Monday, August 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Top Portland-area high school grads chase dreams, not dollars
Published: Friday, June 04, 2010, 9:20 PM Updated: Saturday, June 05, 2010, 1:35 PM
View full sizeKelly Antolic, a straight-A graduate of Putnam High, co-chaired the first Portland-area Habitat for Humanity fund-raising and home-building drive led totally by young people. The future home to a family of five is rising on the work site in the Lents neighborhood behind her. Like many other top scholars in the class of 2010, Antolic aspires to help others as a career. "You can really make a difference," she says. "It's fulfilling."
» Gabby Walti» Dana Metcalf
» Nathan Sany
» Kelly Antolic
» Patrick Dalton
» Heather Treanor
More achievers
Read more about achievers from your county and across the Portland area.That's right: These straight-A students who've conquered the gamut of advanced classes and earned scholarships to top colleges say making a lot of money and climbing the corporate ladder isn't a priority.
Overwhelmingly, they want to give back.
"I really like our planet," says Gabby Walti, a Harvard-bound valedictorian at Hillsboro's Liberty High. She aced every class but invested just as much effort during high school removing invasive plants, restoring wetlands and trying to save the rain forest.
Her dream job? The Peace Corps. "People in the Peace Corps are thinking beyond themselves -- they're people who are dedicated to the world and to others, not 'I need to have a great car.' Those are the kind of people I love spending time with. ... I know I would enjoy every day of trying to help out."
Consider the circumstances that shaped those views: These teens are coming of age during the worst job market since the Great Depression, watching relatives and friends with college degrees search fruitlessly for jobs.
It would make sense for these hard-charging academic superstars to adjust their college and career plans toward secure, high-demand fields in which they could pile up career accolades and hefty paychecks.
But these kids just aren't like that.
Instead, they brim with idealism, optimism and selflessness.
Each year, The Oregonian seeks out and surveys valedictorians and other top scholars from every public and private high school in the three-county metro area. This year, nearly 400 Academic Achievers from 93 schools shared their experiences and their plans for the future.
A huge majority said they plan to seek careers where they can find personal fulfillment regardless of the pay or prestige.
"I am not going to college to major in something that will give me the highest possible income," wrote Dana Metcalf, a valedictorian at Riverdale High headed to Dickinson College. "I am going to college to find out who I am and discover what I can contribute to this world."
For Nathan Sany, a valedictorian at Portland's Cleveland High headed to Whitman College, that will mean working with children -- ideally in other countries in the Peace Corps, then later with immigrant children in the United States.
"It's hard for me to give less than my best in anything I do," he says. "If I can make someone smile and know that I'm making a difference, that's worth its weight in gold."
View full sizeNathan Sany, a valedictorian at Cleveland High, shows off one of his favorite spots at Camp Howard, where he volunteered many times as a counselor to sixth-graders attending a week-long educational overnight camp. Sany, known to campers by his camp name of Mars, wants to join the Peace Corps, work with immigrants and generally help kids. "I'd rather be broke and follow my dream of connecting with humans around the globe than be wealthy and unsatisfied," he says. His starry-eyed dreams of helping others are based on more than a hunch that he might find it rewarding.
Sany spent five weeks in the Dominican Republic, living without running water and with electricity just six hours a day, to experience the culture and help build a community center -- and loved it.
And then there's Outdoor School, the weeklong educational overnight camp for Portland-area sixth-graders. Getting to take part changed Sany's life. So, 11 times during high school, he spent the week as a volunteer counselor at one of the rustic camps, helping usher unsure sixth-graders toward more knowledge of nature and of themselves.
"You're a mentor, a psychologist, a teacher, a mediator," Sany says. "I have seen I can have that impact and how important that is to me."
View full sizeIn many cases, Portland-area high school students start volunteering because they have to. Many schools require students to log community service hours to earn a diploma. But many go far beyond what is required.
Kelly Antolic, valedictorian at Putnam High in Milwaukie, was asked as part of a freshman leadership class to pitch in on a canned good drive. She caught the bug, and bad.
When she was asked as a junior to head the school's blood drives, she readily agreed. For her senior project, she created and helped lead the first all-youth Habitat for Humanity fundraising and home-building project in Portland.
The day she helped raise the first wall of that house, future home to an immigrant Somali couple with three children, was her best day of high school.
Now she's headed to the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University, a place she chose in large part because she can design her own major. She will study nonprofits and international relations to prepare her for her dream career in nonprofit work.
"I feel I can really make an impact on my community or around the world and initiate change," she says. "Nonprofits are more about service than about making money... In the end, it's the people around you that really matter. If you can make their experience better, it's so fulfilling.
She and her counterparts aren't trust-fund babies hoping to travel the world doing good, then fly home first-class to recharge at a spa. Antolic's dad is a welder; mom is a school secretary. She drives a 1987 Ford Taurus that has every feature she looks for in a car -- "it runs."
Many valedictorians say their anti-materialistic values were passed to them by parents who valued family time, volunteerism and a stack of good books over electronic gizmos, big paychecks and shiny new cars.
Not every local achiever is immune to worrying about the economy or wanting high-paying jobs. In The Oregonian's survey, 10 percent reported that earning a large salary after college is "very important."
Patrick Dalton, valedictorian at La Salle College Prep in Milwaukie, is one of them. An aspiring engineer bound for the University of Southern California, he's always tried to excel -- as his 4.25 GPA and No. 1 class ranking attest.
Now he aims to be among the top engineers -- and a high salary is the way the work world conveys who's best, he says. "For my work life, I would say that is my definition of success."
Heather Treanor, a valedictorian at Franklin High in Portland, thought she knew at age 12 what she wanted to become: a fighter pilot.
But two things -- her fright during some early flying exercises and her absolute joy when volunteering alongside police officers and other public safety workers at a camp for low-income children -- changed her mind. A series of fascinating law-related classes at Franklin helped seal her choice.
Treanor is headed to major in criminal justice at Eastern Washington University on her way to a career as a police officer, FBI agent or similar role. "Police officers are there for people who are having a really bad day," she says. "If I can be the person who can make someone's day a little bit better, it makes me happy."
She doesn't expect to earn a lot of money and could not care less.
"If I am happy with my work, then that is a 'good job,'" she says. "I don't want to look up at age 60 or 70 and find that I am rich but unhappy."
--Betsy Hammond
Monday, July 26, 2010
Beyond the Age of Reason, Moving to the Age of Energy at the Speed of Love
Maintaining the Flow
A Clear Current
A strong and fluid energy field is the key that unlocks the doors of self-healing and peace of mind.
The essence of all being is energy. Our physical and ethereal selves depend on the unrestricted flow of life energy that is the source of wholeness and wellness. Though the channels through which this energy flows are open systems and influenced by factors outside of our control, we ultimately choose what impact these will have in our lives. It is up to us to identify and clear blockages in the energy field to ensure that flow is maintained. A healthy, grounded individual absorbs some portion of the energy emitted by other people and the environment, but this does not interrupt the continuous stream of balanced energy sustaining them. The same individual copes constructively with stress and upset, and they are not subject to the stagnation that frequently goes hand in hand with negativity. When we keep the energy in and around our bodies flowing harmoniously, we are naturally healthy, vibrant, and peaceful.
Life energy flows through us like a swift stream when there is nothing to obstruct it, but various forces such as trauma, downbeat vibrations, and disappointments act like stones that impede the current. If we allow these to pile up, our life energy is thrown off its course or blocked entirely, causing illness, restlessness, and a lack of vigor. If, however, we take the time to clear these forces away, we rob them of the power to impact our lives. When we cultivate simple yet affirmative habits such as taking regular cleansing baths, practicing meditation and breathing exercises, smudging, and self-shielding, we protect ourselves from outside influences that might otherwise impede our energy flow. Likewise, we lessen the impact of inner influences when we clear our auras of unwanted attachments and divest ourselves of blocked emotions.
A strong and fluid energy field is the key that unlocks the doors of self-healing and peace of mind. Your awareness of the flow of energy sustaining you empowers you to take charge of your own well-being by taking steps to unblock, correct, and enhance that flow. Fear will likely be the culprit when you cannot identify the source of stagnation—you may simply be afraid to let go of what is obstructing the flow. Letting go can be challenging, but the exuberance you will feel when the flow i
A Clear Current
The essence of all being is energy. Our physical and ethereal selves depend on the unrestricted flow of life energy that is the source of wholeness and wellness. Though the channels through which this energy flows are open systems and influenced by factors outside of our control, we ultimately choose what impact these will have in our lives. It is up to us to identify and clear blockages in the energy field to ensure that flow is maintained. A healthy, grounded individual absorbs some portion of the energy emitted by other people and the environment, but this does not interrupt the continuous stream of balanced energy sustaining them. The same individual copes constructively with stress and upset, and they are not subject to the stagnation that frequently goes hand in hand with negativity. When we keep the energy in and around our bodies flowing harmoniously, we are naturally healthy, vibrant, and peaceful.
Life energy flows through us like a swift stream when there is nothing to obstruct it, but various forces such as trauma, downbeat vibrations, and disappointments act like stones that impede the current. If we allow these to pile up, our life energy is thrown off its course or blocked entirely, causing illness, restlessness, and a lack of vigor. If, however, we take the time to clear these forces away, we rob them of the power to impact our lives. When we cultivate simple yet affirmative habits such as taking regular cleansing baths, practicing meditation and breathing exercises, smudging, and self-shielding, we protect ourselves from outside influences that might otherwise impede our energy flow. Likewise, we lessen the impact of inner influences when we clear our auras of unwanted attachments and divest ourselves of blocked emotions.
A strong and fluid energy field is the key that unlocks the doors of self-healing and peace of mind. Your awareness of the flow of energy sustaining you empowers you to take charge of your own well-being by taking steps to unblock, correct, and enhance that flow. Fear will likely be the culprit when you cannot identify the source of stagnation—you may simply be afraid to let go of what is obstructing the flow. Letting go can be challenging, but the exuberance you will feel when the flow i
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Aquarius/Leo Full Moon, July 25-26, 2010
By Cathy Lynn Pagano (about the author) Page 1 of 3 page(s)
For OpEdNews: Cathy Lynn Pagano - Writer
As anticipated, the zeit has gotten geisty! We humans face a full range of environmental, social, economic, and political challenges offering BILLBOARD-sized messages. Altogether, they are letting us know that we must as a civilization complete the transition to thinking and acting from the perspective of our one beautiful blue planet.
Jean Houston
There is no doubt that we are a civilization in transition. We need to acknowledge that our old paradigm is no longer working, and it is up to the citizens of the world, each of us, to step forward and make those changes. We are at the leading edge of evolution, and many of us are motivated to change ourselves and change the world. We need to become Culture Bringers and Creators. This is the message of the full moon in Aquarius.
The Heavens declare what time it is. And the time is Now.
The Summer of 2010 sets off the beginning of the next phase of the 60s revolution, that began with Pluto and Uranus in Virgo and now sees them about to square each other from Capricorn to Aries 5 times in the next few years. This square tells us that we are at a cultural crossroads, and we have to choose if we continue the evolution and revolution by incorporating the new paradigm in our social structures, in our understanding of health, in our relationship to the environment, in how and why we work, in our food and water sources, and most especially, in the relationship of body, mind and spirit.
What touched off this "change' energy in the 60s was the opposition to these planets by Saturn in Pisces, bringing to light our despair at being cut off from real spiritual awareness, hence the heavy drug use, which really entails a search for Spirit. The 60s were all about the Old vs. the New. But we have to remember the 60s were only a birth, not the completion of the vision. That won't come for another 40 years, when Pluto is opposite Uranus.
Now we have to go on the Hero/ine's journeys both within and without and help the new life grow up as these planets square off with each other. Since November 4, 2008, with the first of five Saturn/Uranus oppositions at 19*Virgo-Pisces, the battle of the Old vs. the New has raged again around the world. Each time something new is proposed, the old system rears up to try to defeat it, using fear and intimidation. But the system itself is rotten, and it is completely breaking down. Publicly!
The first four oppositions [all in Virgo/Pisces: 2/5/2009 (21*); 9/15/2009 (25*); 4/26/2010(29*)] between Saturn and Uranus were in Virgo/Pisces, helping us dismantle an old way of being and imagine and integrate a new sense of Self. On July 26, hours after the full moon, Saturn will oppose Uranus for the last time, but this time in the cardinal signs of Libra and Aries, signs that initiate seasons as well as actions. Something new (Aries) is being born and we have to give it weight and truth and justice (Libra).
In the next few weeks, the Cosmic T-square will be strengthening, bringing into the mix what astrologers call personal planets Mars, then Venus and later the Moon. With Jupiter retrograding on July 23rd at 3* Aries, we have 7 out of 10 planets carrying and shaping these energies.
How could they not affect us? They are reflecting the realities we face every day. Why not work consciously with them? This is how we can all become Culture Creators, or as Jean Houston calls us, Social Artists.
On August 1st, the Celts celebrated the 1st harvest festival of Lammas or Lughnasa, (See a Lammas Story) the feast day for the God of Light, Lugh of the Long Hand. His story is full of mystery and high destiny, but in the end, Lugh is a culture bringer, the social artist of his time.
Lugh of the Long Hand
Lugh of the Long Hand by Ingrid 'Graywold' Houwess
Manannan mac Lir was the Irish god of the Sea and the Otherworld. At one time, he takes the young baby Lugh from Ireland to his magical realm, Tir-na-nOg, where he raises him in all joy and love. But Manannan often goes to Ireland under cover of night and discovers that the Children of Danaan are in trouble. The ugly, mis-shapen folk of the Fomor had come into Ireland and spread themselves over the country like a pestilence. They had stolen the Cauldron of Plenty and carried it away to their own land, where Balor of the Evil Eye reigned. They had taken the Spear of Victory also, and the only one of the four great Jewels of Sovereignty remaining to the De Danaans was the Stone of Destiny. It was hidden deep in the earth of Ireland, and because of it the Fomorians could not altogether conquer the country, nor could they destroy the De Danaans, though they drove them from their pleasant palaces and hunted them through the glens and valleys like outlaws. Manannan himself has the fourth Jewel, the Sword of Light: he keeps it and waits.
When Lugh is grown, Manannan brings out the Sword of Light and gives it to Lugh and tells him of the troubles in Ireland. Lugh decides to go and help them, and Manannan offers him warriors for his quest and his own magical helmet, shield and horse, along with the Sword of Light.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Transition 101
The Transition Movement is comprised of vibrant, grassroots community initiatives that seek to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis. Transition Initiatives differentiate themselves from other sustainability and "environmental" groups by seeking to mitigate these converging global crises by engaging their communities in home-grown, citizen-led education, action, and multi-stakeholder planning to increase local self reliance and resilience. They succeed by regeneratively using their local assets, innovating, networking, collaborating, replicating proven strategies, and respecting the deep patterns of nature and diverse cultures in their place. Transition Initiatives work with deliberation and good cheer to create a fulfilling and inspiring local way of life that can withstand the shocks of rapidly shifting global systems.
It all starts off when a small collection of motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern: How can our community respond to the challenges and opportunities of peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis? This small team of people begin by forming an initiating group and then adopt the Transition Model with the intention of engaging a significant proportion of the people in their community to kick off a Transition Initiative. They start working together to address this BIG question:
"For all those aspects of life that our community needs in order to sustain
itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (in response
to peak oil), drastically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change)
and greatly strengthen our local economy (in response to economic instability)?”
To begin with, it is important to note that although the term “Transition Town” has stuck, what we are talking about are Transition Cities, Transition Islands, Transition Hamlets, Transition Valleys, Transition Anywhere-You-Find-People.
The Transition Model, as outlined in the Transition Handbook, provides a framework which includes the following:
During the process the community recognizes these two crucial points:
- That we used immense amounts of creativity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy upslope, and there's no reason for us not to do the same on the downslope.
- If we collectively plan and act early enough, we can create a way of living that's significantly more connected, more vibrant and more fulfilling than the one we find ourselves in today.
Transition Initiatives make no claim to have all the answers, but by building on the wisdom of the past and unlocking the creative genius, skills and determination in our communities, the solutions can emerge.
Now is the time for us to take stock and to start re-creating our future in ways that are not based on cheap, plentiful and polluting oil but on localized food, sustainable energy sources, resilient local economies and an enlivened sense of community well-being.
Learn more about why we see the Transition Movement as being so important =>
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Geography of Bliss
13 JULY 2010 NO COMMENT
Eric Weiner
http://www.ericweinerbooks.com/content/index.asp
Book Review by Molly Mayfield Barbee
Eric Weiner’s 2008 book The Geography of Bliss is an expansive, humorous, and slightly dark account of his travels and research on subjective well-being, or “SWB,” the scientific term for the field of happiness studies. The question of what comes first, democracy or happiness, is a prominent theme in the volume, and particularly apropos for the Peace X Peace reader as we examine the relationships among justice, good governance, and peace this July.
Weiner researches the happiest places on earth, then visits 10 of the most notable—either for their extreme happiness or unhappiness ratings based on multiple scales. As he travels, he comes to define happiness and the conditions that lead to happy people and/or happy countries in different ways according to different cultural interpretations. His accounts from Bhutan, Switzerland, and Qatar highlight the influence government policies and mechanisms can have on the happiness of citizens.
In Bhutan, Weiner defines happiness as a policy. As many of you know, Bhutan has a unique measure for the country’s successful growth: Gross Domestic Happiness. While the rest of the world is competing to improve the Gross Domestic Product, this tiny Himalayan community is focused more on what Robert Kennedy called “that which make life worthwhile.”
Weiner writes that in Bhutan most people are happy, but no one talks about it. Compassion is more highly valued than economic growth in this heavily Buddhist society. Happiness is not an individual experience in Bhutan. Only collectively, interpersonally, do Bhutanese find inner peace and happiness.
Weiner also notes that there are more monks than soldiers in Bhutan, and that the army produces most of Bhutan’s liquor. He says, “Imagine if all the world’s armies got into the alcohol business. ‘Make booze not war’ could become the rallying cry for a whole new generation of peaceniks.”
A powerful scene takes place as Weiner is preparing to leave Bhutan and reflecting on his time there. With a sense of calm not usually evident in his self-proclaimed grumpy style, Weiner writes about realizing that everything he has been through in his life is okay. He wouldn’t change it. He accepts himself and his experiences without judgment. It’s a beautiful scene and for me the most moving in his book. Happiness and peace come from a commitment to communal well-being, trust, acceptance, and systems, including governments, that support those values.
In Switzerland happiness is boredom. Weiner travels around admiring how well Swiss systems function. They make life predictably smooth, and in that way calmly enjoyable. Behind the general thrust of his chapter on Switzerland, though, is the premise of civic participation and its relationship to happiness.
The Swiss system of direct democracy gives citizens more choices to have their say on the issues than any other country. This is not without flaw. Weiner notes that women did not have the right to vote in that country until 1971, a decision that was delayed by these same choice-loving, comfort-loving citizens. Yet, the Swiss take voting seriously. The average person there votes six or seven times a year on items ranging from international politics to local prohibitions. Several researchers have examined the relationship between choice and/or democracy and happiness. The Swiss economist Bruno Frey found that across all regions of Switzerland, those with the greatest number of referendums were the happiest. There is undeniable satisfaction in having your voice heard.
In Qatar, Weiner defines happiness as a lottery ticket. By this he means that just a few decades ago Qataris were comparatively minor players in the global economy, leading simple and somewhat isolated lives. Then they discovered vast quantities of oil and natural gas beneath their sandy dunes and sky-rocketed onto the world stage. This apparent luck, like winning the lottery, can have the capacity to both significantly increase and decrease people’s happiness.
On the other end of the spectrum from Switzerland, Qatar neither taxes its citizens nor gives them the vote. The state provides generously for the welfare of Qataris. Electricity, health care, and education are all free for citizens. When a Qatari man gets married, he is allotted a plot of land, an interest-free mortgage, and a monthly allowance of several thousand dollars. It sounds great, except for the explicit gender inequality in these policies, and the fact, as Weiner notes, that with no tax burden, there is no democracy. ” ‘Tax’ is another word for vote… Qataris have neither taxation nor representation, and that’s not a happy thing.”
In his research, Weiner is careful not to ascribe direct causality to the conditions he describes. “Are democracies happier than dictatorships? Not necessarily.” Counter to popular post-Soviet restructuring assumptions and policies, Weiner notes the possibility that democracies don’t actually promote happiness but rather, happy places are more likely to be democratic.
It’s a conundrum I haven’t yet resolved. What has your experience been? Do you have examples of peace and happiness as prerequisites for good governance? Or vice versa? Or is it one of those essentially connected phenomena where you can’t have one without the other? Raise your voices in the Comments section.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Cancer Solar Eclipse July 11, 2010
By Cathy Lynn Pagano (about the author) Page 1 of 3 page(s)
For OpEdNews: Cathy Lynn Pagano - Writer
Cancer Solar Eclipse July 11 2010
Solar Eclipse
"Why don't you come in, Curdie?" said the voice. "Did you never see moonlight before?"
"Never without a moon," answered Curdie, in a trembling tone, but gathering courage.
"Certainly not," returned the voice, which was thin and quivering: "I never saw moonlight without a moon."
"But there's no moon outside," said Curdie.
"Ah! but you're inside now," said the voice.
The Princess and Curdie, George MacDonald
To live inside the Moon! That's the gift of this Solar Eclipse in Moon-ruled Cancer. The total Solar Eclipse of July 11, 2010, (3:40pm EDT/ 12:40pm PDT) a powerful new Moon in its own sign of Cancer, is visible across the Pacific, from New Zealand to the lower part of South America. Our southern neighbor's have just gone through their Winter Solstice and this eclipse should be intense, with total coverage lasting over 5 minutes.
The Earth is aligned now on the same plane as the Moon and Sun. The Moon crosses in front of the Sun, coming between Earth and the Sun, blocking the Sun's light. A mystery occurs! The Moon is visible on a New Moon day. A disruption of the usual energies; a shadowing of solar consciousness that can put us in touch with our unconscious depths and feelings.
The Cancer Solar Eclipse calls us to come and Be inside the Moon.
The sign of Cancer is important to all of us. It evokes the Mother, the ebb and flow of tides, the nurturing waters of womb and well, the emotional body that animates the Soul. We are too quick to disregard the Mother in our society, too busy to pay attention to the ebb tides of life, too stressed to listen to the emotional body's messages, too unconscious to heed the call of the Soul. And we have poisoned our waters, so how can they nurture us?
We need to learn to live inside the Moon again. The Moon symbolizes the Unconscious, the inner matrix and Mother that births the Ego and hopefully the Self into the world. The Moon has her own type of consciousness and her own language symbolic language, the language of the Soul.
It's time to re-learn this ancient language, for it is the voice of Wisdom within us. When we enter the Moon's realm of the Imagination, we will discover the solutions to the world's problems, because those very problems are our tests, our initiation into a different relationship with Life on this planet.
So do not despair open yourself to the Moon's light, step inside it and begin your initiation. Let your imagination lead the way.
There is an ancient story about the Wasteland that speaks to what our initiation is all about.
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