Awesome Stories 334

/ August 26, 2017

This week Awesome Stories brings you better communication, updated nuclear, future tires, and teaching with heart.

Better Communication

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, then you know that better communication is one of my hot buttons. I believe better communication could dramatically improve human relationships for couples, parents, teachers, politicians, and the general population. It concerns me how divisive our public discourse has become. Social media and online communication make it far too easy to comment, judge and criticize without any effort or attempt at understanding each other. Better communication starts with a desire to understand and connect. Read 10 Tips for Effective Communication for a great foundation. Then practice with friends and easy situations first so that when you encounter a challenging situation, you’ll have better skills for communication. Here’s another post I wrote called Conscious Communication that explores tools and techniques for better communication.

Updated Nuclear

Elysium Industries Limited aims to help end energy scarcity by producing clean power at lower costs. Industry research suggests that updated nuclear designs could reduce energy costs by 40% versus current nuclear plants. Elysium specializes in the development of advanced reactor technology based on the molten chloride salt fast reactor technology of the 1960s. They’ve updated proven technology to use spent nuclear fuel and weapons waste, simplify construction, reduce costs, and solve safety concerns with passive safety features. And nuclear is the only current technology that can provide on demand clean energy that helps reduce climate change.

Michelin Mobility

Michelin is working on new tires that they hope will transform the tire business. Their prototype “Vision” tires are part of a larger vision for sustainable mobility. The core idea is that we need more sustainable materials and production in many areas of transportation. The rubber compounds will be made from organic materials like vegetable orange peels, hay, paper, and molasses. The tires are a blue spider web of integrated wheel and tire, airless, retreadable, and recyclable.  And the Vision tire can be retreaded using a 3D printer and can collect driver data. Watch out future, here we come!

Teaching with Heartteaching, heartfulness, Awesome Stories

Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu explores various aspects of mindfulness as a way to better teach and engage students. I particularly like the opening story of how he spoke Japanese to his students as a way to disrupt their patterns and expectations to help them become more present and mindful. Stephen shares various stories and antidotes from his teaching at Standford. I like his term “heartfulness” better than mindful. It suggests the heart energy of integration and includes mindfulness, compassion, and responsibility. Stephen also talks about integrating mind and heart, East and West, mind, body and spirit. And his teaching philosophy emphasizes relationships, inclusion, vulnerability, beginner’s mind and more. We need more teachers who bring this much care and consciousness into the classroom.

May your week be full of learning, listening, and understanding. Peace out!

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36 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 334”

  1. I have a dream that all the materials we use will be sustainably produced, that all have access to food, shelter and water via sustainable sources and sustainable infrastructure and that we “evolve” our discourse to exude compassion. So, of course this post greatly resonates. I wish you a peace-filled weekend, friend!

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  6. ‘Be curious instead of furious…’
    Hello Brad, what a wonderful week’s stories.
    The 10 points for effective communication were wonderful, and where the quote above came from. It’s such a simple thought to employ when we see people living life differently to us. The quote at the top of the Daily Good is lovely too.
    What a wonderful idea to use some compost style organics for tires too!
    Thank you for bringing us the story of Stephen and his teaching. I love the description in Eastern philosophy about the components of mindfulness…heartfulness it shall now be…
    Thank you Brad.
    Wishing you also a great week of learning, listening understanding and peace…💐🌈💐

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  8. Hey Brad…I’m with you on the better communication idea!! Loved the article…good practical tips for people to think about while trying to communicate. One of my pet peeves is (and I try not to do it myself!) when someone does not listen to you because they are so busy formulating their own responses!
    Thanks for always publishing something with great quality and with tips where EVERYONE can find SOMETHING!!
    Hope you have a super wonderful Monday! ❤

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  9. Powerful message Brad! I couldn’t agree more. Communication is the foundation of community, of marriage, of politics, of the classroom. Without it – we become narcissists. Only listening to one voice – our own. What a bland, sad, egotistical world that would be. Thank you for sharing. I hear you. ☀️

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  12. All wonderfully awesome stories Brad.. We so need clear, and understanding communication and cheaper cleaner energy.. And I agree with the teaching of Mindfulness.. We not only need the three Rs .. We need to be mindful of the one we give least attention too.. that is Respect.. The simple act of respecting each other, be it their views, or our differences.. Would go a long way of uniting Mind Body and Spirit together in the classroom.. ❤

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  13. I appreciate your wisdom on communication, B. When our writing isn’t understood as intended, it’s often because the writer wasn’t clear. The same holds in verbal communication but rather than recouch what we’ve said, we respond emotionally when the other party doesn’t get what we’ve said. And what a great timely thought on heartfulness.

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