The cynic says one person can’t do anything. I say ‘Only one person can do anything.
All good ideas start with one person. The creative, caring, believing person sends out waves of influence. One affects others who in turn affect others…
Celebrate, the Power of ONE
Happy Soul Food Friday!
The Story of the 3 Travelers:
A women noticed three men with long white beards standing outside her front gate.
May I help you gentlemen?, she asked.
We have traveled many miles and we are hungry, one of the men replied. Could we bother you for something to eat?
It would be no bother, the woman replied, please come in.
Wait, one of the other travelers said, Is your husband home?
Not yet, but he will be home soon, the woman said.
Then we will wait for him before we come into your home.
Very well, the woman said and returned to her chores…
A short time later her husband arrived home. She told him about the three travelers and they decided to go to the front yard together to invite them in for supper.
You can ask only one of us in, said one of the men.
I am Wealth, that is Success and the other fellow with us is Love.
You must decide which one of us can enter your home.
The husband pulled his wife aside and said, Let’s ask Wealth to come into our home.
Maybe he will bestow many fine gifts upon us.
The wife disagreed. We should invite Success. Success makes wealth possible and successful people always have lives filled with good fortune.
Just then the couple’s daughter joined the conversation. You should always choose Love. Without love there is nothing.
The couple thought about it for a moment and then walked to the gate.
The wife said, Love, we would like to invite you to have supper with us.
The husband opened the gate and the three men walked into the yard.
But I thought you said we could only invite one of you in, the husband questioned.
That is correct, one of the bearded men answered, but you chose Love. And wherever Love goes, everything else will follow.
(Thanks Sensei Leong for Bits and Pieces)
Creating Good Work– The World’s Leading Social Entrepreneurs Show How to Build a Healthy Economy
Is your work extractive i.e. taking from the greater good, or generative i.e. contributing to the greater good?
Here is a teaser from a new book by my friend Ron Schultz where deliberate disruptive design is the model, and nurturing resilience, creating good work (work that has meaning and purpose and is of benefit to others) and creating enough wealth (commonwealth) becomes the hallmark with respect to social innovation.
The book launched Tuesday and is already #32 on Amazon. Ron will be sharing this over the weekend at the Ashoka U 2013 Exchange at USD where more than 1,000 people from 150 institutions and 40 countries gather for a premier event on social entrepreneurship education. http://ashokau.org/exchange/
You can stay current on this topic at: http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/715-creating-good-work-identifying-commonwealth-building-healthy-economies
(thanks Ron S.)
Natural and Unnatural Wonders:
Savor this soul feast for the eyes. Here are some amazing pictures from around the globe
(thanks Larry H.)
Al Gore (Blood and Gore): The Future
Speaking of book launches, recently, I was grateful to my friends the Warwick’s for an opportunity to hear former US Vice President and Nobel Prize Laureate Al Gore speak at his book launch- for his new book entitled The Future.
If you are not familiar with Warwick’s, it is the oldest family owned and operated bookstore in the US, that has been delivering the independent bookstore experience since 1896. Warwick’s is currently run by the 4th generation sisters Nancy and Cathy. http://www.warwicks.com/ “Independent minds need independent books”
While I wasn’t sure what to expect, I was suitably impressed by Mr. Gore’s depth of understanding of a variety of subjects and his ability to passionately engage with and communicate to his audience.
Mr. Gore was introduced by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner who as an academic and a politician used self-deprecating humor to bridge the gap identified in his own joke, “Academics are all thought and no action. Politicians are all action and no thought.”
In his early remarks, Mr. Gore joked about his time in Investment banking when with his partner Mr. Blood he seriously considered naming their firm “Blood and Gore”. Obviously keener sensibilities prevailed…
On a more serious note, some of the highlights for me included:
- The Emergence of Earth Inc. where decision making authority is being pulled from politicians to markets, and changes in the means of production are moving from subtractive manufacturing where you chip away at the excess, to additive manufacturing such as 3-D printing (interesting to consider in relation to extractive or generative work mentioned earlier)
- The Emergence of the Global Mind where millions of connected devices, sensors and machines are hailing a new season of creative disruption where of the 7B people on the planet, 5B have smart phones that are getting smarter every year
- The Emergence of the Artificial Intelligence Genetic Revolution that is altering the very fabric of life where as a stray example- spider goats can now produce silk in their milk (since it is hard to farm spiders)
- The Emergence of China as the largest economy on earth, and what this means for the US after more than 100 years in the poll position…
Mr. Gore got most passionate about his belief and experience that “democracy in America has been hacked” as big money, anonymous contributions and super pacs dominate the political process and how politicians have no choice but to cater to big money and the 30 second commercials that are critical to their elective process, as it is only human nature to do the calculus on how each decision I take as a politician will impact my campaign contributions. This means in our current system, zero reform can occur without support and sanction from special interest groups, and how this flies in the face of the script that our founding fathers believed in, and how critical it is that we become more informed about, and restore the proper functioning of democracy in America.
Wherever you find yourself in the political spectrum, I think Mr. Gore’s attention to the emerging trends is worthy of exploration, especially his important point that growth – the “holy grail” for countries, corporations and institutions without an “accounting” of the externalities not captured or measured in metrics like GDP including pollution, education, art, science and music, depreciation of natural resources, yes climate change and hyper inequality in income distribution (some inequality is a necessary condition of capitalism) but when the 6 Wal-Mart heirs are worth as much as 100 million Americans, and when since 2008, 93% of the income gains have gone to the top 1% of Americans- this is over the top, and collectively represents an incomplete accounting with “off balance sheet” implications that could be deleterious for our species and our planet.
You can check out the book at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Future-Drivers-Global-Change/dp/0812992946 or better yet GO to Warwick’s!
(Thanks Cathy)
Who You Calling Dumb Animals?
This story is unbelievable…
After a mother chimpanzee who lived in a zoo died, one of the zoo’s employees took the baby chimp home to care for it. It never crossed his mind that his dog, who had recently given birth, would adopt the chimp and raise it with her pups. Judging by the look on her face at times, she is not quite sure why this particular offspring has hands to grab her with. Now that portrays unconditional love. Something to think about!
PLEASE DON’T SAY DUMB ANIMALS…THEY HAVE MORE LOVE AND COMPASSION THAN MOST HUMANS!
Stay Loving and Compassionate.
Love,
Neville
“Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Happy Soul Food Friday! 