Compassion=Strength=Success [15, 16, 17]

In today’s world, chock-full of technology, we too often demand and depend on instant gratification. We can immediately see that an email has been sent or when a text message is received. But this instant gratification has replaced something much sweeter and much more meaningful: heartfelt communication. The time of handwritten, snail-mail letters seems to be coming to a close; even the U.S. Postal Office is decreasing its services. So, goal for this weekend: finish and send letters to not one but two of my good friends. For now no names so maybe the letters will still be a surprise to the recipients, but I will give one hint, both of them are somewhere on this continent:

    In other news, it's amazing how by consciously keeping your eyes open for world-changing opportunities day in and day out can open up a whole new world of good. Even a quick check of Facebook can provide you with a world-changing chance. There's a gazillion and a half different pages that you can "like" on Facebook, everything from bands to foods to organizations. One of them is "We Day." I could go on and on about the amazing work We Day is doing, how it's a one day event that sparks a year of world-changing events or how it's an initiative of "Free the Children" that is meant to empower the youth of North America and the UK to help bring healthcare, clean water, and sanitation to people around the world. But, you see, I just got that information off of the We Day website so I think I'll just let the seasoned We Day advocates tell you about the movement themselves:

And don't forget to check out both the We Day and Free the Children websites here and here, respectively. AND, go to Facebook and "like" We Day to donate $1 to Free the Children, as I did for world-changing act #17.

Yes to Natural [13, 14]

I must confess that I have never put much thought into how brussel sprouts grow, whether in the ground or on trees, but it turns out that the truth is so very much cooler than I could ever have imagined (Just google brussel sprouts stalk for more pictures). My parents became part of a CSA (that is, Community Supported Agriculture) a couple years ago by buying a "share" (a membership or subscription, if you will). They have spent the last couple summers receiving boxes upon boxes of fresh vegetables filled with flavor and vitamins, and, along with that, a "food education." Just simply identifying the many varieties of leafy greens they bring home every week can be a fun challenge. With the help of my sister's fantastic cooking skills and a bit of ingenuity we have all benefited from this CSA affiliation by learning about a whole new level of plant-based YUM.

From both the CSA shares and ever more adventuresome shopping experiences at the local grocery stores, I've been exposed to kale, kohlrabi (German turnip), collard greens, purple (heirloom) potatoes, and celeriac (celery root). The brussel sprouts' experience occurred over break (technically still 2011... whoops) and reminded me of my goal of living more naturally, a goal that seems so very easy in the summer when fresh fruits and vegetables are carted into our house by the boxful. But with a little bit of planning and determination, I'm back on track with my baby steps towards natural living. My latest adventure was making my very own almond milk.


Steps: (from Vegan Planet)

1. Soak 1 pound almonds in 4 cups of water overnight.
2. Drain the almonds, catching the liquid to be used later.
3. Put the almonds (I did it in small doses) in a blender, add liquid, and blend.
4. When it's a nice, slightly chunky liquid, transfer it to a cheesecloth and squeeze all of the smooth almond milk out.
5. Add sweetening to taste (though it's super yummy just as is) and store the dried almond crumbles (aka the cheesecloth leftovers) in the fridge for use in other recipes (ones that call for almond meal and the like).





The process itself was an adventure, with a great deal of effort going into not breaking the blender, and it was also a bit of a mess... But, in the end it worked out perfectly. Next up, homemade rice milk!

For most of the experiment I was thinking: I'm not sure this is how it's supposed to work but if it sounds right, looks right, smells right, it must be right. Right?





As much as I wish I could sit in the kitchen all day making every last food item I could ever desire, that's just not practical. So, to go along with my natural-eating frenzy, I have decided to take a little leaf out of my sister's book (I swear I'm not copying you Nani! Just doing something very similar...) and adapt one of her past ideas of eating food with only 5 ingredients or less. So, my goal is to find or feature a new food item every week that has five ingredients or less. The whole point is to go grocery store searching for foods that I eat regularly and require no more cooking on my part (cereals, breads, snacks) but, unlike the average prepared food item, don't have a list of ingredients four miles long that include "natural flavors" or "sodium acid pyrophosphate" (what the heck?!). First up is Angie's Kettle Corn. I am thoroughly in love with this stuff, thanks to my friend Jen who introduced me to this yummy snack at dinner a couple days ago. And just look at those ingredients!! Alright, so not super healthy necessarily, but still better than something that makes me think of self-combusting flammable liquid...

Go Green [12]

This is my roommate. And lots of recycling. We completed our changing-the-world duties of the day by recycling the tons of cardboard/paper recycling we were all too lazy to transport from our apartment over to the dorms pre-break. So a post-break trek it was. There were several mishaps and a few ripped bags. We had to stop and regroup a couple times, and there may have been quite a bit of giggling. Also, I might have left my roommate stranded in the parking lot with those ripped bags and all the recycling strewn everywhere while I went to dump my load in the bins... But I went back and rescued her, promise! Next up: the bin of plastic/cans. That should be less exciting because it'll only involve one person, the bin, and four flights of stairs (twice) rather than two people, mounds of recycling, three flights of stairs, a hallway, multiple card swipe-requiring doors, a car, the dreaded parking lot, and another couple flights of stairs.

And will you succeed? You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.) [10, 11]

In the span of two weeks I've already talked myself out of doing this project at least three times and even forgot to do something world-changing a couple times (blasphemy!). Dr. Seuss had it right, you will indeed succeed, and "top all the rest. Except when you don't. Because, sometimes, you won't." Thanks to these small speed bumps I've come to appreciate just how important motivation can be. So, just as the random acts of kindness are meant to motivate others, I have to motivate myself. One way I've found is by watching a feel-good, change-the-world movie, the sappier the better. It may be scripted, with a pre-planned ending, but by nature it's inspirational. Case in point: New Year's Eve (does it get any sappier than this?!). Thanks to my fabulous friends, Aly and Kristen (WHEN do I get to officially join your family?), for inviting me out to a great movie-watching adventure!

Oh yes, and a little side note on the glasses (remember THEM?) I always planned on the "getting new glasses" deal to be part of this blogging experience, but the donating part was unplanned. You see, originally, getting new glasses was my way of boosting my confidence and keeping up the early momentum. Welcome to the ______=power=success series of this blog. You see, I have this idea that different traits give me power and therefore success, one being confidence. These glasses (→) were awesome and all, but I wanted fun-er glasses (that is, bigger). And so, I decided on these (↓)

So, as I head back to college as a second semester senior (try saying that 10 times fast...) I go with a new look in the hopes that confidence really does=power=success.

New Look [9]

Time again for a short bio of some fabulous organizations that are changing the world, in this case, one ponytail at a time. Practically everyone's heard of Locks of Love and the wonderful work they do. But, turns out, there's lots of similar organizations targeting a different group of potential donaters (is that even a word? donatees?) and recipients. In pursuit of an organization that was a better match for me, personality and hair-wise, I stumbled across Hair That Cares (medical related hair loss), Pantene Beautiful Lengths (partnered with the American Cancer Society), and the Matter of Trust Oil Spill Program (although they no longer accept hair donations).


I was looking for an alternative because my hair was nowhere near long enough to donate 10 inches (a Locks of Love requirement), unless I wanted to go with the pixie cut, and because I wanted to go with a less well-known organization and cause. Cue Children with Hairloss, a nonprofit dedicated to providing children who suffer from medical related hair loss with wigs. Its mission: "Help us cover young heads to heal young hearts." As long as hair is at least 8 inches long, clean, and in good condition, it can be donated, even if it's chemically-treated or grey.

So, although I was quite fond of having long hair -->
I decided it was time to chop it off.

                                                               

















And now my head feels so light!

Though, my neck's kinda chilly...

Do as the monks do [8]

What was your world-changing act of the day? Mine was flipping a fly back onto its feet. You heard me. It was just lying there on its back on the bathroom floor wiggling its tiny little legs hopelessly around in the air. So I helped it out, or up, or over. Something like that.

Mini lesson of the day: Show compassion to the smallest, seemingly most insignificant creatures on Earth. Do as the monks do.

Edjumacation [7]

"If every newspaper was recycled, we could save 250,000,000 trees a year! Think about all the cute furry animals that wouldn't lose their homes. You can make monkeys happier." -Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

For two plus decades NBC has been running a public service campaign called "The More You Know." Each year it is themed, taking care to focus on topics important to the community at large. The campaign was first started in the late 80s in response to teacher shortages and in the hopes of recruiting and retaining educators. It changes its topics with the times, depending on a national advisory board for guidance in identifying important topics and developing effective messages. This year the topics are: diversity, education, health, and the environment.





If you've ever watched NBC you have probably seen their mini info blips, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The The More You Know website is filled with videos, information, and bloopers. It is a treasure trove of information, even dedicating an entire page to links to nonprofit organizations and government agencies with even more information. My favorite aspect of the website by far is the "what you can do" part for each topic. Suggestions range from the vague "have an open mind" to the detail-oriented "use a pencil-width flow of water at the sink." I know I'll be returning to this website this year for information and ideas. Will you?

 The objective has always remained the same: provide the information needed for improving lives and the world we live in. But it's not always serious business, sometimes the messages involve a little bit of: fun and games.

It Just Makes Cents... [6]

...donating to the Humane Society that is. I often wonder why we have coins in the US. In Europe, coins are highly useful for buying public transportation tickets. In America we... well, we don't really use public transportation all that much. And attempting to count out exact change for that new gadget or whats-it that cost exactly $12.44 is just far too great a pain. So instead I tend to accumulate a lot of relatively useless change.

 

Useless no longer, I say! Have you ever noticed all those little donation boxes on the counters of every business imaginable? Raising money for this, that, and the other cause. I have. And today I took all of my change and donated it to the local Humane Society's box on the counter of the local vet clinic. All $3.27 in lots of pennies, a couple nickels, a handful of dimes, and 1 1/2 dollars worth of quarters.

 So, the receptionists might have laughed at me a bit as I slid all of the coins into the box, tiny handful by tiny handful because the opening in the top was too slim to fit more than about five coins at a time. And yeah, it took forever and put me on the spot for quite a while. Oh well, it looked cool afterwards, with the pile of change weighing down the dollar bills others had deemed worthy of donation before me.

Pass it on [5]

Reuse, recycle, regift. That's what I did with my glasses yesterday when I went in for my yearly eye exam. All I had to do was put my new glasses on my nose, hand my old glasses to the LensCrafters associate, ask her to donate them to OneSight, and walk out the door. Voila, I changed the world!

**OneSight is an organization that works to help the 250 million+ people worldwide suffering from poor vision so they can be successful at school, on the job, or in daily life tasks. OneSight travels around the US and the world to bring free eye care and glasses to those in need and also works to fund the education of future optometric professionals and research into improving global eye health. They depend on the donation of gently used eyewear and cash. Check 'em out here: OneSight.

My own little world, reached population two [2, 3, 4]

When I started brainstorming for New Year’s Resolution 2012 I decided that “changing the world” meant one of three things. It meant the world as a whole, so I supported TOMS shoes, which is working to change the world one pair of shoes at a time. It means my tiny little world, basically keeping myself motivated when second-semester-senior-year-of-college stress kicks in. And then there are the worlds of others. That’s where the act/theme of the day comes in: Random Act of Kindness. It’s pretty simple, just do something nice for someone else, just because. This year these will probably be the most numerous ones, the theme I’ll fall back on whenever I get super busy.

And so my own little world reached population two, week 1 edition:

 My mom’s coworker found out a couple months ago that not only is she pregnant, but it’s triplets. I decided that my first act of kindness would be buying her some used baby clothes from the local Salvation Army. Getting everything ready for one baby is expensive and time-consuming enough, multiply that by three and... ouch. 

Also, turns out that I’m totally in love with baby clothes shopping. It’s all of the cuteness and none of the poop. 

 Whenever I’m home from college, my mom will leave little “good morning” notes on the kitchen counter. Sometimes they really do just say “good morning”, “have a good day”, “love you” and other times they include to-do lists and other requests. As a typical college student, I stay up late and sleep in, so on day 3 of 365 Days, 365 Ways I decided to take advantage of our differing schedules, write my mom a note after she went to bed and left it for her on the kitchen counter. Of course she had the last word, leaving little responses directly on my little note for me to find when I got up long after she had gone to work. 

  



My roommate at college has been collecting postcards from around the world for years, either on her own travels or as gifts from the travels of friends and family. Her goal is to make them into an artistic tabletop one day (totally wish I’d thought of that first!). I failed to send her a postcard from Ireland last year during my semester abroad there, but better late than never, right? Turns out my family’s collected quite a pile of postcards over the years that have slowly been forgotten, and so random act of kindness #3 was to pass some of these postcards along to someone who will love them.