Validation
Watch this great short film directed by Kurt Kuenne on the power of positivity and the infectious nature of joy.
What can you do to make the world a happier place?
Good Happens.
Peace Grl Out!
Center For Living Peace
Good Happens
Archive for the tag “compassion”
Love the Earth
“This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”
- Walt Whitman
Good Happens.
Peace Grl Out!
Live Peace with Special Olympics
Today marks the start of the 2012 London Olympic games! The opening ceremony will take place tonight. You can keep up with the Olympics and Paralympics schedule on their respective websites. However, we must not forget the work that the Special Olympics does year round to support communities around the world.
The Special Olympics have been a worldwide resource and support system for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and their families since 1968. The games grew out of Eunice Kennedy Shriver‘s vision to create a space for children with disabilities to thrive physically, socially, and emotionally. It is a community that strives to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. Special Olympics hosts 50,000 competitions a year – about 136 each day.
Paige Norton of British Columbia carves a turn in a speedskating event at Special Olympics Canada’s 2012 Winter Games
Youth can be involved in the Special Olympics from the time they are eight years old but can also participate in the Young Athletes program for two through seven year olds. Athletes can also participate in the Special Olympics Unified Sports program which pairs athletes with and without disabilities to expose athletes to greater social stimulus, meaningful inclusion, and mentorship. The Special Olympics has also started Project Unify, an education -based movement that uses sports and education programs to inspire young people to build their school communities to bring about change to garner respect, dignity, and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. The Special Olympics also provides free health screenings and care to it’s athletes as the world’s largest public health organization for people with intellectual disabilities.
Stephanie Handojo of Indonesia is one of many Special Olympics athletes honored by carrying the Olympic torch in light of the London Summer Olympics
To support the Special Olympics, volunteer, donate, or pledge not to use the word “retard”. For more information visit the Special Olympics website.
Let your Olympic spirit guide you to live peace by cheering on all kinds of athletes.
Good Happens.
Peace Grl Out!
Live Peace with Human Options
Each week we highlight great organizations making good happen! They truly demonstrate how much each of us can do to help our communities and those in need. Live Peace by finding and supporting a cause that you believe in through the work of organizations like Human Options.
Human Options is a women’s shelter in Irvine, CA with a mission to help battered women, their families, and their communities end the cycle of domestic violence. It offers a variety of resources such as an emergency shelter and transitional living programs with included counseling, legal advocacy, case management, and job readiness training. They also run a 24 hour emergency, bilingual hotline. Women and their children have access to a Children and Families Counseling Center, K-12 community education, and violence prevention training programs. It also runs a community education program in which their educators present to various schools, organizations, and agencies about issues surrounding domestic violence.
Human Option’s long term assistance and prevention approach has helped thousands of women and children to lead more healthy and violence free lives since they started their work in 1981. Support Human Options by donating fresh produce and spices every Saturday of July, during the Irvine Farmer’s Market, at the Center. Also refer to Human Option’s wish list for donated items or volunteer to help out. Volunteers must be 18 or 16 to work with children’s programs and go through a training workshop.
For more details on the organization’s work, visit their website!
Good Happens.
Peace Grl Out!
Meatless Mondays: Raspberry-Chocolate Cookies
Happy Monday!
For this week, we decided to satisfy your sweet tooth and provide a healthy, vegan dessert. Although most desserts do not contain meat anyway, this dessert is different from other treats in that it is healthier and better for the environment.
Raspberry-Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole almonds
- 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup light oil, such as safflower or canola
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips, preferably bittersweet
- 2 tablespoons raspberry preserves
Directions:
1. Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
2. Process almonds in a blender in 2 batches until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl and add whole-wheat flour, oat flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk oil, maple syrup, apple juice, almond and vanilla extracts in a medium bowl.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; stir to combine. Use your hands to knead the dough together; add 1 to 2 tablespoons additional apple juice if the mixture is too crumbly.
4. Form level tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Gently flatten each ball into a disk, then make an indentation in the center using your thumb or a small spoon. Place a few chocolate chips in each indentation, then cover with 1/4 teaspoon preserves.
5. Bake the cookies, one batch at a time, until golden around the edges, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 24 cookies.
Recipe originally posted on Care2.
Good Happens.
Peace Grl Out!
Meatless Mondays: Jeweled Brown Rice with Orange Zest and Mint
It’s time to begin the week with our Meatless Monday recipe and statistic!
It takes about 12,000 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat while it only takes 565 gallons of water to produce a pound of potatoes, wheat, corn, and rice. Why not try reducing your water consumption by consuming this delicious recipe?
Jeweled Brown Rice with Orange Zest and Mint
Ingredients:
- 2 cups brown basmati rice, rinsed (if you can, soak the rice for up to 8 hours)
- Pinch saffron
- 2 small yellow onions or shallots
- 2 medium carrots
- Zest of 1 organic orange
- Ghee or coconut oil
- ½ Tbsp. cumin seeds
- ½ tsp. turmeric
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ cup mixed dried fruit (dates, apricots, raisins)
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- ½ cup packed mint leaves
- ½ cup packed chives
- 1 small pomegranate
- ½ cup nuts (almonds, pistachios)
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving
Preparation:
- In a small glass of hot water (3-4 Tbsp.), add a pinch of saffron and let steep into a “tea” while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Dice onion. Grate carrots. Slice off the outer edge of the orange rind, removing as little white pith as possible. Then slice into matchstick-sized strips. Set aside.
- Heat a knob of ghee or coconut oil in a pot. Add cumin seeds and cook until fragrant, 1 minute, then add turmeric, bay leaves, and the cinnamon stick, stir to coat with oil and fry for another minute until fragrant. Next add onion, carrots, orange rind, and dried fruit. Cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.
- Drain rice and add it to the pot with 4 cups of water, the saffron “tea,” and salt. Cover with a lid, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for 45 minutes, or until the water has evaporated.
- While the rice is cooking, wash and chop the herbs. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate. Gently roast the nuts in a dry skillet until fragrant and golden.
- When the rice is finished cooking, remove form heat. Scoop rice out onto a baking sheet to cool slightly and to prevent the grains from sticking together. After a few minutes, sprinkle with herbs, nuts, and pomegranate seeds. Fold to incorporate. Season to taste (you will likely need to add more salt at this stage).
- Serve rice with a drizzle of good olive oil and lemon wedge. Although the lemon may seem like an afterthought, it is an essential element of the dish, rounding out the flavours and adding a zesty kick. Enjoy!
Recipe originally posted on Whole Living Daily.
Good Happens.
Peace Grl Out!
Boxed Water is Better for You and Me!
30 billion plastic water bottles are thrown away every year. Plastic can take up to a thousand years to disintegrate and make up a big deposit of plastic toxic waste in the Pacific Ocean.
What can you do to help?
Boxed Water is Better is committed to providing an environmentally friendly alternative to bottled water. Founder Benjamin Gott believes that it’s sustainability, efficiency and goal to give back sets the product apart from the rest.
Here are some facts about Boxed Water is Better’s manufacturing and environmental consciousness.
- About 76% of the box is from a renewable resource, trees.
- Trees used to make the box come from certified, well managed forests. These forests remain healthy and stable through ongoing replanting.
- Their boxes are recyclable. The Carton Council is continuously adding new carton recycling facilities throughout the US.
- Boxes are shipped flat to a filler which is significantly more efficient compared to shipping empty plastic or glass bottles to be filled.
- 10% of Boxed Water is Better’s profit is donated to world water relief foundations.
- Another 10% of Boxed Water is Better’s profit is donated to reforestation foundations.
To find a retailer that carries Boxed Water is Better near you, visit their website.
To support more water relief efforts and forest conservation efforts, check out Water.org and Conservation International.
Good Happens.
Peace Grl Out!
Algalita Marine Research Institute Makes Good Happen!
Here at the Center for Living Peace, we are always on the lookout for people and organizations trying to embody peace in their communities. One of our partners, The Algalita Marine Research Institute, has been doing just that and we wanted to share some of their efforts with you.
The Algalita Research Institute is a non-profit research and education organization that aims to protect the marine environment. Members of this organization conduct research on plastic found in oceans, and how this type of pollution affects the world and human health.
Take a look at their video below to learn more about their research and what they are doing to help preserve our precious marine life.
Find out more about Algalita here.
What can you do to reduce your plastic footprint? Share your thoughts with us- we are always looking for new ideas and perspectives on sustainability!
Good Happens.
Peace Grl Out!
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