Tag | on higher ground

A scientific study proving that all living things feel, Cleve Backster's polygraph experiment with plants showede that individual potted plants and even trees in your garden can sense their owners no matter how far away. Plants can even sense physical danger and emotions from people. This might help people care for their food forests and container gardens better too. Talk to your greens and it also helps you ease through the day even if other people think you are going cuckoo.

In the U.S. as well as in the Philippines, young people are choosing to be farmers. Organic produce and staying healthy is a real concern. And good markets provide an incentive for everyone to live and become like Farner Abraham. The rewards of growing your own food are outweighing being a corporate slave. And more rewarding than most would give the farming life credit for. Modern Farmer beat magazines like Vogue and GQ for Nationa Magazine of the Year, so you know kids aren't that fussy about their duds anymore, but are curious about growing the best year-round spuds. Amazing.

Living off the grid ensures that when the grid collapses, you survive. Check out 5 of the best places for off the grid living in the Philippines.

Loave your hoard of romance novels? Enjoying your stash of comics and horror stroy collection? Next thing you want is doing the gig yourself! How to tell YOUR story?

Getting new gear can be a very expensive hobby. But you can still get the best purchase for your choice of electronics if you shop wisely for the good stuff...and it doesn't even have to be the latest bells and whistles if you are astute enough. Enter the frugal gadget hobbyist as a smart tech user..

Are you too attached to your mobile elextronic device or tablet for work, creativity, and design notetaking? What happens if your device becomes bricked? Can you survive with pen and notebooks? Some of the most precious work and design tools are simple and utilitarian, like a good pen and a nice notebook with good paper. Get yourself the best you can get and doodle away!

Some of the most extraordinary minds in our history are special because they taught themselves or learned through homeschooling. Albert Einstein is one very exceptional scientist who was homeschooled and achieved far more than those who learned through the rote systems of learning. Homeschooling rocks!

Many writers and Christians as well are inspired by C.S. Lewis children's books, The Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis was himself homeschooled for most of his young learning life and he grew up into an amazing person, and friend of J.R.R. Tolkien of Lord of the Rings fame. Their love for old languages and creative folktales fostered a kinship as well as the inspiration to create the some of the best and groundbreaking books for both fantasy and inspirational teaching.

Living connected to the urban grid, we have power, a food supply grid, and tap water, plus entertainment online and from TV and radio. Living off-grid, you plan your day so you can draw enough water in your cistern, grow your own food and cook just enough food that will keep without spoiling. Off-grid cabins survive even with ample resources. You regenerate resources so you don't run out. How to cope.

Large farms supposedly thrive on economies of scale, but there is a catch with the capitalist model used by large farms. When hit by a downturn or any unfortunate situation like crops ravaged by a storm, weak demand or overproduction, the farm takes a huge loss and often the recovery costs an arm and a leg. Small farms are better, they recover faster from any downturn, they can specialize with cash crops or staples and with the rise of farmer's markets even in urban centers, the delivery of product to market is most often more assured than large farm set ups.

We are often told to think before we act by some gurus. But intuition and trusting your instincts may be the better way of deciding when to take risks and when to hold back. Here are some suggestions how to keep your instincts well honed, most of them just common sense advice on keeping a healthy body, mind and spirit. Be inspired, take care of yourself and know that your gut tells you more that could hold true or else you wouldn't feel that way. Whether staying away from trouble or forging ahead with a decision.

Are you having a hissy fit because everything is going to the dogs? A stressful day can really piss off anyone, but you can reboot your mood just by sitting down for a while and reading a book. Psychology research has proven that reading for 45 mintues can reduce stress. So bring books instead of an aspirin or seeing a shrink.

For most people, music is as essential for living as everything else (food and shelter). Know why people can't live without music and why it can heal everyone--from creative people who run out of ideas to kids in high school trying to soldier on and make it out alive. We keep our soul if we can still hum a tune, dance with happy feet, or play our playlist in the middle of the most trying and desperate times.

Getting promoted to your level of incompetence now has a behavioral definition: The Peter Principle. Avoid overextending your workers so that they are still productive for your company. Demotion is better than getting fired for incompetence. If you are a startup getting core workers for your project, it is better to pay specialists who are very good at what they do than getting people who need to grow into their positions. Start-ups have a very small window to make a dream a success. Get and pay creative people who are the best at what they do from the start. Always. Less worries if you do.

A recent Cornell University study revealed that experiences turn out to be more memorable and valuable to people than just owning stuff. Even as a gauge for society's well being. That means going out and having fun in a concert, enrolling in some learning course that enriches your knowledge and skills, or travelling around the world as a backpacker. Memorable experiences may turn out to be a new way for the powers that be to help their citizens enjoy life. Not just the latest GDP figures for growth.

People grab every opportunity to get ahead of each other without thinling about the consequences when life is like a rat race.. But the secret of success that everyone should learn is that waiting with a good attitude or wu-wei is a part of every productiive endeavor. Learn to wait. But work towards your goal with smarts, patience and a good sense of humor. Remember Christ teaching us that we be of good cheer to overcome the world.

We all hear the buzz about living off-grid becoming a serious lifestyle choice for many. Not just retirees or yuppies and celebrity sports stars getting tired of the rat race, but even young kids turning to agriculture and farming as a way of life. Not just for the coming zombie apocalypse which everyone has a mad-on for. Living off-grid also means smarter living and a discipline that will keep one in good stead. Zombies be or not.

Attitudes and Behavior that Keep One from Success. Be flexible. Get unstuck from unproductivity by taking smart risks. Dont' stick with bad people, they'll pull you under like an octopuss. Know that you make your own success and learn by stumbling along the way and getting up to run again. The world doesn't owe you anything. You succeed by sheer will, hard work and a sense of humor..

A wandering mind figures out things. Plans solutions. Is more creative--more so than rote thinking methods, psychologists' research say. When kids minds wander, they think of better ways of doing thinks and may come up with more innovative solutions to both simple and complex problems. Encouragng kids and even adults to have daydreaming time or scatterbrain moments may even sustain healthy and productive, thinking strategies.

Saving money is not really hard. Being a penny pincher helps you save efficiently and being wise with money will help you build your savings up. You can even save thousands of pesos each year if you know to pay yourself first and set aside an amount as savings from every paycheck you receive every month.

If the bubble bursts and the economic downturn makes life impossible, a BARTER NETWORK saves a community of people who have a stockpile of goods to trade and services to offer for trade. Having nothing to trade and nothing useful except a former career as a call center agent will bite you back worse than anything. Time to learn a trade AND keep an emergency stash of supplies.

Homeschooling might work as a smarter and more focused way of letting kids learn craft, and core values. Christopher Paolini is a prime example of a kid who could. At 15, writing his first novel, a fantasy epic called ERAGON, which went on to become a cult bestseller and a Disney movie to boot. Homeschooling produces some incredible talent indeed.

A library is the best place for anyone to spend time to read. To cultivate an enjoyment for reading books. Reading books for pleasure promises anyone greater rewards than not finding joy in reading at all. And libraries help kids dream of changing their world for the better. No one survives life without dreams.

Most of us would not want to be too far from our own hometowns when we look at places to study, work or live. But travel and relocation by itself creates a situation where you may benefit most from the learning to survive and succeed in a different place. Since next year is a Yin Fire Rooster year, it is also one of the best time for a fresh start doing work or studying in the ASEAN or anywhere you want. Find your fortune in travel.

Some wiser folk celebrate the new year on Halloween, it being the Sam Hain Celtic Harvest festival that was repurposed by the Christian Church as All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day. As a Harvest Festival, it is a time for bringing in the grain in time for winter and giving thanks to the Earth mother, but Christians can actually celebrate this Celtic new year by consecrating it to the Lord and being thankful to Him instead of some Earth goddess or Lunar harvest god. Here's what you can do on Sam Hain for your own thanksgiving ritual and also for good fortune for the following year. It really works too!