Playing hooky and taking action

The yin and yang of life...just as I thought of my title I thought of ying and yang...let's see what it means..."In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are opposite forces that form a whole. Everything contains both yin and yang in a balance that is always changing, such as hot and cold, day and night, and health and disease. ..." yep, pretty much thought that's what it means. So my blog today is one of yin and yang. I will share about a day spent being in action for a good cause, "Invisible Children", and a day playing hooky (today) because that is what my soul said I needed for balance.
First I will share about my action day. Ironically it was spent in silence. WHAT? ME-silent for a whole day you say? Yes, it's true. I committed to 25 hours of silence for 25 years of war thanks to my daughter Abby. She was at school last Monday when "Invisible children" came and shared their dedication to helping children in Africa who are threatened by Joseph Kony, an evil psychopath who abducts children to become soliders in his 'army'. Abby was so affected by their plight she committed to the 25 hours of silence campaign and shared the struggle with me. I was happy to join her as 1. I care about human rights causes 2. I support my daughter when she is passionate about things 3. I could do this. So we donated money and got tshirts that said "Invisible children" and we didn't talk for 24 hours. I ran a couple errands and passed out cards explaining my silence and the response was respect and support. It was a learning experience for me to be hampered by my silent pledge and to deal with life without words. There was writing on tablets, texting and the like, but no words. I admit it was hard, but I committed to it and I love a challenge. There was an event in San Francisco for breaking the silence that Abby and her friends wanted to go to Monday night.  I was eager to see others in silence and I chaperoned the girls. Kat ,my friend, joined us as she is always up for supporting a good cause and she is a real trooper.   We all got on Bart and went into the city, SILENTLY.   There are always fun characters in the city and these guys were funny...

being as we got off right in front of the forever 21 mecca we power shopped for 45 mins and then grabbed subway and headed to the event. They got everyone organized and inside all IN SILENCE...

the girls were really into it and that was inspiring to see

once inside we signed letters to congresswomen asking for help, and we waited for the countdown.

here is the countdown video...
It was fun to scream as loud as possible and really fun to be able to talk again!! The speaker from Uganda brought it all home as he thanked us for our efforts and help. He shared how much it is helping and how wonderful the Americans have been in supporting this cause. After the speaker there was a small band and then a small dance party and then it was over. All in all it was a really eye opening experience and one I was proud to have taken part in.  It's so easy to leave it to someone else, and yet just doing one thing, can make a difference. I was happy to share helping another person's plight with my daughter, as it is by example that children learn. I was proud to take action and do my small part in making the world a better place on Monday..

Today was the opposite of Monday as I wanted to take the day OFF.  I have Open Studios this weekend which is a huge fun filled event that brings in lots of people.  The event is free if you are reading this and can come to Benicia this weekend.  It's Saturday and Sunday from 11-5 and the day is filled with food, drinks, raffles, art and of course TUTUS.  All the artists open their doors to this weekend and the weather looks to be spectacular!  Woo hoo!  I just love bright sunny skies so I can open the doors up and let the warm breeze inside the shop.  I have been making many collages and such in preparation for the weekend so today I just felt like chill-axing.  I took my dog on a long 5 mile hike on Las Trampas ridge.

my mangy dog Chester..It was a beautiful spring day that beckoned me to play...

the cows were chill-axing too..

It was so wonderful to have the day to just do whatever I wanted, even though I did manage to get some productivity in there as well.  I will be better for it come this weekend, and I hope you can all come out and visit me.  With that, I'm out.  Thanks for checking in on Hip Chick's adventures.  Love the comments, love to hear what you are up to too!!  Happy spring......