RaisingPeace » Personal

Bodies: Fascinating or disturbing…

Mark — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:21:30 +0000

For months now, Honolulu has been hosting the “Bodies” exhibition; where previously live bodies were “rubberized” and dissected for your viewing pleasure. While it can be fascinating to learn the parts of the human body and what they look like dissected, I’m not sure I’m so comfortable about this being an exhibition. (And apparently so are many other people here in Honolulu — the exhibit seems to be lasting longer, and ticket prices keep getting reduced.)

The exhibition is controversial for reasons that include where the bodies come from and how China is making a “business” out of mummifying body parts.

What are your thoughts on the exhibition: cool or criminal? (And where are the PETH (People for the Ethical Treatment of Humans) during all this…? )

[Learn more: wikipedia, Bodies web site, HonoluluAdvertiser]

Taking our country back

Mark — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:18:38 +0000

I’ve seen a lot of slogans and stickers about “Take our country back to God” or “God will come back to America, when America comes back to God”. I often wonder which of the many gods that exist for the different religions and nationalities that make up this country is THE God. I know which one they THINK is THE God, because it seems that there is a very vocal Christian community. One that helped elect, and then re-elect, President Bush…

No, what I’m talking about is taking our country back to the principles that founded this nation, back to the reasons for this country, to the Founding Fathers. Listening to Carolyn Myss talk about what the spiritual ideals were for this country as a “sacred contract”; ideas such as FREEDOM for all, the archetypes of the Mystic, the Rebel, and the Slave/Master, and how (as so many others have pointed out) that there was definitely a SEPARATION of church and state, for good reasons.

Watching Bill Maher’s Religulous (though definitely designed for laughs) also highlights some of the absurdities of some of the religions followed without question by followers. Without the ability to question, and also laugh at, your own thoughts, you become as rigid and dogmatic as the institutions of religion.

Perhaps the time has come for those who don’t represent ONE particular, historical religion to start voicing their desire for mental and physical liberation. Liberation from old, outmoded beliefs along with freedom from fear (often caused by the economic inequalities that capitalism helps perpetuate). And, perhaps, we can all find our voice with a new, more compassionate presidential administration…

Web 2.0 and Sustainability

Mark — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:09:26 +0000

Yesterday was the Oceanic Time Warner Business Class Tech Expo at the Blaisdell. It was my first time going to it, so wasn’t sure what to expect. While the exhibitors seemed somewhat limited, and I didn’t win ANYTHING despite entering what seemed like hundreds of contests (!), there were two seminars that stood out for me. The first one was by Steve Bretches with IBM on Enterprise 2.0 Bringing Web 2.0 technology into the Enterprise. Steve went through what “Web 2.0″ is — things like blogs, social sites (linkedin, myspace), tagging sites (digg), RSS feeds, wiki’s, AJAX, etc. — where the CONSUMER of the product, the person actually USING it, creates their own experience.

From there he discussed IBM’s intranet and how they are helping groups collaborate more easily and meaningfully using those Web 2.0 tools. This is something I’ve personally been trying to do at our organization. And as Steve pointed out, there are some organizations (like the one I work at), that look at “risk avoidance” only — trying to avoid ANY risk (that someone might post something negative, for example). His recommendation is to guide the organization to “risk minimization” — putting rules into place that, once broken, action can be taken, but otherwise allow creativity and collaboration to happen.

The other seminar I particularly enjoyed was by Craig Dewar from Microsoft entitled, Sustainability — “It’s Just Good Business”. Craig explained that while global companies (such as Mattel), have a bottom line of profit for their business, and must abide by the laws of the country in which they operate, sometimes (as in the case of children’s toys coming from China with lead paint), choosing the cheapest means of production is NOT the answer and can cause a company a lot more in damages (to its reputation, recall, etc.) after the fact. Businesses are wising up to the a “Triple Bottom Line” — economic (profit), environmental (things like carbon footprint), and social (did they help or hurt their communities). Those three items can even be reported using G.R.I. (Global Reporting Initiative) principles. Using these principles, a company can look at the entire “footprint” of a product. An interesting example of this is Patagonia’s site showing their products and how they were created.

So, two very interesting ideas of emerging trends in businesses — giving me (an IT guy for many years) excitement about the future…

"Sicko" shows a beautiful vision (of possibilities)

Mark — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:24:44 +0000

If you are like me — and since you are visiting a website about raising a peaceful family, you probably are — you’ve looked around and thought, “Dear God, there must be a better way to do things than this — this is insane!” It might be about rush hour traffic, or the lack of sustainability in Hawaii, or even just having decent medical coverage for your family.

That thought, that vision of what else is possible, is what really appealed to me in Michael Moore’s latest movie, “Sicko”. I think everyone who’s ever thought about “is this job worth it, just because it has medical coverage” can understand the feelings in this film. Moore presents cases of people suffering because medical services they needed were turned down or cost too much through their HMO coverage. (He doesn’t even get into the over 50 million people that are uninsured.)

However, it’s when he visits other countries to seeing how they do things that really got me. Canada, France, Great Britain, even Cuba, have a health plan to cover the people, all of them. And in France the government offers so many other services. As a dad, I had to use vacation time when my son was born at the company I work at. In other countries, they understand the need for time off, and being with family. Are those other countries perfect? Probably not. But is this country? Aren’t there things we could learn from other countries to improve the U.S.?

If you get the chance, rent or buy “Sicko” and see if you don’t at least feel like there IS a better way…

RELATED:
“Sicko” DVD
MichaelMoore.com

Family Friendly Church Service

Mark — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:08:49 +0000

For Christmas eve service we went to the Central Union Church (on Punahou and Beretania). Neither my wife nor I are terribly “religious”, the closest we would come to is Buddhists, however, since it was Christ-mas eve, we thought going to a Christ-ian church would be nice. We arrived for the 5:30pm service and sat in the back row since it was our first time there and we might need to make a quick escape with our crying son.

The beautiful church was filled with lots of other families. In fact, the service was dedicated to children. The reverend invited all the children to come up to the front several times, and Mason (now 15 months) seemed to want to go too.

What was really nice for me was that for one of the few times since we’ve become “parents” I felt like I could relax in PUBLIC. Sure there’s lots of places, like the zoo, where we let Mason run wild, but here was a church and he could adventure some and be a bit noisy, and I didn’t have to feel *guilty* about it. Perhaps it’s just me, but during the many years I was not a parent, I got annoyed at parents who let their kids go crazy while I was trying to enjoy my food, or flight, or church service. Now that I am a parent, I see that most parents really ARE trying to help their children enjoy the experience WHILE not annoying others excessively.

Being able to experience something as lovely as a group of children singing (off-key) Christmas songs while my son runs up and down the aisles was a very nice present! Thank you!

Changes after nearly 1 year

Mark — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:40:49 +0000

Our son is almost 1 year old. Man, it’s been a wild year! From the excitement, nervousness, and joy of his birth through the 3 months of colic with him screaming for hours, to his getting stronger and healthier, to now his walking and RUNNING… Whew… Where’s the PAUSE button on this little guy?!

As for me, I think I’m probably too serious still. I watched KHON morning news “Keiki’s First Birthday” message the other morning and the child’s favorite food was “cheetos”. Cheetos?! Mason hasn’t even had fish, cheese, or ice cream yet, and that family is feeding their son cheetos… Who knows…

Our apartment now looks like a branch outlet for “ToysRUs” — though, I have to admit some of them are actually more for me!

I’m starting to understand my friends who have kids and all they talk about IS their kids… When every event revolves around planning things out with your child in mind, most events become “kid friendly”. Even furniture purchases are based off “can he open the drawers, should we get something taller so he can’t reach in, is that glass safe?” (BTW: There should be a kid-friendly furniture store in town; tables without glass or sharp edges, cabinets that are raised or have easy-lockable front-ends…!)

All in all, Masako and I are both very thankful that Mason has grown up to be so healthy and happy. He’s a beautiful child and really developing his own unique thinking patterns and responses. It’s AMAZING to watch! I think any parent will understand what I mean…

We’re going to throw a small party for him on his first birthday with some friends — should be fun.

Attending infant activity classes

Mark — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 16:51:32 +0000

Our son, Mason, is now almost 9 months old. Since we don’t have any of our parents or extended family here on Oahu, Mason sees pretty much only mommy and daddy every day. So, we decided to sign him up for an activity class to get him to meet other babies and try new things.
Masako looked at several of the programs for infants in town, including Wee Play And Learn in Hawaii Kai (which was a bit far to try to drive to), and Gymboree in Kaimuki (Gymboree Play & Music: Program Locations). Both seemed very good. We went with Gymboree and it’s been fun for all of us.
Mason gets to interact and try new things, and we get to help and play with him. There’s a large playroom filled with slides, balls, and toys, plus, during the classes they sing songs, do “parachute” time, and try new activities.
It’s fascinating also to watch the other children in the classes. Some are so outgoing and friendly, others are more like Mason; shy and reserved. But I think the classes are really helping him to try new things — he went into the circle of babies on his own the other day, just looking for fun!

Parenting Podcasts

Mark — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 01:59:35 +0000

If you have an MP3 player — such as an iPod — you have probably tried listening to podcasts. Podcasts are recordings that people “post” like articles on a blog site. You can subscribe to the podcasts with software like iTunes. iTunes will find the latest podcast and automatically download it to your computer for you. Then you can transfer that MP3 file to your player. So, you can listen to something positive while you workout, walk, or take the bus to work.

Two free parenting podcasts that I am currently enjoying are:

mightymommy.qdnow.com — Mighty Mommy Quick & Dirty Tips For Practical Parenting (whew, that’s a mouthful!) and
themindfulparent.libsyn.com — The Mindful Parent Podcast

Even if you don’t have an MP3 player, you can listen right on their site to the different episodes for some quick parenting tips. Enjoy!

Related Amazon Products:

iPod | iPod Shuffle | Sandisk MP3 player

Hiking in nature

Mark — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 01:51:44 +0000

For me, one of the best ways to get back to my true self is through a good hike in the woods. I can drop my thoughts and just *be* in nature. The sun through the trees, sound of unusual bird calls, and smells of blossoms in the air — really are refreshing to my soul.

One of the reasons that my wife and I moved to Hawaii was to get more nature into our lives (from living in Japan). However, having a 7-month old son, means that I haven’t had so many opportunities to get out on hikes as I would like. Mason is almost 20 pounds now and too heavy to try to carry with the Baby Bjorn we have. But, I want to share the beauty of nature with him.

So, we bought a used baby backpack. We tried it last weekend on a hike through Tantalus. The hike was very nice. Mason fell asleep half-way through it, so Masako and I got a little “our time” together.
The backpack worked fine. Only problem was that my muscles were sore for days afterwards — guess I got too excited and hiked too much!

Related Amazon Products:

Baby Bjorn: we like this — good for under 6 months | This Kelty baby backpack is like the one we bought — |

Handling Cancer…

Mark — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:10:37 +0000

At work this past week, I sat through a presentation by Jeanne Sather discussing how she came to blog. Her site, assertivepatient.com, is about Jeanne’s experiences dealing with cancer. Throughout her presentation reviewing some of the articles she’s posted, you could hear the determination and conviction that Jeanne has for living, along with her own unique humor, including “Breast-Cancer Barbie”.

Her discussion reminded me about some new expressions that I’ve now become familiar with; “oncology” and “in situ” (definition). For me, the cancer was melanoma; skin cancer in the form of a mole on my forehead, surgically removed. The story starts out more like this; I have rather large, flat, oddly-shaped, quarter or dime-shaped moles over my chest, arms, and one (now removed) on my forehead. These moles are susceptible to melanoma, as my parents will testify. My mother, concerned with the shape and color of the one on my forehead suggested in her motherly way (repeatedly) to see a dermatologist about it. I finally did.

The dermatologist recommended surgery for three moles that seemed “suspicious” rather than doing tests on them. Previous to this visit with the doctor, our family had visited Japan to pay respects to Masako’s grandmother who died of ovarian cancer 2 days before we could get there. (Ovarian cancer is apparently fast spreading, or was in her grandmother, who died very quickly.) Masako and Mason decided to stay in Japan over the Christmas and New Years holidays, while I had my doctor’s appointments.

The surgeon who removed my cancerous mole called me 3 days before Christmas to explain that 1) I had melanoma, 2) it was “in situ” (which I wrote down as “in cite two” to which I later told my parents was “in stage two” not knowing what any of it meant), 3) they would have to ASAP remove more of my forehead (still very much in pain) to make sure all of the bad tissue was removed, and 4) she was leaving for the holidays but “here’s my referral”. Oh…

I was home alone over the holidays with “stage two” cancer and surgery wounds on my back, stomach, and most painful, forehead. (I had never really noticed before how often I use the skin around my forehead; looking up, sideways, laughing (VERY painful), sneezing, you name it, a nice tug on those very sensitive stitches…)

So, while the rest of the tissue has now been removed (without any additional traces of cancer), and my forehead is still healing, the experience made me appreciate even more the insights that Jeanne offers…