Marcia’s Meanderings – Anything But The …

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Hello Dear Ones!

It’s well after noon on a sunny Monday as I sit myself down to write. I finally made it to the desk to type. It was truly a challenge for me to do so. And that has me laughing as I record these words!

Why a challenge? Were there other things happening in my life that precluded my time at the computer? No. Not unless you consider doing the dishes, sweeping and mopping the bathroom floor, reading, watching the Olympic Curling match – Canada vs. the United States – as being of more importance. Let’s see now … what else did I do this morning?

Maturity – my own – has helped me to understand one very major factor in my life. Procrastination – which for me is a major form of writer’s block – is never sitting down to write and facing a blank piece of paper or computer screen and finding nothing at all comes to my brain inspiring me to write. Procrastination is not forcing myself to sit and sit even though the brain is empty of ideas. Procrastination is not writing terrible material resulting in the frustrated scrunching up of balled and wasted paper (what Mike refers to as beginner’s origami!) nor is it the frequent use of the backspace or delete keys on my laptop.

Procrastination, for me, is simply doing anything but the very act of what it is I know I could/should do. It is plain and simple avoidance. Finding creative ways to avoid what I feel obliged to do. My creativity is momentarily misdirected to any activity other than writing. I can get very creative with things to accomplish – to the point of the ridiculous on occasion. If it weren’t for my periodic bouts of procrastination, that pile of papers building up in one drawer of the filing cabinet would never get sorted through (with most of it being recycled) and organized. The fact that it’s been building up for over 6 months now and there is no rush to get it done today or even tomorrow – and yet, for some reason, it has become the most pressing thing to do on a day when I have a book to finish or a post to write.

Sound familiar? Do you do that too? I’m not alone? Well, I’ll be …

As you may be able to envision, I’m smiling as I write all this. I give thanks to my writer’s block and my procrastination skills. They help me realize how truly human I am. They also help me get my filing cabinet kept up to date at least twice a year.

Today my bathroom is now clean – top to bottom. It practically sparkles! Plus I got this post written. I would not have found a topic for this post if it hadn’t been for the very act of procrastinating, so I’m doubly blessed.

In Light and Laughter,

Marcia

He Says, She Says…

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Greetings, Dear Reader!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

If you’ve read these posts before, you’ll know that every Sunday Marcia and Mike pick a common topic and write about it individually.  Neither reads the other’s posts until both are finished.  The title for this week’s talk, ‘The Elephant in the Room‘, comes from a post written by journalist Robert Scoble during his time at the 2010 TED Conference in Long Beach, CA.  You can read his article here: The elephants in the room at TED.  The ‘elephant’ in this case is money.  Those having taken a vow of poverty aside, money is often among the most challenging of ideas held by many if not most people.   It doesn’t matter if you are a street person, a corporate executive or a subsistence farmer, or whether the currency is dollars, pounds, rubles, kroner, baht, pesos, rand or yen.  Both Marcia and Mike have been included in this, at least at times.

The title of this week’s post came from Robert Scoble, but the inspiration for this week’s post came from our wise and wondrous friend, Samantha Standish and a series of blog posts she has written recently on her ‘I Am Pollyana‘ blog.  Our thanks to her and to the many, many people who have been and continue to be our guides, our teachers and our friends.

Hugs,
M&M

Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View.

Being Green – Social Networking

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Greetings!  Friday once again… where did the week go?  Ah well, as the saying goes, there are 168 hours in a week; what you do with them is up to you.  I was sitting at my computer, staring at a blank screen (that adamantly refused to write anything on itself), when my wife (who sits at the computer beside me) suggested I ‘follow’ on Twitter someone from England who blogs about rooftop gardens, green roofs, etc. (@gardenbeet on Twitter).  That got me thinking about an article I had read earlier today entitled, “Why you have to engage in social media, even if you don’t want to“.

While it’s true that twenty years ago few people had ever heard of a ‘web site’, the simple truth is that websites now get lost in their sheer numbers and social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, and more are sweeping the world and very directly changing the way we do business.  Marcia and I wrote a post last month about our own foray into Social Networking, and we now have a Twitter landing page on this site, where we provide links and information related to social networking information (updated as we can).  Social networking affects every group or business, in every field.   During the recent 2010 TED Conference in California, there were over 40,000 ‘tweets’ (short posts) about the conference.   Chris Anderson of TED can be found at @TEDChris. More and more businesses are allowing/encouraging their employees to post about their experiences with and within the company, and while there have been a couple of instances of people being dismissed as a result of their posts, these events were anything but private and reflect back to the company as well.  ‘CoTweet‘ for example is a resource that allows the employees of a company to share one Twitter account, engaging with their clients online.

Curious, I went to the US Green Building Council home page, and they have a Twitter account (@usgbc).  Being Canadian, I also went to the Canada Green Building Council home page, and they’re not (yet?) hooked up to Twitter.  I’ve sent them an e-mail letting them know that when they do, I’ll be happy to update this post!  Some of the groups, organizations and companies I ‘follow’ on Twitter in relation to sustainability and green building, in addition to those mentioned above, are:

I’m sure you’ll develop your own lists.  Oh, BTW, if you’re like me and tend to be a bit loquacious, I highly recommend Twitlonger.

Articles, sites and news I found this week include the following.  Before I get to that, a reminder that there’s a webinar on ‘Understanding Green Schools‘ on March 17, 2:00 p.m. EDT.  Click on the link to register.

In no particular order:

Have a great week!

Mike.

P.S.

If you’re in the Portland, OR area on March 20–21 and are looking for a way to release some of the stress in your life, drop by the Ohara Ikebana Exhibition at the Portland Japanese Garden.

Poetry Corner – Slam Poetry

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… slammed and proud of it!

Every Canadian that could be was glued to the television set and/or other modes of viewing options to take in the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. We did ourselves proud and it was a joy to share that skill and pride with the world. Kudos to all who put their heart, soul and talents to work in that highly technical and truly Canadian production. I loved it all. My very favourite part of the entire production was the whales floating along ‘under’ the concrete surface of the stadium floor and spouting water as they swam from one side to the other. WoW!

Yet in addition to that (plus seeing Donald Sutherland dressed so regally in white and proudly carrying our country’s flag), what I enjoyed most was the amazingly accurate description of Canadians and our gentle, loving, profound way of life as depicted by Canadian slam poet Shane Koyczan. Continue Reading →

Marcia’s Meanderings – A Taste

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Well, Dear Ones …

Ever had a taste of something new? Maybe you went out to a new restaurant and ordered the ‘sampler’ platter to try this and that to see which of the foods you might find yourself enjoying. Perhaps you accepted the little paper cup of some tiny morsel of a product they’re promoting at the grocery store this week. A friend may have made a new recipe and wanted you to be one of the first guinea pigs … I mean ‘fortunate recipients’ of her creative cooking skills.

When it comes to food, new can often be – yet is not always – a positive experience. Our taste buds over time, and with maturity, may add to the list of foods that we accept into our bodies. However, there may also be some things that your mouth just will not tolerate! It may be that the simple thought of oysters (or replace oysters with any food you may abhor) may have your nose twitching with disgust and your salivary glands racing in the opposite direction – causing a strong gagging reflex from the mere mention of the word – even as dramatic as nausea when the smell of it is nearby.

When it comes to any new life experience the same may apply. Some new experiences might get the adrenaline pumping and, once the challenge has been met and overcome, have you standing taller with pride and giggling from the headiness of the encounter. Other new opportunities and endeavours may have you fleeing back to a place of personal safety before you get a chance to even try them out! Continue Reading →

He Says, She Says…

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Hello, dear reader!

“Beliefs are neither good nor bad – true or false.
The beliefs we explore are simply empowering or
disempowering in relation to our intending.”

John Hawkins, Consciousness coach

Our topic this week is about beliefs – old ones and new ones.  We’re talking about beliefs from the perspective  of Seth, channeled by Jane Roberts and recorded by her husband Robert Butts.  Seth spoke a lot about how we use our beliefs as the basis for the events and experiences of our lives; one example is here:

“Events are not things that happen to you. They are materialized experiences formed by you, according to your expectations and beliefs.”

“If you are in poor health, you can remedy it. If your personal relationships are unsatisfactory, you can change them for the better. If you are in poverty, you can instead find yourself surrounded by abundance…”

“This does not mean that effort is not required, and determination. It does mean that you are not powerless to change events; and that each of you, regardless of your position, status, circumstances or physical condition, is in control of your own personal experience.”

“If you do not like your experience, then you must change the nature of your conscious thoughts and expectations.”

“You need to learn the power of thought and emotion… Once you realize that your thoughts form reality, then you are no longer a slave to events. You simply have to learn the methods.” (from the 1/5/71 Class Session)

So, without further ado, read on to discover Marcia’s and Mike’s thoughts on “Beliefs … old and new”.

Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View.

Being Green: Body and Mind – The Olympics and TED

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Hi Folks:

Well, another week has flown by!  The Vancouver 2010 Olympics begin today, and there’s been a lot of effort put into making this Olympics the ‘greenest’ one ever.  There are, of course, two opposing views on their efforts.  On one side, Daily Planet has created an extensive chronicle of the science and technology that has gone into the preparations for this event, and a part of their efforts include eight segments highlighting different ways in which this Olympics are ‘going for green‘.  The official Vancouver Olympics website also has a section of their site devoted to explaining their sustainability efforts.  Even the Olympic medals are made partially from metals recycled from electronic waste.  On the other side of the table, a recent article by Dr. David Suzuki serves to highlight the (many?) ways in which the 2010 Olympics has fallen  short, and the ways in which future games might be improved. As an example, one new structure at Whistler is a chalet designed to PassivHaus standards.  A PassivHaus consumes 90% less energy than one built to standard building code.  I think that’s wonderful, and ideas like this need to be incorporated into every new building.  At the same time, the building was created in a factory in Austria and then shipped around the world to BC where it was erected, so that process itself may negate the environmental benefits of having such a tight structure.  I can’t say for sure.  Can we do more?  Need we do more?  For my part I say yes, certainly, on both counts.  At the same time, I believe we advance ourselves further with compliments than criticisms, so I offer my congratulations to all involved with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics for their efforts in sustainability, and I trust that future events will greatly exceed the efforts made here.

Now the Olympics is primarily about the body.  Yes, there’s technology and development and mental acuity and more, but overall the Olympics is about physical excellence.  There’s another ‘Olympics’ of sorts that’s also going on right now, a little farther south, in Long Beach, CA – the 2010 TED Conference.  TED is an acronym for ‘Technology – Entertainment – Design’ and in some respects TED is a mental olympics.  But while the Olympics proper is about competition, striving to be the best, TED is about cooperation, perhaps coopetiton.  Some of the most important minds in the world gather every year at TED.  There’s also ‘William’.  He’s 11, and the youngest TED attendee to date.  At TED you’ll find doctors, engineers, business leaders, and also people like William Kamkwamba.  A native of Malawi, at 14 William had to leave school to support his family.  He went to the closest library and found a book on wind energy, and using some wonderful adaptive engineering he built a wind generator for his parent’s home.  Basically he built a wooden tower, formed blades out of melted PVC pipe, and connected these blades to the pedal arm of a bicycle.  When the wind turned the propeller blades, the rotating crank would ‘pedal’ the bicycle, spinning the rear wheel and generating electricity using a small generator designed to operate a bicycle headlight.  He generated enough power to provide for four lights in his parent’s home, and so he went beyond that, adding in a circuit breaker and four light switches.

To say a lot has been written about TED – some good, some less than flattering – would be a vast understatement.  There’s such a broad scope of topics covered at the main conference every year, and increasingly in independent ‘TEDx’ conferences (300 so far), that any attempt to cover them all would fall short.  But since these weekly posts are about green building and sustainability, I thought I’d highlight just a few to get you started.  Hundreds more can be seen and/or downloaded from the TED website.

Rachel Armstrong presented an idea to use ‘protocells’ to create building structures that sequester CO2 from the atmosphere or from water, creating carbonate ‘reefs’ that build and repair themselves.

Juan Enriquez talked about the tremendous advances in agriculture caused by shifting our thinking from using ‘force’ to grow food to using biology, and how this concept is our way forward to a sustainable energy future.

Norman Foster discussed how architects can design buildings that are “green, beautiful and basically pollution-free.”

Willie Smits spoke about recreating a clear-cut tropical rainforest in Borneo, providing habitat for local orangutans and providing food, homes, and a sustainable wage for communities of local people.

The winner of the 2010 TED Prize, Jamie Oliver outlined a plan on how to make children (and their parents, and everyone) food aware.  Malnutrition and obesity are linked if we’re eating foods that our bodies can’t effectively utilize.  How does this relate to green building and/or sustainability?  Americans invest $150 billion a year on healthcare issues related to preventable disease arising from obesity and food disorders.  As things are, this will only increase.  The production, transportation, marketing and distribution of ‘unhealthy food’ has costs that are staggering, and not just in an economic sense.  I’ve mentioned this before, and while I can’t remember the name of the original author, the ‘triple bottom line’ for businesses today involve environmental sensitivity, corporate sustainability and profit.  What the speaker said was to consider this as a three-legged stool.  He went on to say that what’s important to remember is not that if you remove one of the legs the stool will fall over.  What’s important to remember is that it doesn’t matter which one of the legs you remove, the stool still falls over.

Okay, the links this week are:

Okay, that’s it for now.  Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to leave us a comment to say hi!

Mike.

P.S.
Something a little different – a touch screen you don’t need to touch.  Gesture Cube: No need to touch – just give it a wave!

Poetry Corner – Positively Poetry

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Hello Dear Ones!

Poetry, for me, is a way of expressing amazement of, for and at life. There was a time when I was in my teens (a few years ago :o) when my life seemed filled with angst. My poetry reflected that time and pain in my life. I am so grateful it was only a short-lived phase.

Today my life is filled with love, joy, delight, hope, inspiration, insight, passion, pleasure, simplicity, playfulness … the list of positives is endless. No, my life is not perfect. Yet it needn’t be perfect for every moment to be savoured and enjoyed to the max! Continue Reading →

Marcia’s Meanderings

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See this world as a free world, and see everyone in it as trying “through their individual experiences” to find their way back to that calling, back to that Source Energy. And even though there are billions of them going about it in a way that is different than you would choose, there’s no right or wrong way. In other words, bless them all, and get on with the only thing you have any power about, which is opening or closing your vortex to your natural state of Well-Being.

— Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in San Francisco, CA on Saturday, February 28th, 2004 #338

Hello Dear Ones!

An unusual day energy-wise. Have you ever had a day where someone you have to interact with is angry? You know the kind of anger that is so palpable the air is thick with it? I’ve been doing all I can to release, alter, fix, placate, remedy, mollify, modify, help, ignore … I come well armed with a history of rescuer behaviour – a lifetime pattern of it, in fact. Being a rescuer is labour intensive. It’s a lot of work. It’s emotionally and physically exhausting. For me it’s difficult, sometimes, to just let go and let that individual do whatever he or she needs to do to get through their own issue(s) while I get on with living my happy, Pollyanna life.

I’ve begun to recognize the pattern – that when I’m around angry people I get this knot of tension in my solar plexus and I translate it as fear. Not a comfortable feeling. I get antsy, restless, scared: little girl scared. So during those times of being in the same room or environment with an angry individual it is really important for me to find a way to acknowledge the source of the anger as originating outside of me. It is NOT my emotion and I do not need to hold any of it within the framework of my own body or etheric energy field.

There are things I can do… Continue Reading →

He Says, She Says…

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Greetings, dear reader!

We watched ‘Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone‘ again on TV last night, and although we’ve seen it (several times) before, what always intrigues us is Harry’s transformation from the world of the mundane to the world of the magical, and even more that these two worlds co-exist.  Both Marcia and Mike have had many ‘magical’ experiences in their lives, and so this week we thought we’d talk about living a ‘magical life’.

Follow these links to read what He Says/She Says: Marcia’s View / Mike’s View.