The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. -Alan Watts
Continuing on with works by Alan Watts, I found the above quote to be so simple, but so powerful. You can find out more about the life and work of Alan Watts here with a number of his lectures and essays here.
Alan Watts was an incredible thinker of his time, and spoke so much truth that still resounds in our day and age. This video in particular is still one of the most inspirational videos I’ve come across and reminds me of what’s important. What if money was no object? What would you end up doing?
| “Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life that is spent in a miserable way.”
For the past couple years, I’ve been following The Buried Life in their journey of changing the world by getting others to dream big dreams, and they’ve become somewhat of an inspiration. These four regular guys came together with Invisible Children and Hanger Clinics to give a girl the opportunity to hug her dad for the first time, and the story is nothing short of incredible. Check it out!
It’s always incredible when a video uses no dialogue whatsoever, but still manages to share an incredible and powerful message. The New York Times and filmmaker Jerome Thelia did an amazing job of capturing a man who turns garbage found around his hometown in the Congo, into a universal object: a soccer ball. In a part of the world that has been war-torn and ravaged with conflict, it’s incredible to see a side of the area that most aren’t exposed to in the media.
|“…children there still play with passion and joy – regardless of what kind of ball they are using.”
As graduation season comes to a close (high school included) I thought it was only right to share this incredible commencement speech by Admiral William H. McRaven at the University of Texas at Austin. Some tips on changing the world:
- If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed
- If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
- If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not by the size of their flippers.
- If you want to change the world, get over being a sugar cookie, and keep moving forward.
- If you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.
- If you want to change the world, sometimes you have to slide down the obstacles headfirst.
- If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
- If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moments.
- If you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
- If you want to change the world, don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
This made me stop and take long look at each image, they’re incredible! Photographer Alison Turner started a series called “Vanscapes” while taking a solo trip through New Zealand, all by way of a van. With most of her possessions being stolen on her first day of arrival, she set out with nothing more than her IPhone and documented an incredible adventure.
| I wanted to remember what it was like living in the van and looking out to the beautiful scenery every day so I found myself taking photographs from the drivers seat, while framing each image with the passenger window. Each day, the “Vanscape” views were so different from the previous day. I wanted to show a variety of locations to give the viewer a sense of being there, along for the ride. Instead of the common “I wish you were here” postcard, I posted several of my “Vanscapes” on Instagram (@alisontravels) from inside of the van looking out so they would get the feeling that they were with me.
Ahhh wow, you know when you see a photo and you just don’t know how to describe the feeling you get from it? That’s what this is. (via Lenscratch, Alison Turner)
This has to be one of the best (and my most favorite) TED Talks that I’ve seen! Retired colonel Chris Hadfield is most well-known for chronicling his life aboard the space station and sharing pictures of earth through social media, allowing us to connect with space in a way that we might not have ever been able to. He talks here about the idea of fear, and how by overcoming it, we’re able to go places we might have never dreamed of.
| “You can fundamentally change your reaction to things so that it allows you to go places and see things and do things that otherwise would be completely denied to you.”
Check out the TED page here!