Harper Finch: Love + Summer Fun

It's Friday - are you ready for the weekend?? I am!! We've had workers re-finishing our house/painting all week and I am so looking forward to waking up to the absence of hammers shaking my bedroom walls, no temporary coverings over windows and full access to my backyard and the pool that has been cruelly calling my name all week. I know, #FirstWorldProblems, right?

Before I get into today's post (which includes TWO freebies) I wanted to share with you all this print I made for a friend who moved abroad to Cambridge. My sister had it framed and matted and then everyone signed their names and well wishes around it. Loving the way it turned out I've decided to start doing prints in the shop. I'll have more info on that soon!

I've definitely been dragging my heels a bit with an increasingly heavy heart with all that is happening in Israel/Gaza and the horrific act of terrorism committed in the skies of rebel-held eastern Ukraine. It's awful and I'm sure it does not help as I find myself crying nightly watching Anderson Cooper - but it's reality, it happened, it's necessary for us to know, they deserve to be remembered and we deserve the opportunity for change. It's also important for us to not stop at grief, not stall over the devastation.

With every fiber of my being do I want to personally protect the dignity of the victims and punch a rebel or two who try to take what's left or tamper with the truth, throw myself upon a weapon aimed at children, families, friends and foes, make use of my degrees and counsel those affected, listen to those who need to talk. It's just never that easy, which is probably what makes it all so difficult.

Don't let yourself be stopped by the road blocks, held back by limitations, cornered by helplessness, because there is something we can do and it's not always easy but it is possible. These are the occasions when it is crucial for us to look to love, smell flowers, wear silly socks, add a splash of color here or there, laugh out loud and hold on a little tighter in our hugs. Love is our greatest asset, our biggest strength, and our most important plan for change. Do your part to add a little love and light to this often dark and jaded world we live in. That's my mission, how about yours?