Tag Archives: heidi gould

How the recession is HELPING people..

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Hello and welcome to my blog on optimism.. I”ll be posting good news and interesting tidbits I find from around the world. One of my favorite magazines is Ode Magazine, and I check their website a few times a week to see what wonderful news I can find.

Today I logged on and saw a story by an acquaintance of mine, Charles Best, who started DonorsChoose.org.  I met him  back in 2004 when he had just started this wonderful organization. I was working at Acumen Fund at the time, and he was seeking advice based on my experience on the Howard Dean for president campaign. As most people know, the Dean For America campaign really democratized political fundraising.

He felt his organization was democratizing charitable giving, and he wanted to build a similar community around his organization. We sat down and got into it. He was young at the time, around 26 or so, and very earnest, honest, passionate and driven. He struck me as the future of social entrepreneurship mixed with a really smart way to fund projects.  Donorschoose allows teachers around the country to post school projects which need funding, and then as a donor you can choose exactly which projects you want to fund. You can see the progress of the project as well and see pictures of the class you are helping. It’s awesome!

So, without further ado I will repost a bit of his article and link to it for your Optimistic reading pleasure!

The goodness of crowds

When large numbers of people give a little, they accomplish a lot. By Charles Best

The global economic recession is an opportunity to fuel social change. While financial instinct says philanthropy will suffer in times of economic distress, there’s evidence that the challenges we face are no match for collective action. I don’t think the road ahead is smooth. But we can’t underestimate the power of “ordinary” individuals in this age of connectedness.

Picture a nest of honeybees, where each insect makes a small but vital contribution. The result is greater than the sum of its parts. A large colony will produce far more honey than two colonies half the size of the larger one. As the colony grows, its efficiency increases.

People can achieve similar triumphs. One of the most promising models is “crowdsourcing,” through which an organization generates content, or gets work performed, by tapping the knowledge and creativity of members of the public. As with a nest of honeybees, each participant contributes a small piece of a greater whole. Zagat’s database of amateur restaurant reviews and YouTube’s user-submitted videos are examples. The more contributors, the better the results.

To continue reading, click here!

How laughter meditation can bring you peace and joy

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One of my favorite magazines is “Ode” – it’s where I got the inspiration for this blog. I’ve often thought that laughter is the best medicine.. it can heal your mental state, relationships, change energy, and actually heal your body. I have always had a very deep ‘belly laugh’ where I just let it OUT. Anyone in my life who has ever told me to ‘keep down’ my laugh, I would know right there that the person was not going to be in my life for much longer. I feel that laughter is my true ‘essence’ and it really lets you BE yourself completely.

But I had no idea there was an actually CENTER for promoting laughter! This in of itself made me laugh, but with love and appreciation. Check this out! Excerpt of article with link below:

Want to get in touch with your inner giggler? Try Dhyan Sutorius’ laughing meditation. by Max Christern.

Laughing is a group activity. “It gives you a feeling of solidarity,” Dhyan Sutorius had already explained to me on the phone. That’s why he asked if I was interested in doing a short laughing meditation with the staff during his upcoming visit to Ode’s Dutch editorial offices in Rotterdam. Three of us were there that day, so it was intimate, which was fine with Sutorius. The point is to experience laughing together. “Laughing is extremely conducive to cooperation,” according to Sutorius’ Dutch-language website, which features a link to a brochure in English. That got all three of us chuckling.

A few days later, the 70-year-old founder of the Center for the Promotion of Laughter appeared, surprisingly spry as he climbed the three flights to Ode’s waterfront offices. Our interview couldn’t take place until we had completed his exercise, so Sutorius went to work as soon as he walked through the door. “Are your bladders empty, ladies?” he asked my co-workers. “That is an absolute must for an effective meditation.” An empty stomach is also advisable. As my two colleagues hurried to the bathroom, giggling, Sutorius pushed four chairs into a small circle and quickly drank two glasses of water. “A good laughing session makes you lose a lot of fluid,” he remarked, with evident confidence in the strength of his own bladder. He then asked us to focus our attention on his area of specialization for 30 years: the laughing meditation.

Click here to continue reading this article http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/65/laughter-meditation