By Grace Maselli

Big doings thanks to an art partnership in the local community. Beginning Tuesday, October 16 from 6:30-8:30 PM, TBT will meet every third Tuesday of the month at Tampa’s Life Enrichment Center (LEC), “a private, non-profit organization whose mission is for students to fulfill their lifelong creative potential through the ageless engagement of the arts.” Yay! LEC Executive Director Maureen Murphy heads LEC, a long-time TBT organizational member that, under Maureen’s direction, has generously opened its doors to us the third Tuesday of each month for social events, orientations and ever-wonderful community potlucks.

The venerable arts organization has been in the business of art since 1980—38 years large!

Also in their own words: “The LEC is an innovative arts education center for adults, operating in North Tampa’s Forest Hills neighborhood since 1980. It is one of only a few centers across the country focused on redefining and reshaping retirement and the experience of aging. Its cultural arts program has received national and international recognition and serves as a model of a successful community-based organization, serving adults primarily 50+.” There’s a bundle of classes offered—more than 25 to choose from every week that interested TBT members can avail themselves of. Double yay! Among the gems: creative writing, drawing, pastels, oil/acrylics, watercolor, bead weaving, Tai Chi, yoga, Mahjong, and bridge. LEC’s address is 9704 North Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33612; phone: 813.932.0241.

By Grace Maselli

There are times when the heat gets turned up in life. When the means required to do something practical all on your own, or to pay a high price tag for goods or services, can alarm even the least freak-out-able among us. Like the tree that falls on your front yard provoking the phrase, “I need someone with a chain saw” to become part of your sudden reality. This goes way beyond the philosophical notion embodied in the question, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” You definitely heard the dern thing topple!

But maybe it’s not about big-tree doings. Maybe it’s about some companionship and support for cleaning a messy house (think new baby and sleep-deprived parents, or a household with a gaggle full of toddlers running to and fro…) Maybe a member just needs a two-hour pinch hitter for childcare while she or he takes a powder and gets a cup a Jo—just the substitute “Nurturing Auntie” you hope for to stay sane. Remember, a pivotal part of the timebanking ethos is to understand the value of asking for help when it’s needed, because sometimes your real Auntie loves you, but she’s 1,000 miles away. According to timebank founder Edgar Cahn, strong communities engage citizens, strengthen place, and inspire change. So reach out and ask. Reach out and offer. As the lovely diagram in this post shows, members can get help with raking their yards; they can offer help with grocery shopping. Knit a sweater! (Hey, it can get nippy in the Sunshine State in winter months…) So check out the TBT website regularly, where our digital version of the “TimeDollar Statement” (aka, electronic tally) under the “Hours” drop down menu is housed. It’s like exercise or sleep: Timebanking makes you feel better!

By Grace Maselli

 

I know, I know. Can you believe another month’s gone by?! Come to our next TBT “First Monday” social. We’re going Italian on Labor Day, Monday, September 3 from 7-9 P.M. at Oggie’s, 214 East Bears Ave, Tampa, FL. 33613 It’s farm-to-table good! Throw in a cannoli and the question is, Does life get any better? Especially when the subject revolves around timebanking and connection with peeps. 

By Grace Maselli
According to the Physics Classroom, an object’s momentum is defined as “mass in motion.” The same thing applies to like-minded groups, clubs, contingents, squads—people on the move, so responsibility is spread out across more bodies to spur activity and positive results. Apply this to TBT, and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with a little spurring. Beats entropy and its “gradual decline into disorder,” right? In fact, if you find your immediate surroundings in a state of disorder, post an exchange request on the TBT website and connect with a fellow member. You never know, that person who helps rocket you out of entropy by helping to clean the garage you’ve been avoiding for three years could turn out to be a friend. Now there’s some mass in motion!

Our TBT Revitalization Project is all about blowing through entropy. But sometimes we all need a little help from our friends to jump start change. So make the most of TBT and post an offering for a time exchange. (Show someone how to play Backgammon, or make a God’s Eye out of yarn. Grab a pole and some bait because we all know, if you give a woman a fish, you give her a yummy for the day. But if you teach her how to fish, well then, it’s a lifetime of trout.) Go ahead. At TBT, we’re set up to help you gain momentum!

By Grace Maselli

“Time is the currency creating mutual support networks, reducing isolation and improving health and well-being.” So says the commentary from across the pond in the United Kingdom by timebank organizer Sarah Bird. In a TEDx talk by Sarah published May 18, 2017 called, “Timebanking in the UK: It’s about Time,” Sarah offers that when we connect with people—folks at any stage of life in our communities— by sharing time with them face to face, we make a difference and potentially help to stave off loneliness.

The condition of loneliness, as we know, can have a negative effect on physical health, in addition to the mental health impact. Not only for elderly people who live by themselves, but also for the young and people in new stages of life. A recent Fortune magazine article from earlier this year titled, “Study Finds that Half of Americans—Especially Young People—Feel Lonely,” points to a Cigna health insurer survey: “A nationwide survey of 20,000 adults found that 54% of respondents said they feel like no one actually knows them well, NPR reports. Additionally, 56% of people said the people they surround themselves with ‘are not necessarily with them,’ and approximately 40% said they ‘lack companionship,’ their ‘relationships aren’t meaningful,’ and that they feel ‘isolated from others.’”

Arguably this sense of loneliness also applies to people in periods of life transition. Folks who have just moved to a new state or new county within a state, let’s say, new mothers coping with the wild changes that can attend parenthood, newly divorced people, the newly widowed, and “Empty Nesters,” the people whose children go off to college, putting parents in a vast state of transition as they face empty houses and shifts in identity. “Timebanking can transform healthcare, creating mutual support networks in communities by encouraging people to help one another using time as a currency, not money,” says Sarah. The moral of this universal story is that people can benefit from positive relationships, from time spent together. A timebank exchange in the form of visiting someone in his or her home, nursing home, transitional housing, or any place that’s mutually agreeable holds the promise of meaningful human contact with other community members. Some things can not easily be measured in dollars and cents alone.

 

 

 

By Grace Maselli

Yupperdeedoo. It’s about food and change. We’re celebrating the TBT Revitalization Project this month at a potluck scheduled for Sunday, August 26, 2018 from 3 to 5:30 PM. The venue? Member Dr. Andy Lepage’s crib (abode, pad, house, hizzy) in Spring Hill, FL. at 1185 Macfarlane Avenue, zip 34608. His number in case of questions: (727) 517-1148.

Come with a dish you like to make and aim to share. But it’s not just about the grub. Though lo and behold, eating is fun! Also be prepared to talk about what you love to do as fodder for our TBT exchange. What brings you joy? What can you help others with to earn TBT hours? We’ll have some icebreakers and activities to get the ideas rolling. Got something cookin’ you want to share ahead of time? Email us at info@tampabaytime.org or post to Facebook.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Grace Maselli

We humans occasionally chafe at the mere mention of the “Ch” word: Change. No matter, TBT took a look under its timebanking hood and determined it’s time to change it up. Give it a boost. A breath of fresh air. (One of the loveliest idioms ever: Something that’s pleasantly new. Different. Refreshing.) Think Altoids or the rush that comes with seeing a great friend again after a too-long hiatus.

Some TBT timebankers recently chatted up the notion of the TBT Revitalization Project. Putting the idea of MORE vitality onto our community table. Spreading the word to MORE people about our amazing timebanking exchange program. You can begin right in your nearby orbit (We’ll show YOU, scary Mr. Change!) Make it easy. Start at your quilting circle, support group, extended family dinner, Girls Night Out, when you’re riding the bus, at church, sangha, synagogue, mosque, economic development meeting, warm up before yoga class. You get the idea.

We aim to build community, connect, expand. Sign up to offer an exchange around something you love: cooking, organizing, skate boarding, snorkeling, helping someone learn to read. Whatever your passion is, share it in a timebank exchange. And reach out through TBT for something you might need: a ride to a doctor’s appointment, a partner to help you take a walk around the block, a meal delivered after a baby’s born. “TimebanksUSA” has a trove of ideas and connection to national timebanks for tips on how to take action. To earn exchange hours, host a movie night in your house or local community center and invite timebank members. Fling your doors open for a potluck. Invite peeps over for a weed-pulling party in your garden. Have a barn raising shindig. (Hey, if you were Amish, this would be apropos…) Got more ideas? Email us at info@tampabaytime.org or post to Facebook. We’re all eyes and ears!

By Grace Maselli

Last night’s monthly TBT meeting on August 6 from 7 to 9 PM at Pancake Heaven (aka: IHOP nestled at 408 East Bears Avenue in Tampa) was all images and fun with a showing of abstract acrylic paintings on canvas shared by artist Troy Elder, son of member Gwen. Several of Troy’s beautiful pieces were viewed by guests and the one pictured here is in the hands of TBT member, Dr. Andy LePage. Andy gave a presentation on nearby neighbor,
the VERY active timebank in St. Petersburg. (Check it out here!)

There was even more merriment on the occasion of our wonderful TBT Coordinator Rita Cobbs’ birthday! Member Nancy Kay Wolf ordered up a jumbo-size ice cream sundae to do justice to the day with a Rita-inspired indulgence for our very own birthday girl. Lest you think that was all, think again, Charlie :). Members Robert and Deb McGinnis, who were also at the pancake table, gifted Rita one of their very own Seminole pumpkins from the lush McGinnis pumpkin patch grown from a single seed in their very own backyard garden in Lutz!