Tuesday, February 23, 2010

How Do You Make Time to Play Every Day?

I'm on Day 5 of my Have Fun Do Good Daily Practice: Move, Play, Reflect, Connect, and once again the biggest challenge for me is making time to play. It was easy to play over the weekend, but fitting it into the work week is proving challenging.

I know this is very commencement speech-ish, but I looked up the definition of play in the dictionary. The definition I found the most intriguing was:
a : recreational activity; especially : the spontaneous activity of children
which led me to the definition of spontaneous:
1 : proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint
and the etymology of recreation:
from recreare to create anew, restore, refresh
Isn't it interesting that we associate play with children's natural tendency to spend time creating new experiences? Do we play less as we get older because we learn to not follow our natural feelings, and to regard new experiences as risky?

If I ask myself in this moment what I naturally want to do that would restore and refresh me, I can think of lots of things like: bake a new cookie recipe, read one of the new books I got from the library, or go to a yoga class I've always wanted to check out, but I don't have the time.

Are we really only meant to play on the weekend? My question for you is, how do you make time to play every day?

Flickr photo credit: Play with Me!! uploaded by Ryan Carr

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Interviews with 48 Changemakers: 4th Anniversary of the Big Vision Podcast

With all the depressing stories on the news, you'd never know that there are all kinds of amazing people out there who not only have big visions for a better world, but are making their big visions real, but there are!

Below are links to conversations with 48 big visionaries who I've interviewed for the Big Vision Podcast over the last four years. Please note that because the interviews take place over four years, some people's work and lives may have changed. They may have new job titles, be working somewhere else, and in some cases, have new names! The way they are titled below is how they were listed at the time of the interview.

I hope their stories inspire you to make your big vision for a better world real. You can subscribe to the show on the Big Vision Podcast website, or via iTunes. If you have suggestions for people for me to interview for future shows, please email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com, or leave a comment below.

2010

Rebecca Kousky, Founder, Nest
Listen
Read




2009


Jennifer Lee, Owner, Artizen Coaching
Listen
Read




Bryant Terry, Eco-chef, Food Justice Activist, Author, Vegan Soul Kitchen
Listen
Read





Seane Corn, Co-Founder, Off the Mat, Into the World
Listen
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Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO, Women for Women International
Listen
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Kjerstin Erickson, Founder and Executive Director, FORGE
Listen
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David Cohn, Founder, Spot.us
Listen
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Jose Corona, Executive Director, Inner City Advisors
Listen
Read








Lisa Witter, Co-author, The She Spot
Listen
Read




Kimberly Wilson, Founder, Tranquil Space Foundation, author, Tranquilista
Listen
Read







Patricia Loya, Executive Director, La Cocina
Listen
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2008


Christina Arnold, Founder, Prevent Human Trafficking
Listen
Read


Cristi Hegranes, Executive Director and Founder, Press Institute for Women
Listen
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Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women
Listen
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Anisha Desai, Executive Director, Women of Color Resource Center
Listen
Read




Janessa Goldbeck, Director of Membership, Genocide Intervention Network
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Read


Ari Derfel, Co-owner of Back to Earth Catering talks about his year of saving trash.
Listen
Read


Martin Fisher, Co-founder and CEO, KickStart
Listen
Read



Marisa Handler, author, Loyal to the Sky: Notes from an Activist
Listen
Read





Cami Walker, Founder, 29-Day Giving Challenge
Listen
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Marianne Manilov, National Team Leader, The Engage Network
Listen
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Favianna Rodriguez, Political Digital Artist and Printmaker. Co-Editor, Reproduce and Revolt!
Listen
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2007

Reem Rahim, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Numi Tea
Listen
Read


Jodie van Horn, Campaigner for Rainforest Action Network's Freedom From Oil campaign, and the Coordinator for Plug-In Bay Area
Listen
Read

Priya Haji, CEO and Co-founder of World of Good.
Listen
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Paul Rice, founding President & CEO, TransFair USA
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Van Jones, co-founder and President, Ella Baker Center
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Chris Messina of Citizen Agency and Ivan Storck of SustainableMarketing.com and SustainableWebsites.com talk about how to start a green coworking space based on their experience with Citizen Space in San Francisco, CA.
Listen / Read


Elizabeth Pomada Co-Founder, Writing for Change Conference
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Marsha Wallace, Founder of Dining for Women
Listen
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Shalini Kantayya, filmmaker, A Drop of Life.
Listen
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Paola Gianturco, photojournalist, author of Women Who Light the Dark
Listen
Read


Andre Carothers, Co-founder and Executive Director, Rockwood Leadership Program
Listen
Read

2006

Alli Chagi-Starr, Co-Founder, Art in Action / Art & Media Director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights’ Reclaim the Future Program
Listen
Read


Eric Fenster & Ari Derfel, Co-owners, Back to Earth
Listen
Read


Brahm Ahmadi, Executive Director, People's Grocery
Listen
Read


Mei-ying Ho, Co-Director of SOUL
Listen
Read

Abby Rosenheck, Founder and Executive Director, Urban Sprouts
Listen
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Ilyse Hogue, Global Finance Campaign Director, Rainforest Action Network
Listen
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Steve Williams, Co-founder and Executive Director of POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights)
Listen
Read

Anna Lappé, co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen and co-founder of the Small Planet Fund.
Listen
Read


Nola Brantley, Parenting and Youth Enrichment Director, and the Coordinator of the Sexually Abused and Commercially Exploited Youth Program at the George P. Scotland Youth Program in West Oakland
Listen
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Lisa Russ, Associate Director, Movement Strategy Center
Listen
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Jonah Sachs, Principal of Free Range Studios
Listen
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Jessica Jackley Flannery, Co-Founder and Board Member of Kiva.org
Listen
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Ingrid Severson, Lead Organizer of the Rooftop Resources Project, a project of Bay Localize
Listen
Read


Melinda Kramer, Founder & Director, Women's Global Green Action Network
Listen
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Kevin Danaher, Co-founder of Global Exchange and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center
Listen
Read


If you enjoy the Big Vision Podcast interviews, you might also enjoy the Idealist.org Podcasts, Social Innovation Conversations, The AshokaTECH Podcast, and the Social Good Podcast.

Cross-posted from BlogHer.com.


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