The Power Of Passion

There's an astonishing power that humans naturally posses. This power allows us to be more than mere humans - this power allows us to transcend limits and restrictions. What is this power? Simple: Passion.

I was a student in Junior Achievement's High School Company Program (the extracurricular schedule) - a program which puts together students from Grades 10 to 12 and teaches them to start and run a real company. I was involved for 4 "terms" over the course of three years and have learned quite a large deal from it. My first job was decided on things I had learned in Junior Achievement (I used the words "negotiate a sale").

Throughout my JA career, I had the honor of being elected to the Executive Board (students within the company with a leadership role) each term. Unfortunately, that meant dealing with the occasional horrid product. I learned from my second year that if you are going to start a business, you'd better choose a product to sell that you are interested in. If you're not behind it, your customers will know.

You can apply the same theory to everyday life. A subject you're more passionate about will be more fun to study than a subject you don't find interesting. A cause you're passionate about will spur you on to support it in every way you can. An interest or hobby can transform into a part-time business.

If you're interested in art - if you draw, paint, do a bit of printmaking - there are sites where you can sell your art for a profit. If you love the outdoors, you can start a business mowing lawns (don't knock it - some inspiring multi-millionaires started off with mowers and paper routes) or tending gardens. If you're an animal lover, a pet-sitting business could do so much more than child-sitting! If you know your way around computers, seniors homes sometimes hire companies to teach their residents how to use the Internet (seniors can be surprisingly springy-er than you thought).

Bottom line, if you're passionate about something, anything, really, you can make a business out of it. You can make a career out of it. You can make a life around it and you'll be practically guaranteed success. Here's a perfect example.

Erin McKean - lexicographer. She is passionate, nay, even passionately mad about the English language and, more specifically, the words found in the English language. Watch this clip and see just how much someone's passion can do. Not only does it convey their own interest, it also conveys their strong passion and sways whomever they're talking to into becoming passionate about it as well.

Erin McKean: Redefining The Dictionary

TED: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Ideas Worth Spreading.

I hope the key thing came through. The key, for those who might have missed it, is this:

No matter what you're passionate about - become fully passionate about it and you will find success.

McKean is clearly passionate about words and the English language, and because of that, she is one of the youngest editors of one of the "Big Five" American dictionaries - maybe you've heard of it: Oxford English Dictionary ring a bell? She's found extraordinary success and has written multiple books simply about words. 

This is what passion can do. So, get passionate about something. Being interested in something is a huge step towards finding success and personal fulfilment.

Passion - The Lifeblood of Life.

Namaste,

Clarise

The Wonders of The Pursuit of Knowledge

As must be apparent and, most likely, frustratingly repetitive is my very strong stance on lifelong learning and a yearning for education. However, there are hundreds of levels of education. There's the mandatory schooling, the post-secondary, the masters, the doctorate, the career, the skills, the lifelong learning. Then, there is the Tireless Pursuit of Knowledge.

According to Clay Shirky, sociologist and author of Here Comes Everybody, humans are, by nature, group creatures. We find innovative ways to incorporate ourselves and our talents into groups. It is a nature of human behavior - that is not to say that we lose our individuality, hardly! Our individuality makes us of great value to a group. We can specialize or handle various things within a group due to our individuality. However, we still have a natural, in-bred desire to be with people.

One of the aspects of the human behavior of grouping is the sharing of knowledge and resources. Look at blogs - millions of pages of information! Sure, they're slightly selfish and sometimes entirely useless, but they are mountains of knowledge nonetheless. Other information sharing communities - digital or real - such as Facebook, Flickr, various conventions and panels are made into such powerhouses due to the sheer amount of knowledge exchanging hands. Ever played six degrees with Facebook? There's a web of connection that traces through everyone.

The Pursuit of Knowledge on the level of which I am passionate about is that found in debates, certain cafes, lounges and sometimes over bar counters. However, one of the most prestigious of stages upon which to speak about knowledge of any sort is, without a doubt, that of TED.

Technology, Entertainment and Design.

Three facets of current society that they can be neither ignored, nor pushed aside. Every aspect of our lives is governed to some degree by technology; our days are spent seeking or providing entertainment; every moment we are confronted by design.

Within TED there are hundreds of speakers who share amazing stories, powerful talks, inspiring tales, beautiful music, awesome art and messages which leave everyone speechless. 

Now, why would I mention something as amazing as TED? Well, simply because I love it. And because I happen to agree with the type beside the three red letters which represent the entire backbone of the annual conference. The type reads - very simply and very boldly - Ideas worth spreading.

I agree, whole-heartedly.

The sort of thing presented within the artists, anthropologists, composers, writers, activists, designers, enviromentalists, politicians - people from all walks of life - is nothing short of an amazing showcase of human genius and talent. There are quite a few things different about TED than the average convention. Firstly, the talks are generally made to be shorter (though quite a few do go beyond the encouraged 15-minute limit and into the half-hour mark). Secondly, the subject matter can vary from the global economy to the individual psyche - anything goes, really, watch a few of the videos and you'll see what I mean. Thirdly - and most importantly - there is no age limit for speakers. Young musicians as young as nine have graced the stage and blasted a hole through the classic myth of "Being Too Young". There are speakers from age nine to much into their elderly years.

I would like to challenge any and everyone reading this post to seriously look at the talks done at TED and allow them to change your thinking. I would especially like to challenge the youth who read this to watch at least three TED talks. For the youth of the world, there can be no greater gift and no greater power than Knowledge. Being able to understand the plight of humanity, the genius within all of us and sheer, raw power that all humans possess is something which all youth should understand. It is my strong belief that if we educated each youth in modern North America with the knoweldge and morals within TED talks (though certainly not limited to them), then the next generation of the world would be hundreds of times better than the current.

Visit this site and change your life.

TED: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Ideas worth spreading.

Challenge the Limits of Personal Knowledge - Everyday.

Namaste,

Clarise

The Lessons Learned In A Snowstorm

As must be obvious, I'm a Canadian. My parents immigrated from the Phillipines when they were in their late teens, and they began University at the U of A, where they met. My mom has a wonderful tale to tell about her arrival in Canada. From the tropics, she arrived in Canada in the middle of December - at a balmy temperature of -50 C, or -58 F. 

Since then, I'm glad to say that I haven't personally experienced -50 C. While I might gripe about the cold a few times and whine about how my toes are going to fall off (I need new boots), I prefer the cold to insane heat. You can always put on more clothes, but you can only strip down so much before you get arrested for inappropriate exposure.

Plus, there's snow.

My bedroom has a huge window in the southern wall, and I'm usually blessed with views of open sky and the huge pine tree in front of my neighbor's house. Today, there was a mini-snowstorm. A bit of huge snowflakes, a whole bunch of wind, and a lot of activity.

I'm listening to Death Cab For Cutie's Something About Airplanes album, and watching the snow. If I had to say anything about lessons learned from a snowstorm - as I usually look at nature's actions as a great teacher - I would have to say that taking the time to look deeper and look with an open mind are the lessons that a snowstorm can teach.

When we think of snowstorms, we usually see a gray sky, a gloomy atmosphere and grumbling, bundled-up people trying to get home. But when you put music to a snowstorm, it seems as though they're like a ballet of white fairies dancing madly.

I'm going to go on a limb here - so please bear with me and just keep in mind I'm not crazy?

Take a deep breath and imagine this with me...

There are snowflakes being pushed around by the wind. They're flying past at speeds most likely possible to only the fastest of jets. They fly around, being pushed and shoved around, and it looks hectic and unorganized and, for lack of a better word, painful.

Then, at just the right moment, the wind dies dow, and we can see for the first time all the little snowflakes just floating there. They're all just sitting there, almost completely still. It's beautiful and quiet. There's a sense of complete peace that floats into the room. It's like you could reach out and talk to them - they're almost like people.

In a sense, it's like they're telling us to stop once in a while. Stop rushing here, rushing there, running forth, running back, not paying attention to the world around us. There are many fantastic things that go on in the world - little beauties that show up everyday. If we always just keep rushing our lives along, pretty soon, we're going to end up smack against the end of it and wondering what happened to that Golden Age we were promised.

It's an art, and it's something that's hard to master, but if we could even just take a few minutes a day to stop rushing and to start appreciating our lives, to start looking for small joys, I think the world could be a little better of a place. If you wouldn't mind, try this:

Start your trip to work/school/where-ever you go frequently a bit earlier tomorrow - or as soon as you like. Walk slowly and look around. Really look - don't just cast your eye to various places just to make sure you don't get run over. Pull your thoughts out of the future and dedicate yourself to noticing the buildings and people around you. What's new? What didn't you notice before? What do you notice about things you've already noticed? Is someone always at the same corner you are? Are they smiling? Do they try to talk to you?

I think one of the reasons why children are so beautiful (and this is rare for me) is that they look at everything in a new way. Even if they're talking the same route day after day, they can always find something new and refreshing.

I'd like to share something with you - and this is just on impulse.

I found a game about a week ago - a fun, quick game. It's all about building little machines to get a ball into a target zone. It's hard to do some of the levels because it's simply just a strange challenge.

The huge thing for me when I played this game is the challenge it provides the player - Think Outside The Box. Really. It's easier said than done.

Try this out: Fantastic Contraption

Learn From Everything, Learn Everywhere.

Namaste,

Clarise

A New Reading List

Evening, guys! How are ya?

Sorry for not showing up yesterday - I guess I broke my New Year’s Resolution a bit.

I did a bit of retail therapy this afternoon - two books. Okay, not exactly mountains of dresses, but I’m not a dress kinda girl, as some of you may very well know. I do love books, though. They’re wonderful resources of information and humor.

I’ve been holding on to two gift cards to Chapters for quite some time, but I never really got out of the house to go buy any books. Today I had an exam early this morning, then nothing at all until 2:30 pm. So I had lunch with Dad (sushi is the best celebration food, in my opinion) and then went to Coles (Chapters with a different name and a smaller selection).

I picked up Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky and Naomi Klein’s Fences and Windows. While I used to scorn non-fiction, I find myself more and more drawn to the well-written, well-thought-out books about culture studies. It helps that the two books are written in a very conversational, powerful tone, but the content is nonetheless extremely interesting.

I also stumbled on a fantastic title which addresses a part of youth today that I simply can’t ignore. The book is relatively small (about ¾ of an inch thick and a quarter of a page large), but it’s filled with stats, provocative cartoons, direct quotes from teens and rather descriptive short stories. The name of the book? Generation S.L.U.T. While I’m not too partial to using the word “slut” myself, I can’t deny that there are quite a few young people who fit perfectly into that category.

S.L.U.T. stands for “Sexually Liberated Urban Teens”. The book doesn’t necessarily take a stand on whether copious amounts of sex is good for young people, but it certainly give startling facts. For one thing, I can say that I am glad and proud to be Canadian. According to the book, 80% of 18-year-old American males have lost (or freely given) their virginity. 77% of 18-year-old American females are also non-virgin. The kicker?

7,700 18-year-old Americans lose their virginity per day.

Oh My God.

The diseases these young people get is something I couldn’t care less about, but consider how many uneducated, uncultured, unprepared teenage parents society is looking at! Out of 7,700 condoms (that’s assuming they all use condoms), how many fail? How many kids are either going to be forced to have an abortion or to raise a child they are not willing or ready for?

Sorry - a bit of a rant. I guess I ought to stick true to the titles of my posts, but the book just warranted that rant. But the two first books are books I am currently reading, with Generation S.L.U.T. next on the list. I suppose you could say that I’m getting more and more into sociology.

Also, I’ve started work on another Squidoo lens. This time, it’s about things youth should care about and why. I’m not sure if it’ll be able to sway anyone, but you can bet that “GS” is gonna  end up on there.

Give Some Thought To Your Actions - Always. (Especially if you’re a young person)

Namaste,

Clarise

PS: I’ve posted a link to an online store which contains my current reading list and my upcoming purchases in the sidebar. You can take a look if you’re interested - it’s always nice to talk about what we read with others who share the interest.  There’s also a section in the store with all the more light-hearted stuff I’m watching or reading - just to break up the whole “heavy culture analysis” thing.

On a Ledge and Looking Over

Well, today was my first real day at "work" on my journey towards Financial Luxury and towards a Million Dollars. It's kinda scary when I think about it. I've taken a huge step and I'm only going to school part-time this semester. While I love the idea of not having to worry about bad math profs or homework up to my neck, it's scary not having a set of directions and an instruction manual.

For 13  years I've been in school, always being assigned things, always being told "do step one, then step two". Now, for the first time, I'm really striking out and doing my own thing. I don't have an instruction manual - I've got a whole bunch of material and some idea of where I want to go and what I want to do, but I don't have a teacher to ask for help. I'm on a ledge and looking over the edge, staring into a beautiful, open horizon with birds, sky and ocean, but I don't know how to safely leap down into it's comfortable expanse.

I spent most of today studying the material from InfoMedia, and it was pretty interesting, but all throughout I had "Mind Frick" - or doubt, for those who haven't gone to MMI yet - going off left and right. It wasn't a conscious "oh, this is hard" it was a sort of feeling of mild freedom. I'm not on campus, waiting for my next class to start - I'm at home making my own class at my dad's computer in a small makeshift office in the kitchen. I'm playing my favorite songs over and over again as I type away on ideas for this blog, ideas for other blogs, ideas for webpages, Squidoo lenses and businesses.

All in all, today was a productive, interesting day. I'm slowly finding out that there's a light presence in the wind on this figurative ledge - a wind that's telling me to just focus on flying out there, and pretty soon I'll end up learning how to surf on that ocean in my head. I guess that's a pretty bad use of imagery, so I'll clear it up. Somehow, my "higher" self - my heart and my desire - are telling me that all I have to do is just go on out there and walk. Pretty soon, I'll look up and see that I'm smack dab in the middle of my destination - with another path leading even further into my dreams.

So, for all the youth who might someday read this, if you ever feel a bit of doubt on whatever life-changing decision you make, stand there, and listen with your heart. What does your intuition say? What does your heart, without hearing all the things the world is telling you happens to teens who decide to start their own business, tell you to do?

I hope it helps - I'll let you know how my heart treats me throughout my journey forwards.

Life is a Journey - Not a Destination.

Namaste,

Clarise

First Lesson in Blogging... Oh dear...

Well, this is going to be the start of something new on Seventeen Going On One Million. This is the start of regular - and notably shorter - updates! I've been told by various experts in the Blogsphere (okay, maybe not - it's my dad) that the key to Successful Blogging is the use of regular updates and short posts.

Firstly - I've never really been able to keep a "diary" or various forms of it. The closest thing to a diary that I've been able to do is write in one of a wide variety of stories fairly regularly (about once or twice a week). So, this is going to be something of a New Year's resolution. I shall write three times a week (then move to daily) and write short posts. I have to admit that when I write I write without end... It's a bad habit - and something that gives me grief when I'm assigned to write a 250 word report.

However, this is going to be the beginning of the Revolution! I shall write a shorter post!

On that note, I have to really express my surprise at exactly how easy blogging can be - and how interesting it could be. A few weeks ago, my dad introduced me to a blog written by a lady who wanted to practise her writing skills. The topic of the blog? News Anchor Brian William's Tie. That's right, his tie.

Take a look for yourself, her posts are small, daily and have garnered enough attention for her to be mentioned on MSNBC. Marvel At Brian William's Tie here.

Well, that's all I'll write for today. Whew - that was... easier than I expected... hmm... I'll be back tomorrow, then!

Never Forget a Good Sign Off (not like I did...)

Namaste,

Clarise

Growing Wings

Recently, I returned from a Peaks course - Never Work Again. During this course, I was submerged once more in the energy which I consider to be one of the most empowering, healing and true currently in existence on the face of the Earth. The flights from Palm Springs - the location of the course - back home to Edmonton were two two-hour long flights with a three hour stop-over in Denver.

 

Now, I haven't really been to the US that much at the point of this writing, so I don't know a lot about airports - and certain not a thing about which airports might be extremely nice and which airports might be extremely not-nice. However, I am of the opinion that Denver International Airport is truly an amazing space. This is for four principal reasons:

1. It's an airport I stopped over at when I was coming from a Peaks course -which always surrounds it with a great energy
2. It has moving sidewalks
3. It has free and, quite amazingly, fast WiFi - I was able to hammer out a great amount of my first post there... And...
4. It has a wonderful shop called "Mosaic" in there - right to the left of the Paris-meets-Vegas Eiffel-tower-dwarf look-alike, thing.

 

It's there that I found an amazing, heart-lifting, spirit-guiding and Universe-channeling book titled Growing Wings by a remarkable American artist named Kristen Jongen.

 

Now, when I say "remarkable American artist" I don't mean a lady who paints horses like they're really jumping out of the picture at you. I don't mean a lady who paints amazingly realistic portraits, or a lady who makes still-life breathe. I'm talking about a lady who almost brought me to tears reading her art and poetry and journal book - and that was on a plane, y'know, not too great to be sniffling on a plane (too many people forming too many different conclusions).

 

Growing Wings showcases a smorgasbord of inspirational and deeply-though-out artwork along with a few poems and a narrative which guides us through a heart-wrenching journey through a period of Jongen's life.

 

Since becoming a Quantum Leap Student of Peak Potentials, I've been shown what more there is to Life and how important our own personal outlook is when we move down our path through the years. Jongen's paintings and poems and her own personal story truly resonate with me on that level. Her paintings incorporate flowing snippets of poetic words which emobody the truths we uncover once we remove the conditioning and the outer shell that we accumulate over the course of our lives.

 

A truly touching read with I'm-gonna-go-buy-mountains-of-art-supplies inspiring artwork,Growing Wings by Kristen Jongen is a great read - and full of good value. Makes a great gift, as well - and you might want to include some art supplies if you're giving it to a person known to pick up hobbies easily.

 

Live in the now, release the past and smile for the future.

Namaste,

Clarise