This manifesto that popped up on Piccsy relates to a scientist’s quest, but is not limited to only them. If each and every one of us used this credo in our daily lives, it would most definitely result in a lot more open mindedness. And that would not be a bad thing.  As a matter of fact, it would be an inspirational bit of activity that could nurture our world and lead to absolute wonders to learn from.

This thought for the day reminds me of why I will always be a student of one thing or another. Nothing that we learn is ever completely understood until we look at it through someone else’s eyes. Because every time you do this, you find out that there’s a gap in your own education. No one person will ever see a problem from every angle. There are just too many angles to cover. And each person who attempts to learn this adds one more measurement that changes the angle yet again.

So, if you really want to understand a subject, then try teaching it to others. I learned this lesson years ago while I was a tech writer. And it’s a lesson that continues to push my learning curve, so that I’ll never stop trying to understand a subject. If I do stop, it’ll be because I no longer have the energy to keep going. And I am not looking forward to that day EVER.

This gem from Piccsy is the perfect image of how work should look. Take away the camera and replace it with your tool of creation. I’d say trade, but I don’t want to look at “work” in the old manner of trade – unless it takes the true definition of trade as in sharing and exchanging. No, what I want to concentrate on is that joyful innocence we all carried when we were little and didn’t know about life’s trials.

This is how work should look, shouldn’t it? A youthful vision that finds the enchantment in that piece we created, and reacts to the sheer joy of discovery. It’s pure fulfillment without the chains of economics, rules, and all of those strictures that gradually strangle who we are. This is our reminder that now is the best time to reboot the way we live, so that we can once more experience this level of joy in our daily “work”.

Here’s the thought for the day that could change your life:

Never has a truer word been spoken in the context of the written word. Some of the most dangerous thoughts have been written and passed down through time. What counted then counts equally now. Probably because the more we change, the more we stay the same? But that should never stop anyone from wanting to keep on changing…especially when it’s for the better. Go find a book that will impact your life and immerse yourself in it. You’ll come out all the better for the experience.

- thanks Piccsy

p.s. And to show just how much writers can impact the world, check out the news about the writer’s march through Moscow which drew more than 10,000 people.

This image really strikes home when you read the title: This is my little brother’s friend pinning a ribbon on him, after finding out my brother didn’t win any ribbons at the school’s track meet. Yes, I found this on Reddit. Yes, there is another lesson here.

We’ve all been taught that competition shows who will be the winners and who will be the losers. But do we even realize that we are the ones who create the winners AND the losers? What if we gave everyone the same chance? What if there were no favorites? What if we saw the depth within us all? What if we all gave a ribbon to someone, and then got a ribbon from someone else, and that trend kept going on around the world? What if we all encouraged the differences instead of the similarities? What is there was no list of acceptable and not? What if we all were allowed to be who we were born to be, with no barriers to crawl over?

Well, we’d all be winners. And maybe we wouldn’t allow laws that suppressed and condemned to come into being. And people who transgressed on another’s soul wouldn’t be allowed into places of power. And crimes would not see the light of day because everyone would have a single positive moment to lift them up from the darkness. And bullies would no longer try to hurt the weak because they wouldn’t learn how to be bullies in the first place.

Just think, a positive world could be reached – all because every one of us got a ribbon for something that we’re good at: being ourselves. It’s something we should think about.

This little kitty belongs to a group of people working at this print shop, including a great guy who’s also a comic artist, Daniel Puch. As you can tell, I fell in love with the kitty from the very first image (this is my favorite that Daniel shared). After all of the love that these guys gave the kitty, their boss welcomed the kitten into his own family. How can you not fall in love with this little face?

I hadn’t heard too much about this kitten (though I think about it a lot) until Daniel mentioned that someone had shot it while it was outside away from its home. Needless to say, this is so heartbreaking, but especially more so because it’s a defenseless animal. Lately, the level of animal cruelty that I see in this world has been really bothering me more than usual. Perhaps it’s the unwelcome acknowledgement that there are people out there who really love cruelty.

Optimism doesn’t always run at the forefront of my views, as I’m more of a pragmatic realist. But part of me is an optimist when it comes to believing that everyone is capable of doing good. It’s the one idea that I can’t shake no matter how old I get.

I think that even mean people have their reasons that stem from their own hurt. So, before I can accept that people who abuse others (any living creature) who are weaker than them are not completely inhuman, I really would like to understand why they think that they can get away with this horrifying behavior. Lately, this behavior is rampant among people who are little more than spoilt brats who always got their way throughout their lives. Unfortunately, no one taught these people about restraint and selflessness. Frankly, they’re ruining the world for the rest of the caring people who learned to overcome the selfishness.

At least the world has more caring people who choose love over cruelty. I read about it every day, and see examples all around me. Hope is alive because of these good people who are working hard to stand up to the selfish people. Thank goodness for all of these hearts of gold.

I just wanted to put this image up to share with everyone, as Daniel shared it with the rest of us. This one little kitten (though it’s no longer a kitten) made an impact on quite a few lives. And now it’s hurting because of some really inhuman people. I’d like to think that I wouldn’t respond badly if I ever ran into the person who shot this defenseless creature. But I’m not sure that I’d be able to not act in kind – I’m still a work in progress. I hurt when I see another living creature hurt. I will still stand up to protect the defenseless, even if I knew that I’d get hurt in the process. It took more than that single person to hurt this kitten. It also took the gun company who made the gun and ammunition. And the lobbyists who continue to push for reckless gun ownership. And the police who terrorize the minorities until they become true thugs. And the surrounding community that allows people to stay as bullies, instead of showing them another way to be. It’s never a single person who commits a crime. It’s a community, and we see that fact everyday with each new crime.

Let’s stop the cycle together and find a better way to coexist without all of this mindless violence. Hopefully love beats cruelty and this kitten makes a full recovery. I know that there are many animals out there with similar or worse stories. But this is my story because this little kitten found its way into my heart though I never got to meet it in person. That’s just how love works. When it wraps itself around your heart, it’s there to stay. Our hearts have an infinite capacity to love. We just need to be reminded of that fact.

Kitty, please get better. I’m sending love your way. And there’s a whole lot more love from your immediate family who raised you from that day they found you. That’s a whole lot of love. I just hope that it’s enough.

Warriors don’t always use weapons of physical destruction. Sometimes their choice of weapons are much more effective because they reach into the hearts of their conquests.

We’ve all heard the sad news that we lost two strong men who made a difference in their own way. Adam Yauch (aka MCA) lost his battle with cancer way too soon. We all knew him because of his part in Beastie Boys, as well as with his outspokenness that came through his music, films, and his activism. He gave us a role model on how to fight for your rights (to go beyond partying). And so much more… Read his tribute on Beastie Boys’ site to understand his full impact on us all, as spoken in their own words.

Then we heard more sad news with the announcement that we also lost Maurice Sendak, the children’s illustrator/author who is most closely associated with his book, Where The Wild Things Are - though he’s equally loved for his belief in not treating kids like kids. His works might have seemed dark to some parents, but they all broke open our imaginations to see past the surface and embrace those things that went bump in the night. Read an interview he did with Guardian UK in 2011, “I refuse to lie to children” to get the genius of his beliefs.

Here are two warriors who fought to change the world view in their own ways. They never stopped until the end. And they were just a part of those change-makers, both well known and unknown, who used their talents to get us to see our surroundings just a little different, so that we could grow as human beings. We don’t just want to remember all of these warriors. We also want to do our part so that we not only pay tribute to their hard work, but also continue it with our own talents. That would be a pretty incredible tribute to them and their loved ones, don’t you think?

Yochai Benkler is a Harvard law professor that believes in openness and sharing. He has been talking about the disruption that is now happening with collaborative projects that will progress our society to the next stage of its evolution. No longer will we be relying on industrial institutions to set up the methodologies of production. Our world that is in its infancy is now in the hands of the people who choose to share their efforts with one another in order to build something more inspirational. Here’s his Ted Talk that he gave in 2008, though he’s been busy since then. It’s a fascinating discussion on how our economics has already changed in the 21st century, even when our own governments are attempting to stop the act of sharing –  not piracy, sharing. And here’s his name for it: Social Production.

He’s well known for his book, Wealth of Networks, but he’s also recently given another talk that simplifies the battle that the people have been fighting against outrageous laws like SOPA and ACTA: The Blueprint for Democratic Participation (thanks Boing Boing and Twitter). And here he is discussing the new democratic awakening of the Internet with Bloomberg: