The First Thing I Ever Wrote (not including school work)

I wrote this short little inspirational page about 3 years ago. It was the first thing I had felt comfortable writing and putting my name on. It was exhilarating at the time because all I had ever tried to write was school papers. The energy you can feel when you put your thoughts on paper is limitless. It is probably where the seed was planted for me to start this, and try to get as much of these short inspirations out of my head and out into the world. So here is the seed, hope you enjoy it:

The Only Thing We Can Know For Sure: The Time is Here and Now
Go where the wind takes you. Day by day. Don’t think about where the wind will take you tomorrow. Just let it happen. The second you get caught up in what might happen, you forget about what is happening. Whether you believe in fate, destiny, or coincidence, everyone believes things will happen. Let it. Live it. Love it. Each second of everyday brings with it an eternity. These eternities can never be relived. Enjoy every one of them.
The problem with looking to the future is you become anxious, and grow unhappy with what is. The future never comes quite as we expect it or want it to, and the only result is disappointment. To quote the book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, “Your sorrow, your fear and anger, regret and guilt, your envy and plans and cravings live only in the past or in the future. Santiago, the main character in The Alchemist, is an example of just living. He flows with the wind and lets life happen. His reward is beyond everything he wanted or needed, but the journey was his treasure. He realized happiness and his dreams. He let it. He lived it. He absorbed it all.
Dan Millman wrote, “You don’t just gaze up at the top of the mountain, you look directly in front of you and take one step at a time”. That’s how life is meant to be lived; one step at a time, wherever the wind takes you.

UNICEF Tap Project

It was World Water Day last Saturday and I was too busy to post anything to remind people. However, a friend of mine wanted to share this video and I think it is a really interesting campaign that is something anyone can participate in. For your viewing pleasure:



For more about UNICEF's Tap Project check out their website.

Sunset on the North Pole

I got this picture awhile back from a friend, and then yesterday another friend had this amazing quote to share: "Dream Big Dreams. Small Ones Have No Magic." There was no known author but I thought that the picture and the quote reminded me of one another. Have any ideas why?

Natural Highs

I received this email from a friend of mine a month or so ago and thought I would share it. Think about each one separately before moving on to the next.

1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4. No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry).
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
14. A good conversation.
15 The beach
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you
19 Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS
25. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
26. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
27. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner).
28. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
29. Playing with a new puppy.
30. Having someone play with your hair.
31. Sweet dreams.
32. Hot chocolate.
33. Road trips with friends.
34. Swinging on swings.
35. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
36. Making chocolate chip cookies.
37. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.
38 Holding hands with someone you care about.
39 Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
40. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
41. Watching the sunrise.
42. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
43. Knowing that somebody misses you.
44. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
45. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think

CGI U: Working Session #1

Key Facts From Session:
* The internet is finding ways for people to fight poverty. Using pay-per-click advertising, organizations can generate profits that fund innovative yet simple programs. For example, one program enables students to donate gradually to microfinance recipients through repeated use of their website.

Another program donates 20 grains of rice each time a person clicks on the website. To encourage people to continue clicking, the site provides a vocabulary-building quiz. Since this program went live in October 2007, over 21 billion grains of rice have been donated to and distributed by the UN World Food Program (which currently aids 78 countries). This is enough to feed 1 million people per day.

At the same time, hunger and poverty claim 25, 000 lives every day.

* America is the richest in the world, yet 37 million American live below the official poverty line. For comparison, the population of California is 36.5 million.

* America is ranked 24 out of 25 developed nations when measuring how well countries combat poverty (what share of a country's population has income below 50% of the nation's median income). Only Mexico has a higher poverty rate than in the United States among rich nations.

* The number of people in developing countries living on less than US$1 a day fell to 980 million in 2004; down from 1.25 billion in 1990

* As of December 31, 2006, 3,316 microcredit institutions reported reaching 133,030,913 clients. Microfinance can help the poor to generate income, build viable businesses, and increase domestic savings. It can also be a powerful instrument for self-empowerment by enabling the poor, especially women, to become economic agents of change. However, we need to find ways to ensure that even more people have access to capital.

The title of this session was "Students Ending Poverty: Start from Where you Are". The speakers were Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Tufts University; Anat Binur, Co-Founder and Executive Board Member, Middle East Education Through Technology (MEET); Dave Eggers, Founder McSweeney's and TED 2008 Award Recipient; Jacqueline Marrie Rupert, President, Edun Live on Campus; and Premal Shah, President, Kiva.org

The session was extremely interesting. Dave Eggers was the panel moderator and he was extremely gifted at the role. Each member of the panel spoke about their experience with their particular organization and what they were doing.

Perhaps the closest to my age was Ms. Rupert. She started the program at Miami University. In 2005 Bono and his wife Ali Hewson started the fashion brand Edun to show that a brand could be profitable and do good (a social enterprise by definition). Not long after, Edun Live on Campus was launched to provide clothing for screen printing for college campuses and start spreading the word that clothing was about more than the product. When Jacqueline Marie graduates in the coming year she will be leaving behind a true legacy on her campus and throughout the world as the brand continues to grow. Her tireless work will have a lasting impact. It was a simple concept, one that can be replicated on any campus around the world, but one that has the potential to make some very big changes. Check out Edun Live on Campus.

Perhaps the most widely known story was that of Premal Shah, the President of Kiva.org. Kiva has grown to be one of the biggest stories of the philanthropic world over the past couple of years. A simple concept of combining the power of the internet with microcredit, Kiva allows people from all over the world to provide small loans to people in the developing world to help start or grow their small businesses. At the mere age of 32 Premal is the oldest employee of the organization. When they first created the organization he remembers wondering whether the idea was even legal. As they plan to expand the website to include people in the US on the list of loanees, he still isn't sure whether it is legal, but they aren't going to let that stop them. The idea was simple but has sent some serious waves throughout the world in the fight against poverty. I am very excited to see this organization grow.

The other two were also extremely interesting. While I didn't relate to them nearly as well, Lawrence Bracow, the President of Tufts University and Anat Binur had very interesting stories to tell as well. Mr. Bracow and Tufts University had created an endowment fund of $112 million that provided microcredit institutions with capital to make loans as well as to do poverty reduction projects all over the world. It is the only current university with such an endowment in place, or at least to the knowledge of anyone in attendance.

The message that the panel was parlaying was that small ideas, with hard work, can become large agents of change. Each of the panelists started their ideas in the environment of their respective universities and have continued to grow well beyond the borders of the campus. Schools can be the perfect breeding grounds for passionate people with an idea. Think about that if you happen to be on a campus, and if you are not then don't fret because your ideas will find a home if you want them to. These panelists had done things few would have thought possible. They would have dreamed about them but they would never have thought to take the next step. Ideas without action are failed dreams. But the combination of ideas and action can change the world. Combine the two and you have one powerful recipe for change. That is a lesson we all need to assimilate.

CGI U: Opening Plenary

The opening plenary was a panel discussion which included Lance Armstrong, President Clinton, Brittany Cochran (a graduate student from Xavier), and the president of Cornell University - David Skorton. The title of the session was: Working Together - Students and Universities Take the Lead on Global Challenges. It was an interesting session targeted to getting students and school administrations to understand some of the processes and nuances of getting an organization or idea into action.

Lance spoke about his experience of getting Livestrong started and how it has grown into what it is today. Brittany talked about her experience of getting her environmental group started at her school of around 2000 people and the challenges that occurred along the way. Finally, David spoke about the support his college gives its students and the what his school has done for starting some new and interesting programs on its campus.

Each speaker brought something interesting and unique to the table. It was an interesting dynamic and I could see the value of what each was speaking about. President Clinton tried to urge everyone in attendance to think about the possibility of each school creating its own branded NGO to help combat global issues. An organization where students and faculty worked together to come up with new and interesting solutions to some of the worlds most pressing matters. While I see some value in such a situation, I also see it being difficult to sell to the student population. I know on the Laurier campus that hundreds of general interest groups are present on the campus and if the administration were to create its own and aim its support for that particular cause, it might create some conflict with these other groups. It makes sense in terms of set up and having the blend of student and professor working on the same cause and solution, but I also see the issue with just such a set up.

In terms of setting up a campus NGO, if this is something of interest to any of you readers, I urge you to look for an already established organization either already working on your campus, or not yet there, and help them to either grow or establish themselves on the campus. The sheer amount of worthy causes out there makes it easy to find something that matches your unique values, and which can use your support. If you are more ambitious and want to start your own organization then all the power to you. If you feel passionate about doing such a thing then do your research. There are plenty of valuable resources available. Each campus is different for setting up a club or group, so consult your student affairs or union group and make sure you understand the process. It is easy to have an idea and think about making it a reality. It is far more difficult to make it a reality, to come up with the time and energy required. I urge anyone to pour their hearts into a cause, to provide their skills and energy to something bigger than themselves. It will show you things about yourself you never knew existed. You will learn things about yourself that you never thought you could do, that you never thought you could accomplish.

A funny thing will happen when you wear your passion on your sleeve: people will join in. Everyone is looking for passion and when you have it people instantly want to be apart of it in hopes that it somehow rubs off on them. When you show your passion for a cause, and go through the work to do something about it, you instantly become a light tower for others. Your efforts will cause other people to put in effort. That is what leadership is about. It isn't about being in a position of power, it is about allowing other people to show the best parts of themselves, to allow them to rise out of the depths of apathy and make a difference. Lance, Brittany, and David are leaders in every sense of the word. Be a leader and let others see your passion.

CGI U

Amazing! CGI U was an incredible experience and charged my batteries. I got there a little late on Friday night for the reception, but I was able to register and get my weekend package. I first checked into the hotel to drop my stuff off and quickly freshen up. Out of sheer coincidence I was able to catch a ride with one of the bus drivers over to the reception. I say that because just at the time I was leaving the hotel he was pulling up to drop off his last airport passengers and then make his way over to the reception. I hopped aboard and started asking questions. Turns out where I was staying was one of the only hotels open just after the flooding as the water stopped about 2 blocks away from it. The bus driver lost his house in the flooding and it was scheduled to be knocked down in a matter of days. It was the house he grew up in, and was in his family for a couple of generations. He told me he was lucky because he was able to afford another home but most weren't so lucky. I heard this sentiment once before when I was in Biloxi, Mississippi after the hurricane. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes such a horrible experience to help people realize the value of life. I am not saying that this man didn't but he did appear to have a stronger sense of life as a result of it nonetheless.

On the bus ride home from registering I met a few people who were also headed back to the hotels. We exchanged business cards and talked about our commitments that all of us were required to make in order to attend. I heard some really interesting ideas over the course of the weekend, and I am looking forward to hearing the progress many people will make towards their commitments over the coming months. One person I met, Ryan, was a masters student at Rutgers in Clinical Psychology. His particular interest was on the new area of Community Psychology, which out of sheer luck I knew a tiny bit about from my studies. He was creating a scholarship for a student from a conflict region to come over and take the program he is in. A number of students I met over the weekend wanted to do something similar.

On the Saturday morning I got up bright and early to partake in the core part of the weekend. I could and will write several posts on the different sessions I was in, because they each deserve special consideration. Each session I learned a bundle from and met interesting people throughout.

During the lunch we were separated into regions, with all the international students attending the same lunch, in order to discuss how best CGI U could continue to build upon the experience and how to facilitate keeping all of us in touch afterwards. We talked about several questions to get to these core questions. During the discussion many of the people in my group were talking about the value of integrating some of the experience of the staff of CGI as well as our 'adult' or global leader counterparts from the annual CGI event. After having Kevin, a friend of mine and the man behind the Kev Blog, in to speak to my classmates, (he spoke about the power of young peoples inexperience) I felt it was pertinent for any mentor relationship between us to be mutual in benefit. I feel very strongly that both our roles could be enhanced by combining forces and using our new ideas and willing to fail attitude with their resources and experience, we could see some ground breaking work occur. I will keep you updated as I continue the dialogue on this subject with CGI in the coming months ahead.

After 2 more afternoon sessions, a traditional crawl fish broil, and a bout of comedy, the day was over and I was asleep on my feet. When all was said and done I was there for 14 and a half hours straight. A lot to take in and absorb, and I am still going over my notes and thoughts to make sure I got what I could out of it.

On the Sunday we were all taken to the lower ninth ward to do a service project. We worked on the Make It Right housing development project spearheaded by Brad Pitt. The approximately 10 block development is based around cradle to cradle design which brings in products that have as little as possible environmental impact, often requiring the manufacturing of all new products, to create houses with as little to no environmental impact or carbon footprint. We went around and cleaned up the sidewalks, cleaned the grime and soot out of the gutters and unclogged the sewer grates and installed some natural filters so that when they start digging things up any run off will find its way into the sewers and not fill them up with mud. The morning was a lot of work but I managed to snap a few photos of President Clinton and Brad as they made their rounds through the development and meet a few more people I had not yet met over the weekend.

While this is a really brief overview of the weekend I will in the near future speak in more detail about each of the sessions I attended. If you are particularly curious though, there is a webcast of all the sessions available here. From the sounds of it it will become an annual event, and if so I encourage everyone to apply to attend. There is a lot to learn by participating in such experiences and I came away with an even greater belief in what I am trying to do. If I didn't think the Ideal World Book was a great idea before I certainly do now. When you surround yourself with people who have a sense of passion and that unique blend of realism and idealism, you can really absorb energy beyond that which you ever thought you could. It is like reaching the highest of highs and having the increased capacity and desire to stay there. Some times you find yourself in a place that brings out the best in you, and you bring out the best in other people. This was one of those places.