Ashoka has just realeased the selection of Senior Fellows... If you ever think the world is going backwards or sideways... you've got to know about these amazing folks!
http://www.ashoka.org/fellows
HUMAN RIGHTS
Alito Alessi, Mexico, Senior Fellow
Eliminating prejudices and misconceptions towards disabled people through mixed-abilities dance that enables expression for all people.
Tasneem Siddiqui, Pakistan, Senior Fellow
Overhauling the traditional housing scheme by granting former slumdwellers access to affordable and developed plots of land.
Asad Danish, Afghanistan, Fellow
Bringing harmony to war-torn Afghanistan and the Pushtoon tribal belt in Pakistan by encouraging a culture of reading and increasing the literacy rate.
Junior Smart, UK, Fellow
Providing new avenues of reintegration for prisoners through a peer mentoring system led by ex-offenders.
HEALTH
Sanjeev Arora, USA, Fellow
Spreading a new model to treat complex chronic diseases in rural and underserved areas by connecting urban healthcare specialists with rural providers through communication technology.
Albert Jovell, Spain, Fellow
Democratizing healthcare by giving patients a platform to play a more participatory role in decisions concerning their health.
Jorge Gronda, Argentina, Senior Fellow
Creating a self-sustaining, alternative healthcare system for bottom-of-the-pyramid patients.
Anna Alisjahbana, Indonesia, Senior Fellow
Combating high infant mortality rates and child development problems through a model that combines early monitoring and intervention and strong doctor-patient relationships.
Julia Borbolla, Mexico, Fellow
Transcending traditional methods of child psychology with new forms of multimedia treatment.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Pierre Rabhi, France, Senior Fellow
Offering an alternative to agricultural industrialization patterns by demonstrating technical and philosophical relationships between human beings, food production, nature, and modernity.
Ingrid Munro, Kenya, Senior Fellow
Providing urban poor and slum dwellers access to business and housing loans, health and life insurance, and business education through the largest microfinance institution in East Africa.
Zeinab Al-Momani, Jordan, Fellow
Empowering female farmers to organize unions and gain access to economic and social opportunities.
Lucie Chagnon, Canada, Fellow
Bringing a new solution to help employees manage their personal responsibilities through the first online provider of work-life balance services.
LEARNING/EDUCATION
Jean-Claude Decalonne, France, Fellow
Increasing the performance of at-risk youth by teaching them teamwork, discipline and self-esteem through participation in school orchestras.
Fairouz Omar, Egypt, Fellow
Normalizing the idea of counseling for all individuals through training in-school counselors in methodologies adapted to Egyptian culture.
Connie Siskowski, USA, Fellow
Bringing recognition and value to youth who have dual roles as students and caregivers for ill, frail or disabled family members.
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
David Castro, USA, Fellow
Building the capacity of marginalized communities by identifying grassroots leaders and teaching them the life skills to be agents of change.
Manon Barbeau, Canada, Fellow
Restoring damaged aboriginal culture through a professional film-making process that connects indigenous communities internationally.
Olivier Gaillard, Belgium, Fellow
Transforming the youth years in Belgium by organizing teenagers as agents of social change.
Tom Steinberg, UK, Fellow
Demystifying politics and democracy through participatory internet technology interfaces.
Raziq Fahim, Pakistan, Fellow
Countering the recruitment of young people by militant and extremist groups by engaging youth in the development of their region.
ENVIRONMENT
Rob Hopkins, UK, Fellow
Providing a holistic, bottom-up solution to the problems of climate change and peak oil.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Addiction Dance
My daughter sent me this amazing video...
Whilst studying the neuroscience of happiness for our new program, I read many experiments about addiction... as the dancers well and truly express, the mind of an addicted is captured in a prisson of pain and fear and the ilussion of scape, only to fall back into the trap...
The good news is that people do get out of addictions, but only if they want to.
Can't wait to read your comments...
Whilst studying the neuroscience of happiness for our new program, I read many experiments about addiction... as the dancers well and truly express, the mind of an addicted is captured in a prisson of pain and fear and the ilussion of scape, only to fall back into the trap...
The good news is that people do get out of addictions, but only if they want to.
Can't wait to read your comments...
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Social Good Conference!
The Social Good Conference, being held at the prestigious 92nd Street Y in New York City on August 28th, will be a one-day educational event celebrating the finale of the Summer of Social Good charitable campaign. The conference will feature presentations from well known and respected organizations and professionals within the space focused on the theme of “Social Media for Social Good”.
Thanks to the sponsors, Zappos and MailChimp, 100% of all ticket sales will go to our Summer of Social Good non-profit fund!
Find out more about them here: http://mashable.com/socialgood-conference/
Thanks to the sponsors, Zappos and MailChimp, 100% of all ticket sales will go to our Summer of Social Good non-profit fund!
Find out more about them here: http://mashable.com/socialgood-conference/
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Beyond our circumstances
I wonder if we are going to call this the F (for finger) generation... so many things are a finger click away, but that would probably be inconsiderate to people who don't have fingers.
I'm not joking, as two of the people I admire most in the world have no fingers (they are christians for those of you who need warning) Y
eap, Tony Melendez and Vic Vujicic... they both have fantastic videos youtube.com so, no F generation, but pure inspiration.
Tony Melendez is a singer and guitar player
here are some of his videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3LFBqvvW-M
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tony+melendez&search_type=&aq=f
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC60dBXTfvQ
Vic Vujicic is a motivational speaker
here are some of his videos
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4uG2kSdd-4"
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3LFBqvvW-M"
They are a clear example of how we are more than our circumstances. The world is better because they are here... What have they done differently? they looked beyond their circumstances and found a way to live their purpose.
I think that search is worth doing... what do you think?
I'm not joking, as two of the people I admire most in the world have no fingers (they are christians for those of you who need warning) Y
eap, Tony Melendez and Vic Vujicic... they both have fantastic videos youtube.com so, no F generation, but pure inspiration.
Tony Melendez is a singer and guitar player
here are some of his videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3LFBqvvW-M
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tony+melendez&search_type=&aq=f
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC60dBXTfvQ
Vic Vujicic is a motivational speaker
here are some of his videos
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4uG2kSdd-4"
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3LFBqvvW-M"
They are a clear example of how we are more than our circumstances. The world is better because they are here... What have they done differently? they looked beyond their circumstances and found a way to live their purpose.
I think that search is worth doing... what do you think?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Successful
This is just a quick exchange with a reader of one of my books ...
He wrote:
By the way, I'm amazed at the life you've lived. If I am your mentee, what's the best advice can you give me to "succeed" in life, and I mean not only financially.
I responded:
You are already successful… you can read, you have access to internet, you can type, you speak the language of opportunities: English.
If you think about how far you’ve come since you were a crying baby, you’ve realized how successful you already are. The main problem today is that we have an external locus of control. We compare ourselves to others, that way we loose the capacity to do amazing things. You don’t have to be better than anyone else, you just have to be better than yourself. If you do that you always win…
How is that for a start?
...
What do you think???
He wrote:
By the way, I'm amazed at the life you've lived. If I am your mentee, what's the best advice can you give me to "succeed" in life, and I mean not only financially.
I responded:
You are already successful… you can read, you have access to internet, you can type, you speak the language of opportunities: English.
If you think about how far you’ve come since you were a crying baby, you’ve realized how successful you already are. The main problem today is that we have an external locus of control. We compare ourselves to others, that way we loose the capacity to do amazing things. You don’t have to be better than anyone else, you just have to be better than yourself. If you do that you always win…
How is that for a start?
...
What do you think???
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The power of surprises
I'm working frantically to finalize our program by the middle of September, including several tips on making our lives more enjoyable. Surprises and novelty are amongst the joys of being alive.
Every now and then we need to revert to something unusual. When the kick comes unexpectedly, we are surprise. It is known that differences add depth and enjoyment to life. Take good meals, for example, an earthy casserole tastes better if it is combined with a salad; a savory entrée with a sweet dessert; wine with cheese and apples and grapes. Variety builds up enchantement.
On one side, we like predictability so we can feel secure and plan accordingly, then something kicks in. An external change or the need for chaos. Yes, predictability builds up order, and we can be more efficient. Even so, we can only take so much predictability; it kills our creativity and innovation.
So, we need to revert to something unusual. We all like to be surprised, we don’t acknowledge it that much to the originator, nor we consciously make an effort to be that surprise in another person’s life. When you do something unusual for someone else, you surprise them, they don’t expect it and it triggers a chain of reactions that keeps them alert. It makes their life more enjoyable. Surprises keep us agile and alert. Companies that surprise us capture a space in our minds. They raise above the rest, they treat us in unusual ways, either as customers, employees, suppliers or as part of their community. We need to add more of that, both on our businesses and at our personal level.
Think about surprising someone, and be creative… you will enjoy the process as much as the receiver. Just remember, you can be the change you want in the world. Start now.
Just as I was going to post this, my friend Janet sends me this surprising wedding entry ... make sure you check it out...
and if you have any other surprises, share them up, we'll love to see them.
Every now and then we need to revert to something unusual. When the kick comes unexpectedly, we are surprise. It is known that differences add depth and enjoyment to life. Take good meals, for example, an earthy casserole tastes better if it is combined with a salad; a savory entrée with a sweet dessert; wine with cheese and apples and grapes. Variety builds up enchantement.
On one side, we like predictability so we can feel secure and plan accordingly, then something kicks in. An external change or the need for chaos. Yes, predictability builds up order, and we can be more efficient. Even so, we can only take so much predictability; it kills our creativity and innovation.
So, we need to revert to something unusual. We all like to be surprised, we don’t acknowledge it that much to the originator, nor we consciously make an effort to be that surprise in another person’s life. When you do something unusual for someone else, you surprise them, they don’t expect it and it triggers a chain of reactions that keeps them alert. It makes their life more enjoyable. Surprises keep us agile and alert. Companies that surprise us capture a space in our minds. They raise above the rest, they treat us in unusual ways, either as customers, employees, suppliers or as part of their community. We need to add more of that, both on our businesses and at our personal level.
Think about surprising someone, and be creative… you will enjoy the process as much as the receiver. Just remember, you can be the change you want in the world. Start now.
Just as I was going to post this, my friend Janet sends me this surprising wedding entry ... make sure you check it out...
and if you have any other surprises, share them up, we'll love to see them.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The paradox of pleasure and pain
As living organisms we have been equipped with a pleasure / pain system. Our emotional pleasure system is short lived; our emotional pains system is long lived. Our physical pleasure system is short lived, our physical pain system is also short lived. It seems that the emotional pain system creates a memory that needs to be managed. Understanding the paradox of pleasure and pain puts our emotions into the appropriate context and helps us live happier lives.
Whilst we are prone to seek pleasure and avoid pain, we have a counteracting mechanism that disarms pleasure and prolongs pain. Not so long ago, in terms of evolution, our survival depended on our capacity to manage pain more than on our capacity to manage pleasure, therefore, our body is biologically structured to over react to pain and under react to pleasure. Our mind plays an important role in these relationships, we also over react to the idea of pain: that is what we call fear.
Media moguls know this well, our news should be called bad news, the prelude to pain captures our attention in a much more robust way that the prelude of pleasure.
The memory of pain is long lived, yet the feeling of pain is not. We create a larger than real expectation of pain in our mind. We don’t need to burn our hand twice to remember it is painful. Pleasure, on the contrary, is short lived, once we experience it, our brain starts to discard the molecules created by it as if they were a toxin. Our de-pleasurizing mechanism is amazingly dissapointing. Exactly the opposite happens to pain, we are wired to avoid it, yet once we experience it, it lingers there and there and there. With some tips we can manage both to have a healthier life.
If we are make to seek pleasure and to avoid pain, we can prolong the joy of pleasure by focusing on the pre pleasure stage and we can reduce the effect of pain by managing our fears before the pain happens – if at all. Once we are into the feeling, the pleasure will cease, the pain will linger.
Psychologists have long studied the effect of the pre-pleasure stage. It is commonly referred to as the anticipation process. When we are planning our vacation, imagining a date, preparing a meal, or setting up a party, we can pre-enjoy our pleasure. We can imagine how we are going to feel that is positive, we can indulge in the process of planning and getting ready. The anticipation process gives meaning to the phrase: “It is the journey, not the destination.” Prolonging our pre-pleasure stage makes sense considering that the pleasurable stage is short lived.
Pain on the contrary is long lived. When we think we might not meet our goal we are actually prolonging our pain both ways, before and after the actual event. Sometimes fears are reasonable, sometimes we exaggerate them…
When we lived in caves it may have made sense to have a raised awareness of fear because of survival. Today, however, we are bombarded by fear that might have absolutely no impact on our lives.
Understanding the paradox of pleasure and pain gives us a powerful tool to live more fulfilling lives. We might not be able to fast track evolution, but we surely can use our brains to work around it. The anticipation of pleasure sets us free, the anticipation of pain makes us worried –helplessly worried. Understanding and managing these differences helps us live healthier and happier lives.
Fall in love with your life,
Alicia
PD: our proof was sent yesterday. We are close to our august launch!
Whilst we are prone to seek pleasure and avoid pain, we have a counteracting mechanism that disarms pleasure and prolongs pain. Not so long ago, in terms of evolution, our survival depended on our capacity to manage pain more than on our capacity to manage pleasure, therefore, our body is biologically structured to over react to pain and under react to pleasure. Our mind plays an important role in these relationships, we also over react to the idea of pain: that is what we call fear.
Media moguls know this well, our news should be called bad news, the prelude to pain captures our attention in a much more robust way that the prelude of pleasure.
The memory of pain is long lived, yet the feeling of pain is not. We create a larger than real expectation of pain in our mind. We don’t need to burn our hand twice to remember it is painful. Pleasure, on the contrary, is short lived, once we experience it, our brain starts to discard the molecules created by it as if they were a toxin. Our de-pleasurizing mechanism is amazingly dissapointing. Exactly the opposite happens to pain, we are wired to avoid it, yet once we experience it, it lingers there and there and there. With some tips we can manage both to have a healthier life.
If we are make to seek pleasure and to avoid pain, we can prolong the joy of pleasure by focusing on the pre pleasure stage and we can reduce the effect of pain by managing our fears before the pain happens – if at all. Once we are into the feeling, the pleasure will cease, the pain will linger.
Psychologists have long studied the effect of the pre-pleasure stage. It is commonly referred to as the anticipation process. When we are planning our vacation, imagining a date, preparing a meal, or setting up a party, we can pre-enjoy our pleasure. We can imagine how we are going to feel that is positive, we can indulge in the process of planning and getting ready. The anticipation process gives meaning to the phrase: “It is the journey, not the destination.” Prolonging our pre-pleasure stage makes sense considering that the pleasurable stage is short lived.
Pain on the contrary is long lived. When we think we might not meet our goal we are actually prolonging our pain both ways, before and after the actual event. Sometimes fears are reasonable, sometimes we exaggerate them…
When we lived in caves it may have made sense to have a raised awareness of fear because of survival. Today, however, we are bombarded by fear that might have absolutely no impact on our lives.
Understanding the paradox of pleasure and pain gives us a powerful tool to live more fulfilling lives. We might not be able to fast track evolution, but we surely can use our brains to work around it. The anticipation of pleasure sets us free, the anticipation of pain makes us worried –helplessly worried. Understanding and managing these differences helps us live healthier and happier lives.
Fall in love with your life,
Alicia
PD: our proof was sent yesterday. We are close to our august launch!
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