"The most important fact about Spaceship Earth:
​An Instruction book didn't come with it."
R. Buckminister Fuller. 

Related Reading:
Why It Matters
Nature's Teaching
​Nature's Teaching: Foil Or Oil? 

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect.

The truth is that I have always thought about the idea of nature being able to replenish itself. For example if you prune a plant, or cut some of the branches from a tree, the branches will begin to grow again, in some or most cases from different angles. You can even think from the level of a minor bruise or a cut. The bruise will heal over time, and with the elements of air the cut will also heal with time. If we go deeper, lets think of a tree.

A tree provides us with shade in the summer, and even warmth in the winter. There is growth, greenery, or colors depending on the type of tree. It breathes in Carbon Dioxide, so we can have cleaner air, they are appealing to the eye. They can grow fruits. We can build tree houses, or even swings that contribute to recreational needs. We can plant flowers, and create green living spaces around them. I am sure that if we ask an expert in the field, we'll learn more of the benefits. There is so much beauty, treasure and resources to be found in nature, above and below sea level. The trick is really: how can we find and use them for the good, to aim for minimal harm to the environment? 

These thoughts can be related to what Buckminister Fuller had to say, often he was referred to as Bucky. He was fascinated with the environment, Earth, and invention. He truly believed in the power of the Earth's resources, but he was also concerned about the conservations. He says: "Earth is the beneficiary of far more physical wealth that is generally realized" (Gerber, 2012).

Humanity's cosmic -energy income account consists entirely of our gravity - and - star (99 percent sun) distributed cosmic dividends of waterpower, tidal power, wave power, wind power, vegetation - produced alcohols, methane gas, vulcanism, and so on. Humainty's present rate of total energy consumption amounts to only four millionth of 1 percent of the rate of it's energy income. 

The enormity of Earth's energy income, when regarded as a whole, has profound social, economic, environmental, and educational implications. 

(Gerber, 2012).

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From the above thoughts we can derive that human's don't really understand the potential of the Earth we live in. Bucky also wrote about wars, and wanted to move from a point of "weaponry to livingry" (2012). Today we see how the Earth is being exploited for destruction. Political regimes continue to test weapons, as a showing of strength, for what are tools to destroy and destruct human beings and the Earth. Rather than ensuring human survival, they are engaged in processes to destroy. The mass populations and groups who are engaged in conservations, simply see their efforts being wasted when there is mass destruction. It is truly time to seek solutions, why not extend hands for friendship, and engage in what Bucky called "Livingry"?

Dedication: These thoughts are dedicated to all
22, 000 who were evacuated from a stage at the Spanish Music festival in Spain, where there was a massive fire on stage. Our thoughts of love & kindness. 

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand - written on July 30th, 2017. They are also related to my studies that took place in 2014.

Reference: Gerber, J., R. (2012). Wholeness. DC: Gerber Educational Resources.

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"Look Deep Into Nature And Then You Will Understand Everything Better."
Albert Einstein.

​Related Reading:
Why It Matters
Nature's Teaching 

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. 

     The truth is that I was taking the time to think about my previous thoughts, with regards to everyone can do something to protect the environment. It is interesting how conversations can often act as reminders of previous life experience. I was reminded of the days of our family trip to Pakistan, I think I was about 9 or 10. Our Grandmother used to have special steel containers to store milk and butter. The milk was not brought from a fridge in a container, it was delivered, and we simply took our steel milk container to the front door, and pay for the portion that we required. 

     I also remembered newspaper that was used to make paper bags, also fresh water that was stored in containers made from clay every morning. We could question the hygiene related to these practices, but I was thinking of the idea that maybe developing countries have been engaging in Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse for years, part of their daily living practice, however it is not recognized because the practices don't follow or fit modern day western conceptualization. I think that when it comes to the enviroment  and "green" living practices, we have to be mindful that we are not "colonizing" the concept to fit with one set of ideas or ideals.

     These thoughts can also be linked to that of Norway, who was ranked 1st in 2015 as the best country to live in by the UN Human Development Index, for the thirteenth time. Norway is proud of it's natural environments and high living standards, yet it is based upon an oil based economy, accruing wealth from oil. Norway thrives from their oil economy. So it is interesting to see that a European country can make it to number 1, even if they are thriving from oil. What if this was an Arab or Eastern nation, that was also flourishing because of an oil based economy? I think the narrative would be quite different.

     The question with regards to the environment and its survival, really boils down to whose story will survive. We can also see there are certain ideals and prejudices that are also associated with the protection of the environment.

Dedication: These thoughts are dedicated to all human  beings. Learn To Understand. My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand - written on July 29th, 2017.
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​"Nature Is One Of Our Greatest Teachers"

​Related Reading - Why It Matters

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. 

     The truth is that I was thinking about the idea of protecting the earth, our only planet, not only for the present generations, but also future generations as well. What we do today is obviously going to impact a tomorrow. But then I got to thinking about the average family, developing countries, and those who are living in poverty. Why would these individuals, families, or countries care about protecting the Earth, when their number one goal is to survive? 

     After thinking about this question, I realized that the United Nations, Division for Sustainable Development's (SDG's) number one goal is to reduce poverty. Sustainable goal Number one is to: "End poverty in all it's forms everywhere." When human beings know that they can sufficiently provide or look after themselves or their families, they can branch out, to accomplish goals that are beyond self - survival. However, this is not to say that no one can do anything, every one can do something. The truest test of character is to be able to give back, even in periods where human beings are not in their ideal circumstances, if we wait for an ideal, we will be waiting for a long time. 

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​     I really liked the idea of "The Lazy Persons Guide To Saving The World." Whilst there are the larger goals of ending poverty, there are small simple steps that anyone could do. Sustainable development or climate change is really the result of human actions. With every cause there is an effect, and with every effect there is a cause. This thought can be transferred to the daily actions that take place in a household, to that of the satellites that orbit the Earth. How are these actions influencing natural disasters from occurring? Maybe climate change is also another sociological construction, that is a creation of human experiments, trials and errors? However, as with the issues of race, ethnicity, gender, discrimination, etc, environmental goals are also a constructed issue that we are left to solve. 

Dedication: These thoughts are dedicated to all human beings, our Earth, our home. My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand - written on July 28th, 2016.
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This Page is dedicated to my thoughts as I read the book The Buffer Zone Diet™ by Fred Cuellar. I thought that it was necessary to create a separate page with all my thoughts collected. I invite you to read: The Seventh Sense and also my related Facebook posts that I have shared here as well. Thank you! :)

​(This Page will continue to be updated)

My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Learning and Development

I decided to take a course that discusses education for sustainable development. As this is the beginning of the course, I thought that it would be important to share what I thought that this topic will be about, which I will offer below. But on a more personal note, I thought that it is important to learn about sustainable development and growth, especially since many leaders or groups were critical of President Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. My presence in this course is also a commitment to the thoughts that I share previously, with a strong belief that the United States is still committed to our climate.

What Is Education For Sustainablity?

I think that education for sustainability should compromise more than the concept of the three
R's. These are Recycle, Re-use, and Reduce. This is not to say that these are not important, because it is important to conserve. We only have one planet Earth, this is the home of human beings, and deserves to be protected for the survival of human species. Nature is necessary for the health and well - being of individuals, as environment regulates behavior. If our environment is clean, in - order, it will impact our behaviour, mental / mind, and well - being, as compared to that of an environment that is in chaos. These thoughts that are related to individuals, can be related to societies, and eventually to the macro, to that of a nation, and also to cross - border activity. Education plays an essential role to sustainable development and growth, as it creates an awareness and an appreciation for our environment. Nature deserves to be preserved, and conserved for the many species living on Earth, as well as our own health and well - being. Nature needs nurture, and nurture needs nature.
 

Original In - Class Writing Task

My thoughts to share with love & Kindness! :) 

Notes - Originally hand - written on July 25th 2017
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"Every Sunset Brings The Promise Of A New Dawn"
Ralph Waldo Emerson 

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect.

     The truth is the other day I wrote about the powerful role of knowledge, the thoughts were called A Collective Vision. I chose this title after taking some time to really think about, the overall meaning I wanted to convey with the writing. The idea for diplomacy or knowledge as a catalyst to drive innovation, or social policy is a vision that has to be viewed for the social good, for the collective. One person may drive this shift, propel the vision, but it takes more people behind the propeller to actually put the vision into action.

     Then it dawned upon me, that in actual fact to be able to see anything, we have to piece it together through our own vision. For example: If you are looking at a piece of art work, it might seem as though you are looking at this image as a whole, but really you are not. The eye or visual field looks at parts of the art work, and these parts are put together by the brain, in simplistic terms. If we are to see anything at the level of the individual, then we must see the parts in order to formulate the whole. These thoughts can also be thought of when we think about vision upon a collective level. 

​     A collective vision does not suggest that we ignore individual difference - it means to recognize these, embrace these for an all - encompassing vision. Of course it does sound simple than it is in reality. But to understand anything we must go back to simple levels, so that there is a clear vision about how a nation, or nations can work together for present and future generations.  

Dedication: The words of this being are dedicated to all beings, my thoughts to share with love & kindness! :)

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand - written on July 26th 2017.

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As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. 

     The truth is that I began to write a series of thoughts posts that were linked to the idea of diplomacy. Soft power, hard power, etc. Then I took a break because I felt that it was necessary to allow some space in between my thoughts, to reflect upon these topics. Finally, it is time to write some sort of conclusion to wrap up these thoughts, although this is not to say that these topics don't deserve attention, they actually deserve serious attention.

     You are invited to read the following thoughts posts that are tied to these thoughts for a couple understanding of my thoughts.
The Human Touch
Diplomatic Defence 
A Travellers Document
Purple Training
Rise For Peace
Own Flaws
​A Flourishing Thought 
​

​soft power is a persuasive International relations approach. It is the ability to coerce others to win hearts and minds.

Hard power is a persuasive approach that uses the strength of the military. 

     Soft power was a concept developed by political theorist Joseph Nye, about 10 years earlier. However, the use of Soft Power has been used historically. To offer an example we can think about the time when Hungary saw the end of communism in 1989. The U.S. provided vital aids and interventions with the Fulbright Program, through this political transition. The success of this facilitation was high. What we did see during this intervention was the U.S. aided Hungary, and Hungary also sent scholars, researchers, and students to the U. S. So what was happening? Both countries were engaged in diplomatic relations, and they were benefiting mutually. We can even go further into history when there were no exchanges or definitions. Ancient civilizations such as the Roman Empire was promoting Latin culture through cultural exchanges.

     Today whilst we do have definitions, thriving and flourishing education exchange programs that are working successfully through international education, I think that Knowledge and it is crucial role to create, build, maintain, and preserve diplomatic relations has to be thought about critically. To tell you the truth there is a blur of lines between diplomacy, political defence, and also national identity. Whilst this may not have been the case historically, today there is a great realization of the power of knowledge, and diplomacy with the use of knowledge.

     If the use of knowledge diplomacy, or cultural exchanges can save us from wars, then who wouldn't want this? However, with the realization of anything these is also a part where it can be used for the purposes of selfish gains and exploitations. If we are to continue to use knowledge for the purposes of diplomacy, and build relations with other countries, then there should always be some sort of mutual benefits, it is not fair if countries who are involved in some sort of partnership agreement solely benefit. However, there are countries who are utilizing the power of knowledge to this accord. 

     If we are to move forward with a collective vision of peace globally, we must consider the +/- of knowledge diplomacy, International education, exchanges, and activities, are one avenue to this type of diplomacy. Governments, and foreign policy will intervene because there is a cross - border flow of people. So in short, with the recognition of the powerful role of knowledge, it is also a time to think about how these knowledge economies are being used. Looking at historical examples can be beneficial to the contemporary efforts of educators and policy makers. 

Dedication: Any exchange, word, or amount of knowledge should always be given with the purity of heart. Dedicated to all beings, my thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand written on July 24th 2017.

These thoughts are derived from my own research, whilst I have tried to be a simplistic in terms of definitions, please read scholarly definitions for references. 

Further reading 
​The Benefits of soft power 

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"Visual - Spatial learners need to see to think"
Bette Fetter

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect.

     The truth is that I was thinking about the act of writing. Somehow I find it easier to write with my thoughts flowing upon a page. To simply write. However, when it comes to the task of academic writing, I somehow feel the task is somewhat daunting, especially because of the fact that there are conventions that need to be followed, also the writing is about specific research, and evidence is required. To help me cope with the task of academic writing, I have to try to visualize the actual paper as a canvas. I have to see and imagine first.

     I will be laying the foundation with my words, yet the colors, tones, and hues, will be mixed with research, evidence, and opinion. I can never begin a paper typing out the words. I find it easier to write the draft out first. Then when all the words have been typed out to the canvas, with the hues, the colors, I can begin to fine tune, add details and in a sense create a final piece, with edits, making sure that the little details with the writing are satisfactory. And to finish a title. As with giving a piece of art work a name is crucial, so to is that of a paper. Sometimes this also requires some thought.

     All learners, human beings have different approaches as to how they learn and write. What  you have to find is a process that works for you. For me it is visualizing, and constructing art. For others it may be to simply write. What I have found through my own processes is that the act of writing, and academic writing are two different processes that require a different approach. 

Dedication: The words of this being are dedicated to all, my thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand - written on July 23rd 2017.
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A Note Of Hope.

Sometimes the greatest obstacles to achieving a dream can be the self. We become critical of the self, or even stop believing in the self. A dream does not have to be grand, it could be something small or even daily goals - of course dreams can also be grand as well. The self - doubt does not always breed at the implicit level to begin with. Sometimes is can take root from the external forces, against the barriers that continuously push us down. These are particularly prevalent in educational systems, where we face invisible systemic barriers - particularly those who are of a minority, or even a (dis) ability. 

Yes there will be barriers, where there is sorrow, self doubt that shifts from external to internal. These doubts should never sway or stop you from believing in yourself. Ultimately you are in control of your destiny. What you see in the mirror is a reflection of you - Show yourself that you are beautiful even through the struggles. There will always be someone or something that will act as a barrier, never allow these to stop you from dreaming. 

When we dream we are living, we become alive. It is our human nature to do so, because we tend to think ahead, and foresee. To allow yourself back into the position of dreaming and doing, remind yourself of the why. Once again begin - begin even if it is a baby step, begin to in-still the hope within.

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Never Let Go

My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings.  wanted to take the time to think and reflect.

     The truth is that I enjoy attending lectures from all religious faiths, because. Truly believe that all beliefs have goodness. If you think about it, why would any faith preach otherwise? Yes, we could argue upon this point because we see much of the terror attacks that happen related to Muslims, however there is also terror caused by groups other than Muslims, we also have to think how the media reveals these stories as well, and how they impact groups. We have to remember that not all Muslims are terrorists. There are Muslims who practice the faith of Islam, peacefully living in the Western world. They strive for the way and the path to peace as neighbours, fellow citizens desiring integration into society.

     The other day I decided to attend an Islamic lecture. I enjoy these spiritual teachings because I see how much they are related to the teachings of Aristotle's philosophy. Although there are differences we can see how he had an influence upon Islamic Philosophy. During this talk I was reminded of the following quote that was written by the poet Rumi - Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī.

     This quote can be related to the idea of having a weak heart. The truth is that love does make the heart weak, because we have become vulnerable, we are giving ourself to another being. However, sometimes we have to find strength, through love there is also strength to be found. When we find moments where we become weak, we must use these moments as teachable moments, so that we can learn and grow from these.

    This is the beauty of faith, because through love there is also faith. It is the faith that must always serve as an anchor. Faith is what allows us to reach and maintain the equilibrium. This faith can be rooted in the belief of a higher being, or someone who is loved, because Gods spirit is embodied within human beings, this is what makes us precious. Divinity is the acceptance of oneness, and it is through oneness that divinity is vested in us.
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Dedication: These thoughts are dedicated to all beings, my thoughts to share with love & kindness! :)

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand - written on July 18th, 2017.

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