CBrajkovich Ramblings

So what would your “signature you” look like? But not just on the outside. Because you probably want to be known just as much for your thoughts and actions, as you would for your appearance as an individual. Most of us would because we’re all complex human beings who have three dimensions.

Remember all of those tests they made you take in high school (do they still do them)? They placed you into certain categories to help you identify your path in life. Did they really help all that much? Or were they kind of like your horoscope – close enough to get the job done? But you’re not made from a cookie cutter, so you probably floated around trying to find your real signature you.

I know that for a long time during my teens and twenties, I was into boots (combat or granny). And they were not the girly-girl types – the clunkier the better for me. Yep, that fit my personality. I was not some delicate china doll, so no designer styles for me. I was (and still am) a dreamer and adventurer who would try anything once (until I got wrapped up in bandages) so that I could find out who I really was. Years later, I still do things pretty much the same, though I’ve learned many lessons to be applied to my methods (and lessen injuries). But my signature you has always been just something comfortable – like an old favorite shirt that had seen better days. If you wrinkled your nose at my wrinkles, well, that’s life. I’ll take it, wrinkles and all.

What makes up your signature you? It’ll be complex, but it’ll be like little gems that lead to the ultimate treasure…YOU!

– found through Piccsy

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Going through Letters of Note (which is a tremendously amazing site that you should go visit), I came across two letters that really spoke to me because of the real words:

Fiona Apple – Love is love, and there will never be two much

Kurt Vonnegut –  I am very real

Both are well worth the time for you to read in full, because they address the pressures of our society to conform to some prescribed form of “accepted” norm. You all know that I am not one of those who particularly holds any norm in high regards, especially considering the current state of our society. But I do hold an immense amount of hope in individual actions which call out the sheer ugliness of status quo, and attempt to remold norms into something much more wholesome and accepting of us all. When we’re continually bombarded by narrow-mindedness and bigotry, then it makes our acceptance of life all the more difficult. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and things are finally starting to change towards a new type of open acceptance. It’s hard to create models of people who are and aren’t accepting (for differentiation and identification), because the demographics are too complex. It can’t be divided by such superficial characteristics of age, appearance, or nationality, but it is definitely easy to spot through words and actions (which are fairly consistent globally).

So, how do we go about becoming more open-minded and accepting, without turning it into a pissing contest that has to have only one winner? We haven’t found the full answer yet, but every day one more person adding to the discussion shines even more light on our way of life and what needs to change (and what needs to be nurtured).

Here are small excerpts from both Fionna and Kurt, which shot straight as an arrow into me:

– Hate has no place in the equation; there is no function for it to perform. Love is love, and there will never be too much. – Fionna Apple

– I read in the newspaper that your community is mystified by the outcry from all over the country about what you have done. Well, you have discovered that Drake is a part of American civilization, and your fellow Americans can’t stand it that you have behaved in such an uncivilized way. Perhaps you will learn from this that books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars have been fought against nations which hate books and burn them. If you are an American, you must allow all ideas to circulate freely in your community, not merely your own. – Kurt Vonnegut

Well, it looks like the wishes of disrupters (like Umair Haque) are going to be happy to hear this news. I know that I am! Good.is forwarded a link from treehugger, where they’re talking about a really big positive action to come out of the Rio+20 environmental conference. After the dismal retreat that came from Durban, people have been gloomily wondering whether our world leaders are really taking the very serious issues of plantary health and social welfare as seriously as a lot of individuals and organizations are.

And then, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon discussed the need for the world to move past the antiquated GDP measuring tool that has failed to show the true prosperity of nations. Instead of measuring the tangibles of “wealth”, which do not show the true measure of “success” at the citizen’s level, he agrees that we need to create a broader measurement that also covers the social developmental aspects of humanity as well as an added health measurement for our planet and its integrated eco-systems.

We can thank the Earth Institute at Columbia University for creating a more visible tool to help this conversation florish. Though it’s not a new topic, it is definitely one that is gaining  support after watching the last year and this year’s upheaval in global society against blindfolded capitalism. Read the report to see the details for this very necessary conversation: World Happiness Report 2012.

You know how the saying goes, “Money can’t buy happiness!” And if you haven’t read Umair’s latest, Betterness, then you’re missing out on a great conversation that he’s been having for years. It’s a short but very impactful read that will give you hope.