Feeling Good: New Words, New Worlds and Outdoor Gardens

A quick Women and the Moon link for you, a little late (story of my life at the moment!):

A Woman in the Moon song by the lovely Chely Wright

Another lonesome night
Staring at the sky
But I don't help to ease an aching heart
The man up in the moon
Keeps on talking himself blue
And once again I'm left here in the dark

Let me talk to the woman in the moon
I think I need another point of view
That ol' man up there
Doesn't seem to care
Let me talk to the woman in the moon

Heaven's up above
I just want a little love
Cause I'm so tired of living all alone
Please lend a friendly ear
Cause I need some help down here
Somebody with the heart to be my own

Let me talk to the woman in the moon
I think I need another point of view
That ol' man up there
Doesn't seem to care
Let me talk to the woman in the moon

I can't help but look up there and wonder
Will I ever hold him in my arms
Please help me with this spell I've fallen under
Cause I can't seem to find my lucky stars

Let me talk to the woman in the moon
I think I need another point of view
That ol' man up there
Doesn't seem to care
Let me talk to the woman in the moon

Let me talk to the woman in the moon

Ha! I love the idea of talking to the woman in the moon!

Tuesday Feelgoods!

And a few feelgood links for you (well, it doesn't have to be Friday, I'm feeling full of feelgoods and always like to spread them around!):

I have recently learned a new word and new meaning within an old one.

The Hawaiian word Aloha is so much more than the hello/goodbye I had thought. It encompasses the Hawaiian value of love and inner spirit and it means, among other things, "I recognise the same breath of life within you." For more about the values within Hawaiian culture, from the inspirational Rosa Say, have a look at her lovely Managing With Aloha Coaching. Her site embodies a concept being widely discussed online recently:

I'm not sure what to call it, I'm not sure if it has a specific name (though many Hawaiian words express it) but I find it exciting and uplifting. It goes beyond ethical, includes creating (celebrating) the personal within the professional, the moral within the commercial, it speaks of respect and integrity in business life ... it is a holistic kind of approach to business, I guess.

To life, in fact.

And there is a word that sums it up:

Niebu!

Niebu is a newly-created, magical word that holds a whole new world within in it.

A word inadvertently created by James Chartrand of the excellent MenwithPens, by mistyping an early morning greeting to Dave Navarro on Twitter. Dave responded in kind and a new word was born. (More links to Niebu on Life is a Learning Curve.)

A humble typo has since developed into an awesome word/concept/philosophy. A wor(l)d full of positive possibilities, it means hello, goodbye, I hope you have a wonderful day, sending good thoughts ...

So, a very warm Niebu to you all! :o)

And a final feelgood (for today) is the concept of Outdoor Classrooms.

As Dave Riddell explains in his great post, not only do schools (and the environment) benefit from outdoor classrooms; there is a positive effect on the wider community too:

"Beyond the school, the construction of an outdoor classroom also benefits community members by providing opportunities to increase their environmental awareness and knowledge, while offering additional means of participation in both their child’s education and local environmental stewardship."

There has even been a positive effect on the level of vandalism:

"To date, no vandalism or disturbance of either the nursery beds or the native wildflower landscaping has occurred. This is significant, given that the schoolgrounds receive considerable traffic after hours and have experienced defacement and destruction of property in the past."

Tree nurseries, native wildflower beds and proposed constructed wetlands are all fantastic places to encourage the interest of children and their families in nurturing the environment. Such wonderful learning spaces benefit everyone and this idea really excites me, I hope it spreads far and wide like beautiful seeds on a helpful breeze!

:o)