You see I love taking photographs and I loved that she . . . → Read More: Sacred Economics]]> I had a chance to experience this first hand.  I happened to take a photograph that someone loved and when she asked to use it, I gave her the rights to it.  She asked what I wanted in return, I said to send me a gift.

You see I love taking photographs and I loved that she loved the photo I took.  She valued what I had done and she sent me a check.  It felt great to receive that money.  It felt great to know that she gave to me from her heart and not because she had to.

I am grateful that I find myself in a position to easily be able to participate in this; sacred economics and gift exchange.

I still hold a job.  I don’t believe that I need to quit being in the world to transcend being part of the system.  That is always the challenge.  To find the harmony where you find yourself standing.

I believe that it is in our nature not to choose competition over co-operation.

To all the teachers and the students that have inspired me… Thank you for your passion… Thank you for inspiring me… now let’s contribute on a . . . → Read More: TED-Ed… what can I say? Inspiring us to be great.]]> In my experience, when in the flow of teaching, the lines between student and teacher get blurred.  And, that’s exactly the way it should be.

To all the teachers and the students that have inspired me… Thank you for your passion… Thank you for inspiring me… now let’s contribute on a bigger scale.

Y

I love how Google visualizes . . . → Read More: End Piracy Not Liberty]]> Google and Wikipedia are speaking up… the cynical would see this as a self serving gesture but I believe that at some level, they actually love the internet the way I do.  Its chaotic nature.  Its expanding nature.  Its brilliant, empowering, connecting, freeing… power.

I love how Google visualizes data.  https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

I heard on the news today that Wikipedia is blacking out their english site worldwide.

I wanted to double check for myself and yes, here’s a screenshot of . . . → Read More: Protesting SOPA and PIPA]]> I just logged into facebook and my friends are contemplating staying completely offline tomorrow (Jan 18, 2012) to protest the SOPA and PIPA “laws”.  Here are the facts from PC World.

I heard on the news today that Wikipedia is blacking out their english site worldwide.

I wanted to double check for myself and yes, here’s a screenshot of my browser taken a few minutes ago.

I admire them!

I’m wondering what action I can take…   I could black out my personal sites but what about the sites where I work?  Unlikely that I can get consensus on this by midnight.

For now, I will continue to dream of a thriving “gift economy” (you know, where you download a song for free and if you love it and want to support the artist, you make a donation).  The artists gift you their art with love, and if you love the art (say it’s music), you gift the artist in return… No strings attached.

Yes, I know there are some that will abuse this.  But passing closed-minded laws out of fear is not the answer.  No matter what laws exist, those who are stealing will continue to find ways to steal.

Oh, and my dream is not only for artists…  Can you imagine a world where business is conducted with the principles of a “gift economy”?  Ah!  I can dream.

All decisions (law making is decision making) are made in one of two ways: Out of love, or out of fear.  I want to speak up for Love!

It’s inspiring to see the number of friends on Facebook that are posting links and videos to commemorate . . . → Read More: Courage That Inspires]]> Today, on the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I find myself reflecting on dreams. We all have dreams. I have them. The powerful dreams are those that are shared and actually propel humanity to Our Highest Purpose.

It’s inspiring to see the number of friends on Facebook that are posting links and videos to commemorate the life of MLK.

Here’s a link to Letter from Birmingham Jail.

When searching for a photo in the public domain of MLK, I came across this one on wikipedia of Rosa Parks with him in the background.

Appropriate I thought because this morning, on Facebook, the first post I saw was a photo of MLK with a photo of Gandhi in the background on the wall behind him.

We are all connected and every courageous action we take that is honoring our humanity can inspire and act as a support and a foundation for others – a kind of Pay it Forward catalyst for inspiration.

I’m not sure that we’ve arrived or have materialized Dr. King’s dream.

How Fares the Dream?  We have taken a step forward but there are many more steps to travel.

I post here in the hopes of keeping the dream alive.

The 6 most important words: I admit that I was wrong. The 5 most important words: You did a great job. The 4 most important words: What do you think? The 3 most important words: Could you please. The 2 most important words: Thank you! The most important word: We. . . . → Read More: A Short Course In Human Relations]]> A Short Course in Human Relations -

The 6 most important words: I admit that I was wrong.
The 5 most important words: You did a great job.
The 4 most important words: What do you think?
The 3 most important words: Could you please.
The 2 most important words: Thank you!
The most important word: We.
The least important word: I

This was posted on facebook and shared. I do not know who the original author is.

I found a blog post ( http://vision-nary.com/weblogs/index.php/taoist_parable ) of this and here . . . → Read More: Developing a sense of wonder]]> A while back, I got an email that tells of a taoist parable where every event was judged as being bad or as being good and the story went on alternating between bad fortune and good fortune showing that something is never good or bad but just is. 

I found a blog post ( http://vision-nary.com/weblogs/index.php/taoist_parable ) of this and here i’ve duplicated the content below which is exactly the content of the email I received.  I love the internet!

“…an old Chinese farmer lost his best stallion one day and his neighbor came around to express his regrets, but the farmer just said, “Who knows what is good and what is bad.” The next day the stallion returned bringing with him 3 wild mares. The neighbor rushed back to celebrate with the farmer, but the old farmer simply said, “Who knows what is good and what is bad.” The following day, the farmer’s son fell from one of the wild mares while trying to break her in and broke his arm and injured his leg. The neighbor came by to check on the son and give his condolences, but the old farmer just said, “Who knows what is good and what is bad.” The next day the army came to the farm to conscript the farmer’s son for the war, but found him invalid and left him with his father. The neighbor thought to himself, “Who knows what is good and what is bad.”

I love the idea of taking a situation and just accepting it exactly the way it is and perhaps in some cases even wondering and asking the question “what lesson do you bring me?”

Today, I stumbled upon this talk that I’ve embedded below (by Kathryn Schultz on Ted.com entitled On Being Wrong) that spoke about being right and being wrong (obviously a great topic for discussion on this blog) and also mirrored some of my own ponderings. 

Watching Kathryn’s talk, I wanted to interact with her and maybe others for some discussion because this topic of right and wrong fascinates me… For instance, not too long ago, I actually jumped off a cliff figuratively speaking (at least that’s what happened in my husband’s reality – just like the graphic that Kathryn shows in her talk).  I remember asking him why it was important for him to point out to me that I had just stepped off a cliff instead of just keeping quiet and seeing if there is a possibility that I could fly.  I know I was stretching my reality a bit.  But why not?  If we are all these beings of consciousness, why not ponder the ideas that shift our reality? 

Anyway, if the talk prompts somethign in you, I’m open  for us a discussion.