Awesome Stories 185

/ August 23, 2014

This week Awesome Stories brings you kindness, beauty, gorgeous sunsets, compassion and sustainable homes.

Compassion in Action

Awesome Stories, compassion

Fair warning, this is another tear jerker! This article portrays compassion in a very practical and touching way. Mia Tagano writes about learning to look with our heart, a lesson from her grandmother. She definitely learned the lesson and demonstrated it in a beautiful way, not only for her grandmother at a nursing home, but to her roommate Andrea. Read the article to learn how Mia touched Andrea’s life with her simple compassionate listening and connecting. I’d say Mia learned her lessons well.  🙂

Photo of Mia and her grandmother from DailyGood.com. 

 

Being Beautiful

I love this post from Glennon of Momestry. She offers an inspiring lesson on what beauty means to her and how she is teaching her daughter to be beautiful from the inside, rather than pretty. I love how she shares all the ways that she fills up with beauty, including a wonderful wrap up with her daughter. As Glennon points out, too many women are taught to be pretty. Let’s be beautiful from the inside with our hearts, rather than chasing pretty appearances.

Solar Landmark

This article highlights a recent world record for solar cell efficiency at 44.7%. Most solar cells currently used are about 15-20% efficient, meaning of the sunlight that reaches the cell, 15-20% is converted into usable electric energy. Here is a good article about the different types and efficiencies of solar cells. Researchers at The Helmholtz Center Berlin, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Soitec, and CEA-Leti collaborated to develop the world’s most efficient solar cell. They are hoping to reach 50% efficiency, but already this allows solar to be much more effective at generating energy and replacing fossil fuels. Go solar!

Open to Kindness

This video really touched my heart, causing tears for its simple, yet profound act of kindness. Many people post videos about acts of kindness, but this one strikes me as incredibly compassionate and selfless. Thanks to Julie at Ramblings from Jewels for this great find!

School Gardens

More schools are using gardens as a great way to teach children about food, gardening and sustainability. Colorado has led the way in creating school gardens that actually feed their kids through the cafeteria. This helped start a garden-to-cafeteria movement with national conferences. Denver Public Schools worked with Slow Food Denver to create food-safety guidelines that have helped other schools create programs of their own. The trend is rooted in increased demand for local foods, new USDA guidelines that encourage more fruits and veggies and the Hunger-Free Kids Act that targets child obesity. I know Fayetteville has several schools with gardens as well as many community gardens that feed local citizens. In the Colorado programs, the kids are paid for the food by the cafeteria with the money going back to sustain the garden program. More than the money, kids are learning hands-on to grow, appreciate and try new foods.

Sunset Magicbeautiful sunsets, Awesome Stories

Here is a spectacular collection of photos from Sydney, Australia. They recently had a sunset so gorgeous that almost everyone stopped to photograph and appreciate. Sounds like a shared moment of grace. Thank you God/ nature! If you love watching sunsets like I do, you’ll enjoy the show. 🙂

Why Green Homes Matter

This is a great article reminding us how and why our homes matter to the environment. Our homes are one of the biggest, most visible creations in our lives. Not to mention, one of the largest purchases we make. “Greening our homes” is a practical and important way that we can support a more sustainable world. I’m delighted to see how fast this niche is growing. Please consider letting your home and lifestyle reflect the need to live in harmony with nature.

What speaks to your heart? Listen and heed the call. Blessings, Brad

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29 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 185”

  1. awesome stories indeed 🙂 thanks for sharing Brad! As a teacher and gardener I think “school gardening” is extremely interesting, thanks for the links! 🙂

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  3. Great batch this week Brad!!! Back in the day (I was a Speech-Language Pathologist) I had a client with severe aphasia (unable to communicate with language but fully comprehends what you are saying…like the lady in your story) We had quite a bond…I will never forget him. I was young and eager…and this type of disorder is what made me go into this profession. His name was Tony…and the only word in the whole English language he could say was “Tony!” It sounded like…”Toe – Knee” when he said it…and he would say a whole sentence of Toe – Knees!. For some reason I was tuned in and most of the time I could understand what he was trying to say. This man would cry…tears rolling down his cheeks…because someone knew what he was trying to say!! In retrospect…I now know that we connected on a heart level and that it was our heart and soul communicating 🙂 Thanks for the reminder of a time that I couldn’t really explain then, but fully understand now!
    Much love Brad!

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  5. Wonderful Amazing Stories once again, thanks so much for sharing them Brad!
    I was so touched by the story of Mia and Andrea, definitely brought me to tears. Seeing with your heart… love is a powerful thing! ❤
    I also really loved the "Don't Be Pretty – Be Beautiful" article, truly such a "beautiful" message, and one I have tried to impart to my own daughter.
    The idea of school gardens totally rocks my socks off! I'm going to see if we have anything like that here, I would love to be involved in something like that! 😀
    All of those sunset images from Sydney are absolutely spectacular!
    And of course, watching that video of the students making music with the homeless guy, brought me to tears again…
    ❤

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    • Thanks Julie! Sounds like you really dove into the stories this week. I’m glad they touched you. The story about Mia and Andrea really got me too, as well as the students jamming with the homeless man. I appreciate you taking the time to read and review. 🙂 I hope I don’t run out of awesome stories and have to settle for just good enough ones! XD

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  11. Wonderful Linne. I am delighted that my stories inspired you to action! 🙂 That video really struck me too for its creative and simple kindness. Thanks for reblogging and sharing my post. Have a great day! 🙂 Brad

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  13. you’ve done it again Brad! put a smile on my heart and tears in my eyes… I must say that not only am I thrilled to see the stories about better lives through ‘greening’ et al but the acts oh human kindness are oh so inspiring – I am especially touched by the essay on beauty, something I know that if my own mother had known more about, she wouldn’t have suffered so because she didn’t think she was pretty… God Bless you for taking the time and showing us ALL there is more to life!

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    • Wonderful Annette. Then my job is done. XD Yes, even as a man, I can relate to the pressure to “look” certain ways and the wisdom of finding inner beauty. I so appreciate your support, reading and connecting. Inspiring and touching others help me. Thank you Annette.

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