Happy Birthday, everyone!

So I’m a little late here…by about 10-11 days but we’ve hit our first anniversary.

I feel like we should celebrate. First, let’s look at how we started off and what we’ve been through this last year.

At it’s birth, Crawkid pointers started because of one inspiring video. A story of one man who lives in a city devoid of proper food, and overrun by dialysis centers. But he didn’t let it depress or oppress him,- he became a renegade, planted a garden to supply food and beauty to his desolate world, and in the process he changed the world of the people around him. His story showed me that what i believed is completely true- that one person can make big changes. That inspired me to start this blog, share the word, and hopefully inspire others to discover and embrace their individual potential to change their world.

My first few attempts/lessons involved a little bit of theoretical deep thinking – introducing the philosophy of the Pay It Forward idea and illustrating how one person’s actions can trigger a cascade of emotions and individual reactions from the people that they touch. A couple examples here were the use of Facebook and the planting of a garden.

We explored instances of small groups of people showing initiative, taking things into their own hands, and making the world a better place by doing so. It was a great start to show, instead of theorize, how someone can just go out and change the world.

I’ve gone on personal rant – to which I kind of apologize, but also think that they may be useful to anyone willing to read them with a grain of salt.

I’ve mentioned a man named Andrew Hussie- yet another fine example of a person making a big change. You might not have heard of him outside of this blog, but I assure you that he has quite the avid and diverse following. I’ll caution you now – try to avoid making a decision based on the worst that his fans have to offer. Try to look at his best. While some people may be more focused on certain insane characters, there are those who pay attention to some of the bigger messages given to them. Diversity is good, anyone can be useful, we all have our individual skills, and teamwork is the best survival strategy. Here is an example of some good that Andrew has inspired in his following – http://cantownproject.tumblr.com/post/47719136080/can-town-project-anime-detour-2013

And at some point, I got addicted to Tedtalks, from ted.com. While I’ll apologize for seemingly relying on them, I’ll also admit that i view them as an inspiring source of knowledge and motivation. I even sometimes contemplate getting together my town’s own Tedtalks sort of deal. I honestly have a love/hate relationship for my town. On one hand, its my home town- I will always have a love for it. On the other hand, it’s dying because the economy sucks, there’s a lack of jobs, it seems to mostly be for old people, college kids, and school teachers, there’s very little in the way of affordable entertainment, our mall is pretty much dead, and stores/ restaurants often set up and then fail due to lack of sufficient income. I think one good Ted talk thingy would do the people some good, and then maybe we could see some actual stride towards improvement.

I’ve also touched on the education system – its flaws and how its improving or diminishing. I’m happy to recall that one of my foreign friends on Facebook  posted up our link and recommended it as a read for all Finnish people. And for a bit of nostalgia, I’ll put up the link.

Let’s talk about school, America

So there we go. Now, that was cool. A moment where I had had my first experience possibly getting my message out there to a large mass of people. I have no idea how far it went, but I am thankful to my friend for that and hope that he’s doing wonderfully in America now, since I’ve lost contact of him.

In April, we explored how people were already making little splashes in their world- and some of the creative ways in which people have been coming up with to try and make significant strides in the right direction.

And in August, we learned about how our words to our children affect them. We must learn to treat boys and girls with the same kind of respect. We must also expand our own horizons on the topic of gender roles, or there will continue to be a lack of gender equality and proper communication between the two sides. Girls are emotional and taught to strive to be pretty, boys are taught to keep in their emotions and to believe that girls are weak. teaching ourselves, and teaching our children, is the most direct step we can take to bettering our future.

I’ve also discovered that there’s a garden that’s been growing and been attended to, one that’s free to visit and take food from if you need it. I never though my little town would have something that amazing, but I was proven wrong. unfortunately, i was unable to help out much because I started to go to college, but I’m dead set on helping the group out next year and getting the word out. perhaps in this way, we can get people more involved in bettering what little we have left- and then expanding on it. My hopes for my little town aren’t dead yet.

And from there, I’ve mostly been focused on science and leadership. The world is in trouble from over population, environmental issues, and improper governmental handling. With the proper development of leadership in the young generation, and an increased over all interest and experimentation with science, we can better the world. and when better than during the age where technology is being developed the fastest it’s ever been?

I believe that the issues that the world faces now can be solved, and I believe that the future is being made as we speak. The forces are gathering, and i predict a big boom in young leaders and projects that will reflect this. My goal this past year has been to get the word out- to show you that an individual person can make amazing changes just by getting out there and doing it.

I have 24 followers, and several friends who read this blog. I thank each and every one of them for their support. Crawkid Pointers is 1 year old, and until now has been a relatively passive part of my life. As I look over my past entries, I’m thinking about what we can actually do to celebrate – to move forward.

Today, I’ve contacted Jamie Oliver. He’s a chef who runs a campaign to educate children and their families about food. here is a video of him.

I’ve also sent a ted talk video to the local group that runs that public garden that i spoke about. I’m also about to go submit a suggestion to my college to include a college survival class, where students will be taught how to cook simple foods, and through the use of the microwave too. In the coming days, I will be trying to reach out to other blogs on this site with similar points to ours. I’m going to start networking with this blog, going to be working to get the word even more spread out.

Over this past year I’ve laid down the ground work, nurtured the soil, and planted the seeds. Over this next year, I hope to see the seeds grow into beautiful plants so that I may share the bounty with others – and in this way give them the tools and the seeds so that they may turn the entire world into a beautiful garden.

And ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to realize the difference that you can make in the world. Take those seeds, and start planting! And from now on, we will start with a new identity.

While before today, this blog was about me and what i find inspiring and it was about me getting my message out, now it will be about all of us.

October 11, 2013 – This site was born with the name Crawkid’s Pointers, and our motto was: Feeling helpless? Plant a garden. 🙂

Today, we celebrate our birthday and year long discovery of what the future holds and how we can influence it. Our previous motto was too ambiguous, and did not effectively communicate my intentions.

October 22, 2014 – The site is rediscovers its purpose and adopts for itself a new identity. It now calls itself The garden of Inspiration, and its message rings loud and clear “Together, we will grow our own future.”

More 3-d printing stuff

This is an add on to the  previous post…since I was a little behind the times as far as 3-d printing goes and thought we were still just on the use of plastic.

Couple links and what I see in the future

http://www.beaconfoodforest.org/

There you go, a couple TED talks that I enjoy watching. What else am I up to (besides trying to alleviate everyday stress?) I’m researching the nature of our recycling system (the US that is) and where it’s starting to go. With all this information at hand, I’m starting to form a picture of what I imagine the future is going to look like.

And let me tell you- it’s way better than just hover cars.

Public food sources, agricultural knowledge from a young age, culinary knowledge at a young age, different sorts of fuel, different sorts of engines, less energy expenditure (even better – recycling the energy that you DO use) water recycling, local foods, cleaner air, naturally healthier diets, greater sense of community, amazing technological advances, a growing spirit of individual can-do attitudes.

The south bronx and south los angelos have shown us that people are willing to fight for a better local environment. People recognise that the economy sucks and are realizing that they can actually do something about it – not let it completely ruin their health.

And the future is coming, though slowly enough that the general public doesn’t seem to be aware of it. There are restraunts that are completely ‘green’ it grows and recycles its own food, purifies its own water, and uses a natural way of even air conditioning. Big companies, in search of big profits, might be using more and more machinery. More and more workers might be displaced- but we can rediscover our ability to make things for ourselves. And a bright shining star on that front is the invention of the 3-d printer. For those who aren’t all that handy with their hands, there now exists the opportunity to take those ideas and form it into solid objects in a really short amount of time.

The most important component of 3-d printing is the plastic filament, because without that, you’re not really going to be able to create anything. It’s the material.

Great, more plastic. But hey wait, some special individuals – people who have come to realize how atrocious our plastic consumption really is- have come up with a novel idea. Take the plastic we already have, and make filament!

This is an AMAZING idea because it will cut down on pollution, return that re-usable resource back into the supply, lower cost of filament and therefore production, and that will increase supply capabilities- making it easier to expand and get more customers. It breaks down old stuff, and makes new stuff! And we humans LOVE our stuff – we always want more.

So let’s re-cap. Less filling in the landfills, more land for other uses, better use of land, healthier people, better economy, and better sense of community.

That, my dear followers, is the future that I see looming over us.

Keep this in mind

Today and last night I’ve come to a conclusion about my life.

Lately, there’s been many stressers in my life. A couple of them include weather, lack of sleep, and impending class assignments. There have also been a couple events in my personal life that have been effecting me lately. I won’t share them. I’ll just state that they have been effecting me, but I’ve been covering it up from the people closest to me, so as not to worry them or give them extra stress in their own life.

and I’ve been going to counseling, so that I can talk to someone about my issues and work it out with professional help. Even so, most of the issues are between me and some other people. These things can’t be talked about with a counselor and dissipated. In that sense, I feel they can only help me work through the emotions of the situation and give tips.

I believe they’ve asked if I’ve talked to these people and I said no, because I feel that these people are under enough stress. And so, I’ve continued to hide the extent of my issues.

But I said that I’ve come to a conclusion- reminded myself about a rule I had been living with for…actually, much of my life.

The rule says that one can not help others,, if they can’t even help themselves.

I’ve been trying to push away the issues at hand, and I believe that it is part of the reason my over all health has declined. So, I warned and informed a close friend that I need to talk to him – about everything.

Perhaps then i will get a bit of stability in my life back 😛

So, I’m just using my current situation as an example. My point is: make sure to take care of yourself, so that you may continue to do your best for those that you want to help.  🙂

Time to celebrate Columbus Day!

…and to ruin your childhoods. Sorry

Here’s a lovely article that a friend showed me today
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html

This article makes a very interesting point, there really is no reason to celebrate columbus day…he didn’t actually do anything worth celebrating.

I also like how it mentions that a bunch of kids, people we usually see as being powerless under-citizens (come on, you’re not an actual citizen until you’re 18 or emancipated…because you don’t actually have many rights, your guardians can make all your choices for you.) just go ahead and change the lives of so many people on a whim. and by ‘on a whim’ I mean, they decided to do it, and they did it. I congratulate both groups of children. 🙂

Today, I gave my presentation and stated in front of my class that my purpose is to “Change the world by learning how things work and creatively using my skills to help people” …or something to that effect. This made me more confident and sure of the path I’m taking.

remember, when you want to do something- something that you think is importnat, tell others! Not only will it make you feel better about it, but you will get reminders and support from those that care about you.

Proof in wildlife form

http://themetapicture.com/when-they-brought-these-wolves/

A bit of sunshine

Well College Success class is winding down and its about time to present the class with a project about self reflection and statement of your purpose in life. A few weeks ago, I had had this all settled because we were just given basic ideas of it- like, we’re told that it had to demonstrate an aspect of the class that you’ve learned. This was all well and fine for me, because i was friends with someone who had already tried to take the class once so she had a pretty good idea of what to expect. So, we were gunna band together and create a little video demonstrating inter-dependence, cooperation, and time-management.

About midway though, we were given a new set of guidelines and it turned more introspective than about the class. I don’t hold a grudge here, it natural that there was change and indecision in the first half- it’s the teacher’s first time doing a full-semester class in half the time. I applaud her on her successful efforts and think that it could be a success in future years.

Anyways, once it was turned into an introspective project, I got a bit of a lost feeling. How were my partner and I going to take a project all about expressing your individual ideals, and combine them into a shared project?

Well, I didn’t really have to ask my partner because they were faced with immediate and health related issues.

I did my best to keep her up to speed in class, but ultimately her doctor told her to stay home. I’m not really all that religious, but I do pray for her health, and plan to offer to help out with whatever they need in the upcoming future.

In the meantime, I’ve been freed up to think about an individual project. I looked at the possible elements, chose a few, and brainstormed. When my teacher finally came to me and said, “We need to talk about your project” I had already been debating on a theme for a couple days. (rainbows, gardens, or chemistry)

I had lots of freedom- basically anything goes, as long as it’s not just a paper to hand in to the teacher. We have to present it to the class, after all.

This went into consideration, as well as my current situation. The thing is, with my friend and ride being out of commission and with no alternate ride worked out, my only reliable form of transportation was a bike…and you can’t really haul a fully assembled model on a bike. (or you CAN, but it increases the danger and is generally a pain in the ass)..so, that knocked off the rainbow idea, which was going to have to me a model.

With two themes left, I explored both intently. I’ve worked with the idea of ‘life as a garden’ before, and while it is a nice analogy, I found that I’d have to alter it to fit into the assignment..and when I tried doing that, it turned out complicated and i had to make up terms like ‘magic seeds’. It’s interesting, but I personally felt that I could do better. So, it got put on the back burner.

I turned my attention to chemistry, or as I termed the theme ‘pseudo-chemistry’. Looking at how it would have to be set together, I figured that the elements I had chosen to elaborate on for the garden and rainbow themes wouldn’t work for it. Looking at the list of elements, I chose three different ones and started to piece it together- figuring out which element with which part to create a proper model/analogy. When I came up with something satisfactory, I sat and thought about how to present it. It didn’t take me long to discover that the best way to present it would be to draw it out and explain it step-by-step to the class. As I explained it to me teacher, my confidence in this idea grew. She seemed to enjoy it too, as I saw a big grin on her face as I peeked up from showing her the quick little drawing I did to sort out my thoughts on the matter. It got approved, so I was that much closer to being complete.

At that time, I actually thought I was done with it – just having to do the actual presentation. As I got up and walked around, I was enjoying the idea of having all my planning done and just having to wait until presentation day. Now relaxed, and with nothing to immediately occupy my brain, I did what i normally do – let my mind wander to whatever subject it wanted to.

Eventually, I found that something was bothering me. This was supposed to be a big project, and it felt….insubstantial. it was a talk, with chalk drawings…chalk drawings that would be erased after class. This left no evidence of me completing any kind of project. I looked over the nature of the presentation, thought about what I’d have to say, how I’d explain it…and decided that the best way for me to leave proof was to write out a sort of outline about what the idea behind it was. Like..a manuscript…of the presentation.

So i set forth typing…and it turned out a bit longer than I expected. Without double spacing (because I honestly like how it looks better than standard college papers), it filled two and a half pages. Reading it over quickly, i became satisfied with my work and decided to hand it in and get that part of the project over with. Once I got to the office though, there was someone inside talking to her. That’s fine. I sat down and read over my paper again, and my inner critic popped up and pointed out several mistakes. Well, I couldn’t have that – it was a final project, after all. So, i went back and made modifications. Coming back, she was free and I handed it in. I report with gladness that she was excited to see what I did, and even began to read it immediately.

I blush to state that she said it was awesome, and that she expressed the intention of sharing it with her motivational coach.

Even so, I’ve looked over my paper again (along with my inner critic) and have made a new draft of the paper to hand in – which i just rememebred about, checked the clock, and then her office. She isn’t there but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that my day improved greatly because I wrote up stuff that I didn’t have to, and got majorly complimented on it. (and build on that with talks about martial arts and Bruce lee, this woman is amazing.)

 

Is there a lesson to this long account of my day? I suppose I could make one up. (class project being shared with a published author et cetera, et cetera..) but no, I just wanted to share my day with you all.

 

Precious plastic (cool video)

Hey, I know that the last post I made was a bit opinionated

So, while I think that its healthy to find something you think is awesome about yourself, I apologize if I came on a bit strong. XP

Now usually, i talk about stuff involving gardens- and its a big part of this blog- but let’s not forget the actual point here – that YOU can make a change. That,really, anyone can- and do!

I’m online today to do homework, and I’ve actually been trying to avoid the blog today? Why? because I felt that I might be tempted to spew my emotional problems at you in some sort of vague sense that might get you curious enough to ask …but then I wouldn’t answer you because its personal and complicated XD

But I’m here….and I’m not going to spew at you.

Instead today, I’m going to bring up the more industrial part of our world. Gardens are great, but there’s an entire part of the world that needed to be explored and changed too.

We need to participate more in the world of plastic.

Do we actually need MORE plastic? No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying we need to PARTICIPATE more.

To get us started, I’m bringing up another video…actually, a website.

http://www.preciousplastic.com/

Watching the first video, I thought it was really cool. Watching the second video, I thought it was more than cool. It was useful, and pretty damn revolutionary. And I would totally make tons of those hexagon things.

Now, how about some science?

We use the same thing for plastic that we use for fuel – not chemically, but environmentally. We use fossil fuels of course. So, we’ll eventually run out of this awesomely light and useful material. Throw that material away? In landfills, it takes up space and breaks down slowly. Not only,then, is it taking up space where other things can fill it in…but it will contribute to unstable ground (ok, this is just me using logic. I haven’t looked up all the science here. Feel free to do so and prove me wrong)

and in the sea it drifts onto the shores of other places, polluting and cluttering their beaches. We have the technology to recycle…why put our trash onto lands where they might not have that technology? And sometimes it doesn’t just wash up onto a shore. Sometimes it gathers together in spots of the oceans where currents meets, and it becomes trapped. It becomes a drifting mass that won’t degrade for thousands of years. It also acts as a detrimental environmental hazard to wildlife, you should know about seals and turtles getting strangles by popcan ring things by now. I believe it’s the most mentioned detrimental effect, right up there will oceanic oil spills.

And since I’m looking up a group about recycling on facebook..I happened to find a conveniently relevent video.

These people are recycling what they find on the beach. Granted, it’s not plastic in the form we were talking about, but its still cool.

Also, just how many people have to lose their flipflops over the side of those cruise ships for these guys to be able to make a thriving business out of them? Pretty ridiculous, really.