Stories for Uncategorized

September 11th Revisited by Lucy Dougall

What if instead of remembering the horror the anger and hate the fear and suspicion What if instead of a 12 year war that no one can win where everyone loses where the aftermath continues to damage untold lives We take something else from that fateful day? The memory of firemen entering the burning wreckage ordinary people rushing to help to give blood to comfort the injured to feed the rescuers all joining together in compassion, remembering loved ones in shrines of flowers and candles What...

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Seeking News that Inspires

Interning for the Compassion Games, I have elected to spend much time seeking out stories of love, hope and compassion to put on the Compassion Map. The process has been illuminating. One thing I've learned while searching for stories of compassion is that there is, as the truism goes, a great bias towards negative news in the media, especially in foreign coverage. You really have to dig to find anything positive. The effect of this, naturally, is separating and divisive, both reinforcing and...

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Challenging Us to Create a Culture of Peace and Compassion

What kind of culture are we growing?  Culture refers to everything that makes up our way of life. Our culture comes from the process of cultivation. We have learned how to grow our culture as in agriculture and horticulture. This suggests that our culture is a function of how we think and act, individually and collectively, and that we can change our culture by acting imaginatively and creatively. Our culture is revealed in the ways we work and play. Play is primary to how we create culture....

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A teacher’s compassion, a family supported

By Marilyn Pulliam Mary and her mother were with the principal, who introduced Mary saying, “Mrs. Jones will be your reading teacher.” “I don’t read,” came the reply. “Mrs. Jones will teach you.” “I don’t read,” she repeated. To break the impasse Mrs. Jones invited Mary to a corner of the room. Mary really meant she not only did not read but couldn’t. Mrs. Jones had a book which contained only stick figures to illustrate the story. After several pages a single word appeared on the page. Soon...

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Films tell stories of compassion at Seattle event

 Submitted by What's Good 206 If you let a community tell its own stories, what do you hear? During Seattle's Compassion Games, independent filmmakers brought us stories of a neighborhood coming together around a community garden, a community formed around an all-night diner, and a community of dancers that became family for a Seattle newcomer.   These and about a dozen other films were shown during an event called, "A Story Runs Through It, " which was hosted by Seattle International...

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Help plant a garden of compassion at Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club

By Jon Ramer   The Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club needs you. Dedicated school chef Patrice Freeman shops the sales to feed her hungry troupe, but she has a dream, to feed her boys and girls with fresh fruit and vegetables from a bountiful school garden. She has the space, and she's looking for donations of soil and the materials to create eight to 10 large planters for the garden and fill them with rich planting soil for the 2013 spring and summer. The club is budget challenged. On the...

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‘Kindness School’ builds strong academics with compassion

 Submitted by What's Good 206 Strong academics are a byproduct of a good school. That's the model for Puget Sound Community School, which operates on the premise that students learn best when they are supported in their passions. And yes, they do take classes like pre-calculus and physics. Teaching compassion and kindness are an essential part of that education, says founder Andy Smallman, who founded the school 19 years ago with his wife Melinda Shaw. Hear students and teachers talk about...

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Hope and pain through a social worker’s eyes

By Martha Hopler As I head to the home of J. I feel a sense of urgency today is the day.  Today is the day I have waited for, for some time.  I have waited for the moment she is ready to head to re-hab.  I am very aware of the choices I have made to allow her to continue to care for her children while she chooses  to use drugs and alcohol to escape the realities of her difficult life. As the social worker I live in the ever present tension of what is right for her kids and what she wants…. ...

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