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Archive for the Being the change category

A few good things (my weekly round-up of links from across the interwebs)

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

I started out calling these posts ‘A few good things’ And then I realised the links I’m drawn to, the things I want to share, are often a little bit intense (see today’s poem). They might not seem like ‘good things’ to everyone else. But I do believe they are good. They may not be [...]

A few good things (my weekly round up from across the interweb)

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Today my book Zen Under Fire is officially launched in to the world. Well, mostly it is being launched into New Zealand – but thanks to the magic of the internet you can order it from wherever you are (and have it delivered to most places). Zen Under Fire is a book about my experiences [...]

She built a school in Nepal. What does Maggie Doyne say about passion?

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

Is passion enough when it comes to doing good? Or do we need professional skills and qualifications? A conversation with Maggie Doyne, founder of Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School in Nepal.

Why your passion is not enough.

Friday, January 13th, 2012

This week I had dinner with friends. She’s the casting director for The Hobbit movie. He’s the man who created Gandalf’s nose and King Kong’s hair and who invented the process by which the Navi in Avatar had such extraordinarily life-like faces. These two are, as you might imagine, passionate about their work. So you [...]

And, I’m back. With some New Year’s Desires.

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

2012 started for me with a small conversation that has been causing big ripples. I was celebrating New Year’s Eve with a handful of very close friends, plus the guest of one of those friends. That guest was Ella Saltmarsh, who has just finished writing a feature-length screenplay set in Kabul. Ella works “at the [...]

Is hope the answer?

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

A couple of weeks ago I talked to Brigitte Lyons about hope. She was asking some really important questions. Like: “What keeps you going when you have a crisis of hope? You know the feeling. The voice of doubt that creeps up when you start to think you can make a difference. The worry that the work [...]

Don’t Mind Me, I’m Peacefully Engaged

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Yesterday was the day after the national election in New Zealand and I woke up thinking about the challenge of being at once fully engaged in the efforts to build a more just, equitable and compassionate world while maintaining my inner equilibrium and a sense of peace. I know I’m not alone in this challenge. [...]

Change-maker interview: Emily L’Ami

Friday, November 11th, 2011

I believe we can make all our choices into acts of conscious change. Even the ones that might seem superficial, like what we wear. And as it turns out, ‘what we wear’, like ‘what we eat’, is not superficial or trivial at all. The fashion industry is huge, in 2008 consumers in the UK spent £46bn on [...]

Be Well. Do Good. The Girl Effect and You.

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all there is to do in the world? I know I do. When I wrote my Girl Effect post yesterday I wanted to remind you that the world can be made fairer, that girls everywhere can have more opportunities and greater freedom, that unjust global systems can be changed. [...]

The Girl Effect

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Remember the Girl Effect? Last year I took part in the Girl Effect blogging campaign led by Tara Mohr. I got so excited by the conversation, I wrote four posts. First I wrote about Faezeh. If you haven’t yet, take five minutes and watch this video Faezeh and I made to see the Girl Effect in [...]