eight million

Eight millions tons of trees. They are cut down in a year to provide the paper for the catalogues that are produced and mailed in the US. Half of the Planet's forests are gone, forests have been elimintated in 25 countries and 29 countries have them reduced to 10%.

Over one billion peole living in extreme poverty depend on the forests for their livelihood.

The production and disposal of catalogues consumes more energy than three milion cars.

Do you need more reasons?

Go to http://www.cataloguechoice.org/ and cancel your unwanted catalogues today.

Under the surface

A couple of weeks ago i was in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. As the traffic gets loud at 5 30 am, I decided to get up and find a park where people would be doing Tai Chi. I have been doing Tai Chi in Florida, and I loved the idea of finding some of those more "real" Tai-chi doers, which I have seen before in the parks of Beijing and Shanghai. I walked for 15 minutes and found a big park. It was around 6 am and many people were already there. I saw a group of about 30 Vietnamese standing in a circle, doing some movements that sounded familiar to my learned Tai Chi. I stepped closer and finding a little space in the circle, smiled and began to imitate what they were doing. I have to say that the people found this very funny and all started to laugh and to say comments to each other, in their language. I smiled and was happy to bring some laughter to them :-) . Who seemed to be leading the movements after a while came over and stood in front of me, without words, and began to correct my movements, to ensure I would do them properly. The session lasted for over 30 min, during which the whole group seemed very entertained with my participation. When it was over and they began to disperse, I went to say "hi and thank you" to those who were still around, although they didn't speak any English. A women from the group waived at me from a few steps away, and I went closer to her. She invited me with some gestures to join her, and we began walking. We did three rounds of the big park, smiling at each other, and trying to combine body language and simple words. She asked me Where you? (i said USA, Florida) - You childrin? I disappointed her by saying no. You hasban? I said yes, You work? I said.... i'm a teacher. It was to complicated to explain what i do, and education is certainly part of my job. She pointed at herself and said "Engineer". At some point we had to cross a busy street and she took my hand. As we reached the other side, she didn't let go my hand. We walked 15 minutes hand in hand, silent and smiling. It felt strange. I stepped out of myself to see the scene, and imagining telling the story to my friends. Then I went back into myself, and it made perfect sense. We were connected - and it was not through the visible similarities or rather differences. Under the surface, we connected through the energy, the invisible link that connects us all. As a friend would say -"the link is always there, you just activated it". After the third round, she pointed at her watch and said You tomorrow? I explained, with body language and words, that I was taking a plane that afternoon, to Singapore. She looked at me a bit surprised, and smiled. We hugged, like two old friends. Which we were, indeed.

2012

I read about a book called 2012, which refers to the Mayan Calendar. The Mayan Calendar indicates that in 2012 there will be a breakthrough in humanity, getting to a higher level. I am not surprised to read that - I'm finding more signs every day of concern about the values we espouse and those we live, the need to bring consistency into our lives, concern about closing the gap of those who have and those who don't, concern about realizing that the planet and the people are all interconnected. Is it like the virus marketing approach, where news information and ideas are spread by word of mouth? or is it that because i'm focused on it now, I happen to see it everywhere? And - does it matter ? May be the belief is enough - to make it happen. I will research that book.

winning and losing

I had a wonderful moment last night, as I was watching Bill Maher's program. While I have found him as an interesting character, because he has been allowing himself to be critical to things that for many years i thought were undiscussable in this country - some months ago I was disappointed as I heard him talk very excitedly about winning and victories, about loser. I don't watch his programs frequently, but I was disappointed that a person which I considered reflective and smart would still be caught in the illusion of victories and defeats. I tried to find a way to share my thoughts with him, but was unable to find a "contact me" space in his website. Too bad - he doesn't want two way communication. Yesterday though i had a great moment - as I heard him questionning what winning and losing was, and reflecting that actually there is no such thing as a winner and a loser, that a winner is always a loser and viceversa, if we are able to see beyond our little square, and appreciate the larger picture. In other words (my words now): if i think I win over you, it's just a shortsighted thought, a misperception. Like a pendulum, my winning "over"you will sooner or later bounce back to make you the winner and me the loser. This is yin/yang. To believe that we can defeat others is an illusion, that doesn't stand the proof of time. The only way to avoid this is to seek win win solutions to our challenges. Any other solution is fragile, and the right balance will fall over our head, the bigger the violence we inflict on others, be it people or environment- the harsher the bouncing back effect. What a great contribution, Bill, to use the media to give some food for thought to the audience. We need to learn to see outside our little squares, the larger picture.