Just Sail...

Man Without Limbs

Sometimes we think life is no more possible... we bow in front of weakness since the first trial...
Do you want to see another face of life? another style? look at this... and dont be surprised... life is already a miracle...
Thanks God for all what we have as a gift from you... and specially to let us see how much a human heart is brave...
Click on the link below to watch the video ( it may need some minutes to be uploaded ):
http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/nickvideobig.wmv

Reasons To Like A Woman

A Child of the Tsunami

Oct 2, 2006

When the tsunami swept across south Asia on 26 Dec 2004, it devastated many fishing villages along the south east coast of India. Uma Prajapati, living just miles from the shore in the universal township of Auroville near Pondicherry, gathered her young colleagues from her clothing company Upasana Design Studio to brainstorm how they could help.

The group conceived the idea for Tsunamika and offered it to the local fisherwomen to help them generate a new source of income.

Nearly 480 women from six villages took part in the Tsunamika training. Although 60 per cent of them had never threaded a needle before, around 150 women are now creating these little dolls from material left over from the Upasana studio.

In the process, the women have discovered far more than a livelihood – the project has given them trauma counselling, creative expression, self-esteem and a chance to become trainers themselves. As one of the women said, "Tsunami came for Tsunamika."

Funded initially by the NGO Concern Worldwide, Upasana guaranteed the women a monthly payment for their work – but insisted that the Tsunamikas were always gifted and never sold.

What makes Tsunamika unique is that she is freely given to whoever wants her. Unconditional giving is one her characteristics – a belief stemming from the work of the Indian spiritual teachers Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, who believed that trust and goodwill would replace money in economies of the future.

Taking a leap of faith, the Tsunamika team found that many people were inspired to help. In just one year, they have become self-sustaining. Now, ten voluntary ambassadors distribute the dolls all over the world through a network of love and friendship – with no price tags, advertisements or salaries involved.

"Tsunamika is a young girl with a life of her own and these ambassadors are her parents," explained Uma who toured Europe spreading Tsunamika's message in April. "Don't contribute unless you really feel for it. Tsunamika will bring the funds she needs and will bring her parents to support her in a new gift economy."

The Tsunamika team intends to spend their donations on developing the consciousness of all the people involved, not only the people in the villages affected by the tsunami, but also the people who receive Tsunamika. "We are exploring an integral method of economic development, sustainability, education, creativity and spiritual growth of society as a whole, not just one section of the society," said Uma.

Already almost half a million Tsunamikas have been made and Uma is aiming for a million. This is a clearly story that will run and run.

A Tsunamika book has been produced and is being translated into seven languages. It tells the tale of the daughter of the tsunami who has come to be a friend to those who suffered loss and now to people worldwide. And it conveys the extraordinary power of a little doll in South India that has turned a tragedy into an opportunity to support the poor, and give hope that we can live in a world where the joy of giving is what inspires us.

What you can do?

•Give children Tsunamika and tell them her story

•Unconditionally receive her and share her

•Use Tsunamika in creative ways

•Share who you are, send us a small note, picture, your thoughts or acts of compassion inspired by Tsunamika

• If you are interested in becoming a Tsunamika ambassador please write to umap@auroville.org.in

• If you want to send a donation please visit www.tsunamika.org

By Peter Lloyd

A New George

We can’t wait by nature… we want to touch things… to see everything by our eyes…
We say that we are full of faith… but still nothing can be changed…
What we ask for, we need it “now” with no more delay…

Here it is… the greater example…
Delivery pains don’t mean the end of world… it just means the birth of a new world…

Here it is… now we can touch… hug… and be happy…
A new George added himself to the millions of Georges… but specially to the billions of our family…

Free hugs priceless in a culture of violence

By Karen Brooks

Article from: Courrier Mail

DID you know that in New South Wales, Monday (a public holiday there) was declared a day of hugging?

This wasn't an official pronouncement; rather, it was made by an advocate of the Free Hug movement.

Last week, the creator of this movement, a young man going by the pseudonym Juan Mann, was elevated to the dizzying heights of global celebrity.

Video footage of Mann pacing Sydney's Pitt Street Mall about a year ago, holding aloft a sign stating "Free Hugs" and set to the poignant All the Same by the Australian Los Angeles-based band, Sick Puppies, was uploaded on to the video-share website YouTube.

In cyberspace, every second counts. It took only nanoseconds for news of the video of Mann's campaign to spread. Appealing to the inner child in us, the video was shown on Good Morning America last week. Now, the site is registering close to 1.5 million hits and many thousands of positive comments.

So, what was at the heart of this young man's campaign to brighten the day of city slickers – those so preoccupied with work and the fast, heady pace of contemporary life, they forget to stop and smell the roses?

According to Mann, after returning from a trip overseas, he noticed how sad everyone looked and basically wanted to brighten their day. To him, a hug was the natural antidote to the stress and alienation that burdens urban workers.

Although people were reluctant at first to approach this tall, lanky man with a promise, it wasn't long before his invitation caught on. Casting suspicion to the wind, young and old threw themselves into his arms, keen for what we so often forget we need in this hi-tech day and age – human touch. Either we forget or, for fear of being thought our actions will be misconstrued, we avoid.

But Mann didn't think about how his intentions might be interpreted, he embraced his fellow humans. And they thanked him for it.

Then, Sydney City Council decided that this generous young man could cause irreparable damage. Insisting that he buy $25 million in public liability insurance, the council demanded he stop.

Undeterred, Mann collected 10,000 signatures on a petition and now his hugging movement is free to continue to bring smiles to those drawn, harried faces of the city.

There's something uplifting about this story. Along with the video, you get the "warm and fuzzies" and find yourself cheering this guy who reminds us of the simpler pleasures; of the sweetness that life and letting others fill it can bring.

The past few weeks have been defined by memorials, tragedies and death. Steve Irwin's life so swiftly taken; Peter Brock, gone. The beloved Colin Thiele, passed away. September 11 and those agonising images replayed again and again.

Senseless violence fills our news. Matt Stanley, only 15 when the life is kicked out of him; a 16-year-old is charged with his murder.

We live in a world where violence and violent acts are becoming normalised. The producers of the new James Bond film see fit to cut the superspy smoking a cigar but not images of him killing people with a smoking gun. We are shocked and appalled at sexual imagery and intimacy (Margaret Whitlam's comments about Janette and John Howard holding hands, for example), but take death, pain and the destruction of human life in our stride.

What sort of society are we devolving into?

We've become so desensitised to aggression we no longer think twice about letting young children play computer games that encourage them to shoot, maim and kill. I watched a seven-year-old boy I know approach his mother with a gruesome game under his arm, rated MA.

He asked her permission to play it. She gave it willingly, disinterestedly even.

When I pointed out its rating, his mother said: "Oh, it's all right. He's only killing aliens."

"I thought it was the killing that mattered," I responded.

Apparently not.

I'm reminded of the movie True Lies, when Arnie Schwarzenegger's character, who's been hiding his identity as a spy from his wife of many years, admits he has killed in his line of work, then hastily adds, "Yeah, but they were all bad."

When they don't look, talk, act or worship like us, then, it seems, they're deemed to be bad (different) and their life is not so important.

For a culture that doesn't cope well with death, we seem to hold life so cheaply.

But just as you begin to despair, along comes a young man with a big heart and YouTube, technology that spreads goodwill like a virus and gives us what we need in these dark times – a hug and a smile.

All it took was Juan Mann.

Which just proves, hugs aren't for free, they're priceless.