Tuesday 29 January 2013

Pay It Forward and Other Thoughts

I just finished watching one of my favourite movies, Pay It Forward, a heartwarming movie about a young boy who attempts to make the world a better place.  The expression "pay it forward" is used to describe the concept of doing a good deed to "repay" others for your own good fortune.  The concept is not new.  In fact, the term was coined many years ago and random acts of kindness have been ongoing, I suspect, for as long as humans have walked this planet.


Although the movie, Pay It Forward, reminds us all to believe in the basic goodness of human kind, it ends on a bit of a sad note.  Just in case you haven't seen the movie, or don't recall the end, I won't spoil it by telling you what happens. Suffice to say, it's also a reminder that sometimes things happen that don't really seem to make sense.  And sometimes, it's those senseless acts that inspire us to be better people -- to reach out to someone in need and do a small act of kindness.  We often never know the impact (good or bad) our decisions and choices have on those around us.  We never know, when we smile at a stranger, have a few kind words for someone, what the ripple affect might be.  What I do know is, when I reach out to someone in kindness, I'm much happier within; when I treat someone unkindly or with indifference, it's like going backwards.

So here is my commitment to the world.  Every day, I will consciously make an effort to undertake a random act of kindness.  In the last few days, I complimented a stranger in the grocery store expressed my grattitude to a retail associate for going the extra mile in a touch situation; helped a young man starting a business find his way through the government red tape.  For the earth, I've stepped up my recycling and composting activities.

Paying it forward doesn't mean measureable acts of kinds. . . it's the little things that count, right? 

Come joint me.  We can make this world a better place.

Saturday 5 January 2013

Crossing Over -- Infrastructure Into Art

I remember, as a kid, we often identified communities by a piece of infrastructure that stood out.  The City of Red Deer, for example, has its infamous Green Onion -- the old water tower, standing high above the city (or, at least, it used to).  I always loved it when communities painted their water towers, a section of concrete wall, or whatever they had that set them apart and gave a sense of  identity.


http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/750000_to_paint_our_green_onion_159666715.html

We now have a plethora of transmission lines, wind farms and communication towers that seem to be, at times, more of a blight on the landscape than anything else.  Well folks, it doesn't have to been that way.  There are some pretty creative people out there that have taken infrastructure -- even old, rotting, decrepit infrastructure -- to a whole new level.  I like it.  I like it a lot! 




Sihouette
  



Brilliant Urban Interventions by OakOak Turn Crumbling City Infrastructure into a Visual Playground  street art