Peaceful Activism Archives | Zoe Weston

Turn The Mundane Into A Blissful Experience: The Cozy Life

Zoe Weston — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 21:56:10 +0000

Coziness permeates my life, it’s actually my lifestyle. I recently learned about the Scandinavian term hygge (pronounced hoo ga). The simplest way to define hygge is what we call cozy in English. I was thrilled to learn that in Scandinavian countries this is a vibe or feeling that all aspire to create and live in their daily lives. It is even deeper than that as its core meaning is to turn mundane tasks into blissful experiences – rejoicing in simplicity.

I believe that if everyone adopted a hygge lifestyle the health benefits would be astounding. When coziness gets woven into all parts of your life, everything gets a bit lighter, easier, softer, more comfortable, and maybe even more beautiful.

The Danes entire culture is based on hygge. They say it is about finding joy in the simple things in life. It could be as simple as having a cup of tea while watching the sun rise, reading a book by the fire, listening to the birds sing while writing in a journal or having a special meal with family and friends.

I like to create cozy vibes with cooking bliss. Cooking dinner is a sacred ritual for me. I light candles, put on my favorite apron, play my Medieval Vibes playlist on Spotify, and pour a glass of wine, make a cup of tea or make my recent favorite – a mix of lilikoi juice, coconut water and Pellegrino on the rocks. I also love to make the table setting beautiful with beeswax candles, fresh flowers or herbs from the garden, and pretty cloth napkins. All meals start with a prayer of gratitude: We thank all of the people, plants and animals who brought us this food, please let it nourish our body, so be it.

As a child my mother made our home so cozy during the Christmas season. We would all decorate the tree together, a wreath went on the front door and lights went around all of the windows. On our dining room table she spread out all kinds of sweet treats and the obligatory bowl of mixed nuts with the nutcracker next to it. Stockings were hung up by the fireplace. During the whole month of December my brother and I would enjoy hot cocoa and Christmas cartoons in our pine scented family room, basking in the glow of the tree lights.

How can you make one mundane task a cozy experience? I’d love to hear your stories. Wishing you a safe, healthy, beautiful and cozy holiday season. Blessings, Zoe

P.S. If you’d like help creating a healthy, cozy, beautiful home sanctuary, click here to schedule a free 20 minute initial consultation.

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An Education Model For A Golden Age

Zoe Weston — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 23:47:32 +0000

Lots of children do not like going to school. They say it isn’t fun, it’s boring. They ask why do I have to learn this or that. I was lucky. As a kid I loved going to school, because I couldn’t wait to learn stuff. But school, for the most part definitely wasn’t fun. Once in a while I did have an awesome teacher who made class fun. Those teachers used music, games or movement in their teaching methods. I always aced those classes and remember the material even today.

As an Anthropologist, I have an ongoing fascination with human behavior and I am especially interested in what makes humans happy, what makes us thrive and how can we continue to improve the human condition. I think one improvement would be to upgrade our education model for k-12 students. I want children to love school, I want them to have fun and learn skills that enable a bright future, full of opportunity.

What would a different model look like? Here is what I came up with for a k-12 curriculum. I call it Goal Oriented Applicable Learning. Let me explain. There is a main category with sub-categories that are all related to learning the main topic. When disciplines are interconnected it teaches the reality of our interconnectedness in life, and Aristotle’s axiom “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, is achieved. Applicable learning means this is a “hands on”method. Children will be creating and building, not just reading about the topic. Yes, there will be plenty of reading, writing and testing, but mostly lots of DOING.

The following is an initial example. Here are the five categories:

Gardening

Biology

Botany

Topography

Meteorology

Art/Design/Permaculture

Harvesting

Culinary Arts

Canning/Drying

Building a Home

Math

Science – Electrical/Plumbing/Solar

Engineering

Art/Design

Architecture

Carpentry & Woodwork

Landscaping

Debate

Public Speaking

Logic

Philosophy

Politics

Law

Rhetoric

Grammar & Vocabulary

Writing

Editing

Film Production

Peaceful Conflict Resolution

Theatre

Acting

Storytelling/Playwriting

Singing

Dancing

Music

Public Speaking

Art/Design

Carpentry

Sewing

Film Production

Life Skills

Tolerance

Relationships

Conscious Communication

Nutrition

Finance

Computer Science

Foreign Language

Sports & Martial Arts

Etiquette

I’d love to hear if you have anything positive to add.

Be sure to sign up for my occasional newsletter. There is always something for everyone in it. Many blessings to you, Zoe

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Writing Letters To Save The World – Peaceful Activism

Zoe Weston — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 06:00:34 +0000

Want to be a peace activist? Remember when letter writing was a thing? Yes, before we had smart phones or email accounts, we used to put paper to pen and send it off into the void hoping it would reach its destination. We didn’t just write our friends and family we wrote our representatives, our congress, our Mayors. Letter writing fueled our political system, it was how we got things done. Our letters counted for something. Say hello to peaceful activism.

Nowadays we can still communicate with our representatives. Most do it through email, and I wonder how many actually get read, and how many can easily be deleted and lost in cyberspace. Can we go back to old fashioned letter writing? Is this an effective way to get through to our government? Yes, I believe that writing letters can save the world. However, it must be done en mass. I’m hoping to inspire whoever reads this to take a few minutes of your time weekly or even daily to write and send letters asking for what you want.

Activism must take precedence right now, especially if you feel a daily struggle to survive. The struggle grows amongst the people of the United States. But don’t just write your representatives, write your hospital’s administration, the administration of your children’s school, write doctors and teachers, and grocery stores. Write corporations and banks. Speak up about the systems of inequity, inefficiency, inferiority, and inhumanity. Let’s upgrade America! National Priorities can help you find the correct person and address to send your letters. 3, 2, 1, GO. – Zoe

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