WIFLblog

Saturday, July 19, 2003

Use a Better Browser (2003.07.19 11:01) [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service]
12:05:11 PM

Monday, July 07, 2003

HELP YOURSELF

The last Dave Pollard hijacked article, that I liked so much I think I will print it out.

http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/

do what you want to, girl
but be what you are
there ain't no right or wrong way
just play it from the heart

it ain't a sign of weakness, girl
to give yourself away
because the strong give up and move on
while the weak give up and stay

do you believe
in hot cars leather bars movie stars, is that what's real
pay your dues
in earth shoes chicago blues is that how you feel
you can change, you can change, you can change
but you can't conceal
what's deep inside you
it's your game, your deal, your game, your deal

do what you want to do
but be what you are

- Hall & Oates

So many of us make ourselves unhappy trying to be what we're not. Trying to remake ourselves to be what we think we should be, what we think others want us to be.

Instead, we need to learn to love ourselves, for what we really are -- precious, unique, talented, lovely, magical, caring, charming, attractive, complete individuals. We need to learn to help ourselves, believe in ourselves, instead of relying on others to create our self-image, our sense of purpose and meaning and value.

We need to find hobbies that we enjoy for their own sake, that we can do alone, that fill us with joy and a feeling of accomplishment. We need to learn to get pleasure in our own company, in the workings and wonder of our own bodies, in the imagination and capacity for discovery and learning our own minds, in the awesome power and sensitivity of our senses, in the incredible depth and mystery of our unfathomable emotions.

We need to do things for ourselves. Pamper ourselves in a hot scented bath surrounded by candles and music we love, accompanied with wine and literature we love. Look in the mirror uncritically and smile and get enchanted, even aroused, at what we see. Treat our bodies, our minds right by finding exercises for them that are challenging and varied and fun. Get delight from having someone else look after us unselfishly for awhile. Learn something new and take pride in the accomplishment. Show off something about ourselves we know is exceptional, and revel in the pleasure it gives others.

We need to refuse to put up with people who put us down, and make such people pariahs, invisible until they come to grips with their negativity and learn to be human.

And once we`ve mastered that we need to pay this most important life lesson forward. We need to show others that they're special and lovable, too. We need to smile at them and compliment them and really look them in the eye and tell them something wonderful about themselves, flirt with them but without dishonesty or motive. We need to shine the mirror of self-love back at them so they can see themselves as extraordinary, perfect.

Why is this so hard to do?

Postscript: The young lady pictured is my(Dave Pollard's) step-daughter, of whom I am immensely proud. She took this message to heart many years ago.

12:55:10 PM

THREE BUSINESSES THAT PUT PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT

Another one of Dave Pollard's articles I thought worthy of re-posting but then you might just want to check out his blog at:

http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/

How to Save the World has been developing the concept of New Collaborative Enterprises , businesses that are totally egalitarian, self-organized, self-managed and founded on principles of members' happiness and well-being, not growth and shareholders' profit. Several readers have asked if such enterprises exist, and my answer is 'to my knowledge, not yet'. This article profiles three companies that come close. Next week I'll put on my consultant hat and describe how a true NCE might evolve.

Ricardo Semler received brief fame for his book Maverick, about how he transformed his father's family business in Sao Paulo, Semco S.A. into a totally egalitarian, decentralized, worker-operated company. Now, ten years later he has just finished a sequel, The Seven Day Weekend , that shows he has lost none of his idealism. Key to success is an obsession with employee freedom, and total disregard for growth. Here's what he's up to per a recent report in the Guardian:

He refuses to make long-term projections. "If someone asks me, 'where will you be in 10 years' time?', I haven't got the slightest idea. I don't find it perturbing either if we said, 'look, in 10 years' time Semco could have 500 people instead of [the current employment of] 3,000 people'; that sounds just as interesting as 21,000 people. I'd hate to see Semco not exist in 10, 20, 50 years' time, but what form it exists in, what business it's in and what size it is are not particularly relevant."

Semco's staff work in small, autonomous units of about a dozen (the size, says Semler, of a close family group). They make the decisions, choose their leaders, set objectives and decide who they need and what they should be paid: someone who wants too much pay for what they are doing might be frozen out by the group. "From a distance it can sound like a workers' paradise," says Semler, "but the system is pretty unforgiving, because if you put your salary too high, and people don't put you on the list as someone they need for the next six months, you're in more trouble than you would be at General Motors."

Sounds a bit like an NCE, doesn't it?

His next project is to develop a school in Sao Paulo based on the principles of freedom and flexibility. "The schooling system seems very stupid, much as the business world is," he says. "As with cars and airlines it needs someone from outside the business to rethink it from scratch.

The Canadian La Siembra Co-op tells their story better than I can:

La Siembra Co-op is a leading North American fair trade organization offering consumers high-quality, certified fair trade organic products that improve the livelihoods of family farmers and the well being of communities at home and abroad. Incorporated in 1999, La Siembra is the first organization to import, manufacture and distribute fair trade certified organic cocoa products in North America. La Siembra's Cocoa Camino product line is sold throughout Canada and is expanding distribution in the USA. La Siembra's Fair Trade certification guarantees consumers that farmers receive higher than world market prices. This includes the payment of organic and social premiums that are used for development programs, decided on by the producer co-op members. La Siembra's Organic cocoa and sugar cane certification means better health for farmers, the environment, and the consumer. La Siembra's cocoa is produced using traditional Shade Grown techniques that preserve the environment and maintain bio-diversity while providing a much-needed habitat for migratory birds. We source our cocoa from co-operatives of family farms who grow organically under a shade canopy in the rainforests of the Dominican Republic.

The company's small group of shareholders are intimately familiar with the business of the company and devoted to its cause. Arms'-length financing is from financial co-ops and credit unions.

Seven minutes from our home on the Oak Ridges Moraine is a manufacturing company with a difference. Husky Injection Molding Systems of Caledon, Ontario is located on a large industrial space completely landscaped with native plant species -- no herbicides or pesticides used. President Bob Schad resigned from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce over that group's opposition to the Kyoto accord, and was an active and effective lobbyist getting Canada to ratify the accord.

Schad's company cafeteria is run by licensed nutritionists and offers only wholesome, healthy foods, and its in-house health club is free to all employees and open 24/7. The company always appears near the top of every listing of Canadian ethical investments, and its emissions are remarkably small for a huge manufacturer, and the largest employer in the area. The company is obsessed with employee safety and health. They have developed their own technologies to reduce materials used in production of containers, and to maximize the use of recycled materials in containers. High-efficiency manufacturing processes and building design minimize waste, noise and energy use. Employees are empowered to identify and create ways to further reduce, reuse and recycle, and minimize the environmental footprint and enhance worker health and safety in this remarkable company.

On top of this, Husky has a written Commitment to Society :

Charitable giving and support of non-profit organizations play an important role in the implementation of our core values at Husky. Each year Husky donates 5% of its pre-tax profits to charitable organizations. The Schad Foundation is responsible for directing 20% of Husky's charitable budget primarily in support of environmental projects. The remaining 80% of the budget is divided among Husky locations worldwide in support of local community and educational initiatives.

One of these initiatives is Environmental Week, a program in our area fully sponsored and funded by Husky where every grade six student spends a week learning about and participating in stream rehabilitation, wetland enhancement and tree planting in and around local school grounds.

In a world ravaged by corporate greed, selfishness, dishonesty, worker exploitation and social and environmental neglect, it's good to know there are companies like these to show the way forward. If you know of others, let me know and I'll do a sequel.

12:39:55 PM

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

The World Database of Happiness

http://www.eur.nl/fsw/research/happiness/

from their home page:

"The World Database of Happiness is an ongoing register of scientific research on subjective appreciation of life. It brings together findings that are scattered throughout many studies and provides a basis for synthetic studies. The Database consists of the following interrelated inventories:

The interconnections of these inventories are visualized on a flow chart "

10:19:41 PM

The Happiness Project

http://www.happiness.co.uk/

Although at first I thought this might be some sort of scam, when I checked the "About Us" page here is what I found:

The BBC ran a special on this, a 40 minute QED TV documentary called " How to be Happy" - now shown in 16 countries to 30 million viewers.
5,000 TV, radio and newspaper features worldwide discuss the Happiness Project.

OK, so I give them the fact that they appear to be a commecial success, but still I have a nagging feeling about this. Still though, it may be worth your while to check them out.

http://www.happiness.co.uk/

10:16:13 PM

Wednesday, June 18, 2003

TouchGraph's Google Browser a Hoot!

The whole six degrees of separation thing for the web! Check out ToughGraph's Google Browser to see who is linked to who on the net!

http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html

11:10:17 PM

As my first post in the category of happiness, I chose to pass on some info that I consider essential reading, for trying to achieve a happy and fulfilling life, regardless of what life throws at you. Ted

Viktor Frankl Still Worth A Read After All These Years

During one of the worst periods of my life, when I was exposed to things about people I really did not want to have firsthand experience about, I really became incredibly cynical and callous. I also lost hope for a while. One day I heard a radio program that mentioned the incredible story of a holocaust survivor, who not only survived, but developed a philosophy about happiness, and how to live life more fully. That individual was eminently qualified, as prior to WWII he had completed his Phd in pychotherapy, that person was Dr. Viktor Frankl. In 1946 he published his book, "Man's Search for Meaning", that related both his experiences in the concentration camps, but more importantly what he had learned from the horrific experience.

In essence, what I remember vividly from that book was that regardless of what the Nazi took away from him, his past, his family were all killed in other concentration camps, his status as a respected scientist and professor. Virtually everything that could be done, and could be taken from him, was!

And still from the depths of that blackness, Frankl was able to realize something that could not be taken away from him!!!

And that was simply, the way he chose to respond to his environment!

While all of these absolutely barbaric actions revolved around him, he realized he could control how he responded to them!

What a powerful concept for life, the ability to chose how you respond to what life throws at you!

After Frankl died one of this closest friends set up an institute in his honor:

http://logotherapy.univie.ac.at/

For more information on Viktor Frankl, a number of people have been so moved by his books they have established web sites dedicated to his work.

Some of those worth checking out are:

One especially good article is found at:

http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/frankl/frankl.html

An article by Pamela Jessica Runyon in Empirezine at:

http://www.empirezine.com/spotlight/frankl/frankl1.htm

A Tribute to Viktor Frankl, by one of his students, Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D

http://goinside.com/98/6/tribute.html

Viktor Frankl at Ninety an Interview by Matthew Scully

http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9504/scully.html

Biographical info:

http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/frankl.html

9:21:24 PM