SLW! eNews #34 – Amazing Response!

Posted by: Simple Living Works! on: August 23, 2014

• In: Others' resources | Personal | SLW! resource
• 11 Comments

The response to my blog “Why Are Danes So Happy?” has been AMAZING. Thank you!

PHOTO: Elysha and I discover that street machines return deposits on plastic cups and bottles in Copenhagen to reduce clutter and promote recycling.

Why Are Danes So Happy? The Danes are considered to be the happiest people on Earth. Outwardly they don’t appear especially happy. That’s because their happiness is not a shallow veneer. It is an inner contentedness. And why? READ MORE

The responses to my other blogs and podcasts are collected HERE.

Recent ADDITION: Stop Complaining about Big Government & Embrace It – Thom Hartmann: The Big Picture, Aug. 20, 2014

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I especially enjoyed this blog/email update as I too come from Danish stock and used to live in Copenhagen while I was young. Incidentally, my father (Bob McNamara) served as the pastor at the International Church of Copenhagen in the 1980s. Fun to notice the small world of connections we live in! I was able to visit Denmark again a few years ago with my family and was so struck by the quality of life there.

Thanks for your good work and I always enjoy the updates!

Warmly,

Deborah McNamara, Northwest Earth Institute // www.nwei.org  // Blog // Facebook // 720/361-2686 // Voluntary Simplicity!

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Unsubscribe. Too political.

Barb Reinhardt

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Wow! Hurray for the Danes!

Thanks for posting this, Gerald! I’ll be reposting. I find this inspiring in the otherwise consistently sad news about human society, the environment & the rich-poor divide.

Rick Zemlin

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The one European city all my immediate family has been in, though not at the same time. I have observed something similar in the neighboring socialist state of Sweden – nowhere did one see outlandish homes that put other ones to shame. There was an observed evenness in the culture and communities.

John Herrmann

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Nice piece on Danish happiness by my friend Gerald “Jerry” Iversen!

John de Graaf, co-founder of the Global Happiness Initiative; producer and author of the Affluenza series

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I like the fact that you point out it’s about contentness not happiness. Happiness is experienced briefly, contentness is a state of the mind the majority of the time.

Ruth Knagenhjelm

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I think the most important point you make is the need to shift from consumerism to contentedess. We will never find happiness in constantly striving for more goods and services.

Kate Pendergrass Norlander

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What’s NOW with SLW

• Tony and Shane Uncut – Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne’s complete dialog on simpler living and global justice, in eight parts. To LISTEN, click the player at the top or the bottom of the Show Notes, or visit the Episode Index. NOTE: You can listen to each episode as it is released the 1st and 15th of the month, May-Aug. Or listen to several or all episodes at Preview/Back-up. The topics are different for each episode.
• Let’s Learn About RAMADAN, June 28-July 27, 2014 – Life Standard: Learn from the World Community from Living More with Less — RAMADAN: Month-Long Fast for Muslims
• Simpler Living Alternative Daily Calendar – July
• Check out a few of these thought-provoking, timely resources that might meet your personal, family or congregational/group needs. They’re all FREE.
  • Treasury of Celebrations*: Create Celebrations That Reflect Your Values and Don’t Cost the Earth Earth – May-Aug.
  • Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary Time
  • Spirit of Simplicity: ART | QUOTES
  • 10 Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Celebrations | Spanish: 10 puntas
  • Alternatives’ Seasonal/Thematic Index

What’s Coming

• Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure in Social Media – Basic Marketing Plan Checklist

What’s Happened

• An Alternate Fourth of July
• Alternative Pentecost & Ordinary Time
• Frances Moore “Frankie” Lappe’ Shares Her Co-Creative Way to Ecological Healing – TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 48.

What Others Are Doing

• The Common Good Podcast Episode 49 :: Geoscientist Jeff Severinghaus: How 800,000 Year Old Antarctica Ice Confirms Earth’s Changing Climate & How to Respond
• Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability – New Course from Northwest Earth Institute
• Interviews, Book Groups, etc. – Spreading the Conversation about The OneEarth Project and the book, Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, by Lee Van Ham. | TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 42 | Lee’s new Slide Show
• Spring of Sustainability: Turning Crises into Creative Solutions [Since this series is over, you can only access it by subscribing. Or hear two free samples. // Summer of Peace: Transforming Conflict in Your Heart, Your Relationships and the World, a free online event, June 13-September 21, both series from The Shift Network and Sustainable World Coalition

Podcast Reminder

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Peace, Gerald “Jerry” Iversen, Chief SLW! Activist

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*Treasury of Celebrations: published by Northstone, a division of Wood Lake Publications, BC, Canada, best known for its Seasons of the Spirit curriculum.

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