professionals, educators and families on their views of birth. it is beautiful, it is saddening and it is showing how the medical community is failing to support women in birth. take a peek and share this with others.

the business of being born trailer

for anyone who is pregnant or thinking of childbearing, remember, pregnancy and birth are not medical conditions, they are a gift, one of the most beautiful acts that a woman's body can perform.