Blogging Sueblimely

Welcome to Blogging Sueblimely. To keep up with my posts you can subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!

The Happiness Project is the brainchild of Alex Shalman, who invited well known bloggers who have had powerful influences on his life, to take part in a Writing Project/competition. The goal is to assemble views on definitions of happiness, how it comes about and how to create more of it. Alex asks his interviewees these questions:

The answers from each entrant are being posted to his blog each day for 4 weeks of February. Week three is in progress now.

How you can participate in the Happiness Project.

• Alex asks us to follow the project from interview to interview and leave thoughtful, insightful comments.
• Join in yourself by
  1. Answering the project questions in a post on your own blog:
     1. How do you define happiness?
     2. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your happiness now, versus when you were a child?
     3. What do you do on a daily basis that brings you happiness? (and how consistent is the feeling of happiness throughout your day)
     4. What things take away from your happiness? What can be done to lessen their impact or remove them from your life?
     5. What do you plan on doing in the future that will bring you even more happiness?
  2. Alex asks us to “Be as genuine as possible when answering the questions”
  3. Link back to and post a link to your post in the comments of the Happiness Project: Series Of Interviews With Top Bloggers: Win Over $650 post in order to let others known about the project, and so that Alex can keep track of who is taking part.

Links

Introduction post and contest rules

Happiness Project Category Archive

Project Entrants

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One of the advantages of blogging is the voice it gives us on a worldwide scale. Even if you have only a few readers your words can be spread from blog to blog. We often use this viral characteristic to promote our blogs, and to pass on memes and awards. What really fires me up is the ability to spread the word about good causes, helping those who are also trying to spread the word and those who are putting in time and effort for their causes.

My friend, Renny, tells us about the co-founder of LinkedInNorway, Morten W . Morten ,who is trying to raise money for CARE Norway, recently walked a lap of the Oslo City Hall for every 90 Norwegian Krona (NOK) that had been donated; accompanied by Renny. His next challenge will be when he reaches 20,000 NOK and walks 40 laps which will take approximately 6 hours.

Care Norway “places special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help entire families and communities escape poverty.”

Please read more about Mortens admirable efforts on Renny’s blog at Care for Women Living in Poverty and if you wish to donate you can do so here on the CARE donation page

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I am delighted to be able to let you know that RT Cunningham of Untwisted Vortex has received USD $3,004.00 in donations to help him out during his wife’s upcoming operation. He has posted about it  - The Circle of Life.

I am so heartened to learn that blog readers have rallied round, not only to publicize Richard’s plight but also to give hard cash to help him out.  Richard removed the button once he felt he had enough funds to see him through the next couple of months of air fares and medical bills. I commend him for his honesty.

I was pleased to see Darren Rowse who can reach so many people with his blog, posting about Richard’s challenges. Well done Darren.

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 Please read my update to this post - Bloggers Did Unite to Help

It is heartening to see the amount of support that RT Cunningham of Untwisted Vortex is getting from his readers and fellow bloggers. Richard’s wife is having an operation soon and what with the cost of airfares, medical bills and lack of income for the duration, they are going to be struggling financially.

Richard was finally convinced to put a Pay Pal Donate button on his blog. I hope many rally round to help by donating.

You can read more about Richard’s plight on A Possible Disappearing Act where you will also find that Pay Pal button.

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Won’t you join me by placing a Peace Train Logo in the Sidebar (or somewhere on your Site) to let the world know that we are United against War and looking for Peace in this the New Year? This movement has been started by
Carol of My View of it She has created a variety of images to use as has Jos of NoDirecton

To join add one of the available images on your site or create your own and let Carol know so that she can add you to the list.

This post also serves as an excuse for me to reference my teenage hero - Yusuf Islam. It is wonderful to hear him singing once again, after such a long absence.

Now I’ve been crying lately,
Why must we go on hating,
why can’t we live in bliss
Cause out on the edge of darkness,
there rides a peace train
Join the Peace Train:

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You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
- John Lennon - Imagine

Mimi of Mimi Writes and founder of the “Peace Globe Movement ~ Dona Nobis Pacem ~ BlogBlast For Peace” has asked bloggers to join together today to blog about peace.

I hope that the participation rate is huge and that those who would not normally divert away from their topic areas make an exception for this. A wish for world peace is not a controversial topic. I know some bloggers fear losing readers if they touch on subjects that may cause readers to disagree, not return or unsubscribe. Surely this subject is not one of them. Some bloggers do participate but, to keep on topic, their posts on the subject in question are about minor issues which relate to their own subject area.I think this minimizes the importance of the message that most bloggers are trying to send.

I regularly take part in united blogging efforts on areas I feel passionate about. I am sure my regular readers will not take offence by this even if I do divert from my topic. To be honest if I were to lose readers because of it, this would not stop me. I would take the attitude that I was losing traffic rather than readers; traffic I did not particularly want anyway. I would feel that my integrity had not been compromised by not being influenced by my blog statistics. Back to today’s blogging subject itself:

The idea was to choose one of the Dona Nobis Pacem designs created for the day and to edit and personalise this .

The image I created above is based on one of Mimi’s images combined with my blog logo.

In my ideal peaceful world, nations would come together to solve our global environmental problems. Therefore the countries in my image are all green and pleasant lands. The polar icecaps are emphasized to indicate a return to a clean sustainable world. (I am sure Australia would not want the Antarctic quite so close though - please forgive my ‘artistic’ licence here). The Himalayas and all other mountain ranges will have the ‘correct’ amount of snow.

I think well written, succinct quotes contain immense power and speak volumes so here is a list of quotes that sum up the importance of world peace far better than I can:

• Did you know that the worldwide food shortage that threatens up to five hundred million children could be alleviated at the cost of only one day, only one day, of modern warfare.–Peter Ustinov
• Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.–Max Lucade
• Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts.–Martin Luther King, Jr
• If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.–Martin Luther King, Jr
• I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace. Muhammad Ali

Is it a pipe dream to expect a peaceful world. Very likely, but I do believe that it is possible and that we start from a very tiny part of the world first - ourselves:

• Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.- Mahatma Gandhi
• I keep the telephone of my mind open to peace, harmony, health, love and abundance. Then whenever doubt, anxiety, or fear try to call me, they keep getting a busy signal and soon they’ll forget my number.- Edith Armstrong
• For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.- Eleanor Roosevelt
• Am I not destroying my enemies what I make friends of them? - Abraham Lincoln
• If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.-Thich Nhat Hanh
• Let us not use bombs and guns to overcome the world. Let us use love and compassion. Peace begins with a smile–smile five times a day to someone you don’t really want to smile at all–do it for peace. –Mother Teresa
• Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.–Buddha
• I think this sums it all up - “Be the change you wish to see in the world”…Gandi

This thought should be a real incentive for all the world to attempt to achieve peace:

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.- Albert Einstein

Note - A good method of discovering who else has joined in today is to do a Google Blog Search for Dona Nobis Pacem or Dona Nobis Pacem Mimi. If you are searching today then choose ‘published in the last day’ from the left hand sidebar. This will ensure you are reading the entries rather than posts that are reminding us to join in.

Thank you to Colin for reminding me about this via his post at Dona Nobis Pacem - BlogBlast For Peace

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• Effects of global warming include rising sea levels, glacier retreat, and altered patterns of agriculture, extreme weather events, an expansion of tropical diseases, and drastic economic impact.

• The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its lowest level since satellite measurements began nearly 30 years ago, In September this year the Arctic’s North-West Passage - a sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans opened up for the first time since records began.
• The UN is calling 2007 a global climate change “mega disaster”.
• Scientist: Global greenhouse gas emissions already beyond ‘worst-case’ scenario
• Heavy water restrictions are already in place here but Australia suffers its worst drought in 1,000 years says that Australia will have to switch off the water supply to the continent’s food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought. The two rivers that feed the region that yields 40 per cent of the country’s agricultural produce are so low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies.
• “The Great Barrier Reef will become “functionally extinct” within decades at the current rate of global warming” Sydney Morning Herald - Reef ‘facing extinction’
• In the Pacific The report warns that in Fiji climate change could result in a 100 per cent increase in cyclone damage, an increase in dengue fever cases of between 20 and 30 per cent and a decline in crop yields of up to 15 per cent.

The Climate hot map gives an increasingly comprehensive picture changes in the world’s climate system

Blogs on the environment

• Green Options a community dedicated to environmental resources, education, and discussion.
• The Conscious Earth Earth-centred news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming
• Eco Chick - The site shows you how to find the things you love, and keeps you updated on what’s going on in that great green world.
• Enviroblog is a project of
  EWG Action Fund
  covering public health, environmental policy, and better consumer choices.
• Climate Ark Climate Change and Global Warming Portal
• Green Wombat covers the intersection of the environment, technology, business and policy.
• Tree Hugger aims to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information.
• New Scientist Environment Blog

Officially supported charities for Blog Action Day 2007 - the Environment

Good-Causes alexa

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As you can see from the sudden pinkness of this site, I decided to promote October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I am sure virtually all of you will know of someone affected by breast cancer and realise what a worthy cause this is. If you would like to join me in blogging for Breast Cancer Awareness Month :

• Write a post about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or breast cancer itself with a link to a breast cancer site of your choice.
• Include the image below in your post (or elsewhere on your site for the rest of October)

• Link to a site that provides information about Breast Cancer

• Encourage other bloggers to take part
• Let me know you have participated by replying to this post as I am creating a list of blogs supporting the cause.

Other ways to help :

Donate to American Cancer Society, National Breast Cancer Foundation (Australia) Breast Cancer Care (UK)

At The Breast Cancer Site A daily click on the “Click Here to Give” button leads to display ads from the site sponsors. 100% of the money from these advertisers goes to their charity partners, who fund programs to provide mammograms to women in need. Visitors to the site can help more by shopping in The Breast Cancer Site store.

The Blogger Boobie-Thon is an annual event run the first week of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Bloggers from all over the globe send in photos of their boobies (covered and uncovered) to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research. This is the sixth year for the Boobie-Thon and their goal is to break the $10,000.00 mark. It is too late to enter the competition but you could still donate!

Some fundraising ideas from Cancer Research UK:

• Organise your own pink tie event
• Have a pink day at school – pink fancy dress and decorations all round
• Hold a themed pink raffle or auction at work with pink goodies
• Host a pink slumber party for your friends at home
• Dye your hair pink
• Do a sponsored silence whilst sitting in a bath of pink candy floss!

5 Minutes for Mom is holding a draw for a pink Casio digital camera. Casio is also showing support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). The drawing is Friday the 26th!

Subscribe to iMommies for a chance to win an iPod.

Update:
Information on Breast Cancer:

• Imagnis - the breast cancer and women’s health resource. (Thanks to Saboma of Maryannaville for putting me on to this site)
• Discussing Breast Cancer - thanks Michaela
  

Causes, Link-Love alexa

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