Interviews, Resources & Conscious Holidays

-- Announcements --

Owner Jennine Morales interviews award winning author Lillian Brummet today at Gathering Authors: Interview Pit this weekend. Gathering Authors is a place where authors join with their written works of art to introduce to the world.


Between 6 and 8 PM (PST) tonight (Dec 5th) Voice of the People Radio host November Hanson will interview us (Dave & Lillian Brummet) for the full two hours! This is going to be a very indepth discussion about the world of writing and making a difference as an individual. Check it out by clicking the links here. http://voiceofthepeopleradio.com

-- Recommended Resource --

An online writer friend of ours, Barbara Spring, has a new water-related podcast that we would like to recommend: The Dynamic Great Lakes

Stuff Your Rucksack (www.stuffyourrucksack.com) a site that enables travellers to help other travellers to give practical assistance to people who have the least, but often give the most.

-- Conscious Holidays --

Today is International Volunteer Day, which has been celebrated since 1985 with the goal of showing appreciation to volunteers for their efforts and increase public awareness on their contribution to society. The day is celebrated in a majority countries of the world.


Stats Canada reveals that 6.5 million volunteers were active last year, averaging 152 hours per person annually. People say it can be addicting once you start. I think this is because volunteers enjoy a more complete social life, enjoy activities and events that they may not have taken part of otherwise.

I was listening to a radio show recently where I learned that when we give, the "feel good" feeling we have is similar to the "runner's high" or that "feeling good" sensation after a hearty workout. This is because the same hormones that are released when working out, are also released when we are giving of our selves

Volunteers benefit in many ways including learning new skills. Often organizations will have training sessions ranging from a few minutes to several weeks depending on what the volunteer would like to learn next. There often a wide array of interesting volunteer positions for anyone of any skill level and any age. You could learn Falconry or earn specialty training certificates... and let's not forget that volunteering is a form of work experience and is a great way to build content for a resume.

-- Quote of the Day --

“…Individual heroes never start out their lives or careers by saying – ‘I want to be a hero’. They saw a problem, or had an experience they wanted to change; an area that they wanted to make a difference. …They just said ‘I want to make a difference – I want to help this group of people’ – and they did it. I think that often we look to people with money or people with ‘power’ - but really the people with the ‘power’ are us. You know, if we all said here’s this problem in my community I’m going to get my neighbors or family together and we are going to do something about it. …If everyone said I’m going to spend an hour a week going to the church or the community center or going to read to a child – having you in their lives can make such a big difference. Anyone can make a difference, it is a matter of deciding what you can do. Can you spare one hour a week or ten hours a week? Do you want to work with children? …You just have to have a belief that you can do something about a particular problem.”

~ Darius Graham – Feb 26, 2009

This quote was excerpted from a Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show interview that aired on February 26, 2009. You can access this archived discussion about Celebrating Heroes in Our Midst simply click on the hyper-linked show title (above).

-- Reminder: Prize Draw Contest! Enter Today! --

Prize draw (Dec 1-20th) is for the following:

Cathy Nesbitt is offering a copy of her DVD "Squirm"
&
a stainless steel water bottle (www.cathyscomposters.com)

-- Nora Weston has offered a copy of: Paranormal Pleasures Digest (www.noraweston.com)

-- Lillian Brummet's poetry e-book: Towards Understanding (www.brummet.ca)

To enter the draw all you need to do is:

Email me at: ldbrummet @ yahoo . com (**remove spaces before sending**) with the word "prize" in the subject line. Deadline: Dec 20th @ noon (pacific).

Find Dave & Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio shows & free resources & articles at www.brummet.ca