Bertrand Piccard next adventure: Solar Flight around the world

In a hot air balloon, Dr Bertrand Piccard circled the world. He, and partner, Brian Jones, did this in twenty days in 1999. The trip broke records and was called the "last great adventure of the twentieth century." But that's not all.

What I found most interesting about Bertrand Piccard's TED Talk (below) is how Piccard expressed the adventure of the balloon flight as metaphor for his spirituality. The title of one of his lectures is called, Adventure is a state of mind: the metaphor of the first around-the-world balloon flight.

Bertrand had an interest in human potential before he embarked on the balloon flight. He was influenced by his mother's interest in philosophy and spirituality. He became a doctor specializing in psychiatry and psychotherapy. His father and grandfather were adventurers. His father reaching the deepest waters of the ocean and his grandfather being the first to reach the stratosphere in a balloon.

In this metaphor of life, the balloon is prisoner of the air currents, just as man is prisoner of his convictions, problems or fate. But in the same way as a balloon changes altitude to find the currents that will drive it in a new direction, man can rise professionally, psychologically, philosophically or even spiritually, to become responsible for the direction of his life.
- Bertrand Piccard

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The Happiness of Being

If science is your religion, I am happy to report that it seems to be heading in the right direction. At the very least, some studies are finding evidence of "spirits in the material world."

Take, for instance, George Vaillant, M.D., who has curated the Grant Study for more than 40 years. He's said that humans are hard-wired for empathy. The Grant Study was established at Harvard University in the late 1930's by Dr. Arlie Bock, who began the study to learn "how to live well" by studying the lives of "normal" young men, 268 students at Harvard University.

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I cried when I saw this:

This year’s procession is dedicated to our friend Brother Blue

This year’s procession is dedicated to our friend Brother Blue, beloved storyteller, who died on Nov. 3, 2009. This will be the first First Night ever without him. A fixture in Cambridge and Boston for many years, Brother Blue was loved and admired and will be missed. He personified the spirit of First Night.
- firstnight.org

I remember Brother Blue in Harvard Square telling his rhyming stories, barefoot and dressed in blue with ribbons and rainbows, butterflies and bells. But before that, I remember Brother Blue on the radio. I used to listen to Eric play jazz on WGBH. I learned about jazz from Eric. The program started at midnight. Sometime between 2 and 3 A.M. Brother Blue would come into the station and Eric would let him tell his stories of beauty, and rainbows, and wonder. I would sometimes set an alarm so I wouldn't miss Brother Blue come on the air. His stories are still with me. I used his storytelling style when I worked with a developmentally disabled population.

I ran into Brother Blue in Central Square in 2001. He would have been around 80 years old. He was with his "Lady" wife, Ruth, who was watching out for him. I didn't know he had passed away until I read the statement on Boston's First Night web site. Yes! I want to Read the rest of this post ...

Focus on what's dignified, courageous, and beautiful and it grows

Focus on what's dignified, courageous, and beautiful and it grows.
Ryan Lobo
photographer, filmmaker, storyteller

Watch and listen to this beautiful message from Ryan Lobo from TED India, 2009. Yes! I want to Read the rest of this post ...

John Greenwell - Last Words

John Greenwell came to middle Tennessee in 1977. He'd heard of a community being formed. A hippie commune was breaking up and two of the former members were forming a new community on the land. It was 230 acres with a pre-civil war log cabin as the hub. The idea was to have a working farm around the concept of a land sanctuary. There was a large barn, a tree house, a yurt, an outhouse with two seats. There were goats, chickens, a garden, and a field for growing trade produce. Water was carried from a spring. Bathing was done at the head of the garden. A walk in one direction would lead to a waterfall. In the other direction, there was a small stone house by a creek that could be used for meditation; it was also sometimes used as a sweat lodge.

John liked the idea of being around a community. He was a veteran of the Vietnam war and he wanted to live in a rural area, an area that was quiet, an area that wouldn't remind him of helicopters over head. The community was about 10 miles from the nearest paved road. He came back in 1978 and bought neighboring land. It was land with the only other pre-civil war cabin on it. Yes! I want to Read the rest of this post ...