Category: general

Raising Global Guardians: Ecologically Conscious, Positive and Kind Children

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Shaadee Mae Hippie in Disguise Plant dyed organic clothing

UPDATE: The Global Guardian Project in now a completely FREE online resource available to everyone.

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I have avoided writing this post, because I had hoped the Global Guardian Project would get the funding it needed without having to ask my loyal blog readers for help. But I need it, I need your help. We are now in the last 16 hours of our crowdfunding campaign and are not at our fundraising goal. We need your help to get there. Every dollar donated is invested into the project to create global sustainable education capsules and curricula for families and educators.

You can donate as little as $1 dollar. Starting at $5 you get a reward gift sent to you. Gifts include things like beautiful original art prints, world maps and digital magazines (you pick what gift you want). Please help sustain the work of the Global Guardian Project so we can keep our research and outreach going, in our collective effort to raise a generation of children who will be ecologically conscious, sustainable minded, kind leaders and positive changemakers.

I have written a lot about the Global Guardian Project on this blog, in the interest of keeping this post short I won’t go into more detail. I recommend you visit the Indiegogo page for our crowdfunding and watch the video we put together.

If you want to know more about the Global Guardian Project, please read my posts here, or ask me a question in the comments:

You can also learn more at the Global Guardian Project website.

Please help fund this project. If you don’t have $1 to spare, please share the link to the Crowdfunding campaign with friends.

Thank you very much.

On Marriage Equality and Explaining Gay Marriage to My Children

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Marriage equality floral heart love hippie in disguise

Life is busy and there’s just so much news out there that I’m not always on top of the key things happening around the world. So, I didn’t realize until recently that there was a vote happening in Australia on marriage equality. We’ve had marriage equality for about 15 years here in Canada, but I know there are many countries that don’t, so I wasn’t entirely surprised that Australia didn’t. What I was surprised (no, shocked) to learn was that marriage equality was being put to a vote. Like, a fundamental right – equality – is something that should be decided based on the popularity of the idea, rather than being a basic entitlement in life. What’s more, as someone who has worked with elected politicians, I was highly unimpressed that the Prime Minister of Australia – a world leader – didn’t have the leadership skills to do what is right, instead he chose to put fundamental rights to a vote. In politician speak this means he is too weak to make a tough decision that might disappoint his base so he went the route of “letting the people speak.” It’s sad and weak, and certainly not the behaviour of someone worthy of leading a country. But I digress.

So, I was chatting about the vote with a friend, and my kids (age 6 and 12) overheard the person say something to the effect of : “Well, gay marriage wasn’t always legal here.” My children stopped what they were doing and, stunned by this, Sen (my 6 year old) asked in a very confused tone: “Marriage wasn’t always legal?”

I said, “No, honey, gay marriage wasn’t legal at one time in the past.”

Remaining confused, he elaborated on his perplexity: “So, no one could get married?”

Then, Ronan, my older child added: “I’m so confused. I thought there was always marriage.”

I realized in this moment that my children don’t know the term ‘gay marriage’. Marriage of any kind is marriage to them – there is no marriage and gay marriage. They, in fact, thought that their dad and I were in a gay marriage, you know, like a happy marriage. To them, saying that gay marriage wasn’t allowed was the same as saying marriage wasn’t allowed, because they had no sub-categories of marriage types, marriage was two people getting married; end of story.

So, here’s the thing, in our parenting style and among our community of friends and family no one uses the term ‘gay marriage.’ It’s not an explicitly intentional omission, it’s just that we don’t really care or need to describe a union beyond the over-arching terms ‘marriage’ or ‘partners.’ I realized how beautiful this accident was because the children had no notion of there being subsets of marriage. Beautiful because, often times, when you start to distinguish groups and subsets from each other hierarchies emerge, norms are established. The simple lack of a descriptor before marriage shaped their perception and worldview on marriage. And what a beautiful perception they have.

The way we use (or don’t use) language is so important and shapes what we think, what we see as possibilities and what we see as boundaries. Language should free the imagination, not imprison it. It should open the heart, not enclose it.

Back to the story. So, I had to explain what gay marriage was to them. Basically, I explained that it meant that the two people getting married are of the same sex (which usually, but not always, aligns with their outwardly expressed gender). Meaning the definition of gay marriage came down to body parts. To which they reacted with complete confusion, astonishment and bewilderment, because why would the union of two people who share a life be described based on body parts you have no control over. Essentially, it came down to this: “That makes no sense and is totally unfair!”

I agree, guys, I agree.

So, once the idea of gay marriage set in for them and then the idea of people voting on whether to allow it started to process in their minds, their protests started. Rightly, they couldn’t believe that a country would leave it up to citizens to vote on who can get married, isn’t that fundamental right? Isn’t love a good thing? Don’t we want to be inclusive? Don’t we want to show people we care for them? Yes, yes, yes, all the yesses.

Children need parents to teach them things like how to cross the street safely, how to set an alarm clock and how to make their beds (so far my kids have 2 of those things perfected). But they absolutely do not need adults to teach them what is right, what is moral and how to be good people. Children innately know how to be good, they know how to be compassionate, kind, loving, trusting, and what’s more, they want to be these things. I see so much parenting and cultural conditioning that undoes this perfect state of mind children are born with. Adults need to turn to children, the younger the better, to learn how to live a good life. Because I’m pretty sure with a child’s perspective on life and love, this planet would be a peaceful, loving place, where marriage is always just marriage.

Danielle Chassin Hippie in Disguise Shabana Buwalda

Unpacking, Owning and Leveraging Privilege

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Danielle Chassin Hippie in Disguise Shabana Buwalda

Photo credit: Shabana Buwalda

I have the privilege of Caucasian skin tone

I have the privilege of Canadian citizenship

I have the privilege of roof and shelter

I have the privilege of mental health

I have the privilege of physical health

I have the privilege of a conventionally abled body

I have the privilege of literacy and language

I have the privilege of education

I have a privilege of geography

I have the privilege of stable employment

I have the privilege of 5 physical senses

I have the privilege of stable family

I have the privilege of heterosexuality

I have the privilege of species

I have the privilege of not knowing my other privileges

I want to say that I have the privilege of being a woman and mother, but these are not privileges in the sense of the word ‘privilege’ here.

Instead, I will cast them this way: I have the immense benefits that come from being a woman and mother, of mixed ethnicity and Indigenous descent. While these are not privileges in the contemporary sense and certainly not in every space, place and forum, they are gifts for the awareness, compassion, understanding and open-mindedness they cultivate and require to survive and thrive in spite of these dimensions of being that are unjustly devalued. I own and cherish these aspects of myself that bring challenge and struggle, but I also own my privilege. I have to admit, own, and dismantle the unfair benefits I reap from my many privileges. I have to leverage my privilege to the benefit of others, not myself.

Unchecked privilege permits us to look the other way, to be silent, to be too tired or too busy to act. Please understand that if you feel as though you can dismiss this, then you are privileged.

I am privileged. Let’s stop being afraid to say it! I am privileged.

But, let’s be afraid, ashamed and embarrassed when we do nothing with our privilege but serve ourselves. I can’t change most aspects of my privilege, but I can change how I use and leverage it.

Privilege is a form of domination. While it is impossible to exist outside domination (power relations) – and, all of us, in one way or another, dominate someone or something — we need to recognize, call out, and awaken ourselves to domination. We need to dismantle it whenever we can. We need to shift and share power. (For those of you afraid to share power, please remember: Power is like love. When you give it away, you don’t have any less of it, in fact, sometimes it grows.) Don’t be afraid to share power, be empowered to.

The fact that we can’t step outside domination, does not validate any and all forms of domination. Do not let anyone persuade you to think that because domination is ever-present that it is also necessarily right or justified or that it can’t be diminished. I dominate grass when I step on it. I dominate flowers when I pick them for art-making and home décor. I dominate pears when I choose to kill and eat them for my own survival. These are not the same as other forms of domination, but they are domination and I have to admit and own that. (And, one of them is absolutely unnecessary). I have to ask myself how I can shift, share or relinquish power in these and other instances? My relationship to the pear, should awaken and inform me about my relationship to all others, human and non-human.

Once you’ve checked your privilege (is it white privilege? it is religious privilege? is it gender privilege?) please remember this is only the beginning. Acknowledging privilege is step one. It’s not a test you pass and then you’re done. It is ongoing: it is daily work, attention and care. Does that sound exhausting? It can be. But you know what? When we all work together, we can do hard things. Let’s support each other in the work of unpacking and dismantling privilege.

So, you’re working on deconstructing your white/male/religious/… privilege? Great. You’re not done. Next, please acknowledge that you have many dimensions of privilege and work on the rest of them. One of the biggest blindspots in discussion of privilege is species privilege. We must as a species acknowledge and dismantle the unfair advantage we take from nonhuman animals, plants and ecosystems. We are not better or more important than them. We simply aren’t. If that makes you uncomfortable, sit with that. Privilege isn’t all fun and games.

Finally, please don’t wait for the perfect time, place or way to start talking about privilege. Perfection is an illusion and excuse. We need to challenge cultural expectations of perfection and flawlessness, so that we can move forward, do the work and make important, overdue changes. Please do not let perfection paralyze you on this topic, or in life in general.

What are your privileges? And will you leverage them for the benefit of others?

And, please, feel free to tell me which privileges of my own I’ve not woken up to. But it’s not your job to educate me, I know.

Danielle Chassin Hippie in Disguise Shabana Buwalda

Giveaway: Global Guardian Project Subscription and Wall Art

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Hippie in Disguise Global Guardian Project Wild and Free Children

One year ago, my friend Rebecca launched the Global Guardian Project, a not-for-profit organization committed to helping parents and educators raise ecologically conscious, environmentally educated children. GGP is involved in a number of education and outreach activities, but a main component of their work is producing a monthly interactive e-magazine (‘capsule’) for parents and children that teaches how to respect and protect the planet.  The e-magazine is interactive, because in addition to articles, lessons, interviews, recipes and other written content, there are also videos, podcasts, art project downloads and worksheets for homeschoolers; in total every capsule has over 50-pages of activities and educational content. Although the e-magazine is aimed at educating children, many adults have said they love to read the capsules and have learned way more than they expected from them. With each capsule focusing on a different country, worldschoolers have found the capsules really helpful for digging into local learning while travelling.

Here are a few sample pages from the Israel capsule (click to see an enlarged image):

In addition to the monthly capsules, GGP also publishes special topic capsules that can be bought individually, for example: global recipes, zero waste living, honey bees, American National Parks and more.

This week, to help Rebecca celebrate the Global Guardian Project’s first birthday, I’ve teamed up with her to *giveaway* a 6-month subscription to the Global Guardian Learning Capsules and your choice of a beautiful 24×18 world map wall art print from the Global Guardian shop. All Global Guardian maps are original art work by Rebecca and are amazing to use in combination with the learning capsules, as children learn about countries, plants and animals from all around the world, and see and learn how to locate them on the map.

global guardian project world map homeschool curriculum

You can read more about Global Guardian Project *learning capsules* in my post here. In a nutshell, the Global Guardian Project creates educational materials focused on global stewardship for families and children, home educators and anyone who loves to learn about the world and help make it a better place. Each month subscribers receive a learning capsule by email focused on a country and its wild life. To date, 12 capsules have been published covering: Brazil, Rwanda, India, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Colombia, Argentina, Israel, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Thailand. Future capsules will feature other countries including Egypt, Japan, Australia, England and many more. Each capsule includes beautiful photography, facts and information about the country, it’s wildlife, global change makers, young activists and inspiring people, recipes, vocabulary and much more. There are also art projects and free digital downloads, podcasts, videos and guided meditation recordings.

Join the Global Guardian movement and raise more ecologically conscious, compassionate children. If you don’t win the subscription, please consider buying a subscription and support global education and outreach related to sustainable, peaceful living.

UPDATE: The Global Guardian Project in now a completely FREE online resource available to everyone

To enter the giveaway:

  • Subscribe to the Global Guardian Project email list here, you’ll get no more than one email a week, often less
  • Leave me a comment on this blog post, on my Facebook post or my Instagram post about the giveaway, to let me know you added your name to the email list
  • For a bonus entry: “Like” and comment on the Instagram giveaway photo
  • For a bonus entry: Share this blog post
  • For a bonus entry: Share my Facebook post about this
  • For a bonus entry: Repost my Instagram post about this with hashtag #ggpXhippieindisguise

Contest closes Sunday August 13, 2017 at midnight (Pacific Standard Timezone) and is open worldwide. Good luck friends!

UPDATE: The winning name was drawn and the winner contacted for their prize. Congratulations Rhiannon!

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Kindness is the Way

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Originally posted to my Instagram account on November 9, 2016, the day Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States of America.

Hippie in Disguise Kindness Mabo Nico Nico Kids on the Moon Wild flowers

 

My first thought this morning, after learning the outcome of the American election, was that I didn’t want to diminish the relevance of this event by posting my thoughts to social media. I felt as though, to some extent our cultural distraction with social media is one of the problems that contributed in no small way to the character of our global political challenges. Depending on the day, Facebook is the most popular website in the world. Instagram has over 300 million daily users. These are by far the most relevant places to communicate – and therefore are the place, the stage, to say important things to [potentially] lots of people. To speak up on social media is not to debase the conversation, it is to cast one’s net of influence as wide as possible. And so…

I am troubled by reactions to a Republican win that encourage divisiveness, in social media speak “unfriending” – this is tantamount to building a wall, a wall that many people were, rightfully, deeply offended by the concept of. If divisiveness brought about this situation, divisiveness will not solve it. We all need to work harder to understand each other, to listen to our foes, to listen to people who think differently from us and to find a way to live together.

Reflections from great thinkers who have lived the experience of hate, violence and oppression push me to think that engagement rather than withdrawal is the path:

  • “Darkness cannot drive our darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” –Martin Luther King jr.
  • “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then s/he becomes your partner.” Nelson Mandela
  • “If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friend. You talk to your enemies.” –Desmond Tutu
  • “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” –Dalai Lama

Please let this event be the pressure we need to pursue kindness whenever possible, to make kindness the way.

With much love to each and every one of you, Danielle

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Luv Mother Mthr Merino clothing Hippie in Disguise Cape Cod

Back to School Giveaway with Luv Mother Merinos

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Luv Mother Mthr Merino clothing Hippie in Disguise Cape Cod

To celebrate back-to-school and the changing of the seasons here in Canada I am hosting a special giveaway with Luv Mother over on their Instagram account!

Luv Mother makes merino clothing and accessories for children. I am very particular about the source of our clothing. Luv Mother produces their clothing ethically. You can read about their sourcing and process here. Not only is their product made ethically they also do all sorts of extras to make sure they are operating in as sustainable a way as possible:

  • They buy carbon offsets for their shipping footprint
  • They package with recyclable and compostable materials — and no plastics!
  • They save all fabric scraps from production and re-purpose them, for example by sharing them with artists
  • The list goes on…

We are a vegan family and although wool is an animal product we have opted to include it in our wardrobe because we feel that when *truly* ethically sourced it has a much lower environmental impact than other fibres. Did you know that you can wear a wool item up to 100 times without washing it? Think of all the water and energy saved! Did you know that wool is biodegradable? When it’s life is over (although it has a long life) it nourishes soil. Many synthetic fabrics contain plastics which never ever break down, which in turn harms ecosystems and all the plants and animals that are part of it.

Giveaway:

Luv Mother would like to giveaway a three-piece outfit of your choice to one person following their Instagram account!

Luv Mother Mthr Merino clothing grid

To enter, visit the Luv Mother Instagram account (rules are explained there too) and look for the giveaway photo, and make sure to:

  • Follow @luvmthr on Instagram
  • Like and comment on the giveaway photo
  • For extra entries: Tag friends in the comments, separate each friend into a different comment so that it is easier for me to make the ballots ???? No limit to number of friends tagged.

Contest closes Monday September 5, 2016 at midnight and is open worldwide. Good luck friends!

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Have you subscribed to the Global Guardian Project yet? These are monthly learning capsules for children and their families to learn about global stewardship. Each month features a different country’s wild life, landscape and challenges, and includes art projects, activities, meditation, recipes and more! Use my discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE for 10% off and read more about it here.

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Global Guardian Project Hippie in Disguise Fouremki

The Global Guardian Project: Home Learning

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Global Guardian Project Hippie in Disguise Fouremki

Raising kind, caring, responsible humans is really important to me. I know I’m not alone in this. My goal as a mother is to raise my children to not only care for other humans, but to care for plants, animals and the planet. It’s not just about human survival, it’s about doing the right thing, and to me that means caring for all life.

Since January I’ve been working with my friend Rebecca on an idea she called the Global Guardian Project. Rebecca’s dream was to launch a global stewardship learning capsule for children, families and educators. The capsule would contain facts and information, activities, art projects, challenges, and inspiration for children to learn about the planet and how to take better care of it. Each month a new capsule would focus on a different country, it’s flora and fauna, endangered species, local advocacy organizations and so on. The goal is to educate children and inspire them to become little change makers: Global Guardians.

I’m excited to tell you that this idea has come to life! The first learning capsule on Brazil will start going out to inboxes tomorrow!

Global Guardian Project Discount Code Hippie in disguise brazil learning capsule

Global Guardian Project Discount Code Hippie in disguise brazil learning capsule

While my children attend public school, there are always subjects they take a special interest in or that I want to expose them to, so I’m happy to have these monthly capsules to feed their inquiring minds about all the beautiful places around the world and how our actions can affect the whole planet in a positive way. I imagine that homeschooling families will also find these very useful in their home education. While the capsules are intended for children roughly aged 4-8, my children are 5 and 11 (and quite brilliant if you ask me!) and they’ve enjoyed the capsules start to finish.

Since we read the free sample capsule on Oceans (get it here), which talks about many things, including the dangers of plastic for sea animals, Sen has become positively obsessed with picking up stray garbage. And I say positively because he feels happy and empowered by his actions. He gets excited about making a difference. While it might feel a little inconvenient when we are biking around town and he calls out “Hit the brakes! I see a plastic cup!” it’s also pretty amazing and a little action I can’t deny him and should probably do more myself.

Aside from facts and other written information, like vocabulary lists, the capsules contain videos about children who are making a difference, for example, children working to protect turtle populations. My children know about Jane Goodall and other inspiring humans, but no one inspires them more than other children, so the videos have really touched their hearts and minds in a new way.

Each capsule also contains an audio recording (with a text version too) of a meditation for children. There are art projects and printable downloads to work with. There are plans to include more in the capsules each month, so stay tuned, there will be local recipes and historical figures and much more coming soon!

If you would like to sign up for the capsules I have a discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE that will give you 10% off. However for today only (August 11, 2016) my code will give you 20% off. Click here to sign up.

  • The monthly cost is $14.99 (minus my discount) and you can cancel at anytime and will only ever pay for the capsules you received.

Bonus: Subscribers will get a gorgeous world map digital download emailed to them to use with the monthly capsules. The map is also available printed on beautiful archival art paper for purchase in the GGP shop. Below you’ll see a copy of the map with the downloadable art for the month affixed to Brazil.

Global Guardian Project Discount Code Hippie in disguise global map project

Please leave a comment if you have any questions or know of other great resources like this.

If you want to see what other parents are saying about the Global Guardian Project visit here.

UPDATE: The Global Guardian Project is currently crowdfunding to support the project. Please consider supporting the work, as little as $1 will help! Crowdfunding ends October 20th, 2017!

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Sarah's Silks Rainbow Scape Hippie in Disguise

Giveaway: Sarah’s Silks

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Sarah's Silks Rainbow Scape Hippie in Disguise
Today I have a special giveaway with Sarah’s Silks over on my Instagram account! Sarah’s Silks makes the loveliest play things inspired by Waldorf learning. Sarah is known for her play silks: beautiful silk (cotton is available too) fabrics dyed in different colours for imaginative play. You will be pleasantly surprised by how creative children are with a piece of fabric! I could not tell you how many different ways my children have played with theirs — it really goes to show how open-ended play things are so much more inspiring to children. Sarah also makes lovely costumes, crowns and other dress up items (including a new unicorn headband!). Her shop also has string and wooden toys and other new items are always being added. Best of all, everything is handmade from natural materials. I always recommend Sarah’s silks to anyone looking for a gift idea for children.

Sarah would like to giveaway a $50 shop credit to one of my Instagram followers. I want to win this one!

To enter, visit my Instagram account (rules are explained there too) and look for the giveaway photo, and make sure to:

  • Follow @sarahssilks
  • Follow me @hippieindisguise
  • Like and comment on the giveaway photo
  • For extra entries: Tag friends in the comments, separate each friend into a different comment so that it is easier for me to make the ballots ???? No limit to number of friends tagged.

Contest closes Sunday August 14, 2016 at midnight and is open worldwide. Good luck friends!

sarah's silks playsilks waldorf toys
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Wilde Asher Mala Sacred Jewellery

Giveaway: Wilde Asher Malas for Women and Children

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Today I have a beautiful giveaway with Wilde Asher over on my Instagram account! My friend Sophie is one of the owners of Wilde Asher, a small online shop stocking lovely handmade and ethically sourced goods, including sacred jewellery and home decor. The lovely women behind Wilde Asher would like to giveaway two malas: one women’s Chakra Mala and one children’s mala. By the way, you can read about Sophie’s beautiful creative, earth-centred life in Australia in my interview with her here.

Wilde Asher Mala Sacred Jewellery

To enter the giveaway, visit my Instagram account (rules are explained there too) and look for the photo above, and make sure to:

  • Follow @wildeasher
  • Follow me @hippieindisguise
  • Like and comment on the giveaway photo
  • For extra entries: Tag friends in the comments, separate each friend into a different comment so that it is easier for me to make the ballots 🙂 No limit to the number of friends tagged. Each friend counts for an additional entry.

Contest closes Friday July 15, 2016 at midnight and is open worldwide. Good luck friends!

But wait, there’s more! Wilde Asher would like to offer my readers and followers a $30 AUD discount on their Chakra Malas. Quite generous! Find their collection of malas online here.

  • You can use the discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE for $30 off your mala.

Website Changes Coming: Please follow me on Bloglovin to Stay Connected

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Hello dear readers, friends, subscribers, 

In the coming days some changes will be made to my site that mean I will lose my WordPress Followers and email subscribers. For those of you *kind enough* and interested enough in following along, I ask that you please follow me on Bloglovin.

Bloglovin is a free app and free access website for following blogs. You don’t need to have a blog to use the site and follow people. It is a lovely platform and I’ve found lots of great blogs through it.

So, here’s how to follow me on Bloglovin:

  • Either visit the website: Bloglovin or download the free app from the App Store.
  • It takes about 30 seconds to 2 minutes to set up your account, it really is super easy!
  • Next find me “Hippie in Disguise” and click follow.
  • Feel the positive vibes and happy thoughts coming your way from me to you!

If Bloglovin really isn’t your thing, please send me an email – hippieindisguise1@gmail.com –  and I can add you to my new email subscriber list. But I think you’ll like Bloglovin 🙂

Thank you very much!

Your readership and support means a lot to me. I’m hoping to grow this space in new ways through these changes, but I don’t want to lose my readers and followers who’ve gotten me to this place today. Thank you for reading, commenting, sharing, and loving.

xo, Danielle

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