Adventure is a state of mind and spirit.
~ Jackie Cochran, Aviation Pioneer (1906-1980)
March 17, 2011
Simple Statement of the Day
March 16, 2011
April Brings Earth Day Into Focus
With the upcoming month of April approaching quickly, so does Earth Day and the HSUS's promotion of Animal Cruelty Prevention Month. These two concepts heavily coincided for me as I was reading the most current issue (March/April) of the HSUS magazine, 'All Animals'. As I flipped through the pages, it became inherently apparent to me the connection with us, the world we live, and the delicate balance by which our environment survives every day.
Via a multitude of articles based upon that same delicate balance, it was shown time and time again how we have not and if we do not preserve this wonderful world of ours, the landscape will forever change never to return. For anyone who believes that extinction is not a form of animal cruelty (i.e. - starvation due to climate changes, senseless hunting to brink of extinction, and oceanic changes diminishing food supply) think again. Going to the grocery store is a simple task but foraging for food has become dire for many creatures. The HSUS issue touched upon the extinction of dozens of creatures, ocean habitats, and climate changes threatening our very existence. We may not worry now with the adage, "I'll be dead before I seen things like that" but guess what...your children won't...and their children won't. What would it be like to grow up in a world without natural ocean habitats abundant?
Two decades ago, people bristled at the audacious thought of living in a world without polar bears, with melting icecaps, and coral reefs becoming extinct. And surprisingly enough, in this day and era of people living longer, you may just get to see these horrific events occur. The face of climate change threatens to diminish such animals as polar bear, walruses, monk seals, and certain shark species just to name a few ocean creatures. With respect to land lovers, koala's, the arctic fox, wolverines, and bison all stand to perish or diminish into such drastically small numbers that any effort to save them would be difficult at best. Just one look at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is the size of Texas one realizes that it is definitely not one of the 7 great wonders of the world to behold. The site of it would make almost any human being blanch at its imposing expansiveness.
Yet with all this real information at our fingertips, we continue to support factory farming, the purchase of plastic bottles for water, dismiss massive food recalls as an inconvenience, and not once do we scream at the top of our lungs to the government to "Take a Stand" and "Make It Stop". People think the government won't do anything. Perhaps not yet they won't. But when millions upon millions of people stop buying plastic water bottles, spend an extra $1.00 a week on non-factory/organic farm raised meat, and buy more local fruits and vegetables, industries would come to a crashing halt and suddenly say, "What is happening here?”
It may sound crazy, but one small change every 6 months has an enormous impact locally, globally, and spherically.
March 11, 2011
Simple Statement of the Day
Animals are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time.
~ Henry Beston, American Author, also known as "The Vagabond of the Dunes" (1888-1968)
March 09, 2011
More Sunshine, More Daytime, More Happiness with Daylight Savings
It affects many, the winter doldrums. But when the days start becoming a little longer and daylight savings approaches, we all look forward to driving home in the light once again. People are in better moods and not to be funny...but has anyone ever noticed that on that first work day after daylight savings people tend to drive a little crazier? Perhaps the sudden shock of driving home in the light has an altering effect on our ability to accelerate?
Regardless of roadway outcomes, daylight savings also tends to make people a bit more inspired, light-hearted, jovial, and downright happy. It's the penultimate week before spring will have sprung! Green grasses, floral colors abound, and open windows billowing the curtains and breathing life into our static homes. So in honor of this weekend's bringing us into the light celebration, I hope the following will not only inspire emotion but provoke and cause stirrings of joy for the sunshine and warmth that is to come.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." ~Maya Angelou, Author
"You lose your sense of time, you're completely enraptured, and you're sort of swayed by the possibilities you see in this work. The idea is to be so saturated with it that there's no future or past, it's just an extended present in which you're making meaning." ~Mark Strand, Poet
"The chiefest point of happiness is that a man should be willing to be what his is." ~Erasmus
"It is neither weatlh, nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which gives happiness." ~Thomas Jefferson
"It it not how much we have but how much we enjoy that makes happiness." ~Charles H. Spurgeon
"The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one has to do." ~James M. Barrie
March 02, 2011
Inspiration and the Pending Spring Season
With the pending spring season upon us, snow melting, birds chirping, and the sun shining, I find myself (as I do every year) pondering the wonderment of the upcoming season with life anew.
To make me laugh at myself and in keeping with the situation, I compare my renderings akin to that of the main character in the movie "Groundhog Day" as Bill Murray (portraying Phil Connors) realizes the err of his ways (as he's forced to live and relive the same day over and over again) and begins to contemplate each day, every moment, filling himself with knowledge and the beauty of wonderment as opposed to kidnapping a groundhog (punksatony phil) and telling him "don't drive angry...". For anyone who has seen the movie, I hope this made you chuckle.
I truly believe Bill Murray's character had the right idea and hope the appreciation and inspiration becomes contagious this season.
I find that I tend to read more inspirational things during the spring and summer months and now with spring just a few weeks away I've delved into many inspirational thoughts and readings. Here are some that I wanted to share. Whether it brightens someone's day, makes them think, or just makes them go "hmmmmm", I believe that they serve their purpose well.
"The most effective way to do it, is to just do it!" ~Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) Aviator
"The principle of happiness should be like the principle of virtue: it should not be dependent on things, but be a part of personality." ~William Lyon Phelps
"They can conquer who believe they can. He has not learned the first lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"To improve the golden moment of opportunity and catch the good that is within our reach is the great art of life." ~ Samuel Johnson
There will be many more over the course of the next few weeks until spring has sprung. I hope it brightens someone's day!
March 01, 2011
Simple Statement of the Day
In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.
~ Edward Hoagland, American Essayist (1932 - )
February 23, 2011
Simple Statement of the Day
We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. In return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
~ Margery Facklam, Award-Winning Children's Science Author
February 16, 2011
Simple Statement of the Day
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
~ Ben Williams, American Editor & Journalist (1877-1964)
February 11, 2011
Simple Statement of the Day
The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.
~ George Vest, U.S. Senator from Missouri (1830-1904)
February 09, 2011
Simple Statement of the Day
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
~ Josh Billings
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