Home Poem

Devon is a breed of heaven 

That much is true

But home is a haven

A base and a foundation

Magical and wondrous

In one day

Peregrine falcon, cormorant, robin, pheasant, barn owl

And that’s just the birds!

Blackberries and orchard apples

The way they were always meant to be

Lying on the grass

Reflecting on the past

Come back here to take stock

Report back to the mothership

Looking to what’s next

For now, time is still

Part of the calm

The rulers and roots of the mothership

Believe that everything you say and do

Is every kind of amazing

Even the sunshine invests in you

It kisses you and tells you to go forth and be exactly who you are

Even in the blanket of pitch darkness

The even darker silhouettes of magnificent trees 

That were once half the size

Are a comfort not a threat

They hug you and tell you that you can be proud

The silver thread 

Bonding my body to this nature 

Always there

Now grows incredibly strong and close once more

Sparkles like the intensity of the stars

If you just look up and out

Clarity like nothing else

I am tied

But more than happy to be

And I am welcomed in

Be restored by lying on a giant cloud overlooking the sea

And…breathe

A hideaway 

And a safe, cosy, sanctuary

Fresh air

Gives

Glows

Deep 

Sleep

A stroll around this healing place evokes visions of a spritely seven year old girl gallivanting in birthday treasure hunts with friends

A whiff of cut grass transports the soul to play time with siblings and cousins- rounders, cricket, football, cartwheels, hide and seek

The crunch of colours underfoot brings back memories of coastal walks followed by aga-side crumpets and all the cups of tea you could ever dream of, in big mugs of course

Fills the heart up again

I belong and I am connected

I am rich with peace

And I will go forth

And I will make you proud

A note:

Happy National Poetry Day! 

I was a little bit inspired by Larkin today on Radio 4.

I happen to be at home in Devon during my favourite time of the year in England.

The photos were taken today.

All of these things coalesced to create this poem.

Eenie Meenie Minie OH!

Oh how we love to adorn ourselves with pretty and sexy things... but exactly how good would it make us feel if we knew the true cost of lingerie?

Go for the luxury brands? Your silk and lace may still be made in an environmentally and socially unsustainable way.

What? Oh My Bod!

But wait patiently- an answer is coming...

I have previously spoken about In Bloom.

Why not go for one of the gorgeous eco-brands on the market...to feel extra delicious ;)

A Strong Woman at the Helm

This is the woman who has just been named as the most powerful businessperson in Sweden 2014.

Her name is Helena Helmersson and she is...wait for it...

...a woman!


...Yes, wait you already knew that...OK, try again...she is...

...working for H&M!


...Yes, OK, and..?


AND...she is H&M's Chief SUSTAINABILITY Officer.

Phew. Oh my goodness, hurrah and hooray!
A CSO has been recognised as being not only important but integral to both business and society.

H&M, as a fast-fashion brand, is not perfect. However, much more of what is being done now to support the environment and labour along its supply chains is proactive rather than reactive. And as a well-known retail giant, being publicly proactive about sustainable business practices sends a strong message to competitors, consumers and investors that there is always more that can be done.

I like Helena because in this interview she states that she is a DOER and that's exactly what every corp needs at the helm of their integrated sustainability operations.

The Language of Love

There are few languages in the world that are internationally spoken: a smile, love, mathematics and...code!

It is the Week of Code at Microsoft and we even have a celebrity video (starring me- in the chequered shirt and pony tail exactly 10 seconds in!) to prove that it is an uber cool thing to do.

Everyone can learn to code and The Maze is a good game to learn how.

If you still need proof, Will.i.am, Ashton Kutcher and Shakira can tell you just how cool it is.

ErrMerrGerrd XO!

Drama drama drama- this is so fetch! And soooo XO[eco]!

...Did you know that now you can DO good and LOOK good AT THE SAME TIME?!

SHUT. UP.

It seems like I am taking the Michael of our dear LC, but actually I love her (and want to be her a medium to high amount) and love the fact that she has twice now put her name and design skills behind something so cool. She has definitely moved on from her younger years on The Hills.

Her XO[eco] line with Blue Avocado comprises cute totes, lunch packs, travel and jewellery bags- all of which are both adorable AND washable!

The material is called Repreve- it is made from recycled plastic bottles. Repreve itself is a pretty dandy organisation too.

What's that LC? You designed these products for the 'every girl'? But I am an Every Girl! That's what I do! I need these sustainable lifestyle products. LOVE- ING - THEM. My fave is totes the bird print. What's yours?

Signing off: XO[eco]

Mwah.

Reach your Peak!

The above image is an insight into what I will look like having reached the summit of Mount Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia in May 2014: exhausted and more cave-girl than corporate, yet amazed, inspired and empowered.

I am going to be sharing this Peaks Foundation challenge with 20 ambitious women: 10 from Singapore and 10 from a community centre in Indonesia.

If you would like to find out more, please visit my fundraising page here and give generously!
BIG THANKS :D

ROAR!

On Monday 17 March 2014 at 7pm at the Substation, 45 Armenian St, City Hall, Singapore, I will be singing with a small group of adults as part of choir. The performance also includes songs by local children, excellent soloists and a ukelele group.

All in aid of the African Children's Choir, which is a charity empowering impoverished families in Uganda. It will be a great show to celebrate the good work that they do, with songs like Let It Go from Frozen, Roar by Katy Perry and Don't You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia.

Rentez-Vous

J'adore this.

The concepts in their separate entities, i.e. clothing rental from stores, marketplaces and clothes sharing as social events, are not new.

However, peer to peer clothing rental is!

That is exactly what Rentez-Vous is all about and it has become very fashionable indeed in Paris and London no less.

The latest welcome addition to an increasing collaborative consumption movement, I hope that this will serve to demonstrate to high street and designer brands that rental and repair services are in demand and a rejig of the classic 'walk-into-a-shop-and-get-something-cheap-and-new-in-exchange-for-cash' model is fast becoming fatigued.

So, in a sexy voice (because sustainable fashion is super sexy), I say "Vivez la mode, ne la possedez pas!"

G-Star is Phar out...

No we are not in LA but we've gone plastic fantastic.

Pharrell is making the oceans happy by partnering with Dutch denim label G-Star Raw to produce a fashion collection made from recycled plastic. This puts waste to use whilst raising awareness of the plight of plastic pollution.

And thus dear Pharrell is making me happy too :)

Success!

What is the key to success?

One piece of life advice I have heard is to:

"Surround yourself with successful people, as you are the average of your five closest friends". 

I agree with this to an extent. However, I disagree if it is only used with the conventional definition of success: money and degree titles earned, job titles and promotions achieved, assets accumulated. 

Perhaps a more productive definition of success, and one that I would use, is life balance and the simultaneous creation of happiness in oneself and in others. In this sense, it certainly is fantastic to hang out with people who make you smile, make you feel that you can achieve great things and feed your energy, especially when you can do the same for them.  

It seems that many communities are recognising this too. GDP is no longer sufficient to measure the success of a country. Bhutan’s Happiness Index is one of many measures praised for acknowledging that it is the collective happiness of people that determines success. Many ‘liveable cities’ indices also use factors determining happiness in their measurement, as do measures of ‘the best companies to work for’ or ‘the best universities to go to’.

A successful, inspirational and very much loved Uncle of mine made a speech at a recent milestone birthday of his, which went something like this: "many have asked me what the secret of success is, and I tell them that it really is a simple formula: get enough sleep, eat healthily, exercise well and most importantly, spend quality time with your family and friends".

Yet another piece of advice from him is "always keep a bottle of champagne chilled in the fridge, ready to celebrate, as you never know when an occasion may occur!" 

You can decide what success looks like for you, but make sure you celebrate along the way!

Positive Luxury

Don't you just LOVE the word LUXURY?

For me it evokes images of beauty, glamour and sophistication, all three rolling around together in a vast high quality pool of bespoke comfort and exclusivity.

Well, what if feeling that good and looking that good also meant that you were doing good?

Positive Luxury is a membership organisation with an eco label called the Butterfly Mark. This mark is applied to high-end brands with a desire to make a difference in the world. With this symbol on a product, consumers can rest-assured that the company they are purchasing from is taking steps towards become more environmentally and socially sustainable.

Oooh. That sounds good to me.

Of course, The Butterfly Mark is not a 'one size fits all' stamp for eco-friendly perfection. Equally, it is not there to encourage guilt-free mass buy-outs of designer labels ('but, surely, the more I buy, the more I am saving the world?!')

Rather- and this is the part I really agree with- it is about praising companies who are not only conscious of their impacts but are making efforts to ensure that they are effectively measured and managed. I believe in this type of positive reinforcement in sustainable business, as it can also create competition.

Although many of the global affiliate brands are not making transformative (systemic or operational) sustainable change, there are also fully-fledged born-sustainable start-ups with the Butterfly Mark who can act as inspiration.

This is the part I really, really agree with: Positive luxury is supporting the ethos that living sustainably does not have to mean living in a cave and instead should and can enrich your life.

Just one more thing I like about Positive Luxury... Aussie dreamboat Adam Garcia is their Brand Ambassador...

It's as easy as ABC

Communicating sustainability is as easy as ABC.

The basic principles of how to communicate in the world of sustainable business are not rocket science. In fact, they are not dissimilar to the basic principles of how to communicate effectively in general.

I am working for Communicate Blue and have written this helpful and somewhat silly article for them. I think the principles can be applied to some situations in daily life too!

Champagne, Champagne!

Happy 2014!

How appropriate then that I have had over 14,000 page views to date. Thank you for your readership and support!

Apologies for the dead air my end- I have lately been a rolling stone gathering no moss in Australia, China, Malaysia, Singapore and now the UK (soon to be Singapore again).

My blog then did not recognise my location, nor did it recognise me (I have not changed that much, honest!) and through Holmes-level detective work I have only just managed to sign in again. So...champagne!

There is quite a backlog of exciting blog posts... I wonder what the abbreve of backlog is? I guess it would be...blog?! Or klog? There we go: my blog has a wee bit of a klog, soon to be remedied, not to worry.

In the meantime Happy New Year! May 2014 be filled with happiness, good health and hope.