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Archive for May, 2011
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Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
– Mark Twain –
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Building Curious Employees
Design thinking is a process of empathizing with the end user. David Kelley, founder of IDEO and Stanford’s d.school design program, takes a similar approach to managing people. He believes leadership is a matter of empathizing with employees. In this interview, he explains why leaders should seek understanding rather than blind obedience, why it’s better to be a coach and a taskmaster and the effects of intrinsically motivating people. { read more }
Be The Change
Practice being a curious, empathetic person; ask “Why?” questions to help in understanding other people’s perspective. |
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| May 30, 2011 |
| “Kindness is never wasted. If it has no effect on the recipient, at least it benefits the bestower.” — S. H. Simmons |
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 “I have been sending out Smile Cards with little gifts around my work place for about six months. Since I place the gifts in our inter-office mailbox, I never know who gets them or see their reactions. As I place gifts in the mail box, I imagine people’s reactions and it makes me happy to know that maybe I am making someone’s day a little brighter. Today, I actually got to witness the reaction. Apparently, one of the little gifts I left in the mailbox this morning made it’s way to a co-worker of mine. Today’s gifts was a little cloth kleenex holder that you can leave in your purse and a yarn flower bag tag, so my co-worker, a guy, passed it along to another female co-worker. I heard them talking as they figured out what it was and why they had received it, and they started discussing the whole concept of “paying forward”. I later heard her talking and brainstorming on what she would like to do. It was exciting to hear others get excited about the “pay it forward” concept and hear their ideas.” — keriann
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| “I was recently disabled, and went from $80000 a year to poverty. Random gift cards would show up in the mail or stuck in my purse and calls from my nieces to say how much I’m loved.” — Annie74 |
| What is a “smile card”? It’s a game of kindness — do something nice for someone and leave a card behind asking them to pay it forward. To date, 925,583 cards have been shipped without any charge.
The ‘Smiles’ newsletter is emailed to 81,289 subscribers with the intent of spreading more smiles in the world. You can unsubscribe anytime.
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Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise.
– George Washington Carver –
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The Great Tree Survey
According to a 2010 United Nations report, the rate at which forests are destroyed-logged or cleared to make way for farms or mines-was nearly 20 percent lower from 2000 to 2010 than it had been in the previous decade. Huge tree-planting programs, especially in China, reduced the net loss of forest even further. But vast areas are still being slashed, mostly in the tropics, including each year a Switzerland-size area of previously undisturbed, ecologically precious “primary” forest. Most of those trees are burned, and the carbon stored in their wood literally goes up in smoke. However, a new way of measuring the carbon in forests may help keep them from being cut down. { read more }
Submitted by: CF
Be The Change
Visit your local arboretum. Sponsor a tree. Plant a seed. |
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Slow travel isn’t only about the mode of transportation — it’s also about the way you travel. You settle in. You have to go to the grocery store. You get to know the people who run the cafe. It makes for a completely different trip.
– Pauline Kennedy –
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Grounded For Good
After spending 18 months abroad, McMillans were inspired to return home to Scotland with as little environmental impact as possible. En route from Singapore, they journeyed across 14 countries over 85 days, using 22 buses, 14 trains, 11 boats and numerous rickshaws. They enjoyed it so much that they started a website to help others do the same — flightless travel. Aircrafts currently produce 4% of Europe’s CO2 emissions but recent research has found that aircraft emissions have up to 2.7 times more impact on the air than ground emissions due to the delicate nature of the upper atmosphere. While “slow travel” is better for the environment, Tom McMillan feels that is also a great way to engage with the world and “savour the moment.” { read more }
Be The Change
If you’re planning a future car trip, offer a ride to a stranger by making a posting on Craigslist’s carshare board. { more } |
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Adversity introduces a man to himself.
– Albert Einstein –
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Making a Case for Mindfulness
Growing numbers of attorneys are embracing some form of practice to achieve mindfulness. Their reasons for doing so are varied, but chief among them are stress management and improved mental and physical health. This is a hopeful shift, given the well-known Johns Hopkins study which found that lawyers are more prone to depression than members of any other profession. In the most recent study, Harvard researchers found that practicing a form of mindful meditation for as little as 30 minutes a day for eight weeks resulted in measurable changes in the brain regions involved in learning, memory, emotion regulation and stress. Charles Halpern, a trailblazing public interest lawyer notes that a growing openness to the practice of mindfulness “is making us more skilled and effective as lawyers, more focused, more active listeners, better at helping our clients and serving justice, and doing it in a way that is sustainable.” { read more }
Submitted by: Lavanya
Be The Change
Talk with a few coworkers today about how they manage stress. { more } |
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It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.
– Author Unknown –
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Her Prom Date? A Football Star!
Joslyn Levell couldn’t wait to get to school Monday. The eighth-grader became the most talked-about kid at Suncrest Middle School in West Virginia, after scoring a date with Chicago Bears rookie J.T. Thomas for her end-of-school-year formal dance Friday. “I’m not used to the attention, but I like it,” Levell said. Joslyn has spina bifida, a condition in which the spine doesn’t properly develop, and is confined to a wheelchair most of the time. Thomas’ 7-year-old brother, Jared, has autism and rides the same bus as Joslyn and it was their bus-driver who envisioned this memorable moment. “After so many people turned me down, this was so big especially, because he asked me instead of me asking him,” Josyln said. { read more }
Be The Change
Reach out to someone with a disability and do whatever it takes to make them smile! |
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Video of the Week
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May 27, 2011 |
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How He Crossed the Finish Line
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| In 1992, Derek Redmond was running the race of his life — the 400-meter dash at the Summer Olympics. In the previous Olympics, he was forced to withdraw 10 minutes before the race due to an Achilles injury but now he was he was ready and heavily favored to medal. His father was in the stands cheering. The race began and 175 meters into it, he pulled his hamstring muscle and collapsed on the ground. As the stretchers rolled out, he refused to get on. And he started hobbling towards the finish line. The rest of the story is best seen in video. 🙂 |
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Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.
– Martin Luther King, Jr. –
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Freedom Rider Named James Zwerg
Looking out the window, James Zwerg accepted his worst fear: He was going to die today. Only the night before, Zwerg had prayed for the strength to not strike back in anger. He was among the 18 “Freedom Riders”, white and black college students from Nashville who had decided to take the bus trip through the segregated South in 1961, to desegregate public transportation. In the midst of the ensuing savage violence, Zwerg says he had the most beautiful experience in his life. “I bowed my head,” he says. “I asked God to give me the strength to remain nonviolent and to forgive the people for what they might do. It was very brief, but in that instant, I felt an overwhelming presence. I don’t know how else to describe it. A peace came over me. I knew that no matter what happened to me, it was going to be OK. Whether I lived or whether I died, I felt this incredible calm.” { read more }
Be The Change
In your next moment of anger, practice the art of nonviolence. |
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If you want to change the world, change the metaphor.
– Joseph Campbell –
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Where Poetry Comes From
“I think poetry always comes out of what you don’t know. And with students I say, knowledge is very important. Learn languages. Read history. Read, listen, above all, listen to everybody. Listen to everything that you hear. Every sound in the street. Every bird and every dog and everything that you hear. But know all of your knowledge is important, but your knowledge will never make anything. It will help you to form the things, but what makes something is something that you will never know. It comes out of you. It’s who you are.” Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin reflects with Bill Moyers on language, his writing process, the natural world, and the insights gleaned from a much-lauded career of more than 50 years. { read more }
Be The Change
Write a poem today. |
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There is no delight in owning anything unshared.
– Seneca –
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From Me to We
Neighbors often share a power washer and lawn mowers. Others co-own cabins and cars. Some pick fruit before it rots and donate it to food banks. Families share pets like horses and dogs. Some even share organs. In a society valuing independence and fearing disagreement, people have found a way to enhance their pocket books and their relationships by sharing what they have. Through sharing arrangements, each family has lightened its footprint, freed up cash and fix-it time, and found confidence in cooperation. They’ve realized that sharing brought everyone closer together as a collective group, moving from “me” to “we.” { read more }
Be The Change
Share one of your possessions — a tool, a belonging, a service, a meal, even a smile — and discover the connection it creates. |
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Sangha of Auspicious Companions 