2021

These are our stories! 

May they uplift, inspire, and reassure you

that love is alive and well here on the planet.  

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May they encourage 

and motivate many to take action

 on behalf of humanity, the planet and all sentient beings.

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To submit your stories, please join us in our

 Facebook Group

‘Our Awakening Planet’

Or go to ‘Our New Story’ to submit.

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Below you will find an interactive map

 to see what we have been up to around the world.

Enjoy!

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2021

Justice: Kindness Matters

Future Dreaming: David Martin

A remarkable documentary that will challenge the way you think about humanity.

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Elders and Youth

Brilliant idea being implemented in Canada.

They combined nursing homes with the orphanages. The result exceeded all expectations!

Elders found grandchildren, orphans experienced the love and care for their parents for the first time. The elderly have improved significantly in their health and their will to live.

Their interest in life is back, the doctors said.

We all need love.. 

Parenting

Drinking water, pulled from vapor in the air, helping thousands in Warm Springs

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We could all learn a thing or two from these bees.

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Today I went to his house and he showed me all of the honey he had gotten from the hives. He took the lid off of a 5 gallon bucket full of honey and on top of the honey there were 3 little bees, struggling. They were covered in sticky honey and drowning. I asked him if we could help them and he said he was sure they wouldn’t survive. Casualties of honey collection I suppose.

       I asked him again if we could at least get them out and kill them quickly, after all he was the one who taught me to put a suffering animal (or bug) out of its misery. He finally conceded and scooped the bees out of the bucket. He put them in an empty Chobani yogurt container and put the plastic container outside.

        Because he had disrupted the hive with the earlier honey

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collection, there were bees flying all over outside.

        We put the 3 little bees in the container on a bench and left them to their fate. My dad called me out a little while later to show me what was happening. These three little bees were surrounded by all of their sisters (all of the bees are females) and they were cleaning the sticky nearly dead bees, helping them to get all of the honey off of their bodies. We came back a short time later and there was only one little bee left in the container. She was still being tended to by her sisters.

When it was time for me to leave we checked one last time and all three of the bees had been cleaned off enough to fly away and the container was empty.

        Those three little bees lived because they were surrounded by family and friends who would not give up on them, family and friends who refused to let them drown in their own stickiness and resolved to help until the last little bee could be set free.

Bee Sisters. Bee Peers. Bee Teammates.

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We could all learn a thing or two from these bees.

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Half a Million Acres of the Scottish Highlands Will Be Rewilded

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HIStory + HERstory = OURstory

Kindness Matters- Lessons on Bullying

Sustainability- Food- Community Building

Environmental Clean Up

When coal mines are close down they leave dead lands and unemployment behind, but one West Virginia farm is bringing life back to their lands that bloom with lavender today. We wish more lands would get covered in such a tranquil purple color! ?

Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: “If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.” Well — one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing. “Help,” said the flight agent. “Talk to her. What is her problem? We told her the flight was going to be late and she did this.”

I stooped to put my arm around the woman and spoke haltingly.

“Shu-dow-a, Shu-bid-uck Habibti? Stani schway, Min fadlick, Shu-bit-se-wee?” The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly used, she stopped crying. She thought the flight had been cancelled entirely. She needed to be in El Paso for major medical treatment the next day. I said, “No, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just later, who is picking you up? Let’s call him.”

We called her son, I spoke with him in English. I told him I would

stay with his mother till we got on the plane and ride next to 

her. She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just 

for the fun of it. Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and found out of course they had ten shared friends. Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian poets I know and let them chat with her? This all took up two hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling of her life, patting my knee,

answering questions. She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool

cookies — little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts — from her bag — and was offering them to all the women at the gate. To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo — we were all covered with the same powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookie.

And then the airline broke out free apple juice from huge coolers and two little girls from our flight ran around serving it and they were covered with powdered sugar, too. And I noticed my new best friend — by now we were holding hands — had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing, with green furry leaves. Such an old country tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and I thought, This is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that gate — once the crying of confusion stopped— seemed apprehensive about any other person. They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women, too.

This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost.

~ Naomi Shihab Nye

Been thinking about dark and light. How the Church decided LIGHT is good and DARK….well you know. It’s belief that dark is not good may be why we project suspicion on those of color. I LOVE this definition by Rev. Michael Beckwith (and I LOVE him too!)
“Darkness is the depths spiritual potential hidden in the void of infinite possibility. Light is the manifestation of that potential in the external dimension of time and space.”

And how we were once so free to explore our consciousness in a way that was so child like and inquisitive. Let us not let go of that curious nature. There is a higher power at work now. And we must trust in the Divine now more than ever. As a medicine woman, I have seen so much beyond the illusion. And I know it feels so real for those who have yet to fully comprehend the bigger picture of awakening in these times.
It is paramount for us to stay connected to our hearts and what we do have in the here and now. Presence is the key to moving through this illusion. There is no future only that which is happening in each day by the decisions we are choosing in this now moment.
Honor your choices and live your life fully. If you focus on what is being lost, you will not see what is here and now. There were times in my life when it seemed as though all hope was lost and miracles happened. We are not here to dwell or even focus on the rules of those who do not have authority over our lives or our bodies. Only Divine consciousness has the inner authority.
It is important to honor your body and your life. The fear of government and mandates is a way to try to force us into submission. It is important to recognize we are the people who these governments are protecting. If we believe we need these protocols then we give our power away to them. But, when we stand up
For our choices and do not live in their system we can choose our own path. It may be harder or uncomfortable but, it’s ok to let go of systems that are toxic. We are the masses who are being misled into dire straits through illusion. Do not be mistaken. Those with agendas of control will try to take from us all our comforts to make us conform. It’s like the narcissist parent or partner. In a relationship of co-dependency and control. Go within to see where you are hooked into the system for survival.
I remember the words of the wise elders…”know your food, know your water and community. Co-create with like minded souls. Now it is time for us to take all we have learned and co-create the villages we want to live in. To unite as a collective consciousness to ground in our vision for the New Earth. Turn off the News and all the nonsense that is noise pollution.
It’s time to wake up individually and recognize “they” are going to do what they want to do. But, it is our responsibility to do what is best for ourself. To honor the individual’s right to choose what is in the highest for each person.
When you go along with the crowd against your body and soul you will regret losing sovereignty.
This is not about being a victim to the circumstances of the situation. But, honoring the sometimes difficult choices it takes by standing in integrity with your being. This may require discomfort and temporary stillness. To be centered within until the movements shift.
Time to get creative with your life and unplug from the matrix that is confining you to a life of slavery. Do not let comfort and fear stop you from standing up for what is your God Given freedom of choice.
Only you can stand up for yourself. Not by fighting but by honoring your Yes and No fully without shame. If you feel you must protect yourself in a certain way honor your body. But, listen to your body not your mind. In the duality we must be aware of the two sides of the coin. There is no absolute in any case. Each person is an individual let us allow the choices to be made from there. And do not be guilted until going against your inner knowing. This will have dire consequences. Because what we believe to be true is true, or becomes true because of our beliefs.

For those who are depressed it is time to sit still in meditation. To connect with your Divine. What is occurring in depression and feeling disconnected and lost is lack of connection to the Earth and Divine Consciousness. It means you are focused on the outer world more than your inner world. Connect to your higher self. This connection is where your intuition will fully activate and guide you. Most people are looking to the outside world to give them value, worth and information. There is no answers outside in this hyped up illusion. All is breaking down. Mother Earth is calling you home to her heart. She is asking us to slow down and just be. Like nature all is changing and dying to be reborn. Cycles upon cycles of change are happening. Learn from the past so you do no recreate the same patterns of the old paradigm. Know thyself and you shall know the outcome. And fear not death as it will come to us all. Learn to life fully without guilt and shame. Honor your being very simple no justifications needed. Just be! ❤️????

Art by Ruvexen Flores

Catching wind: How to harnesses air for low-carbon shipping

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The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention… A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.
~Rachel Naomi Remen
art: Alen Tomasz Kopera
Can you imagine a model for ecological stability? It already exists in Earth Community. All beings give to ensure the continuation of the greater whole. Each animal, tree, plant, insect, creature and element in nature contributes to the needs of the rest. And these gifts, which can include their very lives, are given willingly, as they have also received the gifts of others. This ancient gift economy is stable, cooperative and integrated, and until recent times, has also included humanity.
(Art by El Gato Chimney)

Guerilla Grazing and Ingenious Off-Grid Living

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If We Put Solar Panels on Top of Airports, We Could Power Entire Cities

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Solar-Powered Refrigeration Trucks Will Cut Pollution From Idling Diesel Engines

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South Korea

Solar panels in the middle of the highway with bicycle paths underneath.

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 She wasn’t talking nonsense. She didn’t show up on the streets of Berlin to be taken. She was named Lady of the World, which was described as the equivalent of six million men.
In those eighteen years of power, no transgressions were recorded in her country. She did not appoint any of her relatives to a state post. She didn’t claim to be a glory maker. She didn’t get millions of pay, nobody was happy for her performance, she didn’t get paper and promises, she didn’t fight those before her.
Merkel leaves the leadership position of the party and transmits it to his heirs, and Germany and the German people are in the best conditions. The reaction of the Germans was unprecedented in the history of the country. The whole population came out on the balconies and from their homes and clapped spontaneously for 6 consecutive minutes. Stormy standing ovation across the country.
Germany said goodbye to its leader, physicist and quantum chemist, who was not tempted by fashion or lights and did not buy real estate, cars, yachts and private jets, knowing it was coming from old East Germany. She leaves her post after leaving Germany at the top. She leaves and her loved ones claim no benefits.
Eighteen years she never changed her wardrobe. At a press conference, a journalist asked Merkel: ‘ ‘ We notice that you wear the same suit, don’t you have another? ′′ She replied, ′′ I’m a civil servant, not a model ′′. At another press conference, she was asked: ‘ ‘ Do you have housekeepers cleaning your house, preparing food, etc. ‘′′ Her answer was, ′′ No, I have no servants, nor need. My husband and I do this work every day at home ‘ ‘. Then another journalist asked: ‘ Who is doing laundry, you or your husband? ′′ Her response was: ‘ ‘ I’m fixing the clothes and my husband is the one who runs the washing machine. It’s usually at night. The most important thing is to account for all the inconveniences for your neighbors. Luckily the wall separating our apartment from neighbors is thick… I expected you to ask me about the successes and failures in our government work ‘ ‘
Mrs. Merkel lives in a normal apartment like any other citizen. She lived in this apartment before she was elected Chancellor of Germany. She didn’t leave him and she doesn’t own a single villa, houses, pools, gardens. Merkel, now a former German Chancellor of Europe’s largest economy… ′′
To this text, we can only add the thought of Merkel’s compatriot – Georg Friedrich Hegel / 1770-1831 /: ‘ ‘ Every nation is worth the rulers ‘ ‘.

The Manufacturing of a Mass Psychosis – Can Sanity Return to an Insane World?

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“It was my idea to use fMRI and/or PET scanning to directly observe the effects of circumcision on the infant brain.
Analysis of the MRI data indicated that the surgery subjected the infant to significant trauma. The greatest changes occurred in the limbic system concentrating in the amygdala and in the frontal and temporal lobes.
A neurologist who saw the results postulated that the data indicated that #circumcision affected most intensely the portions of the victim’s brain associated with reasoning, perception and emotions.
Follow up tests on the infant one day, one week and one month after the surgery indicated that the child’s brain never returned to its baseline configuration. In other words, the evidence generated by this research indicated that the brain of the circumcised infant was permanently changed by the surgery.” — Paul D. Tinari, PhD
An anthropologist showed a game to the children of an African tribe …
He placed a basket of delicious fruits near a tree trunk and told them: The first child to reach the tree will get the basket.
When he gave them the start signal, he was surprised that they were walking together, holding hands until they reached the tree and shared the fruit!
When he asked them why you did that when every one of you could get the basket only for him!
They answered with astonishment: Ubuntu.
“That is, how can one of us be happy while the rest are miserable?”
Ubuntu in their civilization means: (I am because we are).
That tribe knows the secret of happiness that has been lost in all societies that transcend them and which consider themselves civilized societies ……. !!

‘Homecoming’: 100 years after forceful removal, Nez Perce people celebrate reclaimed land

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In business, when the workers stop, the company incurs losses and eventually shuts down. However, if Nature stops working, the world itself shuts down. At least from now on, after experiencing the intense suffering of this pandemic, man should set aside his egoism, stop harming Nature Mother and recognize that she is the ultimate master. We have to develop the attitude that we are nothing but Nature’s servants. We should practice humility, servitude and respect and beg her to forgive all of our crimes against her. Because, with the coronavirus pandemic, she has finally showed us that she will no longer constantly forbear, suffer and forgive all the indignities we heap upon her.
The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the home in which we sleep, the sun that gives us energy — we are indebted to Nature for all of these. Our life on this earth is possible only because of the combined effort of all its creatures. The rivers, trees, bees, butterflies and worms all play their part. If they did not exist, we would not exist. There would be no life. If we were to visualize Nature as one tree, then all the creatures would be its roots, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. The tree becomes whole only as a totality of its various parts. If one part is destroyed, the rest will also soon perish. Without Nature, humankind would not exist.
We carry the memory of a time when we recognized this truth and lived in tune with Nature, loving and serving her. In those days, simple villagers, who could not read or write, would maintain a pond and a small shrine on their property. They protected even migratory birds and took care not to harm a single creature. But as our selfishness and greed increased, our bond with Nature deteriorated. Forest-dwellers may have hunted, but they only took what was necessary to survive. Just as a cow eats only enough to satisfy its hunger, as a bird drinks just enough to quench its thirst, they hunted to fulfill the day’s need — not to amass and hoard. But today, people kill elephants for ivory , hunt animals for their fur and chop down entire forests to make money.
In my childhood, when a tree was about to be cut down, it was like a wedding being solemnized. Before cutting it down, they would first worship the tree and pray for forgiveness: “I am doing this because I have no other means to survive. Please, forgive me.” Trees were never viewed as inert. We used to protect species from extinction; now we drive them to it. We have to understand that in destroying Nature, we are destroying ourselves — that each tree we cut down is like a coffin we are making for ourselves. May it never come to be that humankind has to perish in order for the planet to survive. In fact, it is the selfish things man has done to Nature that come back to us in the form of such epidemics such as the coronavirus.
We put so much effort into educating our children to become engineers and doctors, etc, because we want to secure a happy future for them. But without clean air, soil and water, they won’t be able to survive at all — much less be happy. Thus, if we want to protect our children’s future, we should protect the life-giving air, earth and water.
In truth, we have already gone too far astray to return in this lifetime. Regardless, let us try. Let us walk back as much as possible. By “walking back,” Amma doesn’t mean you have to give up all the comforts of the modern-day world and live like a monk — merely, that the current generation must imbibe spiritual values and instill them in its children. Currently, it is as if Mother Nature has stage 3 cancer. Our care alone will determine how long she can be sustained. Our efforts can keep away pandemics, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and global warming to a great extent. If we are united in our efforts, we can walk back at least 10% of the way. But we also need the factor of grace. For that, we need effort, humility and to treat Nature with respectful and prayerful attitude.
Amma is not trying to scare people or make them afraid, but usually, the truth is not very sweet. Moving forward, we must be very alert and cautious. We should give spiritual thoughts and selfless actions the same importance we currently give ones aimed at material ends. That is the need of the age. This is Nature’s message to us. Let us stand united as one and work together with love, compassion and patience. Let us pray intensely, with a melting heart. Ammachi

The Most Important Climate Action You Can Take? We Asked Paul Hawken

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In South Korea ??, the solar panels in the middle of the highway have a bicycle path underneath – cyclists are protected from the sun, isolated from traffic, and the country can produce clean energy.

He proposes to her every week
Husband proposes to his wife who has Alzheimer’s. He is trying to take any opportunity to create moments of romance.

As California declares water crisis, San Diego County declares water surplus until 2045

Raising dam walls, Desalination plant, recapturing and transforming sewage to usable water and reducing usage by 50%, San Diego is well positioned in a state suffering drought. 

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I am because we are.
An anthropologist showed a game to the children of an African tribe …
He placed a basket of delicious fruits near a tree trunk and told them: The first child to reach the tree will get the basket.
When he gave them the start signal, he was surprised that they were walking together, holding hands until they reached the tree and shared the fruit!
When he asked them why you did that when every one of you could get the basket only for him!
They answered with astonishment: Ubuntu.
“That is, how can one of us be happy while the rest are miserable?”
Ubuntu in their civilization means: (I am because we are).
That tribe knows the secret of happiness that has been lost in all societies that transcend them and which consider themselves civilized societies ……. !!

“When the earth is body of Goddess, the radical implications of the image are more fully realized. The female body and the earth, which have been devalued and dominated together, are resacralized. Our understanding of divine power is transformed as it is clearly recognized as present within the finite and changing world. The image of the earth as the body of the Goddess can inspire us to repair the damage that has been done to the earth, to women, and to other beings in dominator cultures.”
~ Carol P. Christ, Rebirth of the Goddess: Finding Meaning in Feminist Spirituality”

The Japanese have been producing wood for 700 years without cutting down trees. In the 14th century, the extraordinary daisugi technique was born in Japan. Indeed, the daisugi provide that these trees will be planted for future generations and not be cut down but pruned as if they were giant bonsai trees; by applying this technique to cedars, the wood that can be obtained is uniform, straight and without knots, practically perfect for construction. A pruning as a rule of art that allows the tree to grow and germinate while using its wood, without ever cutting it down.
Extraordinary technique. ”.
Sir David Attenborough.

But the researchers have discovered something fantastic. When a hug lasts 20 seconds, there is a therapeutic effect on the body and mind. The reason is that a sincere embrace produces a hormone called “oxytocin”, also known as the love hormone. This substance has many benefits in our physical and mental health, helps us, among other things, to relax, to feel safe and calm our fears and anxiety. This wonderful tranquilizer is offered free of charge every time we have a person in our arms, who cradled a child, who cherish a dog or a cat, that we are dancing with our partner, the closer we get to someone or simply hold the Shoulders of a friend.
A famous quote by psychotherapist Virginia Satir goes, “We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” Whether those exact numbers have been scientifically proven remains to be seen, but there is a great deal of scientific evidence related to the importance of hugs and physical contact. Here are some reasons why we should hug::
1. STIMULATES OXYTOCIN
Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that acts on the limbic system, the brain’s emotional centre, promoting feelings of contentment, reducing anxiety and stress, and even making mammals monogamous. It is the hormone responsible for us all being here today. You see this little gem is released during childbirth, making our mothers forget about all of the excruciating pain they endured expelling us from their bodies and making them want to still love and spend time with us. New research from the University of California suggests that it has a similarly civilising effect on human males, making them more affectionate and better at forming relationships and social bonding. And it dramatically increased the libido and sexual performance of test subjects. When we hug someone, oxytocin is released into our bodies by our pituitary gland, lowering both our heart rates and our cortisol levels. Cortisol is the hormone responsible for stress, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
2. CULTIVATES PATIENCE
Connections are fostered when people take the time to appreciate and acknowledge one another. A hug is one of the easiest ways to show appreciation and acknowledgement of another person. The world is a busy, hustle-bustle place and we’re constantly rushing to the next task. By slowing down and taking a moment to offer sincere hugs throughout the day, we’re benefiting ourselves, others, and cultivating better patience within ourselves.
3. PREVENTS DISEASE
Affection also has a direct response on the reduction of stress which prevents many diseases. The Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine says it has carried out more than 100 studies into touch and found evidence of significant effects, including faster growth in premature babies, reduced pain, decreased autoimmune disease symptoms, lowered glucose levels in children with diabetes, and improved immune systems in people with cancer.
4. STIMULATES THYMUS GLAND
Hugs strengthen the immune system. The gentle pressure on the sternum and the emotional charge this creates activates the Solar Plexus Chakra. This stimulates the thymus gland, which regulates and balances the body’s production of white blood cells, which keep you healthy and disease free.
5. COMMUNICATION WITHOUT SAYING A WORD
Almost 70 percent of communication is nonverbal. The interpretation of body language can be based on a single gesture and hugging is an excellent method of expressing yourself nonverbally to another human being or animal. Not only can they feel the love and care in your embrace, but they can actually be receptive enough to pay it forward to others based on your initiative alone.
6. SELF-ESTEEM
Hugging boosts self-esteem, especially in children. The tactile sense is all-important in infants. A baby recognizes its parents initially by touch. From the time we’re born our family’s touch shows us that we’re loved and special. The associations of self-worth and tactile sensations from our early years are still imbedded in our nervous system as adults. The cuddles we received from our Mom and Dad while growing up remain imprinted at a cellular level, and hugs remind us at a somatic level of that. Hugs, therefore, connect us to our ability to self love.
7. STIMULATES DOPAMINE
Everything everyone does involves protecting and triggering dopamine flow. Low dopamine levels play a role in the neurodegenerative disease Parkinson’s as well as mood disorders such as depression. Dopamine is responsible for giving us that feel-good feeling, and it’s also responsible for motivation! Hugs stimulate brains to release dopamine, the pleasure hormone. Dopamine sensors are the areas that many stimulating drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine target. The presence of a certain kinds of dopamine receptors are also associated with sensation-seeking.
8. STIMULATES SEROTONIN
Reaching out and hugging releases endorphins and serotonin into the blood vessels and the released endorphins and serotonin cause pleasure and negate pain and sadness and decrease the chances of getting heart problems, helps fight excess weight and prolongs life. Even the cuddling of pets has a soothing effect that reduces the stress levels. Hugging for an extended time lifts one’s serotonin levels, elevating mood and creating happiness.
9. PARASYMPATHETIC BALANCE
Hugs balance out the nervous system. The skin contains a network of tiny, egg-shaped pressure centres called Pacinian corpuscles that can sense touch and which are in contact with the brain through the vagus nerve. The galvanic skin response of someone receiving and giving a hug shows a change in skin conductance. The effect in moisture and electricity in the skin suggests a more balanced state in the nervous system – parasympathetic.
Embrace, embrace with your heart.~~
art: Dorina Costras
With this record breaking heatwave we are experiencing, the issue of climate change is even more front and center for many of us.
Here are 10 top solutions for addressing climate change:
Paul Hawkins website for more comprehensive info:
I’ve seen Paul speak a couple of times at the Bioneer’s conference and so appreciate his work in the world.
“These bears, these trees, the flying squirrels……and the magnificent dance between all of these beings…… it is for them that I work, it is to them and not the system destroying them that I give my loyalty, it is to them and for them that I dedicate my life. That is the least I or any of us can do for the planet that – who – gave us our own lives, that – who – feeds us, sings us awake in the mornings and to sleep at night – the planet who welcomes us at our beginnings and to whom we all return at our ends. And as Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife ecology, made clear so many years ago, this is the right – and beautiful – thing to do.”
Derrick Jensen in “Bright Green Lies” by Jensen, Keith and Wilbert.

In Croatia they have Dog Lifeguards for the entire Summer season…

“Before I was six years old, my grandparents and my mother had taught me that if all the green things that grow were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the four-legged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the winged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all our relatives who crawl and swim and live within the earth were taken away, there could be no life. But if all the human beings were taken away, life on earth would flourish. That is how insignificant we are.”
Russell Means, Oglala Lakota Nation (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012).

Finnish wood foam could replace plastic in packaging

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YES – YOU! You wonderful being!! You have helped to fund 18.7 million trees through TreeSisters. ?
Your support, love, care, time, gifts, beauty and wisdom has raised enough money to fund over 18.7 million trees. Our deepest gratitude to you.
Thank you so much for Liking us on Facebook, your presence here has helped us reach more people who have then been able to step into TreeSisters and embed restoration into their everyday life by giving back to the trees. Thank you!
You are an incredible and powerful community. Thank you.
If you would like to find out how you can fund trees, you can do so here: https://treesisters.org/give ?
#AltText Image Description: The image shows the number of trees that TreeSisters has funded as 18,713,733 Trees! The number is shown with a background of an aerial photo of a mangrove forest with a river running through the middle of the photo.
A kind reminder that deforestation is not ‘just’ about trees…???
Please Plant trees plant hope ?❤?
Help us to Plant Trees

In Denmark, there are libraries where you can ′′ borrow ′′ a person instead of a book to listen to their life story for 30 minutes. The goal is to fight prejudice. Each person has a title like: ′′ unemployed “, ′′ refugee “, ′′ bipolar “, but listening to their story you realize how much you shouldn’t ′′ judge a book by its cover “, An innovative and brilliant, active project that exists in fifty countries. An initiative from The Human Library.

“Oh yes little one, that was the year 2020, when the earth took a big breath, we were able to reverse the damage and heal. No one poisoned the water anymore or grew food that wasn’t good for humans. We didn’t make any more technology that hurt us or earth or creatures. That was the year that we realized what was important and began to heal collectively.”

“What does healing collectively mean, Grandma?”

“It means that instead of a small group of us, out here calling for justice and reason, it became a large group. Suddenly everyone together saw, that what is good for one must be good for all.”

“What changed for you and Grandpa after that?”

“Well. We stopped working like crazy people, trying to get somewhere that doesn’t exist. We stopped needing so much to be so comfortable. Instead of retiring, we began to focus on our real work. And we, along with everyone else, saw to the welfare of our brothers and sisters. And….we fell back in love again.”

“Were you out of love before Grandma?!”

“We still loved each other, but we had gone into some kind of numbness, some disconnection. We weren’t listening to each other or the earth. All of that disconnection went away between us. A lot of us didn’t survive that time, but those of us who did, who live to tell the story the way I am telling you now, woke up. We are sad that it took so much loss. But it did. It was during that time, that we ‘made’ your mother because we had plenty of time at home!”

“Wow, then I exist because you had to take a break! Maybe that is also how the polar bears didn’t die!”

“That’s right darling – in a way – you are the life that came out of those hard times. And also lots of other creatures began to thrive again. ”

“I’m sad so many people and animals were hurt because we weren’t listening.”

“Me too darling one, but we are listening now. And so are the leaders of our united nations, they woke up too – and we really needed that to happen.”

“Does a hard story sometimes become a good story, Grandma?”

“Most of the time it does, but it takes some mighty story tellers to make that happen!”

“Maybe I will be a storyteller when I grow up then! Maybe I can tell this story at school for show and tell.”

“That sounds just perfect! We need good storytellers around here.”

“To bring hope and courage?”

“Yes, to bring hope and courage. But also truth. Because hard times will come again, they always do. The question is not if hard times will come. The question is how did we show up when the hard times came? Did we do what we could do?”

“I want to do what I can do”

“Me too”

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British Alex Larenty lives on an animal reserve in South Africa and spends his days giving massages to lions. One day, he discovered that every time he applied cream to a lion to cure an infection in his legs, the lion shudder and seemed to smile. Since then, he massages every lion in the park daily. Thanks to the cuddles, he created such a bond that just by seeing him come, lions lay down, start stretching their legs and smile. With love and respect, all relationships are possible!

Imagine there’s no countries,
it isn’t hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for
and no religion, too.
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
living life in peace.
You may say I’m a dreamer,
but I’m not the only one.
I hope some day you’ll join us
and the world will live as one.”
~ John Lennon

 One is just water, and one is water laced with either heroin or cocaine. If you do that, the rat will almost always prefer the drugged water and almost always kill itself very quickly, right, within a couple of weeks. So there you go. It’s our theory of addiction.
Bruce comes along in the ’70s and said, “Well, hang on a minute. We’re putting the rat in an empty cage. It’s got nothing to do. Let’s try this a little bit differently.” So Bruce built Rat Park, and Rat Park is like heaven for rats. Everything your rat about town could want, it’s got in Rat Park. It’s got lovely food. It’s got sex. It’s got loads of other rats to be friends with. It’s got loads of colored balls. Everything your rat could want. And they’ve got both the water bottles. They’ve got the drugged water and the normal water. But here’s the fascinating thing. In Rat Park, they don’t like the drugged water. They hardly use any of it. None of them ever overdose. None of them ever use in a way that looks like compulsion or addiction. There’s a really interesting human example I’ll tell you about in a minute, but what Bruce says shows that both the right-wing and left-wing theories of addiction are wrong. So the right-wing theory is it’s a moral failing, you’re a hedonist, you party too hard. The left-wing theory is it takes you over, your brain is hijacked. Bruce says it’s not your morality, it’s not your brain; it’s your cage. Addiction is largely an adaptation to your environment.
We’ve created a society where significant numbers of our fellow citizens cannot bear to be present in their lives without being drugged, right? We’ve created a hyperconsumerist, hyperindividualist, isolated world that is, for a lot of people, much more like that first cage than it is like the bonded, connected cages that we need.
The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection. And our whole society, the engine of our society, is geared towards making us connect with things not people. If you are not a good consumer capitalist citizen, if you’re spending your time bonding with the people around you and not buying stuff—in fact, we are trained from a very young age to focus our hopes and our dreams and our ambitions on things we can buy and consume. And drug addiction is really a subset of that.”
~ Johann Hari
For more …
** About the work of Bruce K. Alexander

The Earth’s forests have regrown an area as large as France since 2000

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Salt Lake City Is Building a Tiny Home Village for the Homeless and There Will Be a Downtown Area With Shops

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This is the first house to be 3D printed from raw earth

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A kid had an old bike with no brakes and dented a stranger’s car. A few days later the car owner surprised the boy with a new bike. Have you ever wondered how the world can be improved? Person to person, one kindness at a time! Whoever you are, sir, – I applaud you!
(Thanks for sharing this Karen Carnes)

World’s First Plant to Recycle All Forms of Plastic Begins Construction

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Schools without walls: Lessons in outdoor education

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The moon passed between Nasa’s Deep Space Climate Observatory and the Earth, allowing the satellite to capture this rare image of the moon’s far side in full sunlight. We normally don’t see this side of the moon. As the moon is tidally locked to the earth and doesn’t rotate, we only ever see the one face from the earth. Awesome shot!

Netherlands: Biodegradable masks turn into flowers after planting

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A Nearly True Story: The Tale of the Hamlet

Sometime in the future of the After Times, a group of neighbors relearn how to grow food in community—and feel joy amid uncertainty.

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New Groundbreaking Asphalt Will Save the World from Plastic

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Wait for it …… Swan flying and landing through the mist, first thing in the morning.

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NEW EU ‘RIGHT TO REPAIR’ LAWS REQUIRE TECHNOLOGY TO LAST FOR A DECADE

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Mexico’s Decision to Ban Glyphosate Has Rocked the Agribusiness World

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Pope Francis declares evolution and Big Bang theory are real and God is not ‘a magician with a magic wand’

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Library found in Tibet containing 84.000 secret manuscripts (books), including the history of humanity for 10.000 years.
Monastery of Sakia. Perhaps the world’s largest library on the planet’s distant history. It was discovered behind a huge wall. It is 60 meters long and 10 meters tall. Surely concealed by monks in the wake of Chinese communism of the time.

Daryl Davis was once an aspiring and successful musician. He had played with Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Muddy Waters. However, his true claim to fame, the legacy he has forged came in a very different way. He went out of his way to befriend KKK Grand wizard, Roger Kelly. He spent years building trust between them and laying the foundation of what became a friendship. They broke bread at each other’s tables. They welcomed each other into their homes. Davis even went as far attending Klan rallies as a guest of Kelly. Most importantly, Davis cultivated an atmosphere of listening. He didn’t hate Kelly because Kelly hated him. Instead he listened to Roger Kelly. And eventually, Kelly started listening to him. This lead to the two realizing they had far more in common than not. In the end, Kelly denounced his ties to the KKK. So much so, he handed his hood and robe to Daryl Davis. In total, Davis has seen over 200 klan members walk away from the KKK and hand over their robes and hoods to Daryl. Daryl Davis is a world changer. Replacing hate with love. Because love conquers hate… every time.

A photo that will remain immortal in history… taken by the photographer Anil Prabhakar in the forests of Indonesia. The photo shows an orangutan monkey (currently in danger) trying to help a geologist who fell in a mud puddle during his research.
When the photographer took the picture, he subtitled it: At a time when mankind is dying inside humans, animals lead us to the principles of humanity….!?

World’s First Home Hydrogen Battery Powers Your House for 3 Days, is Recyclable, and Not a Fire Risk

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IKEA Bought 10,840 Acres of Forest Land in Georgia To Protect It

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Earth and Heart…..same letters

Former Neo-Nazi and Martin Luther King Jr’s Daughter Start New Friendship

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After 250 years, Native American tribe regains ownership of Big Sur ancestral lands

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Radio Garden

Listen to radio around the world. Start in San Francisco and travel around the planet in your search.

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Mayan beekeeper who fought Monsanto GMO plantings in Mexico wins Goldman Environmental Prize

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Kenya Installs the First Solar Plant That Transforms Ocean Water Into Drinking Water
This was one of the most popular posts of the year.

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My seven year old and I were in the midst of our usual asynchronous day battle. I had his writing homework in my hand from school. He’d written several full, well-thought-out sentences.
But he won’t do the same for me, at least not without a fight.
I told him he didn’t have to write about his best day like his teacher asked, he could write about his worst. He could write about whatever he wanted as long as he wrote a few sentences.
He said he’d get in trouble. He said he was doing a bad job in first grade. He was on the brink of tears but didn’t know why.
And it hit me.
Instead of getting frustrated and pushing the assignment, I sat down with him at his desk in his superhero bedroom.
I said “you won’t get in trouble and you can’t fail first grade. In fact, you’re kind of a superhero yourself.”
He sat up in his chair just a little and looked at me with disbelief.
I said, “Do you know that no kids in the history of kids have ever had to do what you’re doing right now? No kids in the history of kids have ever had to do school at home, sitting in their bedroom, watching their teacher on a computer. You and your friends are making history.”
A visible weight lifted from his seven year old shoulders, “What does that mean?”
I told him it means I haven’t given him nearly enough credit for rolling with the punches. I told him how proud I am of him and his friends. That kids this year are doing the impossible and they’re doing a really great job.
I apologized for not saying it sooner and more often. A little tear fell down his cheek.
We’ve thanked everyone from healthcare workers to grocery store employees but we haven’t thanked the kids enough for bearing the burden of what we’ve put on their shoulders this year.
We’ve said kids are resilient, and they are. But they are the real superheroes in this whole scenario for having ZERO say in their lives but doing their best to adjust every day.
We closed his school-issued laptop and spent the rest of the day playing. This was supposed to be temporary and here we are a year later still trying to hold our head above water.
This is our home and I won’t turn it into a battle ground anymore over something we can’t control. Something that no longer makes sense.
Hug your little superheroes today and don’t forget to cut them the slack we’ve given everyone else.
Join me in the trenches at Christine Derengowski, Writer !!

San Antonio, Texas Unveils Largest Highway Crossing for Wildlife in U.S.

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Biden takes Day One action to protect Arctic lands and waters

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First Smart Forest City in Mexico will be 100% food and energy self-sufficient

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Australia Found a Way to Save Water From Plastic Pollution and We Can Start Doing the Same

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Vincent callebaut’s twisting carbon-absorbing tower nears completion in taipei

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A restaurant in Denham Springs has a wall with prepaid tickets for people that are hungry but can’t afford a food, are homeless, etc. They just grab a ticket with a meal they would like that a previous customer paid for. A new take on “pay it forward”. I just love this so much and wanted to pass it along to maybe inspire some business owners that follow me on Facebook!
The restaurant is Papis Mexican Cuisine !

Kenyan recycles plastic waste into bricks stronger than concrete

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David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

Shipping containers will be used for affordable Dallas housing project

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Startup Builds 3 Huge Indoor Farms in Appalachia Turning Coal Country into Agricultural Hub

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Salmon Spawning for the First Time in 80 Years in the Upper Columbia River

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The world must actively remove historical CO₂ already in the atmosphere – a process often described as “negative emissions”.

CO₂ removal can be done by enhancing carbon storage in natural ecosystems, such as planting more forests. This year we are aiming to plant more than 150,000mangrove seedlings by December 2021.
This year 2021 only January we have collected 58,870mangrove propagules (Specie Rhizophora mucronata and Ceriops Tagal from the mangrove forest and planted 12,500mangrove seedlings.
Again, in January this year we have received our first two campers from Denmark and India on different dates through Camp Mombasa Mangrove Forest https://ecosystemrestorationcamps.org/camp-mombasa…/

Amsterdam Is Embracing a Radical New Economic Theory to Help Save the Environment. Could It Also Replace Capitalism?

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