Awesome Stories 339

/ October 14, 2017

This week Awesome Stories brings you a city of art, Trashpresso, and caring communication.

City of ArtMoravian art, Awesome Stories

Anežka (Agnes) Kašpárková is transforming her city into a gallery of art. After retiring from agriculture and learning to paint, Agnes has embarked on turning the village of Louka in the Czech Republic into a city of art. She spends most of her days in the spring and fall hand painting intricate designs on windows, walls, and doors. She creates detailed floral patterns based on the traditional Moravian Czech style using bright blue paints. Despite local and viral celebrity, Anežka paints simply for the joy and wanting to help her city. Agnes is 90 years old and going strong!

Caring Communication

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. ~ Buckminster Fuller

Michael Nagler has Six Principles from NVC to help us communicate in a more caring, compassionate, and cooperative way. The key is to listen with the intent to connect and understand. Michael suggests respect, constructive alternatives, long-term, win-win, and centered power are needed to create effective change and communication. And remember that new ideas must be rooted in compassion, unity, and the sense of wanting to help not change others. I am grateful to have a friend who has studied NVC for years and demonstrates these principals daily. It is a pleasure to talk, listen, and learn from my friend David Fournet. Thanks Dave, Michael, and NVC!

Tiles from TrashTrashpresso, Awesome Stories

Design company Pentatonic and MINIWIZ in Taiwan have created a unique mobile recycling system called Trashpresso that can turn plastic waste into tiles. The recycling unit can be powered by solar energy and transported in a shipping container to anywhere people want to recycle plastic. This could help greatly in remote areas and disaster zones where electricity and recycling may not be available. This mobile recycling plant can create 160 architectural tiles from 800 plastic bottles. Pentatonic Co-Founder Johann Bodecker wants to inspire other companies to consider the whole life cycle impacts of their products by using no toxins, glues or materials that can’t be recycled. Several companies like Starbucks UK have commissioned Pentatonic so far. Starbucks wants them to turn their coffee shop waste into furniture.

In these challenging times may we remember to listen, learn, and love with compassion, intending to create solutions for the good of all. Blessings, Brad

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25 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 339”

  1. The stories this week are special (well, they always are) but I had heard of the Czech artist woman who is beautifying her village. Years ago. It warms my heart that she’s still going! Buckminster Fuller is right. When the Khan Academy was created on Youtube, it revolutionized education. To change the state of affairs, you have to go around the system. And the story about the tiles made from recycling? This gives me hope for the world. At a difficult time in history that we’re living through, it gives me hope that we can overcome our limitations as humans and be greater than we ever thought possible.

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  2. The story is really awesome. I always love to read these stories. It really makes me want to improve myself in helping out to create a better place. Maybe it just something small, but still believe that it’ll makes some differences.

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  8. What a marvelous post for a Monday (or any day) Brad.
    Wow, Agnes is a truly inspiring woman. She makes it look like the painting is so easy for her, though I know it’s huge work. The rest of the post is wonderful too, but Agnes is stellar. Have a terrific new week. Hugs.

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  10. Dear Brad.. How special is the lady Agnus who painted her village.. So amazing are her floral designs.. Such beauty in just the addition of one colour in such intricate floral designs.. So well balanced around the windows.. Fabulous share on its own Brad.. Such an inspiration to us all and what a legacy she is leaving..

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