What would you fight for?

I have no simple answer to that simple question. But I found a place where you can have some very interesting answers from real people talking about real steps towards improving our future.

The videos I found are from the University of Notre Dam

Fighting for our safety

Here you have links to other resons why to fight for:

1. Fighting for the Environment
2. Fighting to protect our resources
3. Fighting against the odds
4. Fighting for Human dignity
5. Fighting for Peace
6. Fighting disease

And you? what would you fight for?

Creative benefits of protecting the environment

What is good of all this movement related to protecting our planet is that we are finding ways of making "money" out of helping our planet to be better.
Just imagine...

• using more bikes or going to work walking helps the environment and your health.
• avoiding to consume product that are transported from far far away can help local production, traditional products and improve touristic attractions to a small town or location.
• consumers, like you and me, are in constant search for more natural products of high quality. That is for sure a good business opportunity.

Now count it in worldwide level... I think we could make a much better place where to live. Less traffic please! More bikes please! More kids involved in the protection of our environment please!

Are you a web designer? we want to sponsor your work

Yes, exactly that!
We are looking for Web designers interested in developing CSS templates for Web sites. The goal is to sponsor designers and then publish their work for free usage and download.
That is great because actually many designers are already making it like an investment in making their work more known. We believe that it works! It is just needed to see the great WordPress templates for Blogs and many more available on the Internet.
The difference is that we would like to sponsor that work. If interested please give a check on Web Designers Sharing Point.

Greener holidays

Today is Saturday and like most weekends I take the start of the day really slow.
I just finished watching a great program on a travels channel and I'm very impressed with a great concept: "Being environmentally responsible" while traveling. The program's name is "How to holiday greener"
The power of the idea is that communities can use their touristic natural attractions in oder to increase their local production of services, food and crafts. For example: A hotel offers a free tea and cookies for families that arrive using public transportation.
In the town where I live there is a time of the year when the gardens are producing more vegetables and fruits that what is possible to consume (for example apples). But at the same time the supermarkets are selling imported products (apples) that are not as good as local ones, and require a lot of energy for their transportation (airplanes, trucks, cars) generating much more pollution. At least here the tradition helps to preserve some of the excess of fresh products by creating marmalade, juices and other kind of long lasting products.
It makes a lot of sense to trigger the local development of farmers by helping them to produce creative services and add value to what they know to do. Even better if that is a way to make the supermarkets and others to learn to respect the environment and use that concept withing their processes.
You can visit a great Blog about the topic clicking here.

Picture from wockerjabby

Where is the truth?

Many days ago that I'm not posting any good news in my Blog. To tell you the truth I was looking for some substantial positive news but I couldn't find many inspirational information to share.
I was checking the process of growth my country is experiencing but even many good steps happened, many corruption related issues jumped to the public. That is not yet a substantial source of good news. I see economical growth without social growth.
The rest of the world is worried about the effects of climate change. That's important and transcendental and it is a process that will change our future. But there are still many contradictions yet to be solved. So that is not a source of inspirational good news.
Then I wondered if I'm the problem and I'm becoming negative. Or maybe I lost my sense of positivity.
I found that I had some challenges to solve in the office. That kind of "human" style problems that are sucking so much energy in order to be solved with responsibility and respect. I needed to charge my batteries.
While recharging I received a message from an old friend of mine. I learned that she found her own truth and she is happy and free. She fought for many years and she achieved it! That came to me like a fast load of pure and shining positivity.
Today I have started thinking about "the truth" and the source of being positive. I think that the personal truth is within the process of learning about ourselves, from our own experiences and from others. That means, in my perspective, that people that is not looking for the truth or that is not curious about which is the "trick" to lead a successful life is definitely going to live far from risks, changes and great success. They can live in peace of course. Those are probably persons that think they know the truth or at least they are satisfied with their own truth and they don't want to risk it introducing changes, they stopped learning about life. That's fine for many and probably good for society. For me not.
I think that positivity comes from observing the routes our live takes while looking for a personal truth; for preparing a legacy. That legacy should be a map for others to see where a person found wrong paths, how many times was needed to fix the route, change direction, create a new way and in many cases where that person treasured his or her own truth. That is a map not a recipe book. There are hundreds of other ways and specially because not all start the journey from the same place and of course because the destination is a secret.
That is for sure a message of hope, because at the end it is not important to arrive, it is important to look for the way to, what you think is, the destination. It is important that others can see which your truth is, which are the paths you walked. No matter who you are or what you own; it is important the legacy your life will bring after looking for innovative ways to achieve happiness, success, truth, freedom or whatever motivates you.
If all that is true then being positive is possible like a recognition of what we discovered until now.

The following is the sample of a guy that went out of the school, had problems with the police and that is certainly a source of inspiration for many.



The picture is from Jparise

A book MEME

Actually I don't understand so well this thing specially because the word "meme" sounds to me very childish. But now I can understand it better.. so click here if you want to expand your vocabulary :)

Total number of books: I have many books and that is one of the best things I like to spend my money on. I have some 100 books at home in Peru but at home in Slovenia I must have some 250 more. From science, religion, history, technology, design, minerals, spirits, crystal healing, to novels, visual guides and of course many classics. One day I will count them. I have also some 20 audiobooks.
Last book read: I can't imagine that this one is a difficult question! Actually I'm reading many books at the same time... but It must be a finished one... ok, let me see. I have 4 books I finished reading recently:

1. The Children of Hurin, J.R.R. Tolkien. It is a bit difficult to read book but talks about many interesting human values from the negative experience of a person living in a constant contradiction.
2. Ideas that changed the world, Felipe Fernandez Armesto. It is a really interesting collection of chronologically organized ideas. The secuency of their presentation is one of the most important things on the book because it helps the reader to understand the "need" of having that idea in a particularly special part of our History. It helps to understand how the Human is and how we invented many "ideas" to facilitate our understanding of the world and life.
3. Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. This one I started many months ago but I finished the last part no so long ago. It is a great book that explains the intricate and complex mind we have. The way of explaining philosophy using a motorcycle trip is a great idea. This is the kind of book that can change the way we live... you must read it ;)
4. The Last Elf, Silvana De Mari. A fantasy book full of innocence and messages of hope. The perfect book for a long plane trip. The story is so simple to read that makes it irresistible! I wanted to read it again as soon as I finished and I read it again because it holds many beautiful messages.

Last book bought: The tipping point. I'm already at the half of the book. It is super interesting and I'm using it to try to motivate my coworkers to think how to make our sales more effective. It explains about the little things that are important in order to make a message to ring in the audience. I can send many advertising messages but not necessary get answers; this books helps me to find that I don't need so many advertising messages, it is better to think on who is key to receive the message.
I would like to mention other book that is very interesting because it is made to tell you in what you are good! Its name is Strength Finder.
Five meaningful books: They are not in order of interest or importance and please don't try to think that I'm comparing them. They are just books that made me think and get interesting conclusions.

1. The Bible
2. The Zahir, Paulo Coelho
3. The Sacred Depths of Nature by Ursula Goodenough
4. Night, Elie Wiesel
5. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Thanks Matt for making me think more about my beloved books! that was great!

Saving one of the most emblematic natural sanctuaries in the world

There is a wonderful place in our Planet called "Candamo". That place belongs to a national park called "Bahuaja Sonene". Peruvian Government is starting to think to use 209 thousand hectares to establish facilities for researching the existence of crude oil; going against the advise of the opinion of the INRENA, institution in charge of the protected areas in Peru.

• There is a web site where you could express your opinion. In english you could go to: this link.
• In Spanish you can visit this web site.
• here you can see the map with the area they pretend to destroy.
  

Solar observatory in Peru

Well it is true that lately I'm writing more about Peru. There is a reason, this is a country where the bad news were each day filling the newspapers and lately there are some good news coming from there and that are related to "culture" and Human heritage.
This time the University of Yale announced on their web site:
"... Archeologists from Yale and the University of Leicester have identified an ancient solar observatory at Chankillo, Peru as the oldest in the Americas with alignments covering the entire solar year, according to an article in the March 2 issue of Science." You can read the article here.
In the first image you can see the fortified stone temple called Chankillo.
Bellow you see an image explaining how the solar observatory was used.

Joint Statement by the Government of Peru and Yale University

As mentioned in a previous post Peru and Yale University signed an agreement. You can read the "news release" from Yale's site.
Here a paragraph I think is important:
"This understanding represents a new model of international cooperation providing for the collaborative stewardship of cultural and natural treasures."

A new Blog for small business

Hello! Well... hot to say it. I don't know if it is actually a good new for you but I wanted to let you know that I have another Blog! yes but that one is not about good news is about small business!

For me it is a good new :) because I will be trying to invite many interesting people from many countries in the world. I will try to get their contribution there with the goal to share some of our knowledge, experiences, mistakes and good moments!

I hope to have many members from the Small Business Specialists Community, som Partner Area Leads more known as PALS and more specialists interested into share information.
If you feel like visiting it please click here and you will be able to read for free the very first 2 posts!!! :)