Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. — Henry Ford
This week’s links are somewhat related, in that the founder of the first one was a featured speaker for the second group. Many of you have probably heard of TED, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading ideas that bring us together and educate us all. There is no end to the list of topics and speakers and there are new ones all the time. In fact, it is probably the single-biggest source of inspiration for me when it comes to finding new ways to talk to my girls about difficult subjects. While many of the speeches are slightly over their heads and a little too long for their attention spans, I watch them myself and pluck out the most interesting nuggets to share with them. If you haven’t discovered this amazing website yet, do yourself a favor and follow the link now. You will be entertained, educated, and come up with tons of new things to talk about at your next cocktail party.
The second site was begun by a TED speaker, Karen Armstrong in an effort to help compassion bloom across the planet. There are so many great things about this site, but one of my favorites is browsing through the stories of everyday, mundane compassion written by visitors to the site. You can read the Compassion Charter, add your name, and learn about how others are applying the principle of caring for all humanity in their lives.
Both sites celebrate humanity, diversity, and strength in numbers without being divisive with respect to religious beliefs, race, sexuality, age, gender, or any other criteria. Check them out!
