Sunday 28 October 2012

We can choose to do nothing!

It is a while since I wrote on this blog as I struggled to find the words that I wanted to write of a friend that passed and others that came to terms with their diagnosis of cancer. So today I want to deviate from my observations on the complexities of human relationships and talk about a disaster that exists in the Pacific Ocean.  Within the confines of the North Pacific Ocean lies the world's greatest garbage dump which is twice the size of the United States of America.  This garbage dump also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex consists of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge and other debris that is trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. This garbage dump is about to get a whole lot worse as debris from the Japanese tsunami becomes trapped in the vortex. The technology does not exist to be able to clean this catastrophe up, so this problem will only continue to grow.

'What does this have to do with gift wrap?' I hear you say. Well, while we may not be able to control the debris that comes from catastrophic events like the Japanese tsunami, we can control the amount of plastics that we all use and discard.  Many gift bags are made from plastics and at WinC our gift wraps and bags are made from 100% biodegradable cotton that can be recycled or reused time and time again.  If you do not wish to reuse your WinC product, you can regift it simply by washing and ironing it and wrapping another gift in it and passing it forward.  Think not only of how much plastic this will prevent from entering land fill, or worse still entering our waterways and polluting our oceans, but the number of trees that are cut down each year to make the paper that wraps our gifts to be simply discarded.

This is a very simple solution to a very complex problem.  Whilst it will not solve the problem of the greatest garbage dump on earth, it will certainly contribute to cutting down on the amount of plastic entering the environment and killing an inordinate amount of wildlife. This planet of ours is a very precious thing and certainly worthy of our doing everything possible to preserve each and every animal and its habitat.

So visit our website and begin the Winc journey where you can make a positive change to the amount of plastic entering the environment and polluting our oceans and our countryside. Create exquisite gifts by wrapping your gifts in cotton. Then encourage the recipient to pay it forward by regifting the wrap and so on and so on. The savings to the environment will be exponential. A WinC gift is a gift that keeps on giving!

Thursday 20 September 2012

Reunions!



There would be some type of reunion happening every second of every day somewhere in the world. Reunions range in magnitude from meetings of world leaders to discuss policy and previously set agendas to the simple act of a Mum collecting her kids from school each day.  I hear you say that these are not really reunions but merely meetings. We tend to think of reunions as gatherings of significant groups after long periods apart.

So, a reunion may be an organized event of old school friends coming together after chasing their dreams and raising their families.  It may be the gathering of family members, both close and distant, to reminisce about those who have gone before and what is to come in the future. It maybe old war comrades spending time, simply sitting, being comfortable with their mates, with no words necessary or adequate. It may be the poignant meeting of a mother and a long lost child - separated by war or given up at birth due to circumstances that only she can understand. It may be the passionate coming together of lovers after a long period apart.

Whatever the circumstance, each reunion is one of great emotion. It can mean the reopening of old wounds, long forgotten memories relived, and grief for those who are no longer with us to make the pilgrimage to this gathering. They can be a very joyous occasion with it being almost impossible to express the outpouring of love that is experienced at simply being with that person. It can be a very tentative time as one navigates their way through the various factions that invariably exist in large gatherings. Reunions are ambivalent - they can be as damaging as they can be healing. I like to think though, that reunions are a time of healing as past issues can be dealt with, talked out and a resolution reached.

Yesterday, I know there was a reunion of my two dearest friends after months apart. To one of them it was a complete surprise - but what a beautiful surprise. How they deserve to be together! There was no healing needed in this reunion. I say to them - enjoy each other, for you have been apart too long.


If you are lucky enough to be involved in a reunion, however large or small, take time to let those you love know how much being in their presence means to you.  Take time to catch up on past shared times and memories. We at WinC Wrap in Cotton want you, as part of our family, to look forward to a reunion of original members sometime in the future when the preferred wrapping for gifts is cotton. Wrapping that is paid forward from generation to generation. Imagine a family reunion where each member brings along his/her cotton wrap and what strong emotions and memories that one small piece of fabric has the power to evoke! Wrap your gifts in cotton!

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. (Nelson Mandela)

Monday 10 September 2012

A Love Story!

Today, I was going to write about The International year of the Forest in 2011 and what WinC Wrap in Cotton has in common with the goals and aspirations of the UNESCO inspired event.  But then I thought I would tell you of a love story that began when two children were born on the same day a year apart.  These children grew up together and knew from a very early age that their love was special. This is a love of a lifetime. This is a love that knows no boundaries. It is a love that has borne adversity, that has weathered the tyranny of distance, has shared the pain of loss, has endured through ill health.  But, it is a love that is so strong that not only has it survived, but grows stronger each and every day. This love is as inspirational as it is profound, not because of the fairytale stuff of "happy ever after", but because this couple is always there for each other through all times. And believe me - there have been some times.

Mind you, this does not mean that they do not have their moments but even in the most torrid times their love is undeniable! I have never known a couple that are so suited, that are so in love. Each is the perfect foil for the other.  This couple are the "Peas and Carrots", they are the "Bonnie and Clyde", they are the "black and white". They are witty, they are generous, they are kind, they are talented, they are strong. Nothing can stop this love which will withstand anything that anyone likes to throw at it. It will endure long after this couple have left this world for the next. It is a love that would leave most green with envy. Not because of their day to day life but, because of the empathy, the telepathy, the perception and the understanding that can only find its origins in a very deep rooted love that knows no limits.  Those that would seek to scorn such love can only do so through insecurity and jealousy.

These children of the world can teach each and every one of us the meaning of tolerance, the meaning of endurance, the meaning of true love.  I admire them enormously and love them, for everything about them. 


At WinC Wrap in Cotton we think of our customers as our family.  We want you all to know a love that knows no boundaries, that is the love of a lifetime.  We want a love for you all that can be paid forward, and in doing so, reap the benefit of a love that is generous and shared.

A part of you has grown in me. And so you
see, it's you and me together forever and
never apart, maybe in distance, but
never in heart....Brooke Zuroweste.


Thursday 6 September 2012

Relationships!


In 2012, how do we define relationships? They have certainly changed in the last little while with the advent of the internet.  How we interact with our fellow man, has not undergone such a change, since Alexander Graeme Bell invented the telephone. How addicted are we to instant information, to following the lives and antics of the rich and famous on Twitter, to feeling connected to them through our ability to comment on their thread. How addicted are we to sharing our own personal thoughts and feelings, along with the daily humdrum of our lives on Facebook.  How many of us simply cannot go to sleep before checking our Facebook page for one last time, reading the newsfeed and then ‘liking’ or commenting on our friends postings.  Social media is now embedded in our lives and can only evolve from here.
In a world that grows increasingly smaller as our daily lives are interconnected instantly with others across the planet, relationships have never been more global. Does this cyber connectedness interfere with our personal relationships?  Does it mean that we are losing our skills for communicating on a personal level?  Does it mean that we no longer have the intimacy of the human touch in our relationships?
At no time have we been so connected yet so removed from others in our relationships.  We can shop online, we can bank online, we can pay our bills online, we can access our books and music online, watch movies and TV online.  Our whole world is before us in the form of a monitor, tablet or phone.


As the internet is now irrevocably part of our lives, so it is with business. With our ability to link all aspects of our business together via the internet, visit WinC on Facebook and get all of your friends to like our Facebook page.  For the one that has the most friends ‘like’ our Facebook page we will give you a $50.00 voucher for our beautiful Christmas Wraps as the festive season is fast approaching. Also why stop at our Facebook page, join our family on our website and then your ordering is fast and convenient.

As convenient and connected the world of the internet is nothing can replace the feeling of belonging that comes from being truly connected in a relationship where love and trust are a given. Show that love, to those you love, by giving them a gift wrapped in cotton – the gift that pays forward your 
love.  

The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.
Anthony Robbins




Sunday 2 September 2012

Everything Old is New Again!


At WinC our philosophy is based on the 'pay it forward' philosophy and we believe that when you purchase one of our wraps and give with love, that gift will go on for generations giving memories of the original gift or creating some new pleasure by paying it forward.

In life I believe that philosophy is vital for us to keep love alive in our hearts and  our minds.  A small gesture can bring so much pleasure and warmth to someone.  A warmth that gives that person hope to reestablish their faith in their fellow man.  Or just a warmth to know that someone is there for them, and wants to share their joy, their sorrow or their  pain.  One can't realise how much a small 'hello' can give someone so much pleasure until you, yourself have experienced loneliness and lowliness.  A gesture that takes no time but has great rewards.  And most of us know the feeling of making someone smile with that one hello.

In a time where everything and everyone moves so fast, it is a lovely feeling to know that you have made someone feel special  or feel that you have cared for that split moment to open that door, to let them pass by as they are in more of a hurried state than you, to ask someone, how their day has been and listen, and to simply say thank you.  These small gestures may indeed be tiny but think for a moment, if everyone took that split moment to acknowledge others, our world would indeed be a better place.

That old feeling of love that has been hidden in our hearts can be renewed by small tokens of simple niceness that indeed take little to deliver but can make 'everything old new again'.


We at WinC believe that wrapping your gifts in our humble little wraps can bring that love out and keep that momentum going.  You give the gift to your loved one and instead of discarding the wrapping to the bin, they simply press and that wrapping adorns our tables as a place mat and so forth to keep that memory of giving,  alive longer mostly than the present inside itself. 

We encourage you to buy our wraps and our other products so they may bring joy and love for generations to come. 


                ''Love is above all else the gift of oneself"  - Jean Anouilh 1910-1987

Saturday 1 September 2012

Seasons of Change!


As the seasons change in the northern and southern hemisphere to spring or fall, we experience a great change in temperature.  We experience a change in colour in variations of warmth and shadow and a change in our attitudes as to how we handle the climate.

We too experience a change of lifestyle with the varying temperatures.  In life we have a climate change from time to time as well. Not so regularly and timed as the weather but we all experience a change.  A change in attitudes, a change in how we do things, a change as to how we cope with different situations like ageing, adding additions to our families and so forth.

But like the weather our change varies in colour and warmth like the seasons.  And like it or not we have to change to survive the rigours that life brings or change to accommodate our ever changing world with its environmental issues that in fact belong to each and everyone of us.

In a perfect world we would handle change, but as we are mere mortals our attitudes to change vary.  Some changes we grab with both hands and run the extra mile to keep the momentum, but other changes such as our attitudes to life and lifestyles, we slow down and become scared as to how we cope with the rhythm that has taken on a new beat. 

One thing that is certain in my mind is that we must never forget our instinct of love and respect others for the love that they hold dear.  None of us can afford to be judgemental of others and how they choose to conduct their lives.  Each of us are individuals whose hearts beat a different drum. 

However, I believe that if we accepted, tolerated and nurtured others love and approach to it, we indeed would belong to the most beautiful symphony there possibly could be. 
 

At WinC we want everyone to experience a spirit of loving, giving and paying forward with our products.  Re-experience the feeling of seeing a child open his/her first present.  Seeing someone dear to you shed a small tear as to your thoughtfulness, or experience the glow that you see on someone's face for a gift that was random and not planned. 

We at WinC wish you joy in your spring or fall. We want you to reach out and share your love with someone and in so doing, our world will become a whole lot better for it.  

 “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
Albert Camus



Thursday 30 August 2012

Family!

The old saying goes - "You can choose your friends, but your family is thrown at you!" In 2012, family as an entity is as wide and varied as one can imagine.  I do not believe any group that identifies as family is any better or worse than the traditional family that identifies as Dad, Mum and the however many kids.  The most important thing with any family is that it is a unit that is loving and nuturing, whether it be a traditional family, a single Mum doing her best for her brood, Mum and Mum bringing their kids up in a happy well adjusted home or Dad and Dad doing the same thing.

Unfortunately, in a world where political correctness dictates everything that is said and done, this same treatment is not afforded to partners or siblings when families get into squabbles and relationships break down.  The saying that blood is thicker than water is simply NOT true and no rules apply.  We often treat complete strangers with more kindness than we treat members of our own families. Why is this so?  Rivalry, jealousy, greed and a 'no holds barred' approach to family members seems to be accepted.  This is not a new phenomenon and while past generations ran away and joined the circus, today family members relocate and begin a new group that they consider family.  A group that does not judge, that is loving and nuturing, can be a far better thing than the blood relationship that holds a fractured family together.

The human race depended upon the family unit for its survival. Families bonded together to form tribes that lived as a group which protected each other, hunted together and ultimately survived together. The extended family, that looked after the elderly, reared the young, played together, stayed together through good times and bad is a thing of the past. This is not necessarily a good or bad thing, it is simply different and like so many other aspects of society it is simply a quiet evolution.

What needs to be a revolution in amongst this evolution is the way we treat each other as family.  There needs to be respect that can only come from the treatment that is metered out to each and every family member. We need to respect each others differences, embrace these and not try to make everyone conform. The family unit has been part of humankind since the beginning, and will continue in one form or another until the end of time.  How well we survive within that unit is up to each and every one of us. No matter what form that family unit takes,every individual deserves to be nurtured in the bosom of a warm and loving family that they can trust and love with every ounce of their being. Any thing less, is a betrayal of the love that comes with being family.

At WinC Wrap in Cotton we have a product range that encompasses the whole family.  From the newborn taking its first breath to the Grandparents setting off as grey nomads there is a giftwrap suitable for every occasion. If we simply take the time to show our family members that they do have a place held very dear in our hearts then the family unit would flourish. Tell your family that you love them and give the gift that keeps on giving, wrap your gifts in cotton.

 “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.” -Richard Bach