Detox Shack

There is this teenie tiny shop in Leicester Main Street called the Detox Shack that serves juices, smoothies and food and more. 

The more is the capabilities of the host to ask questions to its customers directly to create a connection and to remind them that their body and mind is their temple and they can take care of it by choosing the food they eat and the thoughts they think. He invites us to feel blessed for the things we receive and at peace with whatever comes up. The place and all its trinkets with positive messages written on them are also there to remind us those values. He does not preach. It is when the customer asks him questions that his wisdom shines through.

Ask a question and you will get a story that weaves itself with yours.

As I listened to him and how at peace he was and all the kind words he spoke, I reflected upon another place I visited that was also wonderful in colours and design and yet the words spoken by the staff members about the failings of their colleagues dampened my perceptions of the place. I'll definitely return to the Detox Shack for another detox talk yet not sure if I am looking forward to the toxic place.

For building community, our role as host needs to be authentic, peaceful and strive to enhance every single parts of our community as much as we can, their gifts talents and abilities, we need to continue asking questions so that eventually we find the right places for each member to shine through. Our expectations on what people should do needs to remain low regardless of their title so that we can be surprised and appreciative of what they bring on the table.

Toxicity comes from misplaced expectations put on others that they cannot possibly meet. it is a distortion. the detox is seeing thins as they are which ultimately not knowing so we can give it all a benefit of the doubt. x

Writing a book about Leicester Fixers and Repair

Writing a book for a general audience came into my awareness for few weeks now with friends suggesting to turn my doctorate into a book. Then, I was invited to celebrate a girlfriend birthday in Nottingham. Unable to drive to the destination, I was picked up by a newly published author. We spoke all the way there and back about the process of writing a book and some of steps involved in delivering the written product. In the evening. I discussed some of the elements with another friend who told me that she will help me find the necessary funding to make this happen. My first book is about Leicester Fixers, Repair, the Doctorate and more. I want to be able to raise some funding to continue and expand the development of sustainable communities within Leicester,  Leicestershire and Rutland. Through the book, I want to be able to raise necessary funds to do this. Fingercrossed, this will be possible. 

If you would like to support me with this project, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Dear Councillors of Leicester, Please Say NO to a new Road at the Full Council Debate on the 4th October

Dear Councillors of Leicester,

I am contacting you as one of your constituents to ask you to speak in favour of the removal of the Evesham Road/Aylestone Road link road from the Leicester Local Plan at the council debate to be held on 4th October 2018.

I go to Eversham Road every Tuesday for my violin lesson on Heyworth Road from Braunstone Frith. From there, I go to a community of repairers: The Leicester Hackspace in the Faircharm Industrial Estate to work on various projects to help people in Leicester to engage further with trying to repair items in their home. Over the summer, I went to the pebble pool on Aylestone Meadows with my nephews and greatly enjoyed it.

Recently, I was made aware that there is a plan to make a link between Evesham Road and Aylestone Road.  I was disappointed to hear so. The road will erase some of the historical and social fabric of the space people have been living in for decades. It will also impact tremendously on the natural environment surrounding it. I am thinking about Aylestone Meadows and the river corridor, but not only. What about air pollution which is recognised to kill people as they ingest fumes from cars? Did you know that there is St Mary Fields Primary school not far from where they are planning to build a road? What a poor example for children living in the area to see that their city favour cars over their health?

My main concern with this road stems from my experience living in Braunstone Frith where I can see the impact of social and economic deprivation. I believe that building a road does not solve this particular issue, it will induce more traffic for sure but will it really enhance the lives of people living where those cars are passing through?

Seeing cars every day before your eyes make one believe that having a car is the only way to make it in this life. It just increases the feeling of unworthiness when actually if we had better transport links and cycling routes around Leicester, people could feel more empowered to direct their lives. It will save them money and they will pay more attention to their direct environment. 

We shall also inspire them to create cultural, sport and artistic events in their local areas and/or create local businesses that benefit people living directly in their area. Instead of encouraging them to travel further and farther from where they live to create connections with work colleagues who have no clue about their living situation.

It is sad for me to think that some citizen in Leicester who tend to travel by car to go from their home to work do not realise the richness of their town (natural, historical, social and economic environment) as they are so siloed by their own personal goals. It is also sad that the council is perpetuating such a false concept by planning more roads. It is believed that building a road may improve citizen personal situation. Yet, it is not! because they become more isolated since they have no or little connection with people they work with and little connection with people they live with. 

For example, my husband travels by car every morning for 30minutes from our home to get to work. When he comes back, he has no energy to get involved in our local area. He has no connection with the people living here in Braunstone Frith and no connection with the people he works with. I am lucky to be able to work in Leicester for most of the week. I only go to Loughborough to work with the university there. Otherwise, I cycle, take the bus, walk and only when I need to transport big items do I use the car. I am richer because of it. I meet people in the local area, they recognise me, sometimes they approach me to ask me questions. I recently learnt about Braunstone Park Run. My husband lived in Braunstone Frith for the last 15 years, he had no idea. 

I can also see the opportunities that there is in the local area to create events or businesses. You would not have those ideas if you are always on the road and obviously if you do not have the time to educate yourself. Having to travel less definitely provide ones with more time to think about what they want and how to get there by collecting all the information they need. A road ultimately does not pass knowledge from one area to another if people have no connection with the people living next to them. In other words, it has very little economic value for people living there. Please read p.6. of the End of the Road Briefing on the Economics of New Road for more information.

I believe that we share a concern for people's health but also recognise the extent to which community events participate in strengthening the cultural and social fabric between the members of a community and this has economic value. It increases their loyalty to the area. And so I hope you will support my views by speaking out at the upcoming debate and help to get this plan off the map once and for all with a firm commitment by the council to consult with Leicester residents on what should be done with the land and property protected for possible road development.

Why do we want a firm commitment by the council to remove this plan from the map? It is because building this road has been a recurring plan in the past two decades. In the early 90s, The council tried to build in this area and was countered by a strong opposition. Last year 2017, the plan came up again.

You would argue that there is currently no official and formal plan by the council to build a road. However, I think that they do have an intention to build a road and this is considering that Cllr Adam Clarke signed of the funding bid for the opening of Putney Road and I will quote the council p.8 of the same document: "Leicester City Council is considering a future scheme whereby Evesham Road would be extended to provide a direct link (new vehicular bridge over River Soar and canal) between the A426 Aylestone Road and the A5460 Narborough Road and M1/J21. There are very few river crossings in the south of the city (namely Upperton Road and Middleton Street) and providing this link would free up those congested routes across the river. The Putney Road link would greatly enhance the viability of building the Evesham Road link."

Can you see where my concern is? There may be no official plan yet. But for me the ''intention'' is alarming and so everytime a consultation will be put forward, this recurring plan will come back to haunt Leicester constituents.

What I would really love to see is for the council to share and make the same commitment of its constituents in Aylestone and across its various wards and areas to promote and protect their green environment, considering them as lungs of the city.

Lungs are the most important part of the human body and we say that smoking kills, remember cars' moke do kill people too and so the Lungs of Leicester - its Green areas - are worth protecting from harm.

It is with this official commitment by the council to protect this area that our efforts in reaching out to you and other councillors will be rewarded.

We should work to encourage people to use their car less and not the contrary.

I will appreciate that you take my concern into considerations and share with your fellow councillors the opportunities that can be created in protecting what we have so dear.

x

Blacklist

It may be time to create a blacklist of companies to avoid and definitely refuse to  work for:
- Those which are more than 3 miles than my home
- Those which does not allow me to work from home
- Those which does not allow me to work fewer hours
- Those which pollute with no sorry
- Those with negative employee reviews
- Those which do not design products that are repairable
- Those which do not put the wellbeing of their staff first
what else, add to the list

Mustard Seed Gathering - Are you a gardener or a litterer

I went to the beach with approximately 500 people who were all part of the same community of church goers from the Mustard Seed Chapel International

It was my first time witnessing how church communities organise themselves and I was well impressed by the community feel, the love and support they give to one another.
I found myself with people coming from different corners of England to meet on Bridlington Beach in North Yorkshire.

The beach was beautiful and calm as we arrived. Before we knew it, music was blasting, children were laughing, waste was everywhere to be found, barbecues were smoking.

Pure process of destruction before my eyes.

At the day drew to an end and the fellows left the beach. Their presence was still felt as we could find plastic bags, food, children toys everywhere.

I was disappointed and groaned: ''How unthoughtful?''

I liaised back the information to my friend and her leader.

I was met with the questions '' Are you an environmentalist? ''

I paused...

''Most people do not think environmentally..''

 I answered

''Most people thought that church goers were the most thoughtful and wise individuals respecting the planet on which they are on and their fellow humans...Aren't you the gardeners of the eden park growing and harvesting the souls?... dear friend, it is becoming dry, hell on earth is coming!''

Part 3: No Water to Draw with or the Colours of Water

The Cosmic Blink
It was in a blink of an eye that a cosmic change happened.
Something changed.
Something got broken.
A water pipe in their neighbourhood burst, letting out a rainbow of colours.

1,2,3 blink, they wake up, walk like a zombie to the bathroom, no water.
1,2,3 blink, they change their mind, they change the way they see the world, the world has changed
They are now faced with a cosmos of possibilities and uncertainties.
A Rainbow of colours

One by one asks: Do we have water in the cupboard?
One by one walks to the corner shop: Do they still have water?
Blood is boiling inside their vessel as one by one, transparent bottles are travelling out of the store.
Questions spiral out of order in their black box:
How long is it going to last for? Who would help me if things get worse!

1,2,3, blink,  they buy two bottles, they walk up to their neighbour, they stand in front of their door.
1,2,3, blink, they change their mind, they change the way they see the stranger, they are me, I am they.
They can only see one way
A light with no fractal

One by one, they knock on their neighbour door
One by one, they are welcomed with a smile and a thank you.
The water comes back
The world has not collapsed
The relief they feel.

1,2,3, blink, the neighbour brings them some chocolate cake to thank them for their kindness.
1,2,3, blink, What they knew was dead, they changed when reaching out, The Cosmos was reconfigured

in a blink...

When there were no water on Braunstone Frith, 30th July 2018

Part 2: The Colours of Water or No Water to Draw with

Having identified, the colourless, blue, deeper blue, red and green colours of water, let share another shade and tone.

When there is no water to draw, one can see brown. The world turns upside down.

It is exactly what happened when upon going to the toilet to do number two, she realises that there is no water. She thought that having a dried toilet outside would have been good to have right now. But when she talked about it in the past, he thought that this was too unconventional and people would think that they were weirdos. So it was never put in place. As for now, the conversation goes:

W: ''I have a dilemma''
M: ''Which one?''
W: ''I need to go to the toilet to fulfil my needs but there is no water so the brown will not disappear''
M: ''You were right, we shall I built a toilet facility outside''
W: ''Thanks for recognising the value of my third eye for disaster''
M: ''What to do then?''
W: ''We will have a levitating shade of brown until the water comes back''
M: ''if water does come back...'
W: ''Let's hope so, in the meantime, let's build the dry toilet''

When there was no water in Braunstone Frith Leicester on 30th July 2015

Part 4: The Colours of Water or No Water to Draw with

Selah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPkcpGmflE

Part 1 : No Water to Draw with or the Colours of Water

While relatively small quantities of water appear to be colourless, pure water has a slight blue colour that becomes a deeper blue as the thickness of the observed sample increases. The blue hue of water is an intrinsic property and is caused by selective absorption and scattering of white light.

When there is no water to draw, one can see blood. 
The world turns upside down.

It is exactly what happened when upon getting into the shower, he realises that there is no water. He goes down to the kitchen, no water. He goes up to the sink tap, no water.


M: ''I love my water''
W: ''Do you?''
M:''Yes, I like the feel on my skin, I like my big shower, It is like being in Africa right now.''
W: ''We have a bottle of water downstairs, you can brush your teeth with''
M: ''Thanks. Did I take a shower last night? Yes I did!''
W: ''Moving forward, let's buy some water bottles, so we are ok when there is no supply''
M: ''Good idea''
W: ''This gives me one more reason to collect water from our roof plus our greywater, I'll call the plumber today''
M: ''Good idea''
W: ''So the garden stays green when it dries up and your eyes do not turn red when there is no more''
M: ''I like my big shower, the transparent droplet of water on my skin, it gets me calm like the deep blue at sea''.



When there was no water in Braunstone Frith Leicester on 30th July 2015

Bin the bin! Can you? Not yet, Join Footpaths Leicester

Movement of zero waste bloggers, forums of discussion is everywhere to be found. 

They probably multiply faster than the waste in your home.

Why?

Because it is time to take responsibilities for the plastic, fabric and other material resources in our home.

If you do not need those stuff, why have it in the first place? Bin your bin instead.

You cannot yet.

Start easy and follow the 5 Rs. In order:

Refuse what you do not need.

Reduce what you do not need

Reuse by using reusable

Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce or reuse

Rot (compost the rest)

and if it is too hard to do it on your own, join others on a journey of self-discovery.

My own journey started with Footpaths, a carbon reduction programme, which allowed me to meet people and get support to reduce my personal footprint. Waste was part of the course and well did I change indeed. Have a look.

Let's live together

Most families around the world live in communities. 

In the western world, this concept has been replaced by a single-family household. Yet, the latter struggle to meet their needs through the ages. With a young family, parents are overstretched with family and work commitment. The olds struggle with illnesses and social isolation. 

What can possibly be done? Well, let's live together. 

Look up co-housing and specifically retrofit co-housing so we can start where we are to build the community that we dream of.

Fashionably Compassionate Romantic - Fight against the elements and fracking

2pm - Leicester City Centre - Highcross - Saturday - It is a bit windy - I am wearing a hat, a coat, a scarve, a jean and some proper shoes. I am going to spend the next three hours outside, I better be warm. I am fighting against the elements and for a frack free world.

I am with Friends of the Earth in front of Barclays with a stand. Our banner says 'Frack Free Leicestershire Network. Our main purpose is to raise awareness on fracking, Barclays investment in a company planning to frack beautiful Ryedale in North Yorkshire and the other plan possibly being drawn for Leicestershire. I have a clip board in my hand to get passers to sign a petition to halt fracking in the UK. I am in good spirit. They will understand.

I notice that my dress code is at odd with saturday afternoon shopping spree. Most people wear a t-shirt, light jumper, jean or skirts, lipsticks and eyeshadows. The dress code has a purpose, they will be in and out of shops. They do not need to stand outside for long and they have to look as beautiful as the people in the pictures. I look different, maybe aggressive or like partner says 'too green'. I tell passers repeatedly 'Did you know that Barclays has investment to frack North Yorkshire'. I must make them feel guilty.

Yet, I want to work with anyone I meet, people of Leicester, to ensure that we are moving in a positive direction building our institutions like Rousseau would say on Compassion, protecting our beautiful land and people because we are terribly romantic. I promise that next time I will play dress up and look as good as some of the people in the street. The Fashionably Compassionate Romantic will probably get more attention and acceptance.

It is almost 5pm, we had approximately 90 signatures. We were at least 9 at any hour trying to get people signed. In other world, we had approximately 3 signatures per person per hour, 20 minutes of anguish in between. My spirit went up and down. They do not all understand.

What is fracking some ask me? Others smile but do not want to talk to me. They do not have time. Their hands are too full. It is difficult to hold a pen to sign if you are holding the world in your hands or too many shopping bags.

Revised on 14th March - we had 90 signatures as opposed to 40 - so much better!

Restart Party Host profile: Meet Marie

Published on Restart Project

My name is Marie Lefebvre. I co-founded with Divya Pujara, Leicester Fixers in 2014 with the support of Footpaths, a carbon footprint project, Leicester Hackspace and Transition Leicester. Other little things about myself, I am not a repairer yet I am absolutely delighted every time an electrical item gets opened and I can see inside it. I am also a Ph.D student at Loughborough University investigating the propensity of users of stuff to repair. I love each and every Restart Party because I always learn something new and meet lovely people.

Ingenious humility changes everything - This Changes Everything Showing Aftermath

Published on Footpaths Leicester

The room was full of people ready to witness images of people across the world fighting to live in a world where the land from which they sustain themselves from can be protected and cared for.

This Changes Everything documentary is a snapshot of the battle between capitalism and climate, between capitalism and people as described in more details in the book 'This Changes Everything' by Naomi Klein.

The New Mobile Phone Dilemma PART 2

This Saturday at the Restart Party, we haven't managed to repair my poor mobile phone (PART 1).
Luckily, one of the members of the Hackspace have a spare one that is happy to lend me until I am able to repair my own. I accept gratefully.

I get home and get myself two spares part to replace the screen on my mobile phone.
They arrived at home.
I put them in a drawer.
They stay there.

The current mobile phone that was lent to me is perfectly convenient for the time being.

I forget to bring the replacement screen at the next restart party and I come to learn that the person who lent me the mobile phone has gone and will never come back to Leicester and I will not find a way to give it back to him.

I accept fate.

Months pass by and I never manage to repair my old mobile phone. it is somewhere in a drawer with its spare parts.
I forget about it. I have a working phone in my hands.

Until this Sunday morning after having repaired the bottom drawer of a cupboard, the screw driving machine fell on my borrowed mobile phone...

Forget Short Showers

Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday; or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons; or that dancing around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Then why now, with all the world at stake, do so many people retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”? Why are these “solutions” not sufficient? But most importantly, what can be done instead to actually stop the murder of the planet?

The description of the video 'Forget Short Showers' just reminded me how insane I am and how a lot of people are too (Inside Voice: just look around you for a minute, they are all craaayyy, they don't want to admit it, what abt you?)

The insanity can be summarised into keeping ourselves busy with personal endeavour to tackle climate change (embracing simple eco-living with low carbon footprint impact) instead of joining the climate resistance movement making corporations and governments more accountable and ensuring that they are not destroying environmental habitats from which human beings sustain themselves from. Simple living is good but for systemic change to occur at all levels needs to be combined with political actions.

Watch the video and have a think about what you do everyday to be more in touch with the reality of how social change happens...Video Link > https://youtu.be/m2TbrtCGbhQ

Repair - Diary Entry (1) Green Festival of Making & Mending Leicester

Since September 2014, My main project focus has been on repair.

I have been working with Zina, founder of Footpaths, a carbon reduction project in Leicester to organise the Green Festival of Making & Mending on the 31st October 2015 and a serie of events throughout 2015. Our main aim was to introduce people to ingenious ideas to repair and upcycle items in an environmentally friendly way. The event idea stemmed the recognition of our own vulnerabilities. Zina and I were not really the creative/diy type. For me, personally, my hands were only used as so far for typing and some random drawing but never to make something tangible. Maybe they were but I never appreciated their magnificence.

Is gold in our hands?

A year working on festival and following up to that, I mended all my clothes, darned socks and gloves, repaired a mobile phone, made a rag rug and a banner, painted signs, made sculptures out of papers and christmas decorations, repaired pieces of furnitures, shortened curtains.

My hands saved pennies and more...

They connected me to so many people with the skills in Leicester that are willing to share their knowledge and crafts.

I wish they would save the many people across the planet sewing and making clothes and homeware , making furnitures and electrical items everyday for pennies. But the day will come,- I am sure.

To learn more about Footpaths - www.leicesterfootpaths.org.uk

The New Mobile Phone Dilemma PART 1

Every 6 Weeks, I organised a Restart Party at Leicester Hackspace along with a number of amateur/professional repairers.

My first trial at repairing an item was a mobile phone.

The poor thing painfully fell in the middle of the street as I was cycling home after a gorgeous meal with friends in an Indian restaurant. The screen was cracked and my belly was full.

I was paired up with a bald head man quite tall. He is related to one of my acquaintance who is really involved in environmental campaigning in Leicester. He is warm and a very good pedagogue. He never repaired a mobile phone like mine before. We know that there are plenty of guides online. Together we decide to give it a go.

I am smiling and cheering as we are trying to open the piece of equipments. How wonderful those green and copper pieces are assembled together. It looks beautiful, a real piece of art. We take off all the parts to reach the front screen. We replace it. We put all the pieces back together. Turn the phone on. It is not working. We are scratching our head asking ourselves what went wrong.
We reopen it, take all the piece out. Here it is, we damaged the LCD screen as we were trying to take out the front screen.

He is very sorry and feels that he is fault. I reassure him that it is ok and it was one of the greatest experience I had. I truly enjoyed it.

I have to buy a new spare part.

Becoming an investor for a fairer world

After having written a piece on how my relationship with capitalism affects my carbon footprint? and receiving feedback indicating that my individualistic goals to want to purchase solar panels were not good enough to facilitate the transition towards a sustainable system of production and consumption, because it encourages me to serve a system that exploit resources and labour and not supporting others in changing their behaviour.

I started to wonder.

It is true unfortunately as long as there are no other alternatives of production and consumption that is fairer, more caring towards the environment and the people that inhabit the earth, we will be stuck in an endless and vicious circle of guilt and blame.

There is no way that we can move towards an ideal world of fairness without having to dance with the devil, hence working for corporations that pollute, exploit and influence for us to extract value which can be re-invested into a greener future

To change the deal, I have to extract value and re-invest it in something I believe.

I have to become an investor.

You see an employee has very little say in the way businesses and government decide to direct sustainable actions and they earn very little.
A self-employed person still remains at the grip of what corporations decide to do. They exchange value through the number of hours they put in but what happen if they burn out,  disappear...
A business owner works with other people to create value and has a lot more influence in relation to sustainability goals.
An investor win it all.

My solar panels is a form of investment and it will allow me to create value economically, environmentally and socially.

I want to invest more in green schemes but for that I need the mean of exchange that is at play in our current system i.e. money.  Money is a mean of exchange and it homogenises behaviour across the world. If all the money is earned and redistributed towards creating an environment that is fairer and more beautiful, why not?

We all need to extract value from the current destructive capitalist system and reinvest it into green schemes.

No one should make me feel guilty or blame me to want to re-invest my power into something I believe in, they should blame people who buy clothes and fancy cars instead.

How my relationship with capitalism is impacting my carbon footprint?

Published on Footpaths Leicester

Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. My carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of my activities. My activities serve capitalism. They serve private owners for profit at the expense of natural resources and human beings. I am trapped and enslaved by capitalism, this is my relationship with it and it impacts dearly on my carbon footprint but also on my wellbeing and sense of belonginess.