- It is about being grateful.
- You spend the time with the people who are the most important to you whether they are family or friends.
- It is a celebration of the harvest, or the good things that have come to you in the previous year.
- I do love good food and wine!

Gratitude is something that I regularly practice.  I say practice because it isn’t always easy to be grateful for a lost job, ending relationship, death of a loved one, et cetera.  But with every situation in our lives no matter how challenging and difficult, there comes the opportunity for learning, success and growth.   This is not always obvious and so often you can feel knocked down and that is the best time to practice remembering that like other ‘bad’ times this too will give birth to something better.

We don’t always know why things happen, but I have had many times in my past that I have felt hurt or resentful because of a given situation (not getting in to Colby for college, the lost of a good friend without reason.)  Later in life I understood why those situations happened, some many times over, and was able to feel grateful for them because of what came next that would not have been possible otherwise.

Now in my life, I am grateful and open when something that seems challenging comes up.  I realize that it may be quiting my job that allows for the space for my dream job to come into my life.  I am more open to understanding that every situation has a silver lining or possibility attached to it.

Dealing with the Tough Stuff, the latest in the SVN book series by Margot Fraser and Lisa Lorimer, was the topic of Friday afternoon’s plenary where the authors talked about their own struggles in their businesses and helped lead “feedback circles” for participants to get support with their own challenges.

Lisa Lorimer, former President and owner of Vermont Bread Company in Brattleboro, Vt., spoke with passion about what it’s like to be in challenging situations as a business owner. Her great empathy comes from her own vast experience. She knows what it’s like to have to decide what to do when payroll is due and there is no money in the account. Lisa stressed that business owners need to have a place where they are able to talk about the realities of the business, something which was practiced later in the session in an exercise.

Although Birkenstocks are now a ubiquitous sight on college campuses all over the country, Margot Fraser, founder of Birkenstock USA, did not find the U.S. to initially be a receptive market for the cork-souled sandals. Her first distribution deal with the manufacturer was based on a “handshake” and her narrow focus on selling only one product made others call her crazy, but Margot admits she would have liked some seasoned advice when she was first starting out. Both Margot and Lisa agreed that creating a competent and skilled advisory board can be a lifesaver for a struggling entrepreneur.

The session wrapped up with a half an hour exercise with the participants shared their own challenges and offered advice to each other in small groups. This exercise not only got me much needed assistance, but it also demonstrated just how helpful it is to have a sounding board for not only idea but also troubles. I look forward to reading the book, which was included in each participant’s bag, and gaining even more insight of these two women.

For anyone living in the north eastern Unites States, referring to the summer of 2009 is likely to elicit a sigh or perhaps a sarcastic laugh.  In my youth the seasonal description ‘April showers bring May flowers’ somehow became ‘April sunshine brings May, June, July and some August showers too!’  The temperatures were lower than usual and in combination with the excess of rain many of my plants had a less than ideal growing season.

You see, I have a plot at the Northampton Community Garden in which I grow fruit, vegetables, herbs, and some flowers.   While I like eating close to home for the lower environmental impact, I also think it is wonderful fun to watch things grow and to nurture them along the way.  But this summer as I was weeding, watering and planting another thing happened: my plants started to behave strangely in reaction to the seasonably strange weather that some referred to as ‘global cooling.’

First of all, my pepper plants never really grew.  When the plants finally got a little bigger, I was waiting and waiting for the peppers to come.  I’ve had peppers grow well in the past, but this year, nothing.  Research amongst my fellow gardeners and my ‘small-scale farming guru’ father taught me that peppers are of a tropical origin and grow best with heat, something which typically comes all of July and the first part of August, but only made a short appearance this year.

The other major challenge in the garden this year was my tomatoes.  The excess of water caused many fruits to split before they ripened and then the late blight, something that I have always know to signal the end of the season in late September, came early and wiped out a majority of the tomatoes.   Fortunately I had three varieties of the eight I planted which survived the blight.  The otherwise poor tomato growing conditions wiped out my hoped-for good season with this fruit.

I think it is important to notice that there are changes occurring and that we have some affect on those changes.  I don’t know if they are reversible, but I believe our daily wasteful habits contribute to continued environmental degradation.  Our environment supports life on this planet.  Shouldn’t we maybe pay a little more attention to this?