For how long have you been living in your current home?
What did you believe as a child?
What does your horizon look like?
When you look out your window, or from your backyard or porch or balcony or rooftop, what do you see? Is your skyline made of buildings? Of trees? Of prairie?
As I breathe in and breathe out from my window or veranda, I see and observe nature – trees, flowers, mountains, birds, the sky, neighbourhood houses (one under construction), sounds of vehicles, machines, and people - with my eyes and the rest of my other senses, incl the sixth.
What is your favorite horizon, and why? What limits are there to your own internal horizons?
No favorites. I welcome variety. There’s beauty and wonder in every horizon, if I look deeper. And the same horizon on the surface can look different as it moves and changes and as I move and change as well. As for my internal horizons, I open up to limitless possibilities of the moment.
Do you think more about the past or the future?
Share your favorite Yoda quotes
What is the best way to love the Earth?
What do you miss most when you travel?
Have you ever found a letter meant for someone else?
Happened once in a while in my previous place of work where we had our in-trays. Sometimes messengers made a mistake of putting files or memos addressed to someone else into my in-tray. Being a fast reader, I got to read the gist of the memo even before I realized it's not meant for me and at times I didn't even realize it and acted on the matter by calling the sender and finding out from him or her that said memo wasn't for me afterall. Created havoc or big laughter at times.
Or have you ever written a letter to a stranger, or found a message in a bottle or a note meant for whomever finds it?
Not really, but it sounds exciting to write one now and put it in a bottle. What would I write? See below.
If you could write a letter to someone unknown, what would it say?
Hi, special person! I love you! I hope this note cheers you up. Please put the note back in the bottle and send it away to touch another soul! Be sure to sign your name and whereabouts. Meanwhile contact me at www.gaia.com ~ Mila from Kathmandu (for now)
Who have you lived with the longest?
The Laws of Ultimate Reality
I don't know about you, but I can attest that most of these have been proven true in my experience. Enjoy!
& Law of Mechanical Repair
After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.
& Law of Gravity
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.
& Law of Probability
The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
& Law of Random Numbers
If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.
& Law of the Alibi
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.
& Variation Law
If you change lines (like at the grocery or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time)
& Law of the Bath
When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.
& Law of Close Encounters
The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.
& Law of the Result
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.
& Law of Biomechanics
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
& Law of the Theater
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last.
& The Starbucks Law
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.
& Murphy's Law of Lockers
If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.
& Law of Physical Surfaces
The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.
& Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
& Brown's Law of Physical Appearance
If the shoe fits, it's ugly.
& Oliver's Law of Public Speaking
A closed mouth gathers no feet.
& Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing
As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.
& Doctors' Law
If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. Don't make an appointment and you'll stay sick.
Who lived in your house or your room before you?
A Russian pilot used to stay in this house (see photo here). Our landlord told us this tenant had regular house guests and hosted lots of parties whenever he had no scheduled flights. Sadly, he left the house without giving enough months' notice and didn't pay the rent for a couple of months or so. There were also a few broken furnitures and the kitchen had to be redone before we moved in. We also consulted our celebrity astrologer friend about the energy of this place. Based on his advice, we walled the water well lying southwest of the property (this sucks energy so the walls sort of controlled that), moved the water tanks from northeast to the west, buried some copper and silver wires across the garage grounds in the southeast (to absorb more energy).
The house is owned by our landlord's wife and they lived here when they were newly married and had a son. They moved to USA where they found work but lately with a new daughter and my landlord's dad's sudden expiration, they have returned to live with his widowed mom and will take her with them to USA next year.
A friend of mine (a Filipina) who is married to a Nepali who just got appointed as a delegate to the constituent assembly is keen to get this house when we leave. I hope they and our landlord would reach agreement.
What is it that makes us alive?
- absorbed in my enterprise
- envisioning, co-creating ideas
- co-creating or enjoying art and crafts
- making decisions
- listening to music, singing or dancing to my heart's delight
- traveling
- dreaming
- laughing
- playing
- dancing in the rain
- being spontaneous
- just being
and so many more that's eluding me for now. It seems everything I love really makes me come to life..
What is it that you do to let go?
If I may add, a poem of Allison You will be okay without it is a great answer to this question as well.
A glimpse of Nepali cinema: Sano Sansar
You'll also get a glimpse of what life in Kathmandu is like, partly!
Enjoy!
The Power of Green Lies in Marketers' Hands
at www.greenmarketing.com
Many people think the power to restore our environment—to curb greenhouse gases, to clean up our air and water, to cut down on precious resources' ending up in landfills—lies in the hands of technical types like scientists and engineers, even lawyers and legislators ready to clamp down on polluters.
But the real power of green lies in the hands of marketers—we, the creative folks who have the power to design and promote cleaner products and technologies and help consumers evolve to more sustainable lifestyles. As an environmental marketing consultant, I've been personally banking on this opportunity to make a difference for 17 years! Consider the evidence.
It may be hard to fathom, but over 75% of the environmental impact that a product throws off during its lifetime is determined at the design stage, when, for instance, the materials are chosen, the recyclability of a product is determined, and the amount of toxic chemicals it makes use of is decided. And it doesn't begin at the design stage. Marketers often determine the concept, too. That's where the real leverage for our innovative skills comes in!
Consider a toothbrush. Want to lessen its environmental impact? Start by making it out of recycled plastic, plastic made from corn, and educate on how to recycle or compost it. Then make the head replaceable and recyclable, too. Cut down on its packaging by only wrapping the bristly head. Think you're finished? Not a chance! That's because the toothbrush is part of a system—the water, the toothpaste, and the box the toothpaste comes in.
Now multiply all of these impacts over one consumer's lifetime, and then again for all the consumers on earth at one time. These cumulative impacts may pale in comparison to substituting an entirely new concept: let's say a stick of edible chewing gum laced with germ fighting enzymes.
Now strategize its way into consumer's hands. Thinks it's too much of a leap to market this idea to adults who might be set in their ways or creep out on the idea of enzymes in their chewing gum? Then start to seed the concept into society by appealing to children. Enlist the help of a Sesame Street character and target parents looking to end the nightmare of getting the kids to brush.
Ever heard of a chemist thinking this way? Hell no!
Marketers, start your engines! We're the ones who can dream up new product concepts, and we're the ones who can sell them to mainstream consumers (not just the deep-green consumers who are born predisposed to all things "eco.")
Take the Toyota Prius. A fine car with a hybrid engine. Premium price, not too likely to be offset by fuel savings. So what gets consumers over the premium-price hump as well as the risk posed by new technology? Answer: A distinctive silhouette that helps owners project their values, on-the-mark advertising that focuses on such direct benefits as super quiet ride and fuel efficiency. And a publicity machine that engenders the priceless support of Hollywood celebrities showing up at the Oscars in a Prius rather than a stretch limo.
Want to start making a difference on your job? Consider the many other solutions that are waiting in the wings with the potential to capture the attention of consumers with your help. For instance, we already know how to design homes and offices that use energy sparingly. We already know how to make construction materials and commercial and household furnishings that reduce the threats of indoor air pollution. We know how to design kitchens to make it easy for people to recycle and compost waste. We know how to reuse water from indoor plumbing systems to make lawns and gardens thrive. We know how to grow food using fewer or no chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
More
Jacquelyn A. Ottman is president of J. Ottman Consulting, Inc., an NYC-based consultancy that advises corporations on strategies for gaining competitive advantage via green marketing and eco-innovation. She is the author of Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation.
What is your favorite family story?

The part when we will all be together and merge into one universal family.
What opportunity is right in front of you?
Where are you right now?

Am there where you are now - with my heart, thoughts, and everything else - in the presence of the divine.







