Women Around the World: Their Joys, Concerns, and Quality of Life

Five women from five countries — Denmark, Turkey, Dubai, Brazil, and Japan — share their thoughts and their lives.

Imagine balancing family and work responsibilities.  Imagine your life with maids, chauffeurs, and living across the street from extended family members.  (see How Women Live in Dubai [3:46])

How about a nation that encourages education and independence?   The Danish government takes special interest in mothers and their children. Free health care, socialized medicine … women typically get six to 12 months in paid maternity leave!  Citizens get paid to go the universities; a priceless investment toward a healthy, well-educated society. (Full Story) (see also Oprah Tours a Typical Danish Home [2:49])

Different folks, different strokes!  Yeah! 🙂

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Coco Chanel C’est Magnifique!

“To be irreplaceable, you have to be different.”  (Coco Chanel)

Attractive, ambitious, charming, capricious, creative, elegant, simplicity, feisty, progressive, rebellious, legendary! 

Vive Chanel!

Long Life and Happiness — 70 Percent Lifestyle, 30 Percent Genes

How encouraging!  We have way more control over our lifestyle than we’ve ever imagined!  Genes are predetermined; lifestyle, we can change!

Someday, we’ll all be centenarians — pursuing our passion with the people we love!

Here are eight simple secrets to living longer, better:

• Believe (spiritual or religious participation)
• Family First (listen, laugh, appreciate what we have)
• Belong (to a healthy, social network)
• Move (simple activities like walking and gardening)
• Live with a purpose (hobbies, work, contribute to the greater good)
• Eat plant-based diet
• Eat until 80 percent full
• Drink one or two glasses of red wine each day (antioxidant — Polyphenol — scrubs away artery clogging materials)

Full Story

Curriculum Guide for Educators

YouTube Symphony — 21st Century Global Orchestra

How clever — bringing people together — through the power of music, the universal language, and the online community!

On April 15, musicians worldwide will play at New York City’s prestigious Carnegie Hall.

Participants comprise amateurs and professionals who have auditioned and proved themselves worthy members of the 21st century orchestra.

Accomplished participants have met three challenges:

1. Video submission demonstrating the musician’s interpretation of an original Tan Dun composition written specifically for this program
2. Talent showcase video designed to demonstrate musical and technical ability.  Panels of musical experts from world renowned symphonies — San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and others — narrowed down the finalists.
3. The YouTube community voted on the semifinalists from February 14, 2009 through February 22, 2009.  (Full Story)

Enormous talents may be at the brink of discovery!  Wow!

April 15 — that’s the BIG DAY; April 16, for those who can’t be at Carnegie Hall (like me).  Can’t wait to see the musicians in action!

Stay tuned on YouTube!

Thank You Veterans! (II)

We are free because of the brave.

Our heroes earned our birthrights and privileges — our abilities and opportunities to exercise our liberty and the pursuit of happiness — our freedom of religion, the press, free speech, our right to assemble, and more!

Sometimes the World Seems

by Larissa Myschuk (Columbia JHS, Fife, Washington)

Sometimes the world seems like it’s upside-down, inside out

Torn down the middle, in need of arrangement

Desperate for guidance, wanting direction

Lacking leadership, losing patience

Turning and flipping, backwards and sideways

Speeding endlessly forward, on a path of self-destruction

And the only thing to stop it, the only thing to calm it,

Is the lives of the men that fight passionately,

Fall readily and die willingly.

THANK YOU VETERANS!

(Full Story)

Irish Dance and 10 Important Irish Contributions to the World

Irish friends, Irish dance, Irish literature, Irish whiskey … can’t imagine life without the Irish!

But did you also know the Celts invented flavored potato chips, submarines, tanks, soda water, U2, and ales?  I had no clue until today!  (Full Story)

Thank you Ireland!  Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🙂

How Superstars are Made

Meet Paul — the phone salesman turned superstar!

Paul prepared for THE moment and gave it his all (watch the skeptics become his fan)!

Remember:

• No one can make you inferior without your permission. (Eleanor Roosevelt)
• We don’t see things the way they are.  We see things the way we are. (Talmud)
• Our lives get better when we get better! (Brian Tracy)

Share!  Take bigger risks!  Live the life you were meant to live!

I better get busy!

Have a great day! 🙂

Chinese Hip Hop

Hip hop continues to provide emotional and creative outlet among the Chinese students and the working class Chinese.

Many who feel suffocated by the Chinese tradition of conformity look to hip hop for freedom of expression — to be who they want to be.

Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research once said, “Ultimately, happiness is determined by the extent in which people exercise free will and choice over their lives.“

Free will ignites passion.  Passion fuels purpose.  Free will gives hope to the disenfranchised and the oppressed.

Free will and freedom of expression is, perhaps, every individual’s birthright.

Full Story

Become the Change You Want to See in the World

“How?” you might ask — a fair question, indeed.

Charisma — love, strength, and the heart-to-heart connection — my friends.

John F. Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther king Jr., Steve Jobs, Mary Kay Ash, and Barack Obama to name a few — are charismatic!

According to The Truth About Managing People, such leaders:

• are confident
• possess a strong vision that proposes and instills hope for a better future
• radiate strong convictions in the vision
• are willing to enact radical change

Some are born charismatic, but most (like me) are not.  The good news is, charisma can be learned!  Here’s how!

• Convey confidence — Project a powerful, confident, and dynamic presence.  Talk directly to people, maintain eye contact, stand tall.
• Articulate an overarching goal — Specify unconventional ways of achieving your vision to others.  Get people to buy into your ideas.
• Communicate high expectations and confidence in others’ ability to meet these expectations.  Expect goals to be met.

Maintain optimism!  Use passion to generate enthusiasm!  Communicate with your whole being, your whole body — not just words!  Create a bond that will inspire others to follow.  Tap into people’s emotions — establish emotional bond and connection!

President Obama has inspired many.

Our president’s ability to lead + our effort to become the change we want to see in our world = the degree of change we’ll experience in the next four years.

All things are possible when we all work together.

I am hopeful.  I feel change.

I see great things to come!

The World’s Happiest Country

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – “Denmark, with its democracy, social equality and peaceful atmosphere, is the happiest country in the world,” researchers said Monday.

“Ultimately, the most important determinant of happiness is the extent to which people have free choice in how to live their lives,” said Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

Free will ignites passion.  Passion fuels purpose. Free will and ample opportunities drive many to strive for the American Dream.  Free will extends hope and compassion to the disenfranchised and the oppressed. Free will — not the filthy rich and the corrupt — once used to be the driving force of American democracy.

(My utmost respect goes to those who acquire wealth through honest days’ work.  My gratitude extends to all corporate executives who create jobs and look after the well-being of their employees and families.  Leaders who work tirelessly for philanthropic causes are the real heroes — deserving of their wealth, recognition, and fame.)

We live in a great nation with “liberty and justice for all.”

It’s up to us to realize our founding fathers’ dreams.

Full Story