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"I'm proud that everything I have I earned all on my own." 		Building Together Again
Occupy a Better Future
Don't forget about the price tag
We are all connected
Nickel and diming our lives
Hearing and saying "I appreciate you."
The purpose of technology is community
Celebrate small moments
Thankful for people
The strength around us
The leaf is proud:
a tribute to helping each other

Cleaning the workbench:
Children become adults

No power tonight:
Quieting a busy life



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"The things we want are really the times we share."

"If I had only one thing I would take a smile over an iPad."

~ Rob Hueniken

Posts tagged as:

Life

Thumbnail image for Redemption Song

Redemption Song

March 24, 2011

A global music effort is underway by a diverse group of musicians and singers known as Playing For Change. Their videos, available on YouTube, are a wonderful collection of memorable songs played in very personal contributions from locations around the world. The musicianship is outstanding, and the overall feeling is of shared truths and personal connection. Watching videos such as Redemption Song and Stand by Me made me feel connected and a part of the joy that music and community brings. The amazing slide guitar work of Roberto Luti and olde tyme stylings of Grandpa Elliott are just a small [...]

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One Good Step

February 12, 2011

One of the most important milestones in a person's life is when we learn to walk. This usually happens around 14 months of age (not at "one year" as the round-things-off folks tend to say to worried young Moms). While crawling lets us move around the room a bit, it was only when we started to walk that the doors opened to the horizon and to our futures. In our earliest days of walking we are always with our parents, as they show us the world nearby. Hand in hand, we are guided in safety. We get to see places [...]

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The strength around us

January 31, 2011

We see fire hydrants every day, fortunately not often in use. But there they stand, along our route and near our homes — silent, patient reminders of our shared commitment to safety and community. The fire hydrant, or "fire plug", dates back to the 1600s, when fire crews would prepare a water source by digging deep into the ground to reach the water table. Afterwards, they covered the well with a plug, so that they were ready. When a fire broke out they'd remove the fire plug and use a bucket brigade — a human chain — to move the [...]

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Honoring Others with Alternative Gifts

December 10, 2010

There is a growing and excellent trend moving through our society: honoring our friends and family with special gifts for their birthday and on holidays. While there are still times when people need a new iPod, TV, or other gizmo, a lot of people already have a lot of things, and enjoy going out themselves and buying the particular model they want. And while there are no shortages of sweet things and entertaining things we can buy for people we love, there is also no shortage of people in our world who really need our help, be it clothes, food, [...]

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Thankful for the people

November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving weekend is one of my oldest and favorite memories. Occurring in the fall, its usual reason is the celebration of the harvest. Thanksgiving arrives amidst fresh apples, orange leaves and and even more brightly orange pumpkins. The corn fields, tall from a busy summer of growing, are now laden and dense, ready for their harvest haircut. The fall is definitely a time of plenty. So if you said that Thanksgiving is about turkey and pie you wouldn't find many people to argue with you, but you would definitely find people. After a summer of going off on vacation, Thanksgiving [...]

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Trying Hard – Still a Key to Life

October 30, 2010

Lost in the marketing maelstrom of our culture is an eternal truth: that life is hard and requires us to try hard.  It doesn't matter how many songs we have on our iPod, how many friends we have on Facebook, or how many dollars we have in the bank — without an understanding of our personal commitment to making things work out it all eventually falls apart. Others can help keep things running for a while, but life requires our own determination and action. This is not just about a person's career — trying hard is about all aspects of [...]

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Thumbnail image for Our Society’s Toughest Commandment (#10)

Our Society’s Toughest Commandment (#10)

September 25, 2010

One of the main characteristics of our North American society is its focus on money and entertainment. Everywhere we look there are opportunities and offers of services, goods to buy, and recreation. Advertising blitzes us continuously, mostly portraying smiling, beautiful people sharing a good time and taking possession of something they really want. And if smiling, beautiful people can't sell us something then the marketing machine uses fear to convince us that we are missing out on something important or we're at risk. Either way, we have a society encouraged to want things, and to never be satisfied. In advertising [...]

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Thumbnail image for Waiting Long – a poem for moving on

Waiting Long – a poem for moving on

August 23, 2010

I recently attended a party held outdoors in farming country. Near the road was an old piece of farm machinery, slowly rusting. I wrote this poem for what is past and unchangeable: Waiting long: For men to bind me to their task. For sun and wind and dirt and grass. For purposed motion past that tree. For harvests that are not for me. As the sun set I was struck with the awareness that each of us has had times of achievements — of getting things done, of doing well — but feel now that time is passing without the [...]

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The purpose of technology is community

July 18, 2010

Perhaps the most apparent feature of our society is our use of technology. Whether it is cell phones, high def TV, MRI scanners or air bags, technology surrounds us and is embedded into our lives. Everywhere you go you see people using devices — if there's a gizmo then people are using it. There is, of course, money to be made creating and using technology, and jobs and benefits for many people. There are busy and industrious people inventing devices, refining them, and bringing them to market. There are legions of truckers and sales people providing them to us, and [...]

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Thumbnail image for The New Glory Days – Pruning back former glory to find new joy

The New Glory Days – Pruning back former glory to find new joy

June 28, 2010

One of my favorite summer flowers is the garden geranium, with its beautiful, summer-long color. It is the type of flower that you can count on, week after week, month after month. With only a bit of watering, and some essential pruning, they will continue to make your life brighter. Growing up, our family hung white pails of red geraniums from the trees along our laneway. They were a cheerful sight for guests and part of the colorful backdrop for my early years. What I didn't know then is that it is the pruning of geraniums that keeps them looking [...]

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