Brummet's Conscious Blog

 -- Writing -- We have a very special guest appearing on our blog today - Darren Chow offering tips for writers: Three English Language Writing Tips:  by Darren Chow ( http://writingtipsguidesresources.com ) Writing in the English language is pretty straightforward but very difficult to be good at. In order to improve your English writing, you have to put in lot of time to practice writing. Here are some useful tips that will help you improve your English writing. Tip 1: Build on Your Vocabulary Writing is a form of expression. And in order to express yourself better, you need to have the words to express what you are thinking or feeling. If you are limited by your vocabulary, your writing will never be able to communicate fully what you want to convey. There are many ways you can improve on your vocabulary. You can study the works of other writers. You can listen to tapes or enrol in English classes. You can even sign up for online Engli...

 -- Quote of the Day -- “ We give away our power to create the world we desire when we blame others for our actions or our inactions.   Believing we are not responsible for our actions is denying the power we have to influence our world and understand how our choices, beliefs, and actions draw people and events into our lives which mirror our beliefs. ” ~ Gary Spinell, It Was You All Along -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Join us today @ 10-11 AM Pacific for a live discussion with our special guest of the day to learn about how You Can Change the World :  Gary Spinell is joining us to share his passion on helping others realize the ability to change the world lies within themselves. Author of – It Was All You, All Along – shares more than 25 years of researching the components of a successful life – and he has found that it begins with understanding that we have always had the power to create change, to take responsibi...

-- Quote of the Day -- "Sit down before fact as a little child,  be prepared to give up every preconceived notion; follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing." ~ Thomas Huxley -- Conscious Business Tips -- We featured the topics of in-house business eco-programs and offered some suggestions in the past, since then we’ve come across some great tips from INiKA Small Earth.Org – in their late Aug newsletter – and I want to share those tips with some of my own elaborations on them today: During a slow period of the day have a member of your staff or two conduct waste audits… what waste is going in which baskets, what kinds of waste are generated by the business. Developing a simple chart is helpful for the staff to do this audit, with categories for different types of recyclables, returnables, e-waste, organics… and so on. Once you have this information you can more easily determine the...

 -- Quote of the Day -- "The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority." ~ Stanley Milgram   -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Today's Positive Eco-News segment will feature a discussion on e-waste, water, and vehicles... helping all of us embrace our individual responsibility to participate in this global wave toward conscious, proactive living. Join in the live chat room if you can, while listening to the live show, which airs at 10-11 AM Pacific - or access the  archived show at your convenience. Make sure you have a pen and scrap of paper handy, as we'll be offering resources for you to check out as time allows.  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/consciousdiscussions/2011/08/28/positive-eco-news Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca   * Supp...

 -- Chatter -- I want to thank everyone for their patience while I took a few extra days off this month as "sick days". I caught something and it took a few days to get rid of it. I was back in the office on Saturday (today) dealing with a huge volume of messages, getting some guests booked on the radio show, and confirming appointments with the media. I finally have a few moments to visit the blog and offer my apologies for my absence. The end of August is always a busy time of year as harvests come in from the garden in the form of canteloupe, tomatoes, chard, beets and so on. The earlier potatoes look like they are ready for harvesting and I've already harvested, dried and processed our garlic harvest from late July. It's time to plant the new garlic for next year's crop, mow the lawn (again) and harvest some more Seabuckthorne berries (the best crop ever!) as time allows. Yeah, it'll be another busy week, but worth it all the same. And with our ...

- World of Writing --  We have a special guest dropping in today, Criss White, offering thoughts on the world of poetry in the article below. Criss enjoys writing poetry just for fun, but also writes in the genres of babies, parenting, baby shower ideas and writing new baby poems.   When are poems useful in life? By Criss white Poetry sounds great and romantic, yet it appears to be a somehow archaic way of expressing thoughts and emotions. Many people believe that poetry can no longer be used in real life. It was something great during Shakespeare's age but today's busy and hectic world has left no room for poetry. The truth about poetry is that it adds something extra special to everyday occurrences, parties and special moments. Verses can be easily incorporated in real life activities. These lines will be even more special, if you have attempted writing on your own. Does it sound impossible to weave poetry into real life? Read on to fi...

-- Quote of the Day -- “… Whatever you are saying, add the words ’For Now’ at the end of any sentence. So: ‘This woman is making me crazy, for now’ - and this is a reminder that this is just a moment in time. …We talk about health and wholeness and peace on earth – but the best thing that we can do to create a healthy environment is to look at everyone as if they are just where they should be. …You must care for YOU first. …Starting a gratitude practice helps us realize that there has got to be something good, and shift our balance to the positive.  …The best thing you can do for YOU is to choose happy thoughts, to play, to list the good things about your day… The only way to care for anyone else is to care for YOU first .” Today's quote originates from the July 14th episode of the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show with – Erika Oliver – when our topic was: Simple Steps to Happiness . *Click on the show title to access the full interview -- Consc...

 -- Quote of the Day -- "The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say - 'I was wrong'." ~ Sydney Harris  -- Advancements in Solar Technologies -- Some fantastic news about paint came from a recent program on the CBC radio station which discussed a new solar cell that can be painted on roadways, rooftops, building siding and more – this is a new technology that is, like most alternative energy sources, needing some way of storing the captured energy. But the idea of using the surface area of the road infrastructure on this planet (said to equal the surface area of the US) to produce at least 20% of the world’s energy needs is a pretty cool prospect. Speaking of pretty cool – I was watching an environmental DVD and learned that part of the issue with Urban Greenhouse Effect is that we have so many dark roofs,...

-- Quote of the Day -- “…I love my work; I’m a physician and I integrate meditation in my work. Almost a third of the population (suffers from chronic pain) and most situations of chronic pain are learned pathways – which can cause insomnia and other things. …Chronic pain will ruin your life, it takes it over – it is a serious issue because it takes over your identity, your personality, the things that you can and cannot do, your relationships – and because of this the search for a cure is frantic. Our medical model is: if you have this pain; try these drugs. But in fact this model can create more fear, more frustration because people are not getting better.”  Today's quote was excerpted from the July 7th episode of the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show with – Howard Schubiner – Topic: Unlearn Your Pain *Click on show title to access the full interview. -- Referral Corner -- This section of the blog is where we offer some recommended resources f...

 -- Quote of the Day -- " To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons, and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - this is to have succeeded "  ~ Ralph Emerson -- Recommended Resources -- Water is on everyone's mind this time of year - getting it, mostly. The search for good clean water, water that is not poisoned or tainted in some way, for our children and families to drink. Here in North America we are fairly rich in water, as are some areas in Europe, but places like Africa and Australia are really suffering. Water conservation is fina...

-- Brummets in the Media -- Apologies to everyone expecting me to appear on the Grand Haven Talk Radio - we had some intermittent power issues here that kept me from calling in to the show. I'm hoping the hosts will understand and reschedule us for some future date... and I do apologize, once again, for any inconvenience this may have caused you. I hope you enjoy the interesting discussion below: -- World of Writing --   As many of our readers are aware, we enjoy featuring World of Writing interviews quite regularly. ...Here's today's installment... Oh, First - I’d like to start with a shout out to Kat Sanborn, Editorial Associate with Cleis Press and Viva Editions  (VivaEditions.com) for sending a query our way for today’s featured guest. Dr. John Duffy is a clinical psychologist and the author of: The Available Parent: Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens. He has been working with families in a very busy practice for about 15 years....

-- Quote of the Day --   "Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently." ~ Moshe Arens -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio --  Today - Aug 18th - Wendy Kay is our featured guest of the day! She dropped in to the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show to help us master the art of feeling good, starting with learning how to recognize our own worth. When we realize our own worth we discover some other things too such as personal accountability, the power making choices, discover new passions. In doing so we are filled with the knowledge of the incredible power we have as an individual and the fact that we can have a positive impact on the world with small, moment to moment choices.   Drop by and access this discussion at your convenience via the link below: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/consciousdiscussions/2011/08/18/recognizing-your-worth Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, inf...

-- Quote of the Day -- “… If you stay on your shore, you will never discover other shores. …Why is it that you want to go into business? ...It is during these times of times of economic changes that we see an increase of self-employed businesses. …You might need to test the waters while you work full or part time. …Don’t wait until everything is just right; it will never be perfect - there will always be challenges and cycles. …You just have to take the step and let go of the fear .”   ~ Victor Kwegyir Today's quote comes from an interview that aired back on June 9:  From Dream to Self-Employment *Click on Show Title to access the full interview and while there, scroll down to the "comment" section for this episode to find related business advice discussions. -- Referral Corner -- In keeping with the topic of "business advice", I'd like to pass on to you a resource that may come in handy one day, especially if your offi...

-- Quote of the Day -- " Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand – a business as safe and commendable as making soap – or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand… something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values. "  ~ Willa Cather Lately I've found that I have this real need to write this last year - not for publication or promotion or for sharing on this blog - but just for me. It has been an amazing experience. Those stolen moments with the pen gives me a yearning for more, and more time and head space for this process.  33 pages of journaling later, and only a half dozen poems have been written this year - but it is more then I've done in quite a while. Dealing with the chronic illness, and end of life planning of my parents, the grief of their passing really wiped me out and it t...

 -- Solar Water Heaters --  Today's article is written by Henry Wills who is passionate about solar water heaters, and like any technology or innovation - it's success is entirely dependent on the culture and location of each country. Here, he compares China and India. Personally, we have several friends who have solar water heaters with an electric backup system and they seem to be very enthusiastic about them. It is a well known fact that solar water heaters are immensely popular all over the world these days. In India too, they are popular but their popularity isn’t as much as in other countries of the world. Hence it can be said that there is a slow yet steady pickup of interest in the installation of solar water heaters among the Indian citizens but because of the lack of enthusiasm in investing in this kind of product there is a difference between the cost of solar water heaters in India and those in other countries of the world. In India individual o...

-- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio --   We are having a special guest return to share more information on gardening consciously – Sheri Ann Richerson joined us back on May 8 th   earlier this year - for a fascinating discussion in the realm of gardening and of course we just had to have her back to talk about her experiences and recommendations for winter gardening. Sheri “ lives and breathes ” gardening -  is the author of some 28 books, most of these are within the gardening genre. One that I’ve had a chance to read is: Complete Idiot’s Guide to Year-Round Gardening – which she co-wrote with Delilah Smittle,and have grown to be a fan of Sheri’s work. In the earlier discussion with Sheri back on May 8 th , we learned about plant-a-row for the hungry, and how gardeners can have a direct impact on the local economy and community health issues.  We also learned about micro-climates and touched on succession crops – which leads us to our discuss...

The Research-scary statistics Rosemary J Osborne, our featured guest of the day, is editor at The Writing Shed: http://www.thewritingshed.com.au where she focusus on ensuring each document shines and is not only error-free, but says exactly what you want it to say. Today, Rosemary shares here thoughts on communication stats. The majority of email senders and email receivers believe that their email information is interpreted correctly. In fact, only half of emails received are interpreted correctly and half of email recipients have a lot of trouble interpreting emotion in emails. There is a suggestion that this overconfidence in emails links to a difficulty detaching oneself from your own environment. This theory is supported by the rapid emergence of social media where the communication is fast, "off the cuff" and not always thoughtful. Furthermore, three quarters of email is opened within 6 seconds of its arrival in the Inbox and there is a signi...