Brummet's Conscious Blog

Today marks a very special week-long event...  Animal Shelter Appreciation Week This is a great time for the community to recognize and celebrate local pet and wildlife rescue centres, animal shelters, pet adoption outlets, wildlife reserves and yes... even the by-law officer who has to deal with stray and abandoned animals too. All of the individuals who work and volunteer in these arenas should be celebrated, and thanked today! Send some flowers to the volunteers, to someone you know who is passionate about animal rescue and rehabilitation, to the workers in related industry. Send some donuts or home baked cookies instead. Drop in and deliver some supplies they may need. Donate to their fundraisers or visit their site to give a cash notation. Write a thank-you note to the various outlets in your area. Have your kids make up some cards for them. There are plenty of things we can all do... and often, their websites will have a list of things they desperately need that you m...

-- Quote of the Day -- I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.” ~Nelson Mandela -- Positive News -- Miracle-kids.net has a wonderful program ( Hand to Paw ) going in the US that is helping young people from a troubled past make a difference by caring for homeless animals. The youth learn how to love and care for other living beings, grow a healthy respect for volunteering and nonprofit organizations, and increase the content on their resume by developing new skills and gaining work experience. Since many animal related fields accept volunteer work experience as valid entry skill training, and this eases their acceptance into a wide array o...

-- Brummet's In the Media --  3-Part interview series re: Green Holidays La Reserva Forest Foundation has a wonderful radio show where they celebrate all things Caribbean, but also have special segments called: Climate Change - We Can Solve It , that airs live for 3 hours (9AM-12 noon Pacific). Broadcasting live from La Reserva Forest Foundation headquarters in Costa Rica, their motto: " Let's Get Planting ". Hosts : Roberta Smiley and and Daniel Wilson The first session of this series of interviews I joined the hosts during the 2nd hour of their radio show on October 27th we talked about Xmas tree alternatives and suggested a few gifts that encourage the recipient to live more green and save money  ...use your mouse to move the audio scroll bar to find this part of our discussion faster if you want. The 2nd part of our discussion aired on Nov 17 , when we discussed waste production and reduction for any holiday season, alternat...

Help us in this fantastic campaign to feed animals in shelters... This morning we received a very inspiring email from Michele Hollow, an online friend of ours and former guest on our radio show: "I am hosting my annual Comments for Pet Food drive. All you have to do is leave a comment here:   http://petnewsandviews.com/2012/11/your-comment-equals-50-bowls-of-pet-food / and your comment will feed 50 shelter cats and dogs. That's it. Nothing else."  How inspiring is that?  So of course I went over to the URL this morning and left a comment. Such a small thing, took only one minute, and I was able to help feed 50 meals to animals. Rediculously easy! - Be sure to scroll down the page when you get to that URL to find that comment form. Not having pets when in my childhood, I embraced having cats as companions (despite allergies) right up to just a few years ago when the older cats passed on. As a couple, Dave and I have had rescue and adopted (from shelters) animals...

-- Quote of the Day --   “I recommend that people journal on a different question every day – such as ‘how am I different from other people’ or ‘what is my dream outcome of a situation?’ …Answers will emerge as long as you don’t have an inner critic judging every word that you are writing – you will be amazed as to what will come out and how you can find the answers you need. …Discovering who you are is critical to moving forward on path and purpose – but it is only one half of the journey, the other half is integrating the new you in your life. …There can be a backlash as you embrace your uniqueness from others who are threatened by you pushing the envelope of what is considered norm. …As you go off in expressing who you are, you need to be prepared for the possible repercussions of it as well.” ~ Amy Tang  Today's quote was derived from the interview titled: Discovering Self , that aired back on April 28 via the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio program. *Click on t...

-- Quote of the Day -- " When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters - one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity. " ~ Saul Alinsky -- Conscious Living with Pets -- When we have decided to adopt a new family member (a.k.a. “pet”) from a shelter, we often go online and look up the breed so that we will have a better understanding of their subconscious, breed-related behaviors. From this research, we can approach the training and handling of the animal in a more effective way. After the initial introduction phase that we go through (for the house and its contents, each member of the family and for the outdoor area) we can then begin the training. Training is a lot of fun; it stimulates the animal’s mind and makes them more interested in spending time with you. Humans laugh and find peace in an otherwise hectic, stressful life… and the animal is more relaxed overall because they’ve gotten the attention they n...

-- Quote of the Day -- “ I encourage people to come to an animal shelter with idea of not adopting right away… come and see what it is all about, what the animals are like and go through the approval process while you are there if they have one.  …And speak with the animal counselors if they have them. …But even before this we should have a family meeting on this – often what happens is that one or two people make the decisions and then already we are starting off on the wrong foot. …Verses settling for an animal when its behavior is not suited for your lifestyle …already we are going into this with it not really set up for success. …We get out of pet relationships what we put into them .” ~ Joel Thomas Today's quote originates from the Creature Comforts interview with Joel Thomas that aired back on November 16, '10... on the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. Click on the show title to access this discussion, or look to the side-bars on this blog to find recent...

 -- Quote of the day -- " To effectively communicate, we must realize that  we are all different in the way we perceive the world  and use this understanding as a guide  to our communication with others ."   ~ Anthony Robbins   -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Our Guest today:  Dr. Sophia Yin is a veterinarian, applied animal behaviorist, speaker and author of numerous scholarly articles and books about pets and their training. I found it quite interesting that among her numerous educational achievements, Sophia also studied vocal communication in dogs and worked on behavior modification in horses, giraffes, ostriches and chickens. Her work today involves making house-calls for behavior consulting, teaches dog training and kitty kindergarten classes, works at San Francisco Veterinary Specialists (www.SFVS.net), writes for several veterinary and popular magazines and facilitates workshops on animal behavior and low stress handlin...

-- Quote of the Day -- “ What is been nice for me in my life is to synthesize the two big passions in my life - those are social and environmental change on one hand, and marketing on the other.  …Conscious Marketing is really about listening to the audience and going to them with the message that you can help make their life better whether or not they do business with you.  …I have found this softer sell has been very effective, for me – personally.  …It's really about meeting people where they are at and pushing them to where they need to go… they feel that you are their ally .”  ~ Shel Horowitz  Today's quote originates from the ~ Conscious Marketing ~ interview that aired back on Sept 7th on the Conscious Discussions Talk radio show. Click on the show title to access the archived interview or visit the radio show site to find more information about the talk show and access recently aired episodes. -- Raising Funds For Furry and Feathered Frien...

-- Quote of the Day --  “I just love cats; my dad was difficult to deal with and I would go out and hang with the cats! (She laughs) …Cats, dogs, gerbils and other animals will just love unconditionally and we all crave that, and can never get enough of it. If you crave love, just go and find a furry friend to take care of and you will find a lot of love. …Visiting Humane organizations and rescue organizations will help you learn about how to take care of feral colonies… start by feeding and getting to know them, …you really need to get right on the trapping and neutering right away – the most effective way of reducing the issues the colony will face.” Rosie Sorenson ~ July 20 2010  Today's quote originates from the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show interview that aired back on July 20, 2010 titled: Kitty Rescue & Colony Aide   Check it out by clicking on the hyper-linked show title, or locate recently aired Conscious Discussions Talk Radio episodes v...

-- Quote of the Day -- " Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breath more; Talk less, say more;  Love more; And all good things will be yours ." ~ Swedish Proverb -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Today Live at 10 AM (pacific): Healthy life, fresh water and good food, along with shelter from the elements and the freedom to explore a piece of ground… This is the life a domestic cat should have – but doesn’t always. Drop by your local animal rescue center to see lines of cat cages, cats who have been in homes but were abused or neglected, or the owners just were not able to care for them anymore. And worse – there are animals on the streets, being punished by the elements, poor nutrition, and reproduction. Today we have a very special guest lined up for you… Rosie Sorenson is passionate about helping homeless cats and has written an award-winning book about her fifteen years of caring for a colony.  Join us live at 10 AM (pacific) this ...