Dear readers, I feel very grateful today.
First of all, I want to share with you some words about this feeling that has been growing inside of me for a while, since I started getting involved in doing what I love and I stopped being surrounded by toxic people, doing a job I didn't love, and waiting for the weekend to escape my routine.
Since I decided to trust my intuition and started doing what I really like, I don't have any more weekends. Every day is like a holiday to me. I don't mean that I don't have work to do, but that I enjoy what I do - it has become part of me and motivates me.
I wish you guys to find out what you love to do and spread positiveness.
The world needs your motivation!
Dear people, did I already mention that I feel very greateful today?
I guess that's because I got the opportunity to start a personal rubric on an online radio. This has been the fuel that led me to start this. You're reading this article because yesterday I started my radio rubric hosted by the e-volution online platform.
As it was my first radio show all alone, I was more focused on how to make things work - how to start the streaming, how to properly use the microphone, the volume of the music in the background, and the quality of my diction.
It feels a bit awkward to talk on the mic with no one in the room, having many things in mind, trying to give shape to the rush of thoughts, and to say something that makes sense for the other people in a totally natural and - at the same time - flawless way.
As a first show, I just didn't know what you guys expect to hear from me, so I did what I do best: going on freestyle.
The first positive fact of the day was that the sweet cat that I had while I was living in a pretty little village in the Bulgarian mountains came back home (yes, it's you, Coco!).
It had been a while since he had left, but yesterday my housemates texted me that he came back (dirtier than ever!) and he is safe and healty. Such a good way to start the day, isn't it?
Apart from facts and situations that happen in my life - which I believe is the best way to connect to my listeners (hey there! I'm close to you) - there's plenty of online sources that I use as an inspiration (positive news, goodnewsnetwork, positizie among the others). I must admit that when you start reading those news you get a sort of addiction and you wanna start your days reading the positive news instead of the bad ones.
That's what I did this morning, and I have already collected a few stories that I'm looking forward to share with you the next week.
I believe that ispiring and motivational stories are a very powerful tool, as they can show us that change is possible and starts from ourselves, and that we don't need to have superpowers to make things happen.
Olga, the founder of Yes future supermarket, in Barcelona, knows this very well. Both Olga and her partner Alejandro came from fashion multinationals, so they had nothing to do with the food world. But they had the motivation to stop creating waste, and so the idea came out.
At their shop, they sell artisanal pastas, breakfast cereals, spices, dry fruits, moisturisers, cleaning products, and personal hygiene products - all rigorously without chemicals nor pesticides.
The most valuable thing is that they don't use any plastic in the shop. The products are sold in glass containers and the customers can come and fill their own containers. In this interview, Olga states that the thing she likes the most of her work is talking to the people, and the feeling of doing something meaningful by achieving little changes in her life.
Olga and Alejandro don't only sell, but also transmit their philosophy, and recommend other shops to the customers, with the aim of helping people to make purchases that don't generate waste. This story is really motivational and I think it can inspire people to start the change by themselves. We don't have to wait that someone does his job for us - if you wanna stop create wastes, then go for it!
The second story I shared in my rubric deals with something a bit more difficult to achieve, but this doesn't mean it is impossible.
It was 2005 when Maggie Doyne was traveling and volunteering in Asia as a gap year after her graduation. During her journeys, Maggie visited Nepal and met a 6-year-old kid, who was looking for things to sell in the garbage. Doyne was very impressed by this and helped the kid go to school paying for her whatever she needed to attend the school - tuition, uniform, and books.
She used the money she had saved to help other children. With her money - and by using funds that she raised from supporters all around the world - she managed to purchase a land where she was able to build a structure with the aim of opening a school there. The project grew even more and gave birth to the BlinkNow foundation. The school, named Kopila Valley school, was opened in 2010 and had 220 students.
You can find all the information about the Kopila Valley school at this link, and read more about this inspiring story here. The new challenge, today, is to make this school a model of sustainable architecture and green design. From solar panels to get the electricity that powers the campus to recicling the rainwater to make it drinkable and available for washing and cleaning, this school is an example that sustainability is not utopia: it can actually happen.
If we are surrounded by the right people, we can achieve whatever we want. Here's a quote from the BlinkNow foundation site:
"That principle (sustainability) is reflected throughout the school’s curriculum. Students at Kopila Valley don’t just learn how our school helps protect the environment - they actually interact with the food system by planting some of the rice we consume each year! During the annual Earth Day celebration (which we celebrate for a full week!) teachers focus their lessons on the importance of the environment, and select staff members get the opportunity to participate in “permaculture training” to learn more about Surkhet’s ecosystem. A cooperative that grew out of our Women’s Center has even started selling rice bags repurposed into reusable totes to minimize the need for single use plastic bags!"
Read more about Kopila Valley School sustainability program here.
Sometimes, when I feel down, I come across these amazing stories and this sort of makes me feel better. Guys, you have the power to achieve everything you want in your life; just trust yourself and believe in the people you meet along the way.
Trust your instinct and follow your heart, and everything will flow the way it is meant to be.
Warm hugs and have a nice week.
Claudia