Awesome Stories 239

/ September 12, 2015

This week Awesome Stories brings you solar distiller, micro-beauty, teaching compassion, animal love and the we-economy.

Solar Seawater Distiller!

This is an incredibly useful idea that won the Core77 Design Award in 2012. Italian designer Gabriele Diamanti invented a simple solar distiller called Eliodomestico that can turn seawater into pure drinking water! It can be made locally with basic materials to harvest clean drinking water simply and cheaply using the sun. Why the heck haven’t all the organizations working to address water access in developing countries jumped on this?! Gabriele has even made his design available open source so that it can be freely shared and improved!

Teaching Compassion

Forty educators at a recent gathering asked themselves how do you teach compassion. Of course, there is no one right answer like with math and much of what is taught in schools. Conventional learning is about acquiring knowledge and skills to function in a known system. But too often, we don’t have the creativity, compassion and inner skills to deal with life. I love that these educators took the time to explore cultivating compassion. Sharing in circles has been a great tool for teachers and students. One insight is how inspiring awe is a gateway to empathy and cooperation. I hope more schools consider adding programs to help students develop more than just intellect and knowledge.

Microscopic Beautymicro photography, Awesome Stories

I love the beauty in looking at nature closeup. Sometimes I find what I call the hidden beauty of nature. Some of my photography reflects this, but not as much as I’d like because I don’t have the right equipment to do macro photography. These awesome microscopic photos require very fancy equipment. The level of magnification is mind blowing. Some of the photos are beautiful, others just crazy like the eye of the damselfly. I hope you find beauty in your life by looking closely at what’s before you.

 

K-9 Love

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. – Roger Caras

I’ve never owned a cat or dog, but seem to be paying more attention to pet stories lately. Maybe I’m craving a pet! The Humane Society of Utah has a clever solution to placing the more than 12,000 animals that pass through their shelters each year. With the help of an inspired photographer, they created a fun video, Love at First Sight: K-9s, that really helps show the different personalities of the animals. Now, they are placing about 90% of the animals in new loving homes!

The We Economy

With shrinking resources and increasing population, we need to find ways to better utilize goods and services. Thankfully, a Danish project called the We-Economy is helping to promote new approaches for business based on connection, cooperation and collaboration. Thier premise is that to thrive we must learn to co-create value with others, where everyone benefits, not just a few. Value creation is shifting to focus on solutions created for specific needs and context, by coordinating resources from a wide network of contributors. I love this project and hope many people, leaders and businesses take note.

The more we think, act and live from a “we” mentality, the better for all. To peace and cooperation on earth!  🙂

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22 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 239”

    • You are most welcome Annette. It’s my joy to read and share stories that touch hearts and inspire us all to live more fully with love and compassion. Thanks for your kind heart and words. I’m grateful when my stories touch hearts or inspire others to be more. Have a beautiful day!

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  2. I agree, moving from thinking about our individual needs and wants towards altruism is better for everybody. I hope we can continue to foster the sense of community rather than a sense of everyone is in it for themselves. Great message 🙂 Peace, Harlon

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  8. Great choices for your Awesome stories Brad.. I loved the compassion teaching one.. and followed the link. Loved the Quote there too..
    And isn’t it wonderful what we see through microscopes.. Worlds within Worlds we all live.. We are but specs in the cosmic soup of the Universe too 🙂

    Awesome stories Brad.. thank you for sharing and thank you dear friend for all the support and friendship you bring to Dreamwalker’s..

    Love and Blessings and have an Awesome Week xxx

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