I am sharing this hoping that it brings awareness and donations for a great organization. I have had personal experience with the LiveStrong Foundation and found they are a great resource for cancer patients. Resources are crucial for people fighting the disease.

This weekend, the whole world will be watching Lance Armstrong and Team RadioShack as they cross the finish line at the Tour de France.

It’s been a long, tough race full of excitement and drama, and Lance and his team have a lot to be proud of. But as they approach the final stage, they want to make sure the world knows that this moment is about more than just a race—it’s about raising awareness and improving the lives of 28 million people living with cancer.

This is an amazing opportunity to advance our fight. But they can’t do it without you.

Join Lance Armstrong and his team before they cross the finish line. Make a donation of $28 or more to support the 28 million people living with cancer worldwide.

Lance and his team are helping fight a disease that claims eight million lives every year, and they’re riding for the 28 million survivors who face this fight with courage, determination and strength.

This weekend they will raise awareness of the fight against cancer on the global stage.

As they represent the LIVESTRONG movement, we’ll be there to stand with them. This moment has the potential to inspire people around the world to take action in the fight against cancer, but we all need to do our part.

Join Lance and his team this weekend as they make history for our cause.

Make a donation of $28 or more to support the 28 million people living with cancer worldwide.

This is going to be a special weekend for Lance, Team RadioShack and LIVESTRONG.

Thank you for making sure the world knows what our fight is all about,

LIVESTRONG

The Art of Artlessness: On Living Simply and Naturally

“If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things, then this is the best season of your life.” - Wu-Men

Post written by Leo Babauta from zen habits

A lot of the complexity in our lives come when we try to keep up certain appearances.

A simpler, happier life can be achieved when we drop those appearances and just live naturally, without pretense or artfulness.

Let me give you just a few examples:

* There was a time when wardrobe was important to me — I wanted to impress my superiors and so I had lots of (fairly) expensive clothes. Now that I’ve decided I don’t need to keep up those appearances, I normally wear shorts and a T-shirt and sandals to all of my meetings. I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not, and people can deal with me on those terms or not. I’m happier, and my wardrobe and life are simpler for it.
* I’ve also decided that a huge, fancy house and beautiful luxury car are no longer important to me (not that I ever had either, but I did strive for them). Now I go for function, and I’m debt-free.
* There was also a time when I tried to impress others with my knowledge, intelligence, competence. I’d try to show off, or take on more than I could handle, just to impress people. Now I worry less about this and instead just try to do the best I can in whatever I do. In the end, I’m more satisfied with the job I do, and with myself, and others seem to be happy with this as well.

Shaking off these pretenses, this artfulness, results in simplicity. It’s when we try to hold up the pretenses that things get complex. We’re also less honest, and less true to ourselves.

Learn to live a simpler, more natural life, and drop the pretenses one at a time. You’ll be glad you did.

A few ideas to get you started:

1. Dress: Do your clothes aim to impress? Do you have to keep a complicated, expensive wardrobe to maintain this image? How can you shed this need to impress, and just dress simply and functionally instead? I’m not saying you need to dress in rags (or wear sandals, as I do).
2. Grooming: I no longer worry about grooming as much as I once did. Now I have a shaved head, and my grooming tools are down to a reasonable minimum: soap, razor and shaving cream, deodorant, electric trimmer (for the hair). I don’t need hair products, aftershave, a comb, or many other grooming products. Of course, not everyone is going to shave their head, but going for a more natural look could simplify things: stop trying to look a certain way, and you can cut back on the number of grooming products and tools you use and keep.
3. Language: I know lots of people who use “impressive” language, often full of jargon or academic-speak or geek-speak. Well, that might impress some, but knowledgeable people know that you’re covering up a lack of real competence with complicated language. Speak simply, with plain language, and your real intelligence will shine through. You’ll also communicate better — a plus in my book.
4. Decorating: Almost every home I visit is filled with decorative things, perhaps meant to impress or convey a certain message about the home. I find that the simple, natural look is better — subtract as much as you can, until you are left with a minimum of simple, beautiful things.
5. Gifts: When we try to impress and keep up appearances, we can end up spending a lot of money on gifts, especially around the holidays but also on birthdays and other occasions. And while I think it’s great to show someone that you care with a gift, does it really need to be expensive? Can’t something home-made, or consumable, be just as nice? Or perhaps you can do something nice for someone, like a massage or chores or babysitting? Keep things simple, but show you care.
6. Work: Don’t do things at work to impress — you’ll end up doing things that are artificial and false, and often stretch too far and fail, or at least show your shortcomings. While there’s nothing wrong with having shortcomings (who doesn’t have them?), you should aim instead to do the best you can, not because you want to impress but because you want to feel good about the job you’ve done.
7. Transportation: Forget about an impressive car — go for minimalism and function. Or maybe you don’t need a car at all — can public transportation or a bike suffice? I’ve been walking more, for transportation, because I no longer worry about what people will think of me. As a result, I get more exercise, and I enjoy the outdoors more and I help conserve resources a little more.
8. Devices: Do you have to have the latest and greatest gadget (the iPhone, the Palm Pre, the Android), not because you need it but because you want to show people you have it? I’ve done this many times. Drop the pretension and get only what you need.

Life is so much richer when you live in the moment, live for you and be present with the earth. – Marvelous Mouth

This great endeavor has to be shared so we (Marvelous) are hoping you take a look and get involved. Cool stuff.

The Passion

Glue, Inc. began in 2005 with a fundraiser inspired by the thousands of Africans living in Nkhoma, Malawi, who are both directly and indirectly affected by poverty, the drought and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The 2005 Hurricane Katrina relief effort showed evidence that people are willing to reach out and stretch their own funds when the need was brought closer to home. The challenge was to get people to care about those in need who are far removed from their daily lives. The solution was creating a party with a purpose to draw them in, inspire conversation, and provide a starting place for a much bigger community based on caring.

The fundraiser was a success. The San Diego community was joined by well-known artists, musicians, and brands with a common passion and purpose for helping those less fortunate. The amazing response showed many are not only willing to help, but looking for opportunities to do so. Dreams were formed of an ongoing network created for the sole purpose of helping and connecting people who aspire to make a difference.

The Purpose

Accelerating the shift from ?ME? to ?WE?.

thegluenetwork.com is on a mission to provide a network, a venue, the technology, the credibility, the content and the choices to enable individuals, causes and corporations to plug in, connect, act and make a difference. Simply put, the mission is to connect people to make a difference.

The Network

thegluenetwork.com is a cooperative, transparent, online community of passionate, purpose-driven people. thegluenetwork.com connects non-profit organizations, brands, bands, musicians, fans, athletes, artists and young people all over the world who want to, and can make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. thegluenetwork.com changes the way people give of themselves, their talents and their resources ? and in so doing, thegluenetwork.com helps people change their own lives.

http://bridge.thegluenetwork.com/TheBridge

With all the bleakness we are in living these days sometimes it is good to reflect, take action, make change in ourselves and realize there is always hope. This article may give you some motivation and lead you to good sources. We like the site where this article came from: Zen Habits

Task Ninja: Form the Action Habit

A lot of us get stuck in inaction ?procrastinating, doing a lot of unimportant tasks to avoid the important stuff, worrying about failing or about being perfect, having a hard time starting, getting distracted, and so on.

It?s time to start forming the Action Habit instead. Read more ?

I ran across this last night while watching Bill Moyers. If you don’t know Bill Moyers’ Journal you are missing out on a lot of incredible people in the world, as well as information. The following was a cool experience that started with creativity and flourished with creativity. It became a positive force and continues to be. Mark Johnson becomes one of our interesting people in the spotlight. Thank you Mark.

Mark Johnson, creator/director of
PLAYING FOR CHANGE:
PEACE THROUGH MUSIC

SEE HIS WORK HERE: http://www.playingforchange.org/

“PLAYING FOR CHANGE is a movement uniting people all over the world through music and inspiration. It all began about seven years ago as my producing partner, Whitney Kroenke Burditt, and I assembled a group of like-minded people with cameras and a mobile recording studio. We embarked on a journey across the globe in search of music and human connections.

We started the journey with the idea that with an open mind and positive intentions we can find ways of uniting people as the human race. Music has always been the universal language and we followed its path from city streets to Native Indian reservations, African villages and the Himalayan Mountains. I could never have imagined that we would discover a world with so much love, hope and inspiration. In a world with so much focus on our differences I am proud to have discovered that people everywhere believe in creating a better world together.

Throughout our travels we created songs around the world such as ?Stand By Me? and ?One Love.? These songs and videos offer musicians who have never met in person the ability to collaborate and unite through the power of music. We also interviewed all of the musicians and learned stories of how music has helped to persevere through struggles all over the world.” READ MORE

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