Be Simple … Apparel

Guest post generously contributed by Will Bildsten, a 14 year old entrepreneur who wants to make a difference in this world by being simple, founder and owner of Be Simple Apparel. You can follow and support this simple initiative on Facebook and Twitter.

Being simple to make a difference

I must admit, I have always wanted things to be simpler. I have bipolar disorder. Life can be a bumpy road for me. Heck, the littlest bumps on the road can really affect me. I have always wanted to be nicer to myself about my mistakes. I have always wanted to handle every day situations like everyone else. I have always always wanted to live life without any erratic bumps on the road. Who knew at age 14, I, Will Bildsten, would start a t-shirt company eventually to be named Be Simple Apparel?

It was a regular day, and I opened up Microsoft Word. I wrote in a big, sans-serif font: Be Simple. Although I generally try to avoid printing, I decided to print this. I taped it on my bedroom door. I left it there and lived my life. Eventually, I wanted to do something with the idea of being simple. I started sketching. I experimented with different designs to express being simple. I decided that in order to fully express being simple, I needed a color (black) and a symbol (the ying-yang) to add more depth. I changed it a bit and created my final concept. I was able to get Ned, who works with my dad, to digitalize the designs.

Later on, I started to wonder how I could express this design. I eventually concluded that t-shirts are expressive, therefore perfect for the job. After researching t-shirts, I realized that cotton is full of pesticides, and polyester is technically oil. I needed to find a material that would be green yet comfortable. I weighed three fabrics: hemp, bamboo, and organic cotton. Hemp is environmentally friendly, but it is too rough. Bamboo, in fact, is awful for the environment, due to its manufacturing processes. I concluded that organic cotton was perfect: comfy enough and green enough. Next, I researched suppliers. After searching for hours, I found Organic Apparel: organic cotton tees that are made in the USA. I could print the tees using water-based inks at DSPE (Denver Screen Printing & Embroidery).

I knew that the t-shirts would be eco-friendly and union-made, but I still had work to do: that legal stuff. I, of course, learned a lot while I was forming an LLC and setting up state taxes. Eventually, I had everything together, but then my dad’s co-workers–working at an ad agency–confronted me that the design needed work. Hence, my new designs were created. And yes, designs. I expanded my line with even more simple messages: be green, be compassionate, be inspired, be peaceful, and be happy. I also changed the design philosophy, resulting in only displaying “be” with a symbol inside the letter b. Each be has its own color, further representing its philosophy. Next, I finished made website and set up all of the social networks. Finally, we set up a charity program to allocate 2% of sales to help relieve Haiti (through the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund). In the end, everything was ready, so we ordered the first 100 tees and planned a launch party for us to introduce and sell our first products.

The launch party was a success. All of my friends and family came. We (me, my mom, and my dad) properly represented the brand in every way. Next, we would have to fulfill pre-orders at the party and start selling online.

Now, our second batch of t-shirts came, and I am working to spread the word of Be Simple Apparel. Business is good for a recession, and the business has really helped me to be simple, be green, be compassionate, be peaceful, be inspired, and be happy. This experience has shaped me in so many ways. I am going to have to improve my business in every possible way. I am also going to have to get the t-shirts selling in retail stores. Oh, and I’ll be 15 soon … darn.

TED Tuesday: Demystifying Autism

Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works — sharing her ability to “think in pictures,” which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.

 

TED Tuesday: Nerdcore comedy

Performer and web toymaker Ze Frank delivers a hilarious nerdcore standup routine, then tells us what he’s seriously passionate about: helping people create and interact using simple, addictive web tools.

Dancing with Ze: new media entrepreneur, and a very funny guy, Ze Frank will share insights in his keynote at DIMA 2008.(Connections)(Interview): An article … – Connecting the Imaging Communities

More than just biology

Guest post generously contributed by Elisabeth Manning, founder of Concsious Conception. Elisabeth is a former assistant to NIKE founder Phil Knight and spent her twenties in corporate life trying to figure out what was missing. From the asking came Guidance, and a series of events led her to her true awakening to her purpose. She is now a Certified Spirit and Creation (fertility) Coach living in the San Francisco Bay Area facilitating others in stepping into their own true creations. She works with clients one-on one-by phone, and currently speaks about Conscious Conception and the Energy of Fertility (and Pregnancy), especially during IVF. Elisabeth also teaches a popular phone meditation called BabySpirit to call in and welcome a little-one into being and activate a healthy and fertile journey to parenthood. She lives in San Anselmo, CA with her beloved dog, Elliot. Rather than giving birth t children of her own, she is more strongly called to assist others in bringing forth their creations, thereby being a midwife in service to the many.

Conscious Conception, a Visionary approach to Fertility, Became About Birthing Myself First

[Image source] I was called to a very unique way of life when I was in utter despair. God’s honest truth. I was miserably searching for my ultimate calling to be serving the highest good, yet I had no idea what that meant. It began a journey of a lifetime, and I coached myself to find out more about me. I learned a lot, uncovered a lot, yet still didn’t know how it was going to piece together in some way that can actually be my life’s work. It was when I contacted a psychic that my life began to feel remotely part of something bigger.

I will never forget her saying to me I have ‘a lot of children in my space’, that I would be working with children, but that she doesn’t see me having any children of my own. I was both puzzled and infuriated; I was convinced she had it completely backward. I had NO desire to work with children and yet one day well …one day I most certainly would …or should…shouldn’t I? have a child of my own…or at least that was what my mother always s told me and well, that was just what I and always assumed.

That was the first time I began questioning my beliefs and whether they worked for me or not. I became aware that maybe I was living by my mothers dream and not my own because, weren’t you supposed to have a desire for something first before actually having that something come into being? I never really had. I had always loved children, I just thought that psychic must have had it backward is all.

My childhood was full of love, but not much consciousness from my mother. A single alcoholic on welfare “because she wanted to spend more time with me” became my life, and yet I knew I was deeply loved. “The world is your oyster-you can do anything” was my mother’s message to me, yet, my world of examples was welfare and beer and low self-esteem. So you see, I became fascinated with self esteem and human potential and the disparity of the two was so apparent in my own life. But I had no idea this awareness, this passion to find peace between the two would fit into my future, not to mention my growing fascination with scientific research bridging spiritual pursuits.

One fine day, it hit like lightning. I had a conversation with a doula (at the time I knew nothing of what a doula was, which now is something we never should be without when we are new at birthing and motherhood.)

She told me of the parents in a wealthy part of where I live in California who have all the money but seemingly aren’t very sensitive as parents. It got my attention, but nothing much more than that. Then, I learned of IVF (I knew nothing of what that was which I found out, is conception in a Petri dish with the help of very advanced medical technology) and how much it cost (20k for ONE try) for about 20% success rate.

My whole body suddenly shuddered and I found myself saying ”Oh my gosh! No wonder the success rate is lower than it should be: The parents are nervous and stressed when the mommy takes this fertilized egg home inside of her which is NOT a vibrational match for this little light being inside her, and second, nobody is holding a proper sacred space energetically in the Petri dish! Being that we are electrical beings, literally, it makes sense that a vibration similar to the mini Big Bang (as conception would certainly be), that the “current” ought to also be high in the “container” holding space for it? . And what of the welcoming of the child consciously? And what of science yet to find the “”current” of love as a viable healing source, not to mention the key missing ingredient in medical intervention with fertility and IVF? This is the piece we have yet to discover, and I believe we most certainly will. Just look at IONS and Heartmath, Bruce Lipton and Carolyn Myss, to name a few of the pioneers who have definitely made headway in the area of mind/body connection and science.

Everything suddenly flooded in like a download. I was ‘hit’ with my purpose.

I called my mentor and ranted “Somebody ought to be doing something!” She said, “And that somebody will have to be you Elisabeth. Nobody is thinking like this, therefore you must be the one.” I started weeping. “But I don’t know anything!” She said you know more than you think you know. You have been studying consciousness for how many years now? And Quantum physics? And creation and nature and the essence of manifestation? It sounds to me you must begin talking about what you know and share your ideas with other visionaries. You have a vision.” I wept some more. I was so afraid of what I saw, of what to make of this big thinking that seemed so much bigger than me. What if I was wrong?

Then I started to see, that psychic was absolutely right. As I began on my journey, I began to see my past waw what I needed to prepare me, my mother being my perfect teacher. The ‘
children I was working with’ just happen to still be in the process of crossing over into the physical. They also happen to be teaching me about what their parents need and how they need to be a vibrational match for their level of consciousness, and that for the purest souls to enter in they need their parents to take on the highest consciousness, and purification of mind, body and soul as humanly possible. I also learned since then that this is nothing new, for example, for the Essenes it was a way of life, especially for Mary to prepare for Jesus. They had been preparing her since she was about 4 years old.

So imagine what a little awareness and preparation might do for your child? We won’t know unless we try. All I know is I am called to serve in the highest Light for tomorrow’s children, for tomorrows potential.

TED Tuesday: Tiding up art

Ursus Wehrli shares his vision for a cleaner, more organized, tidier form of art — by deconstructing the paintings of modern masters into their component pieces, sorted by color and size.

Intelligence? Life?

A recent article on PhysOrg.com by Clara Moskowitz of Astrobio.net reports on a new study that has found that the most probable place to find intelligent life in the galaxy is around stars very similar to our own sun. The researchers involved in this study talk about a Goldilocks region around a star in which a planet would be just right for life – not too close that its surface would be boiling, and not too far that it would be frigid either. The article goes on to say, “Indeed, sun-like stars seem to have the right balance: They are of high enough mass that they are more likely to host habitable planets, but they are of low enough mass that they live long enough for intelligent life to develop, and are not extremely scarce.”

As I read this article I couldn’t help but feel surprised at the conclusions the researchers had reached and the logic they had used for it. The entire argument is based on assumption that what we see here on Earth is what “life” is and the capabilities of human brain are what comprise “intelligence”. How reasonable is such an assumption? In my humble opinion, not at all. It just serves to highlight the egocentrism of us homo sapiens. Studies in various branches of biology in last few decades have uncovered living creatures in conditions that we did not expect to harbour life until then. These are called ‘extremophiles’. The most well known example is probably the whole ecosystem flourishing around the hydrothermal vents on the ocean floors, in either very acidic or alkaline conditions, in total absence of sunlight. And we keep finding more of them thriving under various conditions considered extreme for human beings. So is it logical for the scientists to talk about ‘the Goldilocks region’ mentioned above?

Slightly more difficult to refute is the definition of “intelligence”. Because it is hard to imagine what else, other than what we do, could be called intelligent. But I think it is easier if we consider the “signs of intelligence” that we look for rather than intelligence itself. And that’s how we have been looking for extraterrestrial intelligence so far. Can we detect any electromagnetic signals? Can we see any organised structures on other planets that don’t look natural? But who is to say that life forms with completely different physical structure to us and living on a planet that not necessarily has similar elemental composition as Earth and its atmosphere are to “progress” in a way recognisable to humans? We have various electronic devices transmitting signals because we have plenty of silicon. We have built the machines and structures we have because that’s what we could do with our 2 hands, 2 legs, one brain bodies. Our languages developed like they did because of the way our vocal organs evolved. If we take movies like Men in black seriously for a second, it is easy to see how any of those weird looking aliens could probably not achieve the same feats. All the ET themed movies so far are a bit misleading in the sense that they show the ETs coming to Earth in their own physical forms, different from ours. But they seem to be perfectly alright in the Earth’s atmosphere, breathing our air, walking comfortably under the influence of Earth’s gravitational field. So once again, the assumption is the conditions “back home” for them are the same. I think what was shown in the movie The day the Earth stood still is more logical. The aliens gather our DNA sample, make a placental tissue to encase themselves in during their journey to Earth and then “be born here on Earth” to be physically identical to homo sapiens.

[Image source here]

Do you not think there is a chance that we have not recognised other intelligent life because we are looking for what is familiar to us? May be their buildings don’t look like ours. May be they don’t communicate using a form of energy (electromagnetic) that we can detect. And may be it is the same for them that they can’t recognise Earth as a planet inhabited by “intelligent” “life” because they’re looking for something completely different to homo sapiens. So is the universe designed such that all intelligent life forms remain isolated from each other? Or will we progress to a stage where we will find something that pervades all substance (living or non-living by our definition) of the universe?

TED Tuesday: Not-so-ordinary photography

Taryn Simon exhibits her startling take on photography — to reveal worlds and people we would never see otherwise. She shares two projects: one documents otherworldly locations typically kept secret from the public, the other involves haunting portraits of men convicted for crimes they did not commit.

TED Tuesday: Wireless electricity

Eric Giler wants to untangle our wired lives with cable-free electric power. Here, he covers what this sci-fi tech offers, and demos MIT’s breakthrough version, WiTricity — a near-to-market invention that may soon recharge your cell phone, car, pacemaker.

Here we go again …

Technological advances have a peculiar way about them. They always seem to progress in steps of exponential growth followed by a period of lull. This trend is closely followed by our ability to learn new things about the world around us. And so human beings, particularly scientists, go through alternating periods of “discovery frenzy” and complacency that there’s nothing more left to explain. We had hit such a complacent period a few decades ago as regards origin and evolution of life on our planet. But now we’re in the “discovery frenzy” stage for the same and hence getting disillusioned about many theories and principles that we thought were invincible. Many new discoveries using newest and (so far) most accurate techniques are making it more than clear that the question of “how life originated on Earth?” is far from settled.

Nick Lane, the first Provost’s Venture Research Fellow at University College London and author of Life Ascending: The ten great inventions of evolution, has written a detailed article in the New Scientist on 19th October, 2009 about an alternative theory for origin of life. This is only the latest one in the long line of many such that came before it but didn’t survive the scientific scrutiny. It is based on not-so-conventional ideas of Peter Mitchell who was initially dismissed by his contemporaries but won a Nobel in 1978. Geochemist Mike Russell of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California is rethinking the origin of life and finds Mitchell’s ‘Chemiosmosis’ a valid candidate. The following text from Lane’s article explains the idea,

Before Mitchell, everyone assumed that cells got their energy using straightforward chemistry. The universal energy currency of life is a molecule called ATP […] generated from food by a series of standard chemical reactions. Mitchell thought otherwise. Life, he argued, is powered not by the kind of chemistry that goes on in a test tube but by a kind of electricity. The energy from food, […] is used to pump […] protons, through a membrane. As protons accumulate on one side, an electrochemical gradient builds up across the membrane. Given the chance, the protons will flow back across, releasing energy that can be harnessed to assemble ATP molecules. In energy terms, the process is analogous to filling a raised tank with buckets of water, then using the water to drive a waterwheel.

Even though this seems a counterintuitive and roundabout way to produce energy to power life, there is a growing body of evidence of this process occurring everywhere in nature. Aided with the latest knowledge of fellow biologists and using a logical process of elimination, author Lane reaches a baffling conclusion. The common ancestor of all life on Earth was something with components of a modern cell but no walls or boundaries. Now that’s a stunner! But nature has never failed to provide us evidence for the most unexpected and hence broaden the horizons of our knowledge. So along came the surprise discovery of alkaline hyrdrothermal vents just off the mid-Atlantic ridge in 2000. It turns out that the combination of their peculiar structure and the chemical conditions of atmosphere and ocean the on the early Earth provide a perfect toolkit for the production of DNA, RNA, an ATP prototype, all without the requirement for a wall or boundary. I have only given an outline of what Nick Lane’s article describes in a great detail. So if my summary makes you curious, go read the full article.

I’ll end this post with the apt ending Nick Lane provides to his article,

Many details have yet to be filled in, and it may never be possible to prove beyond any doubt that life evolved by this mechanism. The evidence, however, is growing. This scenario matches the known properties of all life on Earth, is energetically plausible – and returns Mitchell’s great theory to its rightful place at the very centre of biology.

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Chemiosmotic Proton Circuits in Biological Membranes (In Honor of Peter Mitchell)

Universe in your head

[Image source: MSNBC]

“Everyone creates their own reality.”

“Thoughts become things.”

“Observer collapses the wave-function merely by observing.”

These lines were made famous by the “new age-y” documentaries like What the bleep do we know?! and The secret. May be not all of you have heard of them. But these and many other works by leading scientists and spiritual leaders have lead to a paradigm shift amongst those who are open to such shifts. Research into understanding of mind-body interaction has gone way beyond neuroscience, which is the popular face of this kind of research. I’m sure most of you would have heard / seen the term “New age” in regards to classification of books, music, ideas etc. The term points more towards the rise of a “new age” of sorts in human thinking and doesn’t really mean that human beings are discovering something new. It is a mere rediscovery if one considers the ancient texts of numerous cultures as not mere mythology.

Many (re)discoveries in the cutting edge research in quantum physics, neuroscience, cognitive sciences and biomedicine are now hinting towards the existence of ‘consciousness’ and its significant importance in how we perceive the world, the “reality”. Cosmic Log on MSNBC.com describes itself as “Quantum fluctuations in space, science, exploration and other cosmic fields… served up regularly by MSNBC.com science editor Alan Boyle since 2002.” It showcases the book ‘Biocentrism’ by biomedical researcher Robert Lanza which is generating controversy by arguing that our consciousness plays a central role in creating the cosmos. As one of the reviewers of the book says, this may not be an entirely new idea but it is worth repeating. The physicists who should be declaring this out loud to the general populous aren’t doing so because it would mean a HUGE paradigm shift; may be the one that we’re not yet ready to handle. But if YOU think you are ready, give the book a read. We successfully made the shift from ‘geocentric’ model to ‘heliocentric’ model. May be now it is time to try a bigger leap, to the ‘biocentric’ model.

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