by the children playing in the street corner. Siem Reap, Cambodia. Photo by Luisa Go Shah
Point to Ponder: ‘If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.' Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Story Line: During our trip to Siem Reap in 2016, we saw these five little kids playing in a street corner. They had just released the model UC; convertible, all-wheel drive, thread controlled human pull car with the capability of carrying heavy load. Each one of them was taking turns in test driving this new model.
Reflection: The model UC (Unlimited Creativity) was the product of these kids’ imagination and the excellent team work. They had engaged in the creative use of resources (milk bottles, caps, wood sticks, pebbles themselves etc). All materials used in building this product were domestically produced and obtained at no cost from garbage can, trees and river bank.
And they seemed to be very happy enjoying their Made in Cambodia product.
Remembering the words of Great Teacher Tony Robbins: It's not resources but resourcefulness that ultimately makes the difference.
Republished with the comments of readers from the first publication dated July 14, 2016.
We experience it in Pulp industry in Indonesia (or anywhere else). Pulp production produces good and poor quality pulp (off grade). Our Norwagian Pulp mill manager announce there's no off grade in my Mill. Off grade has its uses like using for brown papers, Cartons, paper bags, etc. It has a price.
Imagination, Visualization and Creativity are skills that are all different and some children are allowed to learn them, some learn them on their own and some it is just part of their DNA. Imagination is the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses. Imagination and dreaming can coincide to help people feel something they want to do. Visualization is the formation of mental visual images or actually sting pictures in your mind of what you are want to do, say or build. Some people have a hard time visualizing, some have a difficult time visualizing in color or more than two dimensionally but kids allowed, taught and encourage learn to take what they imagine and put it in mental pictures in three dimensions and /or put it on paper or express it through art. Many adults have lost that skill. Creativity is the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. Many children and some adults are creative but many are taught to "stay within the lines" or "don't imagine things you can't, shouldn't or don't have the ability to do. Children in the right environments learn all three more easily than adults mostly because they have learned that they "can't."
Anand - I applaud your creativity along with that of these kids. I may have seen a similar scene several times on a trip to India- but I could never have "seen" it in the way you have, much less described it in this way. Fun can be had without high tech fancy gadgets. Its great to see that these kids actually are outdoors- and looking around at the surroundings-( vs. a screen) and creating - without parental interference :) I second the sentiments from @ Jason
I noticed this photo among a set that you shared among a group of friends. I was very impressed but didn't mention it to you. So how nice to see the photo given a spotlight in FridayReflections!
I am reminded of an adage I once heard about parenting, which is attributed to Dear Abby (Abigail van Buren, real name Pauline Phillips): “If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money.”
Today, or so it appears to me, time for children is too structured (art, gymnastics, sports, dance, scouts, music, etc. ) and although some of this is needed, there needs to be time for kids to just learn how to entertain themselves doing things like: playing in the creek, climbing trees, breaking glass bottles in an illegal dump, knocking down bees' nests, building tunnels with hay bales in the barn, riding your bike to the fishing hole. As Levi posted above, all these things can be accomplished with little or no money. When I was a kid, when we went fishing, we each bought a can of soda and a big of chips for $.25 to take along with us for the 4+ mile ride.
Point to Ponder: Who knows at what precise moment your status can change, but what's inside of you is what matters.
Story Line: Savaii-Samoa (in video above) is the sixth largest island in the Polynesia- New Zealand, Hawaii and Oahu being the three largest. Savaii is pristine and beautiful. Nature has showered the island with the ocean with intense blue waters, beautiful skies, majestic sunrise and sunsets, lush vegetation with variety of colors, superb blowholes, volcanic rocks, beautiful churches and some of the friendliest people in the world. Upolu is the main island of Samoa and Savaii is the biggest island.
For reasons still unknown to me, the memories of Savaii came to my mind while I was recovering from a second dose of Covid vaccine and dreaming of somekind of escape. As for this late reflection, I decided to share this beautiful place with FR community.
Reflection: As I was having chills from the vaccine, one funny memory surfaced. Prior to 2011, Savaii was well advertised as the place in the world where the sun set last for the day. On December 30, 2011, the intenational dateline was moved east of Savaii and Samoa, and Savaii was no longer the place where sunset last. The travel industry lost one advertising gimmick. However, the Sun still set the next evening. Despite losing that arbitrary status, Savaii is still as beautiful as ever and continued to receive more tourists every year.
Don't know why this thought came to mind during my "chilling" hours but it seemed to be worth reflecting.
Wishing a very Happy Lunar New Year and Beautiful Valentine's Day to all friends around the world. Our friendship and love has continued to grow stronger through the years. -- Friday Reflections Team
Story Line: For this special week here are two stories of True Friendship and Unconditional Love. --from my collections through the years
1. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all days of my life.
A story of true love- I read this story over twenty years ago in a letter from Fort Worth Texas to Ann Landers.
Dear Ann: I am going to tell you about a love story that I witness everytime I go to the nursing home to see my husband, who has Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunatlely, I know firsthand how this terrible illness affects family members, but I would like the world to know what love really is.
I see a man who, I understand, has spent past eight years caring for his wife, who has Alzheimer's. They have been married over 50 years.He cooks and feeds her every bite of food she eats. He has bathed her and dressed her everyday all these years. They have no other family. She lost a baby at birth and they never had any more children. I cannot describe the tenderness and love that man shows for his wife. She is unable to recognize anyone, including him. The only thing she shows interest in are two baby dolls. They are never out of her hands.
I observed him when I parked my car beside his the other day. He sat in his old pickup truck for a few minutes, then he patted down what little hair he had, straightened the thread-bare collar of his shirt and looked in the mirror for the final check before going to see his wife. It was as if he were courting her. They have been partners all these years and seen each other under all kinds of circumstances, yet he carefully groomed himelf before he called on his wife, who wouldn't even know him.
This is an example of true love the world needs today. -- Fort Worth
2. and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, till death takes us apart.
A Terminal Cancer Diagnosis Didn't Keep These High School Sweethearts from Getting Married- by Ashley Oerman In
Not all love stories end with a happily-ever-after of growing old together and loads of grandkids—but that doesn't make them any less incredible. That's especially true for Frances Chen and Shalin Shah, who got hitched late last month after Shalin was diagnosed with stage IV synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer that has affected his brain, lungs, and spinal cord, according to an article he wrote for the Huffington Post.
Long before the 22-year-olds said "I do," they were making high school and college memories together. The pair met in 11th-grade Spanish class and began dating their senior year of high school.... More of this touching story of unconditional love and true friendship in the following link.
Reflection: Whenever I have come across inspiring stories like these, I have treasured them, learnt from them and shared them. No matter what field of endeavour one is in; the matters of the heart (emotions, connections, love) have been very important to a person. Andy Grove, a brilliant technologist, highly driven results oriented boss and the legendary CEO, whose microchips changed the world, once said in his speech: Joining Intel was the second best decision I made in life, the first one was marrying the woman who became my wife.
Our Good Fortune or Blessings that so many people we have met in this journey; from childhood, schools, workplaces of last forty years, through Friday Reflections and our travels have maintained friendship through the years. To all of You and new friends to be: Wish You a very Happy Lunar Year and wonderful Valentine's Day.
POINT TO PONDER: What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are. --Epictetus
STORYLINE (Sources for this article are books* “A whack on the side of the head” by Roger Von Oech and “Fifth Discipline” by Peter Senge)
Several years ago, Johnny Carson made a joke on his television show that there was a toilet paper shortage in this country. He then went on to describe what some of the consequences of this shortage might be. The implication of this joke was that the viewers had better go out and stock up on toilet paper right away or they would have to face the consequences. The subject made for a good laugh, since there was, in fact, no toilet paper shortage at all. Within days, however, a real shortage did develop. Because people thought there was a shortage, they went out and bought up all of the toilet paper they could find, and, as a result, they disrupted the normal flow of toilet paper distribution.
REFLECTION
This serves as an example of the self-fulfilling prophecy. This is the phenomenon where by a person believes something to be true which may or may not be so, acts on that belief, and by his actions causes the belief to become true. The self fulfilling prophecy is a case where the world of thought overlaps with the world of action. And it happens in all avenues of life. It is also known as the ”Pygmalion effect” after the famous George Bernard Shaw play (later to become My Fair Lady). Shaw in turn had taken his title from Pygmalion, a character in Greek and Roman mythology, who believed so strongly in the beauty of the stature he had carved that it came to life.
Business people are quite familiar with self-fulfilling prophecies. In fact, the whole notion of business confidence is based on them. If a business person thinks that the market is healthy (even though it may not be), he will invest money in it. This raises people’s confidence and pretty soon market will be healthy.
Pygmalion effects have been shown to operate in countless other situations. An example occurs in schools, where a teacher’s opinion of a student influences the behavior and performance of the student. Managers frequently fail to appreciate the extent to which their own expectations influences subordinate performance.
In reinforcing process such as this, a small change builds up on itself. Whatever movement occurs is amplified, producing more movement in the same direction. Thinking a particular thought has tremendous impact on the world of action. When you look in the mirror in the morning, see the face of the person who is going to accomplish wonderful things in personal and professional life. Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You get what you expect.
*Highly Recommend Following Books that have positive impact on my life and career.
A Whack on the side of the head by Roger Von Oech
Expect the Unexpected or You won't Find It by Roger Von Oech
Fifth Discipline The art and practice of a learning organization by Peter Senge
This article was published in the Book Friday Reflections with the permission of Roger Von Oech and also in October 2011 weekly FR on the Web.
Recycle, Reuse, Reduce.
Posted by: Save our Planet | July 14, 2016 at 08:28 PM
Don't let this Benchmarks get to our management.
Soon they will replace us all, last of the survivors, with Cambodian kids.
Posted by: Wortied | July 14, 2016 at 10:05 PM
We experience it in Pulp industry in Indonesia (or anywhere else). Pulp production produces good and poor quality pulp (off grade). Our Norwagian Pulp mill manager announce there's no off grade in my Mill. Off grade has its uses like using for brown papers, Cartons, paper bags, etc. It has a price.
Posted by: Suresh Shah | July 15, 2016 at 02:41 AM
Make Cambodia Great Again initiative? 😂
Posted by: Rajan | July 15, 2016 at 07:14 AM
Imagination, Visualization and Creativity are skills that are all different and some children are allowed to learn them, some learn them on their own and some it is just part of their DNA.
Imagination is the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses. Imagination and dreaming can coincide to help people feel something they want to do. Visualization is the formation of mental visual images or actually sting pictures in your mind of what you are want to do, say or build. Some people have a hard time visualizing, some have a difficult time visualizing in color or more than two dimensionally but kids allowed, taught and encourage learn to take what they imagine and put it in mental pictures in three dimensions and /or put it on paper or express it through art. Many adults have lost that skill. Creativity is the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. Many children and some adults are creative but many are taught to "stay within the lines" or "don't imagine things you can't, shouldn't or don't have the ability to do. Children in the right environments learn all three more easily than adults mostly because they have learned that they "can't."
Posted by: Lonnie Hurst | July 15, 2016 at 07:19 AM
For you every encounter is a learning experience.
Thanks for continuing to share your experiences.
Posted by: Jason | July 15, 2016 at 07:51 AM
Anand - I applaud your creativity along with that of these kids. I may have seen a similar scene several times on a trip to India- but I could never have "seen" it in the way you have, much less described it in this way.
Fun can be had without high tech fancy gadgets. Its great to see that these kids actually are outdoors- and looking around at the surroundings-( vs. a screen) and creating - without parental interference :)
I second the sentiments from @ Jason
Posted by: Madhuri | July 15, 2016 at 09:21 AM
This is such a great reminder/lesson… we spoil our kids when we don’t need to and we ruin their natural imaginative powers.
Take care
Posted by: BHSC | July 15, 2016 at 10:15 AM
I noticed this photo among a set that you shared among a group of friends. I was very impressed but didn't mention it to you. So how nice to see the photo given a spotlight in FridayReflections!
I am reminded of an adage I once heard about parenting, which is attributed to Dear Abby (Abigail van Buren, real name Pauline Phillips):
“If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money.”
Posted by: Levi's | July 15, 2016 at 04:01 PM
Pardon me but the model in above picture seems two wheel drive.
Still a great idea and superb reflection. Thanks
Posted by: Auto Fan since childhoodh | July 15, 2016 at 05:04 PM
Today, or so it appears to me, time for children is too structured (art, gymnastics, sports, dance, scouts, music, etc. ) and although some of this is needed, there needs to be time for kids to just learn how to entertain themselves doing things like: playing in the creek, climbing trees, breaking glass bottles in an illegal dump, knocking down bees' nests, building tunnels with hay bales in the barn, riding your bike to the fishing hole. As Levi posted above, all these things can be accomplished with little or no money. When I was a kid, when we went fishing, we each bought a can of soda and a big of chips for $.25 to take along with us for the 4+ mile ride.
Posted by: Mark Dennen | July 16, 2016 at 04:30 AM