1. Global Festival. Time Out New York just emailed me about the Global Festival. The Headliners: Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Foo Fighters and The Black Keys…and it’s FOR FREE (if you have a ticket). Holy crap, right? What a way to end the summer and start the fall. The Global Festival takes place in Central Park on September 29th.
What’s great about it is that you can win up to two tickets to the event just by learning more about the program, signing petitions and sharing it with your friends on Facebook (and Twitter).
Their issues are all important, especially when it comes to stamping out world hunger, poverty, developing more schools (100 is their goal) in the next year, and stamping out malaria by giving children a fighting chance at survival from a mosquito bite.
These are basic issues. In first world countries, it’s hard to imagine our kids not going to school. It’s the law! They have to go! It’s hard to imagine our kids dying from a mosquito bite. It’s also hard to imagine that any child in our country is dying from hunger or living in extreme poverty that they have to eat rotten food out of landfills. Yet, there are children around the world that won’t survive because of these basic issues.
Throw in war, scarcity of access to clean water, etc. and you’ll find what the rest of the world is really like. Imagine if the first world countries faced this kind of dilemma. It’s hard to imagine these basic things we take for granted are not available to the entire world.
The Global Citizen campaign is a network that is aiming to bring the world together to help each other. It doesn’t make sense how we have so much abundance in first world countries, yet there are children starving to death in third world countries. They are dying from hunger. Why can’t those who have abundance share their wealth with those who have nothing? Why are we hording it all?
Why are there children in the world who can’t read or write their own names?
Why are people not given access to medical care for something to prevent a simple bug bite from killing them?
Some people will say it’s the difference in classes. The differences in the haves and the have nots. Why are we punishing them just because they were born in that part of the world? Then again…you call yourself a religious person. Not sure who you’re religious about if you can’t take care of your brothers and sisters around the world.
This world is a sad place when someone with wealth refuses to share their wealth with those that have nothing. The way I was taught…when you have wealth, your wealth is a gift from God. It is your duty to share what God has given to you with your brothers and sisters…within meaning. You have to share the wealth in order for your wealth to grow. Giving it all away is not the same as sharing. Sharing is about helping to lift each other up. Give people access to the things they cannot access because of their conditions…open doors for them. Help give them the tools they need so that they can spread the wealth even further.
When you give…you give knowing that the good deed will keep going. It doesn’t end in that one act. Look beyond the initial act. Only give if you know that by giving, that good karmic action will continue flowing from one person to the next. This is how you build up wealth.
There’s a story from Fez, Morocco about a British woman who loved Morocco so much that she decided to help the people there by building an animal hospital. How does an animal hospital help the people of Morocco?
Simple. The people of Morocco rarely have pets. Their animals are their livelihood. Donkeys and camels work. Sheep provide wool. Cows provide milk. They need their animals in order to work and survive. So if an animal is injured, they can take them to the animal hospital where they are treated…FOR FREE.
This not only helps the animal, it helps the people of Morocco and their commerce. It gives them an opportunity to continue working, because these animals are part of their jobs and getting from one place to the next.
By helping the animals, she in turn helps the people of Morocco. Even after her death, that animal hospital still provides free veterinary care to the animals of Morocco. It’s a good karmic action that continues long after her death. That is thinking beyond the initial action and a perfect example of how to create good karma that lasts even after your death. That is what it means to be a Global Citizen.
You can read up on Global Citizen here and find out how you can get free tickets to the concert in September. I really can’t wait to go!
{Oh, and if I win tickets, I’m passing them along, because I’m buying a VIP experience. It did say Foo Fighters, right??? Backstage, please!}
2. Save On Crafts. Alright DIYers, home decor lovers and people prepping for their weddings…I’m going to let you in on a new find: SAVE ON CRAFTS.
I’m surprised Martha Stewart and Country Living haven’t found this place yet. It’s everything you would see from their sites and magazines for a fraction of the price (and saves all of that time scouring antique markets just to find these things).
Let’s take for instance this picture on the right. I used this photo in my post for how I’ll be displaying my couture shoes…like artwork. See that display on the left sitting on the table? Now, where does one find something like that? HERE. Did you see the price tag? For a set of 2 jars (in 2 sizes)…it’s $30. They have another one for $24.
In the Upcycle Crates post, I also mentioned they had crates on this site too. It was the cheapest place of all the ones I researched.
There are so many things on this site that are very budget friendly for those trying to decorate at home or for a wedding.
3. A Beautiful Mess. I came across this blog on Pinterest. I have to say…they talk about everything that I’m interested in. From photography to dress making to food to how to organize just about everything in life (including ideas), you’ll learn plenty.
Check out their site: A Beautiful Mess. You’ll be inspired and learn so much!
4. Cape Cod, Massachusetts. So I’ve been thinking about this for years…and then while I was in Sorrento, I thought…I have to do this. Maybe it was the sailboats. Maybe it was the marina, the seafood or the beach. I don’t know. But when I came back from Italy, I started to put my plan into action. I’m going to the Cape for Labor Day weekend…to look for a house.
No, not to rent. TO BUY.
A lot of my friends in NYC, while they rent here, they all have vacation homes they bought elsewhere. I talked it through with my boss’ wife the other day and it just made sense to buy in Cape Cod. I have a lot of friends in the Boston area. It would be a great way to just meet up on a long weekend. For me, it would just be nice to get away and write…especially during the winter months.
Ooh…I said winter months. I always said to myself that after the first book is published, I’ll get a little cottage in Cape Cod. Well…
5. Homemade Thin Mints. OMG! No way…there’s a recipe out there for HOMEMADE THIN MINTS!
While I could just tell you how to make it…that would be stealing. I’ll just let you find out for yourself, just because the pictures of the process are just incredible at The View from Great Island. They make you feel like running out to the grocery store to buy up all of the ingredients to make them at home. Hell, I plan to this fall. You can get the recipe here.
Actually…I just want you to go to that site because the blog is amazing. All of those recipes…and the pictures…so hungry now…
