Sangha of Auspicious Companions

Inspiring Links of the Week

August 21, 2023

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How to Become a 100 Percenter

The term 100 percenter is inspired by Charly and Lisa Kleissner, tech entrepreneurs who wanted to invest their money in a meaningful way, and inspire others to do the same. That’s why they started the 100 percent impact network, which brings together likeminded people who invest all of their assets into social and environmental causes. Now, these are some serious investors, but being 100 percent isn’t just about money; it’s about making a 100 percent commitment to ensuring your life reflects your values. As Kleissner says, “social transformation begins with personal transformation.” Just think of all the decisions you make every day, from the big to the mundane–where you invest your super, what you eat for dinner, where you buy your coffee, what you do for work, the relationships you have. Imagine if you could align these choices with your core beliefs. We’re on the road to doing that, and while we’re still working a lot of it out ourselves, this two-step guide will help you get the wheels in motion.” Danny Almagor shares more… { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration, join an Awakin Call this weekend with Danny Almagor and Berry Liberman! More details and RSVP info here. { more }

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August 20, 2023

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The Birdsong Project

“Randall Poster is Hollywood’s man with the golden ear, a renowned matchmaker of sound and image. When a filmmaker wants a soundtrack to create a certain mood or needs just the right tune to lend a scene punch or poignancy, Poster’s phone rings. Now the man behind your favorite film soundtracks wants to build a joyful movement around bird conservation. What began as a loose idea for a musical benefit project has blossomed into something far more ambitious: For the Birds: The Birdsong Project. At its heart are 172 new pieces of music created by some of the world’s most celebrated songwriters and performers, interspersed with avian-themed verse written by major poets and read by A-list actors and artists.” { read more }

Be The Change

Learn more about The Birdsong Project here. { more }

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August 19, 2023

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From the Ground Up: The Art of Place

“I survey this parcel of land that I have the honor of tending. It is the first place in my adult life where I feel rooted and held by the land, much like my childhood in the woods. This is the place where I learned about honorable stewardship. It is an awareness that now extends beyond my yard. This is the place where I learned to garden. I learned ways to heal the land and cultivate sustainable systems of support. It is the place where I healed layers of trauma and reclaimed my sense of self. This place is where I grew a deep intimacy with the interconnection of life. I continue to witness the seasonal rhythms. I sense the everyday sacred and commune with natures messengers. I can listen past the daily noise and into the heart of life. I celebrate the beauty and experience the loss that comes with tender impermanence. This place is where I rekindled my sense of wonder and deepened my sense of belonging. This nook of yard is where I unfurled into my wholeness and rediscovered my place in the world. A strong connection with our environment rests at the heart of a healthy life and the health of our Earth. Whatever leads to our disconnect, that detachment from nature makes us less likely to invest in her health and wellness. So how can we nurture a sense of place? How can we develop and deepen our connection with the natural world, regardless of where we live?” Wrenna Rose shares more… { read more }

Be The Change

Experiment with Rose’s invitations, “Tune into the sights, sounds, scents, and sensations that are alive within that nook of nature. Be patient. You may need to listen and feel past the noise of modern life. Deepen your attention to life moving through that space. Notice the way you feel when you connect with nature in this way. What changes over time? What cycles and rhythms do you notice? What happens in your body as you drop into the natural world?”

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August 18, 2023

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Cloudy is the Stuff of Stones

“Whenever I’m outside for more than ten minutes I start picking up rocks. In Patagonia, in Phoenix, in a Home Depot parking lot — my gaze is invariably sucked downward into the gravel. I weigh the merits of pebbles by some fickle and mutable aesthetic and either pitch them back or pocket them and stack them among hundreds of their brethren on the counter behind our kitchen sink like fortifications against an army of tiny invaders. Pebbles from Canada, pebbles from Cleveland, pebbles from carriageways in Caledonia. Maybe the echoes of miners reverberate in my genes; maybe I share a Thats-Pretty-and-I-Want-It covetousness with thieves and princesses and bowerbirds. Maybe I hope someday I’ll finally overcome the fundamental truth of pebbles and find one that looks prettier dry than wet. Or maybe I’m just an introvert, a down-gazer, a bad conversationalist. But every night as I wash another dish or fill another mug with water, my little hoard stares up at me with its thousand imperturbable faces. Oh, him, the stones seem to whisper. He’ll be gone soon enough…” Novelist Anthony Doerr shares more in this meditation on time, mortality, impermanence and pebbles. { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration check out Suiseki: The Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation. { more }

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How Do You Help a Grieving Friend?

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August 17, 2023

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Fumi Imamura’s Floral Works

” What interests me about the plant world is that plants have no cranial nerves and relate to the world as open internal organs. I came to know this as the idea of the anatomist Shigeo Miki. The novelist Kyusaku Yumeno said that ‘the brain is not a place to think’, while Shigeo Miki said that ‘the brain is merely a mirror reflecting the internal organs’. We tend to think that the brain is the essence of a person, but rather the brain is an accessory organ. A plant that lives only with its visceral organs is very simply connected to the world and does not question it. I sometimes think that this is a happiness that people have forgotten.” Artist Fumi Imamura shares more in this interview. { read more }

Be The Change

Check out some of Imamura’s stunning pieces here. { more }

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August 16, 2023

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Hope and Feathers

“Africa is a place we all have in common. It is the widely acknowledged cradle of humankind, as most anthropologists agree that our hominid ancestors likely evolved there. So an Evolutionary Eve, mother to all of us regardless of race, ethnicity, or nationality, likely padded across the African plains. Given this multimillion-year perspective, I or anyone else should’ve been awestruck at the prospect of treading the same ground as some australopithecine grandparent. But that was not necessarily the case. Twenty-one of us, including a dozen or so students and a handful of older lifelong learners, were “sacrificing” spring break to study the wildlife ecology of the North Cape. I was along as the co-leader, the trip ornithologist, the designated birder. Professionally, I was well equipped to do the job. Cleverly disguising myself as a wildlife ecology professor, I’ve gamed the system, teaching field ornithology and researching bird habitat relationships, at times going to “work” to do things most folks only find time to do on vacation. For the wildlife work I do, the trip promised to be a dream experience. For the black man that I am, the promises were less certain…” J. Drew Lanham shares more. { read more }

Be The Change

Lanham is the author of, “The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature.” More in this On Being interview with him. { more }

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August 15, 2023

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Eating the Wild

“In recent decades, and especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a growing interest in foraging and cooking with food gathered from the countryside around us. In this article, Charlotte Maberly talks to the distinguished Scottish food writer Fi Martynoga about the benefits of eating wild food, and also looks at the history of the movement and its wider implications in terms of health, food justice and food insecurity. An important aspect of the contemporary movement is its potential to reconnect us with the natural world and change our relationship with it.” { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration check out, A Delicious Revolution,” by Alice Waters. { more }

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Inspiring Links of the Week