Happy Birthday Dear Friend!

Happy birthday dear best friend! Enjoy your day being treating like the Queen that you are!

See you soon! 

Until then keep that smile bright!

Lakota Code of Ethics #20

Share your good fortune with others.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #19

Respect others religious beliefs. 

Do not force your belief on others.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #18

Be true to yourself first. 

You cannot nurture and help others if you cannot nurture and help yourself first.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Over Packaging Waste

Over packing waste has always rubbed me the wrong way. We see this often in Alaska as almost everything arrives here in a box. I suppose this could be said about every place in the United States and perhaps even the world, but for us, once these boxes with all their packaging arrive in Alaska they stay here with little hope of being recycled. Recycling places in Alaska are few and very far between. In most villages there is nowhere but the local landfill for these items. These landfills get buried and become part of the permafrost ground forever frozen without even the hint of being able to decompose. Some folks will burn the cardboard but that is another topic for another day.

This box is large enough for 10 of these textbooks.

Companies that are in the business of shipping supplies and goods are trying to reduce the waste created by over packing, which has financial implications along with the conservation of our earth’s valuable resources. Sometimes these companies get it right and sometimes they drop the ball at the 10 yard line.

A smarter way to package and ship a textbook.

My newest crusade at work is to educate the textbook publishing companies that they have a consistency problem. Six textbooks, for instructors to review, arrived the other day; two of them were packaged in a sensible manner while the other four were wastefully packaged. When I notified the publishing company sales representative she was receptive to my email and said she will bring it to her shipping manager’s attention. 

Here’s hoping that they can become more consistent in the wise ways of packaging, for their bottom dollar, the students bottom line, and for all of the resources that we want to pass along to the future generations.

Brewing Coffee

The pleasing smell of brewing coffee that wafts into the room in the wee hours of the morning transports me in an instant back to my grandparents’ home in Iowa. The yellow house on the hill is filled with many joyful childhood memories but one of my favorites is the sounds and smells that come from the kitchen as my grandmother brews coffee and makes breakfast for grandpa, as he prepares for a morning in the barn milking the cows.

Enjoy your cup of morning coffee on this wonderful Friday my friends!

Lakota Code of Ethics #17

Respect the privacy and personal space of others. 

Do not touch the personal property of others 

- especially sacred and religious objects. 

This is forbidden.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #16

Make conscious decisions as to who you will be and how you will react. 

Be responsible for your own actions.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #15

Keep yourself balanced. 

Your Mental self, Spiritual self, Emotional self, and Physical self 

- all need to be strong, pure and healthy. 

Work out the body to strengthen the mind. 

Grow rich in spirit to cure emotional ails.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Be My Valentine

It all began in the 6th grade, my life-long passion with writing love letters. His name was Scott Torgerson and he was the older brother of one of my childhood friends, Denise. He was in high school and it was the classic tale of a young girl who was just coming to the age where boys were now recognized as being different and not just pals. When he was around me and would give me the time of day the stars I saw in the older boys eyes seemed to come for the very heavens themselves, I was smitten in love. Head over heels in love with my first crush, and I found myself driven to write all my feelings down. I must write him and tell him all about my new found feelings.

I would compose a letter and neatly fold it so that it was one piece of paper wrapped in its own envelope, and the next time I was over visiting Denise, I would leave it in his room on his desk. I wonder what I could learn from those early letters. What did my first crush teach my younger self and how did it affect my life path? Those letters, those notes are for sure long gone, perhaps lasting a day in his possession. But I still wonder.

I do know that for the longest time the only way for me to communicate with a boy was through a letter. Even into my young adult life I found it hard to express my feelings without the shield of the pen and paper. I might have appeared to be a forward speaking only child, but that was only the outside view. On the inside I was and still am to some extent, shy or a better way to put it would be that I am afraid of rejection and I am always seeking approval from those around me.

If I write something to somebody then I don't have to be around to see the reaction on their face. I can live in ignorant bliss that my message was delivered and well received. Of course my relationship with the written word has come a long way since then, it still is nowhere near perfect and misspellings sneak their way into my letters and writings all the time. But writing letters still holds my heart fast in its joy.

For him I was just his little sister’s pesky friend. He never wrote me back even though I remember asking him to, nor did he encourage me, and soon my first crush faded into my first kiss with Randy Jacobson. But for me it was the start of my loving relationship with letters. Love letters, pen pal letters, and using the hand written word to keep in contact.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Keep those words of love coming my way and I will be sure to return the gesture with gratitude.

Lakota Code of Ethics #14

Be truthful at all times. 

Honesty is the test of ones will within this universe.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #13

Avoid hurting the hearts of others. 

The poison of your pain will return to you.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #12

Children are the seeds of our future. 

Plant love in their hearts and water them with wisdom and life's lessons. 

When they are grown, give them space to grow.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #11

Nature is not FOR us, it is a PART of us. 

They are part of your worldly family.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #10

Bad thoughts cause illness of the mind, body and spirit. 

Practice optimism.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

A Birthday Never Forgotten

Epic of Gilgamesh

Epic of Gligamesh

When the gods created man

they alloted to him death,
but life they retained in their own keeping.
As for you, Gilgamesh,
fill your belly with good things;
day and night, night and day, dance and be merry,
feast and rejoice.
Let your clothes be fresh,
bathe yourself in water,
cherish the little child that holds your hand,
and make your wife happy in your embrace;
for this too is the lot of man.

***

This version was found on Flying Squirrel yesterday.  I am always in awe of just how much I do not know and how much we have to learn from each other. We only need to take the time and listen.

Have a good Friday my friends, my dear dear friends. 

My little friends my small friends!

Lakota Code of Ethics #9

All persons make mistakes. 

And all mistakes can be forgiven.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Lakota Code of Ethics #8

Never speak of others in a bad way. 

The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.

Wikoskalaka Yuwita Pi - Lakota Gathering of Young Women

LAKOTA CODE OF ETHICS

Birthday Joys

What a joy it is to share a birthday, only one day apart, with someone who is a talented, generous, and exceptional friend. The kind of person you can share all your secrets with. Thank you CJ for being my best friend forever! Have a wonderful blessed day and a fabulous year ahead.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to all the famous people in my world! 

February is the best month to have a birthday!