Awesome Stories 245

/ October 24, 2015

This week Awesome Stories brings you email addresses for trees, mixed marriage, beauty, Arkansas inspiration and a solar village.

Arkansas InspirationSoul Enlightenment, Awesome Stories

Here is another peek at some inspiring places and photos from around Arkansas. See Dorothy, we aren’t in Kansas anymore! What’s your favorite photo? Mine is Soul Enlightenment with a close second for September Sunset. I like it for the title, gorgeous composition and beautiful colors. This is exactly what I try to do with my photos; capture a moment of beauty and share the feeling of connection and aliveness. With grace, sometimes we capture more than simply the shapes and colors, but also the feeling or energy of a place or person.

Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit. ~ Khalil Gibran

A Mixed Marriage of the Unusual Kind

Prepare yourself, this is a story of radical political alliances that cross boundaries and stereotypes! When Jake Brewer met Mary Katharine, he fell in love, pursued her and eventually married her. You might be wondering what’s the big deal. Well, Jake is a very liberal and engaged Democrat and Mary is a very dedicated and passionate conservative Republican. This is rarely done in the politically charged circles of Washington DC, but they found love is stronger than politics. Unfortunately, they have their biggest challenge yet. Jake was killed in a bike race recently, and Mary will have to find a way to move forward with their two children. I found their story to be a captivating and inspiring one about love, compassion and understanding.

The Beauty Inside

This lovely video reminds us of the true beauty in life. The people in the video share their insights on beauty from the perspective of being blind. In fact, they may see things more clearly; beauty is a feeling, the energy and character of people, and not dependent on race, size, shape and other externals. “Beauty is an experience.”

Emailing Your Neighborhood Trees

I know this sounds like a joke, but Melbourne Australia assigned email addresses to their city trees so that citizens could report problems. According to city Councillor Arron Wood, assigning email addresses had unintended positive consequences. Besides reporting problems and situations, many people started emailing notes expressing their appreciation for the trees! I find it fascinating that cities around the world are using technology as a way to engage citizens with programs like pothole trackers and tsunami sirens. It also allows people to get more personal with the city and the world around them. Kudos for creative uses of technology like emailing the trees!

Solar Village

Freiburg, Germany is home to what is called the Solarsiedlung or Solar Village. It started with architect Rolf Disch, building the Heliotrope (the first building in the world to capture more energy than it uses). This led to Rolf designing another building on the same positive energy principals that inspired another 60 sustainable projects around town that are all net energy positive. In fact, this part of Freiburg called the Solar Village produces 4 times as much energy as it uses and is considered the ecological capital of Germany.

May your week be full of beauty, compassion and nature.

 

 

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21 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 245”

  1. Was just discussing solar options for our home with my sister last night… What a timely video to see. ❤ the entire collective this week, as I always do, Brad. Still, I feel it an honor to thank you for so selflessly taking the time to share. You elevate the quality of life of each and everyone of us and I appreciate this.

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    • Wow Annette. Your heartfelt words just lifted my spirits. I so appreciate you and all the sharing and fun comments you offer. Thank you for adding to my life. I hope you add solar to your home and then let me know what you did! blessings to you and yours, Brad

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  2. What an absolutely soul stirring post, Brad. I am so thankful to you for taking the time to put this incredible post together, and for also being the person you are who truly cares about this world and all who live here. Bless you for being the person you are. I so appreciate you!!! ❤

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  3. Arkansas is a beautiful place. I haven’t been there often but when I have I’ve enjoyed it. Absolutely loved the video by the blind people. One of my favorite people who ever lived was Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan. Love the other stories too. Always a treat, Brad. Love and hugs, N 🙂 ❤

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  8. What a lovely post you have pulled together again!! While all your stories are truly awesome, I really truly loved the insights on beauty shared by the blind people. While it is a great blessing to see the natural beauty that surrounds us, seeing also puts the focus on the external…if we don’t see beyond it.

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