sketches of the mind

In an effort to reduce global warming, Saturday 21st March 2007 will mark the first Earth Hour. Businesses and individuals are encouraged to participate. My current employer sent around a general email last week notifying everybody that they were getting involved, which is awesome!

This year’s Earth Hour will happen in Sydney, but the organisers hope that Earth Hour can grow into a global campaign. If you live outside of Sydney, you can show your support by joining us and turning off your lights at 09:30:00 a.m. Saturday March 31, 2007 in GMT (here’s a handy timezone converter just in case).

For Earth Hour to have a big impact, as many people as possible need to take part.

Three Steps for getting involved:

1. SIGN UP TO EARTH HOUR and commit to turning off your lights on 31 March from 7.30pm to 8.30pm. It’s free!
2. GET OFF STANDBY Unplug any appliances - mobile phone charger, TV, microwave, MP3 player - that are not being used and are on standby. Appliances left on standby account for up to 10% of the average household’s electricity use.
3. SPREAD THE WORD about Earth Hour by involving your friends and family. Encourage them to sign-up turn off their lights at 7.30pm AEST Saturday 31 March 2007.

Earth Day comes around on April 22nd in North America, and World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5th across the rest of the world.

Other resources:

• Sydney Morning Herald Science Blog
• Earth Hour screensaver - this is cool!
• WWF - Time For Change campaign (Taking place during the fifty days leading up to Earth Day on April 22nd)

One of my fave poems (I was sure I had posted it on my blog previously but can’t seem to locate it for some reason) The Road Not Taken read by psychologist Dr Wayne Dyer.

Here is an analysis of the different interpretations of this seemingly spiritual poem.

Incidentally, I discovered the other day that Robert Kiyosaki included this poem in Rich Dad, Poor Dad (which I bought off ebay last week because I misplaced my original copy).

In Living Beyond Miracles, an audio recording of an event where Wayne Dyer teams up with Deepak Chopra, Dyer closes with The Secret Sits - another of Frost’s poems.

The Secret Sits by Robert Frost

We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.

It would appear that Mr Frost knew a little about The Secret too

By the way I encourage everybody to have a listen to Living Beyond Miracles. It’s very entertaining, filled with "A-ha!" moments, and there is so much great insight from two leaders in the areas of self-development and holistic health care. I particularly liked Dr Chopra’s views on positive thinking (more on this soon).