Kindness Reminders

This video was posted by the Kindness Center earlier this week. It is one of the most inspiring pieces on the Web by cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg about gratitude. In one short moment this imagery, music, and dialogue, will take your breath away! Open your heart and drink.

Saturday, I introduced Jane McGonigal in a Kindness Community Blog post. Jane is a major source of inspiration in building AOK, another social awareness game. Acts and Observations of Kindness (ie AOK) is a "social game for good," where players share Acts and Observations of Kindness. With a mobile app or submitting your AOKs directly on the website, you earn points that convert into cause currency. One penny for each point goes to real world charities! I just scored 114 virtue points for making Saturday's post about Jane and Gaming for Good.

Sign up, confirm your account, and start posting acts and observations of kindness. You are having fun playing a game, contributing to a cause, while increasing society's collective mindfulness!

Peace & Sparkly Stuff,
~ Tina

My husband and son spend (erm... waste) hours a week (more likely... daily) harnessing skills to sharpen their minds (neglecting responsibilities) devoutly (hardcore addicted) to playing electronic games. Otherwise known as "gamers" — can you tell I'm not part of that culture (cult)?

Well, gamestress Jane McGonigal has found a new power for all those hours of play. Realizing gamers are a human resource we can use to do real world work, she has helped create 3 EPIC games to save the world. Well, at the least, do some good.

World Without Oil creates a virtual oil shortage and your response spills over into the real world and raises awareness. According to her research, many of these gamers have changed the way they live.

Super Struct is the Global Extinction Awareness System. You're challenged to come up with ideas to adapt to new world "superthreats" like pandemic disease, famine, and energy solutions.

October happens to be National Anti-Bullying Awareness month, and Transforming Education for the 21st Century (TED21C) network is making it possible to have a celebrity discuss their personal experiences with bullying in your child's classroom via Skype. The celeb will then spend 30 minutes answering questions the students may have. Kids are immersed in the media world and choose public personas as role models. You can't underestimate the power of celebrity influence! When a famous personality is showing empathy towards others it sends an important message to kids that it is important to recognize the feelings of their peers.

If you are an educator that would like your school involved, you can contact the Editor-in-Chief of Gatekeepers Post, Jeff@GatekeepersPost.com to discuss with you how your group can become involved.

This week, Oct. 2-8, 2011, is the Joy of Giving Week celebration in India. The people of India are encouraged to donate money, materials, or volunteer their time to help serve in their communities in any way possible.

One fun activity I noticed on the website is the Smile Deck. This is a virtual deck of cards you can shuffle and then do whatever giving act was randomly selected for you. The Smile Deck, created by a group from Helpothers.org, consists of the four suits with each one representing a different theme, and the ideas get harder as you get towards the Ace. Kudos to the gang at Help Others for keeping the pay-it-forward game fun!

In the healthy living section of Care2.com was an article I read about patience last week. In this multi-tasking obsessed world we live in you might think this handy coping tool (patience) is an archaic notion, but our modern hustle & bustle day-to-day living may just be giving us more opportunities to practice it.

Charter for Compassion just posted this interview with Basalt, Colorado's Police Chief, Roderick O'Connor. He speaks about compassion and the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities.

When we join our community leaders to cultivate compassion, even the smallest steps, we create a powerful force.

The South Texas historic drought has taken its toll on the trees, rivers, and vegetation in our community. You can't walk but a few feet in our heavily forested greenbelts without noticing all the dead loblolly pines marked with neon orange paint soon to be cut down. The city has its work cut out trying to find the money in the budget to take on this monumental task.

Our neighborhood sits on the banks of the San Jacinto river that feeds into Lake Houston. I enjoy my morning jogs past the park benches that look over the river... erm ... acres of snake-infested weeds. Just a reminder of the wicked, dry summer we've had.

Sunday morning I watched a hummingbird feed from one of our Cannas. This sign from Mother Nature reminds me that her gifts are not to be taken for granted. Every flower is an inspiration.

*Photo by Houston Community Newspaper photographer, Stephen Thomas.

Tomorrow, September 22, marks the fall equinox for the Northern Hemisphere. I'm ready to experience a drop in temperature after this long, hot, dry Texas summer! Do as One, a web organized gathering using breathing tools to teach synchronized, conscious breathing, is inviting people to participate in ushering in the equinox with a global breathing event. As I discovered late in my thirties, reduced oxygen levels caused by shallow breathing has a profound effect on the health of one's mind and body. Most of us breathe shallowly throughout the day and are not even aware of it. Do as One offers live breathing rooms that guide you through a healthy breathing session using technique guidelines to inspire healthy breathing.

If you would like to participate in today's International Day of Peace celebrations, the event organizers are encouraging individuals to meditate on peace, pray for peace or participate in a minute of silence for peace at noon today.

The Great Invocation (adapted) - world prayer and mantram for the New Age and all humanity.

From the point of Light within the mind of God

Let light stream forth into human minds

Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God

Let love stream forth into human hearts

May the Coming One return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known

Let purpose guide all little human wills

The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the human race

Let the Plan of Love and Light work out

And may it seal the door where evil dwells.