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Kindness Ideas of the Week

HelpOthers.org — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:31:00 -0700

Couple Smile Groups ideas that were posted this week ... cf shares: "Thanks for your support for my friend B. who's losing her baby and on top has been dumped by the "father". She was really touched by hearing she's in your prayers! Thanks..." lowerthenumber shares: "Got another e-mail from a girl, saying that my site saved her life <3 This is by far the most rewarding thing I have ever done." eyelydsopen shares: "I knit a couple of hats for charity, Wisconsin winters are cold! " ...

A Poet's Take on The Mystery of Existence

DailyGood.org — Fri, 24 May 2013 06:10:00 -0700

"When I start to write, I'm not a guide or teacher; I'm not even a poet. I'm a person far out at sea, and the poem is a raft made of whatever floats past in the water. Those almost accidental rescuing pieces are words, rhythms, musics, ideas, the memory that is mine and the memory that is all of ours and the memory that is held in language itself. The experience of writing, for me at least, isn't confidence or wisdom; it's closer to desperation. There is that in us that recognizes: 'this is water; this is land.' A poem is land found, as if for the first time. If I already knew what it would hold, I wouldn't need the poem, and if what it holds were knowable by any other words or way, I wouldn't need the poem." Poetess Jane Hirshfield reflects on how writing with a spirit of openness and courage can offer a door into the mysteries of our inner and collective experiences. [Full Story]...

Krishan shares ...

Krishan Patel — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:59:30 -0700

The recent DailyGood article, "What To Do When You've Made Someone Angry" was syndicated on Lifehacker :) Kudos to the DailyGood Team :)...

Amit shares ...

Amit Dungarani — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:59:14 -0700

If you haven't come across this yet, you may. Recently an individual trying to inappropriately poke fun at a Sikh woman who has kept all of her hair, including facial hair, keeping in line with her religious beliefs that all of her body is sacred as a divine gift from God, posted her picture on Reddit. The reaction by others, and in particular the woman who was the subject of his "attempted humor," blew me away by the beauty, humility, compassion and inner depth of her response...

Here's a preview: "Just as a child doesn't reject the gift of his/her parents, Sikhs do not reject the body that has been given to us. By crying 'mine, mine' and changing this body-tool, we are essentially living in ego and creating a seperateness between ourselves and the divinity within us. By transcending societal views of beauty, I believe that I can focus more on my actions. My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognize that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can. So, to me, my face isn't important but the smile and the happiness that lie behind the face are. :-)"

Read full post here. ...

What To Do When You've Angered Someone

DailyGood.org — Thu, 23 May 2013 06:10:00 -0700

"I was running late. My wife Eleanor and I had agreed to meet at the restaurant at seven o'clock and it was already half past. I had a good excuse in the form of a client meeting that ran over and I wasted no time getting to the dinner as fast as possible. When I arrived at the restaurant, I apologized and told her I didn't mean to be late. She answered: "You never mean to be late." Uh oh, she was mad. "Sorry," I retorted, "but it was unavoidable." I told her about the client meeting. Not only did my explanations not soothe her, they seemed to make things worse. That started to make me angry. That dinner didn't turn out to be our best." An author and management consultant explores the dynamics of this not uncommon experience and arrives at some profound insights on how to respond when you've hurt or angered someone you care about. [Full Story]...

Tamilyn shares ...

Tamilyn Tegstrom — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:10:20 -0700

100 ripples make a small wave ,100 small waves make a larger wave ,100 larger waves cause a flood ..So grateful to be here flooding with world with kindness with all of you ...
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This Is Water: Re-imagining Everyday Life

KarmaTube.org — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:22:00 -0700

Last week's featured video on KarmaTube received 15299 views and 21 comments. "

O, the maddening tedium of the everyday responsibilities of adult life!

It plagues us because, when traversing a landscape all-too-familiar and all-too-disappointing, the "default setting" of our mentality is to feel victimized by circumstance. We place ourselves in the center of the universal narrative, making the plot-line all about our own misery.

In this video, which animates exceprts of his 2005 commencement address at Kenyon University, novelist David Foster Wallace speaks about personal empowerment in the often stultifying world of responsible adulthood. The freedom comes from an open-minded awareness of the possibility that there are less self-centered, complex, and gladdening narratives spinning around you -- even in the most frustrating situations. "It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down," he advises. "Not that that mystical stuff is necessarily true. The only thing that's capital-T True is that you get to decide how you're gonna try to see it."

" ... Watch: This Is Water: Re-imagining Everyday Life...

Values and the Sharing Economy

DailyGood.org — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:10:00 -0700

According to the director of Share The World's Resources, placing greater emphasis on the social and environmental impacts of sharing rather than personal gain, can drive awareness and action on these larger societal issues. Today, the sharing economy runs the gamut from selflessly operated food distribution programs and people pursuing low carbon footprint lifestyles to entrepreneurs seeking to build business models out of underutilized goods. For the true impact of the sharing economy to shine through, it will be important to concentrate on the intrinsic value gained from it over financial benefits, allowing us to drive sustainable solutions to such global emergencies as inequality and climate change. [Full Story]...

Sheetal shares ...

Sheetal Sanghvi — Wed, 22 May 2013 05:06:32 -0700

Imagine waking up to your daily newspaper and read an article on Random Acts of Kindness as the lead story on the front page! Totally made my day.. A dream come true..
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One Candle at a Time

HelpOthers.org — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:02:00 -0700

I've got this friend, Rachel. She's a bit older than me, with a sort of shy, but radiant smile. She's usually tan, as she loves the outdoors and spends as much time outside as possible. No matter the weather. In the winter, she'll often go for walks outside. In the summer, she'll sit in public parks strumming her guitar, reading, or napping on the grass. She has the leisure to do these things because, suffering from multiple psychological traumas, she is unable to work. Well, unable to work in a "normal" workplace, that is. Because she does work. Her vocation is 'making' candles. She buys ready-made candles, usually the slightly translucent kind where the body of the candle will radiate the light, too. Then she puts designs on them by hand, working for hours at a time in her kitchen. She literally makes hundreds--if not a thousand--of these in a year. And then, she gives most of them away. She gifts them to visitors, but she also donates them in whole batches to places or people who will gift them to others. She loves hearing stories of how one of her candles ended up some place far away, or in a church, or a spiritual ... full story: One Candle at a Time...

Melissa shares ...

Melissa Dickman — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:34:19 -0700

I will let this video do most of the talking... but truly a great soul walked among us for a few short years -- a simple young man who was realized with the grace, beauty and love that is life and death.

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Colleen shares ...

Colleen Choi — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:17:35 -0700

A video about Leonard Knight and his life long art installation, Salvation Mountain. He created this mountain with his bare hands, with no art background, living in a van for years. All he wanted was to simply spread the message of Love. Regardless of what religion you are, this mountain reflects his compassion and devotion to unconditional love for all. Beautiful.

Return to Salvation Mountain | Watch the video - Yahoo! Screen

Watch the video Return to Salvation Mountain on Yahoo! Screen . Leonard Knight lived alone in the California desert for twenty-eight years, building a mountain to share his message: "Love God, love Jesus, and love the people." When his health failed, his friends rallied to save his life. On Sunday, ...

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Elders & Llamas: A Love Story

DailyGood.org — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:10:00 -0700

It's not everyday that a llama walks into your room. And that's the magic in it! The llamas is question are therapy animals, who visit nursing homes, mental institutions, and rehabilitation facilities to surprise, delight, nuzzle, and be-nuzzled-by the residents. These lovely, funny-faced creatures have received many hours of special training to provide a comforting, affection-inducing presence. Animal-assisted therapy originated in the idea that animals and animal spirits have supernatural healing powers; but scientific study has since proven that exposure to animals increase levels of oxytocin, a hormone which acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain when we give or receive love. Research suggests the presence of tranquil animals makes us feel safe, a mind-set that aids healing. Once again, science has explained what we all know instinctively: gentle, furry creatures simply make the world a happier place. And these llamas are spreading happiness where it is sometimes in short supply. This article from Slate shares some charming photos. [Full Story]...

"Who Owns the Future?" -- Jaron Lanier

Bill Miller — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:27:14 -0700

Heard a fascinating talk last week by Jaron Lanier (futurist, technologist, and early founder of "virtual reality") at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park. The occasion was the publication of Lanier's latest book "Who Owns the Future?" (The talk was videotaped and reportedly will appear on CNN.com)

Jaron began by noting how the early idealism that technology would make life better for all has not worked out in practice. Rather to date, the benefits have accrued to a few at the expense of the many. He used the metaphor of "Maxwell's Demon" - a physics/thermodynamics thought experiment wherein a little "demon" separates low energy and high energy molecules, one at a time - thus appearing to create free energy. However this fails in practice because the demon itself requires energy to function.

Jaron pointed out that this same principle is currently used in the "Big Data" world, where public information is obtained for free, then used to exploit that public for private gain. The goal is to sort out the value and avoid the risk. This demon strategy works initially, creating great fortunes for those with access to big computers/big data - but at a cost to society that manifests as growing inequality, growing numbers of people excluded - and ultimately a system that cannot be sustained. Health insurance and finance were cited as prime examples.

It is not necessarily evil people who are doing this, but "information is like heroin" - and it's easy to be drawn in to the game and lose sight of the larger picture. And this situation arises due to the illusion that information is free - whereas it was actually created by human effort, not by machine algorithms. (For example, automated language translators do not work by calculation but by statistical analysis of actual speech fragments from actual people.)

Jaron's solution: pay for big data. Not to do so is "accounting fraud". Though he is sympathetic to Open Source, this has commonly been a way to obtain free resources that can then be exploited for profit. Jaron believes that free systems ultimately cannot work due to the negative elements of human nature, therefore the excesses can perhaps be reigned in by "democratizing" commerce and money by compensating exchanges of information with micropayments (I'm not sure he used that term). He speculates that monetizing information sources like Facebook could create a new Middle Class "hump" in the economic distribution. "The Middle Class has to be robust enough to out-clout/out-spend the elite."

The first half of the new book is a critique, and the second is intended to be proposed solutions. Jaron acknowledges that at this point, the solutions are somewhat naïve, but it's a starting point for the discussion that he hopes will ensue.

He concluded with the thought that Big Data has not yet connected to truth, and therefore can be used for corrupt purposes. He feels this is irrational, since every time science has been applied to the algorithms of Big Data, they are shown not to work. Jaron feels that if information cost money, we would use it more responsibly. If we fail to do so, our very survival is threatened.

Q&A: During the question period, someone asked whether Air B&B or services where people rent their car or give rides for money are examples of economic democratization. Jaron says no, this is another instance where central organizing entities profit while the risk is externalized. "Even every time you Tweet, you are enriching the 1%"

The future can be hopeful, but we've got work to do.

-Bill...

Hold A Piece Of the Pain: Lessons from My Daughter

DailyGood.org — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:10:00 -0700

"We were in the downtown area of our city when we drove past something I will never forget. Many homeless people were crowded around this broken-down truck. A man on the truck was holding up an orange saying 'Merry Christmas' and throwing out the orange for someone to catch. When I saw people pushing each other to get to the oranges, that made my heart drop. They were fighting for a piece of fruit. That is how little they had. Beside the truck, I saw an old man, maybe in his 60s. He was eating a sandwich with an orange and I thought to myself, "I want to help this man." I quickly hopped out of the car, gave him a gift and said, 'Merry Christmas, Sir.' Earlier, he seemed so gloomy, but as we drove off, I saw a smile. I felt so good!" When a nine-year old girl with an unusual gift for unconditional generosity shares this beautiful story, her mother is moved to write about the unexpected lessons she's learned from her child. [Full Story]...

Bela shares ...

Bela Shah — Mon, 20 May 2013 02:43:36 -0700

I think one of the best feelings in the world is when you walk into a random place and find a smile card waiting for you! Last week I was in a cafe in Mount Abu and I thumbed through the book "Siddhartha" to find the wonderful smile card tucked into the pages! It gave me the BIGGEST smile!!!
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Nivendra- shares ...

Nivendra- Uduman — Mon, 20 May 2013 01:20:30 -0700

The letter campaign for my friends cousin Pahan is going so well:) We are so grateful for people from India, USA and Sri Lanka for sending in e-mails and handwritten letters. The human capacity to love is just amazing, and this is a beautiful example of that. The prayers and the words of empowerment and love people have sent us are wonderful, it makes our hearts feel joy, because of the all the love present in the world. It has motivated me personally to love more openly and unconditionally. I am so grateful for this space, because I believe my constant interaction with different aspects of ServiceSpace, Karmatube, dailygood and other kindness websites, made this idea emerge suddenly. It just happened in passing, and I am so glad I was able to hold on to it and share it with my friend. Thank you so much to all of you for inspiring the spirit of love and kindness in me!...

Laddership To The Stars...

Tom Mahon — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:09:24 -0700

A glass piece I created several years ago, re-discovered while cleaning house recently: "Stairway to the stars. And return." It reminded me of the notion of "laddership". I invite you to visit my GlassRoots Gallery to see other words and images (www.glassrootsgallery.me). Please enjoy!
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Seven People Cutting Stones

iJourney.org — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:56:00 -0700

This week's iJourney reading is by Roger Walsh titled 'Seven People Cutting Stones': For several weeks strange sounds had drifted over the mountains from the neighboring valley. There was much talk in the village about what these noises could be, but no one could make sense of them. Even the village elders had never heard anything like them. Finally one of the young men of the village was chosen to cross the mountains and see what was going on. After two days of hiking he reached the mountaintop and saw in the valley far below a hive of activity with dozens of people working. As he drew closer, he saw a line of people, each with a huge stone in front of them that they were hammering and chiseling. When he finally reached the valley floor he approached a young man at one end of the line and asked, “What are you doing?” “Huh!” grunted the young man. “I’m killing time until I get off work.” Puzzled, ... [Read more]...

Wavy Gravy: Saint Misbehavin

DailyGood.org — Sun, 19 May 2013 06:10:00 -0700

"I was asked, in the mid-seventies, to go the Children's Hospital in Oakland and cheer up kids. On the way out the door of my house, someone handed me a red, rubber nose. I discovered it enabled me to get out of myself and be entertaining to the kids. After awhile, I began to paint my face up as a clown. I worked with kids almost every day for about seven years. I had to go to a political rally at Peoples' Park and I didn't have time to take off my clown stuff. I discovered that the police didn't want to hit me anymore. Clowns are safe." Wavy Gravy, the MC of Woodstock, hippie icon, beloved peace activist, humanitarian and clown shares more about his colorful journey in this interview. [Full Story]...