Beauty is Realizing You are the Beholder

-- Quote of the Day --

"People often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' 

and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty

is realizing that you are the beholder. 

This empowers us to find beauty in places 

where others have not dared to look, 

including inside ourselves." 

~ Salma Hayek 

-- Conscious Celebrations --

Today is World Press Freedom Day and also World Laughter Day :)

According to Wikipedia.org "The United Nations General Assembly declared 3 May to be World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press... ". The focus for 2010's awareness holiday is Media Under Fire.  According to wan-press.org, the protection of journalists is vital: "A climate of intimidation, impunity and corruption has lead to journalists wearing bullet-proof vests and not putting their names to articles."

I had so little knowledge of World Laughter Day, and did some research online to find out why it exists. According to worldlaughterday.org: "World Laughter Day was created in 1998 by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement. The celebration of World Laughter Day is a positive manifestation for world peace and is intended to build up a global consciousness of brotherhood and friendship through laughter." 

Worldlaughterday.ca tells us that there are laughing clubs, comedy clubs and park entertainment events happening today to celebrate this holiday. So have some fun today everyone - Apparently, we are allowed!!

-- Authors Read --

Authors Read Radio is proud to feature Award-winning poet David Moolten for a third time - His work has appeared in numerous anthologies, journals and reviews and his literary recognition continues in influential literature circles.  David has penned 3 published books to date - we featured him on March 22nd with his book Primitive Mood, on April 12th with Especially Then - and today, with Plums and Ashes.

 

 

 -- Alternative Energy --

May is Allergy and Asthma Awareness Month. Particulates in the air, from fragrances to pollen and pollutants, greatly affect our health and studies prove that respitory ailments are heightened by a higher count of particulate matter. Vehicles, industry, open burning, energy creation... these all contribute to issues with the air quality.

Interestingly enough I just learned recently via Global News TV, (www.globaltvbc.com) a lobal news channel - if every Canadian vehicle were powered by natural gas, Canadians could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 30%!

According to the Boundary Weekender (www.grandforksgazette.ca) newspaper’s column “Global Warming Doing the Right Thing”, China now has 27 million rooftop solar water heaters, where for about $200 a family can have a system in place. These systems are spreading quickly in Europe, Austria – which has reached about 15% of their household solar tank conversions - and Germany, which has about 2 million of these systems in place. Some areas like California are really embracing this initiative with an ambitious goal of reaching 1 million solar hot water systems. 

Why are they so popular? Well, they can easily reduce the heating costs for water by 60% - heating water accounts for 30% of our energy use, so finding a way to reduce this cost is definitely in our favor. Sadly here in Canada the cost for installing a system like this can be several thousand dollars, although there are a few rebate incentives available to encourage investment in this technology. 

What is the ROI (return on investment) you ask? – Expect up to 10 years for this system to pay for itself in energy savings. It will be interesting to see whether such investments will affect resale value of the property, though. Of course, investors will be paid back huge dividends with the knowledge that they are living a greener lifestyle. 

For more info: www.solarbc.ca/learn

 

 

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

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