A Mideast Bond, Stitched of Pain and Healing This article is about a Palestinian little girl and an Israeli little boy both recovering from injuries inflicted by their respective enemies. Amazingly beautiful lesson on humanity.
Los Angeles House - Spanish & Moroccan & French Influences
It is almost summer and I get a nostalgic tug to be somewhere on the other side of the world. Right about now my mind wanders to a different era in my life. Summer.
Vacations of the past, and the way I am hard wired to plan and wander influence the season. I am home and creating a place from books and images, countries visited and ideas. I usually move very fast to get somewhere slow and more interesting than my own backyard. Although it may be true that diving in Fiji for instance or lingering on a limestone cliff in Turkey or sitting at an Italian café on the beach sounds pretty good, at least in my dreams, there is something simple and comforting about sticking around for a quiet hot August.
Dinner In The Courtyard | Los Angeles or Provence?
No flying, road tripping, fleeing or reorganizing this week.I pulled out my lawn to save water, will put DG on the ground, continue to line dry, and slowly let summer in.
In the hopes of importing a little Mediterranean into my abode, I look at style and design books from all over the world. I consider the arid beauty of Mexico or the Mediterranean as I get ideas on how to live at home with style and global reminders. Here's my breakfast room after looking at Greece Style
My Breakfast Room
One way to enjoy a little armchair travel and gear up for later adventures is the illustrious coffee table book. Taschen & Rizzoli have some amazing decor and travel images that help.
Books That Trigger Your Own Hotel Home & Work Life
To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition
Samuel Johnson
Do you know a home that is like a little hotel? It can be a room in a city apartment, a house, a yard or a window. Maybe yours? Post your pictures and share your inspiration @ home from the world outside.
It’s an irony of our modern lives that while technology is
continually invented that saves us time, we use that time to do more and
more things, and so our lives are more fast-paced and hectic than ever.
Life moves at such a fast pace that it seems to pass us by before we can really enjoy it.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s rebel against a hectic lifestyle and slow down to enjoy life.
A slower-paced life means making time to enjoy your mornings, instead
of rushing off to work in a frenzy. It means taking time to enjoy
whatever you’re doing, to appreciate the outdoors, to actually focus on
whoever you’re talking to or spending time with — instead of always
being connected to a Blackberry or iPhone or laptop, instead of always
thinking about work tasks and emails. It means single-tasking rather
than switching between a multitude of tasks and focusing on none of
them.
Slowing down is a conscious choice, and not always an easy one, but
it leads to a greater appreciation for life and a greater level of
happiness.
Here’s how to do it.
1. Do less. It’s hard to slow down when you are
trying to do a million things. Instead, make the conscious choice to do
less. Focus on what’s really important, what really needs to be done,
and let go of the rest. Put space between tasks and appointments, so you
can move through your days at a more leisurely pace. Read more.
2. Be present. It’s not enough to just slow down —
you need to actually be mindful of whatever you’re doing at the moment.
That means, when you find yourself thinking about something you need to
do, or something that’s already happened, or something that might happen
… gently bring yourself back to the present moment. Focus on what’s
going on right now. On your actions, on your environment, on others
around you. This takes practice but is essential.
3. Disconnect. Don’t
always be connected. If you carry around an iPhone or Blackberry or
other mobile device, shut it off. Better yet, learn to leave it behind
when possible. If you work on a computer most of the day, have times
when you disconnect so you can focus on other things. Being connected
all the time means we’re subject to interruptions, we’re constantly
stressed about information coming in, we are at the mercy of the demands
of others. It’s hard to slow down when you’re always checking new
messages coming in.
4. Focus on people. Too often we spend time with
friends and family, or meet with colleagues, and we’re not really there
with them. We talk to them but are distracted by devices. We are there,
but our minds are on things we need to do. We listen, but we’re really
thinking about ourselves and what we want to say. None of us are immune
to this, but with conscious effort you can shut off the outside world
and just be present with the person you’re with. This means that just a
little time spent with your family and friends can go a long way — a
much more effective use of your time, by the way. It means we really
connect with people rather than just meeting with them.
5. Appreciate nature. Many of us are shut in our
homes and offices and cars and trains most of the time, and rarely do we
get the chance to go outside. And often even when people are outside,
they’re talking on their cell phones. Instead, take the time to go
outside and really observe nature, take a deep breath of fresh air,
enjoy the serenity of water and greenery. Exercise outdoors when you
can, or find other outdoor activities to enjoy such as nature walks,
hiking, swimming, etc. Feel the sensations of water and wind and earth
against your skin. Try to do this daily — by yourself or with loved
ones.
6. Eat slower. Instead of cramming food down our
throats as quickly as possible — leading to overeating and a lack of
enjoyment of our food — learn to eat slowly. Be mindful of each bite.
Appreciate the flavors and textures. Eating slowly has the double
benefit of making you fuller on less food and making the food taste
better. I suggest learning to eat more real food as well, with some
great spices (instead of fat and salt and sugar and frying for flavor).
7. Drive slower. Speedy driving is a pretty
prevalent habit in our fast-paced world, but it’s also responsible for a
lot of traffic accidents, stress, and wasted fuel. Instead, make it a
habit to slow down when you drive. Appreciate your surroundings. Make it
a peaceful time to contemplate your life, and the things you’re
passing. Driving will be more enjoyable, and much safer. You’ll use less
fuel too.
8. Find pleasure in anything. This is related to
being present, but taking it a step farther. Whatever you’re doing, be
fully present … and also appreciate every aspect of it, and find the
enjoyable aspects. For example, when washing dishes, instead of rushing
through it as a boring chore to be finished quickly, really feel the
sensations of the water, the suds, the dishes. It can really be an
enjoyable task if you learn to see it that way. The same applies to
other chores — washing the car, sweeping, dusting, laundry — and
anything you do, actually. Life can be so much more enjoyable if you
learn this simple habit.
9. Single-task. The opposite of multi-tasking. Focus
on one thing at a time. When you feel the urge to switch to other
tasks, pause, breathe, and pull yourself back. Read more.
10. Breathe. When you find yourself speeding up and
stressing out, pause, and take a deep breath. Take a couple more. Really
feel the air coming into your body, and feel the stress going out. By
fully focusing on each breath, you bring yourself back to the present,
and slow yourself down. It’s also nice to take a deep breath or two — do
it now and see what I mean. :)
— Read more about simplifying and focus in my book, The Power of Less.
This is the sustainability conference of the year by Fortune Magazine where preserving the environment is everyone's business.
I spent two days in early May at Fortune Magazine's Brainstorm Green conference, a think tank of big business, inventors, investors major corporations and thought leaders. The conference focused on sustainability and solutions and there was an impressive line up of movers and shakers hammering out passion projects, realized dreams, unrealized goals, realized goals while discussing rational and diverse procedures. Innovation and inspiration unlikely partnerships and the art of the coalition helps get traction.
"One of the distinguishing things about CI for me from the very
beginning was our decision to work with business, to work with ‑‑ those
partners which at the beginning of our history were thought by many
conservation organizations to be the enemy. And we have worked with
them consistently over the years to develop best practices, to involve
them in mitigation of their impacts. And businesses have understood this much more quickly than
governmental authorities have. And business has adapted their practices
to understand that if they don't have ‑‑ if they're not protecting
their supply side of their business, if they don't have a sustainable
supply side their business is going to change and not for the better.
But, I mean, trying to get this done with countries you have hundreds of
countries come together at these big global conferences, and treaties
are very hard to negotiate, and then if you do get a treaty you bring it
back here and it doesn't get ratified. So, it's businesses that
recognize their self-interest is in acting quickly and getting the job
done."
This post offers a few highlights and links to interesting talks and partnerships swirling around the globe from villages to major cities, companies and investment funds thinking about solutions to help businesses create more sustainable solutions. After circling the environmental conference circuit from the entertainment indsutry to the more esoteric, inspired and cloistered world of Bioneers in Marin County or the Environmental Media Awards, it seems that sustainability is the conversation, thread and challenge that interlinks everything and is top of mind for most companies that want to lead by helping the world and being profitable.
Collaboration: Here's a good one, Coca Cola, Dean Kamen, Will.i.am, Slingshot and water purification, Eko Cycle (Will.i.am's sustainable project in video below & and teamwork).
Will.i.am contacted Coca-Cola's chief sustainability officer Bea Perez, on stage at the Fortune panel. With them was Dean Kamen,
not an Ekocycle partner, but an inventor and founder and president of
DEKA Research and Development Corp. Kamen, for most of his career, has
worked on medical devices. His latest project with Coke is the
Slingshot, a small water purifier that can make 250 gallons of
hospital-grade H2O per-day out of impure water. The idea is to install
these devices in places around the world with poor access to clean
water. In 2011, Kamen and Coke conducted the first field trials of the
machine in Ghanaian schools.
Bob MacDonald CEO | Chairman of Proctor and Gamble
The Procter & Gamble CEO has been facing pressure from certain
shareholders. But McDonald says that the right kind of investor gets
long-term green goals. Here are some quotes from his Fortune Brainstorm speech:
With the purpose of touching and improving lives, you can't help but
care for the environment. We believe that taking care of the
environment goes hand in hand with everything we do in improving lives.
And that's one of the reasons that we've been a company, a successful
company, for 175 years is that we always care for the environment as we
create new products and new operations.
We have an environmental vision that's very simple. There are four
parts to it. We want to power our plants with 100 percent renewable
energy. We just opened a new plant in China which is powered with 100
percent renewable energy. Second, we want to use 100 percent renewable
materials in our products. Third, we want to have zero consumer waste
go to landfills. And, last, we want to design products that are better
for the environment.
When we think about the environment, there are two aspects that we
think about. One is the innovation required. And the second is the
productivity required. Relative to the innovation, we spend over $2
billion a year on research and development. We have more Ph.D.s than
most U.S. universities combined. We spend $450 million a year on
consumer knowledge, which helps give us the insight to create those new
products.
"Redefine consumption" - Hannah Jones, Vice President of Sustainable Business and Innovation at Nike describes a relationship with a brand as transitioning experiences. Do you feel aligned with a brand?? Like minded diverse disciplines.
NIKE, Inc. President & CEO Mark Parker on the importance of innovation and
collaboration.
“Innovation is
most powerful when it’s activated by collaboration between unlikely
partners, coupled with investment dollars, marketing know-how and
determination,“ Parker said. “Now is the time for big, bold solutions.
Incremental change won’t get us where we need to go fast enough or at a
scale that makes a difference.”
“About 60
percent of the environmental footprint of a pair of Nike shoes is
embedded in the materials used to make them. When you multiply that
across our business, and across the industry, it’s clear that innovation
in sustainable materials is a huge opportunity, not just for Nike, but
for the world.”
Regarding city planning, the automobile check out some of Peter Calthorpe's Urban Designer had a noteworthy ideas: Not all roads should be designed for a car. Every third street should be auto free and bicycles, and pedestrain environments serve a higher quality of life.
"We need to find a new definition of what defines the middle class and that means not owning a car."
Calthorpe has been named one of 25 "innovators on the cutting edge" by Newsweek Magazine for his work in redefining the models of urban and suburban growth in America. Throughout his long career in urban design, planning and architecture, he has been a pioneer in approach to revitalization and regional planning.
Rick Ridgeway VP, Environmental Initiatives Patagonia and spokesperson Conservacion Patagonica - Patagonia privately held major outdoor retailer preserves the wilds of South America like the great American conservationists and our national parks. What started off as a road trip turned into one of the most successful global land conservation efforts merging capitalism and retail with environmental preservation thanks to a wild bunch of adventurers in the early 70's.
"We took things we learned on our adventures like to Patagonia. In order to stay alive, we had to take risks and learn how to manage them," said Rick Ridgeway of Patagonia. "When you are in places like that, you get a sense of beauty in your bones and you want to protect it."
According to Adam Lashinsky, Senior Editor At Large, Fortune Magazine:
Perhaps the most sensible environmentalist at the Fortune conference is, of all things, an ex-Goldman Sachs (GS) banker. Mark Tercek, CEO of the Nature Conservancy, is promoting his book, Nature's Fortune. He tells an insightful story of interactions between his scientists and engineers at Dow Chemical (DOW),
which wants to work with his organization on conversation programs.
Turns out the Dow engineers understood the practical science under
discussion far better than the environmentalists, in Tercek's opinion.
His scientists are very good at theorizing, he says, and less good at
offering solutions. (Tercek is one of the most articulate, fluid,
nimble, explanatory speakers I have heard in a long time. If he writes
half as well as he speaks, I want to read his book.)
"Business is the most nimble in moving sustainability forward. It's enlightened self interest. Companies can be used as a voice for environmental action. Use us!"
Yes, Winter is over and SUMMER IS COMING. I am about to show you a ski lodge which is also a summer haven just a few meters from a world class golf course with the bones of a 60's camp and the location of paradise embedded in the Alps above Gstaad. Seems that Saanewald Lodge is turning into the place for mountain hipsters and simple naturalists, skiers and boarders, hearty earnest vacationers, golfers, vintage car lovers, mushroom hunters and foodies looking for genuine mountain hospitality without the owners knowing the first thing about it. All the more charming and real I say.
According to co owner Paul Peyer and his brother Jean," We were two brothers that knew nothing about hospitality. Worst case scenario, we would run the show and Jean my brother would go hunting and I would prepare chamois paté." They were saved in the 11th hour by a young seasoned hotel manager Urs Weisskopf to manage the lodge, with 22 years experience in Asia and local knowledge coming from nearby Interlaken made the dream a reality. Reviews on travel sites and pictures from their Facebook pages and Instagram suggest ridiculous amounts of fun and food and style plus privacy and good cheer. All of the ingredients of a ritual vacation spot for couples, families and intrepid free spirits.
Here's a little retrospective on this slow mountain lodge's first winter as something to think about for next winter or this summer hiking, playing with vintage cars and experiencing a little rustic Swiss magic. This laid back mid-century retro alpine haven caught my attention last fall before its first offical ski season. I heard from the grapevine a slow ski lodge was emerging, a restoration of an iconic hangout like how Alta used to be in the 60's or Sun Valley.
Together the Lodge's Philosophy
The owners branded it slow "Active Slow" which is why my ears perked up. Think Ernest Hemingway meets James Bond because let's face it, this is Gstaad and the Swiss invented the art of mountain life and Hemingway was an alpine pioneer who hung out in lodges and drank and skied and wore big wooly sweaters in the Alps, so there you go. Or think of a practical / magical real estate investment from two busy entrepreneurs who happen to be brothers that spent their youth playing in these mountains. Hot tubs, romps in the woods a genuine appreciation for all things alpine.
The lodge became available and the beginning of a relationship for next generation young and seasoned mountain lovers to shape their Gstaad experience sans glitz and glamour began. Any alpine lodge in Switzerland has a mystique to this Califronaian but this particular one with architectual roots from the 60's and a baseline philosophy about slowing down and chilling out inspired by Slow Life Guru, author and TED speaker, Carl Honore has a bit of a twist. A resident Dj setting the tone at night, amazing tiramisu, a fast room with electric cars to play with make the whole thing seem pretty much a mash up of good fun away from it all.
I could see Dwell Magazine taking up shop here for an alpine lodge photo shoot
I interviewed co-owner, Paul peyer to see how the whole thing went this winter and why slow was part of the lodge's narrative. Slow life? Not specifically, it's kind of a free for all. You can plug in to your devices and fill a need for speed in a fast room where you can play with electric cars. But the lodge is way the hell up the mountain so deliciously alpine, ski in ski out or hike in you need a sled, a land rover or some kind of fun transport to get in and out of there. You gotta slow down.
"Freedom is our key," Peyer says. " Our natural environment is a given, so everyday is a new discovery," Peyer points out who was so taken with author Carl Honore's book In Praise Of Slowness he wanted to create a lodge that embraced slow ideals. "The chance really came to slow down with the acquisition of the lodge in 2011. My goal is to have a place where people from different horizons mix, active and not active, locals and tourists young and old rich and modest. The mixing philosophy is in Gstaad's roots but it is losing some of that of late. The region calls for Slow Life, Gstaad's slogan is "Come up, slow down."
Our lodge is not specifically promoting slow skiing but it is an element of our active slow life philosophy. We might have thought leaders such as Carl come and give talks about Slow which is not about unplugging just embracing a genuine experience in an environment that appreciates the past, present and the possibilities."
How was the winter and what's on tap for summer?
Paul Peyer:
I may take some guests trout fishing or wild mushroom picking, my favorite summer activities. This summer the lodge, above all is preparing specials for classic car lovers to view our retro style.
I think that means the mid century architecture goes with some of the car events in Gstaad this summer so it's a design and cultural exchange.
What was the feedback your first winter?
Paul Peyer: The guests mentioned staff kindness and location as their big takeaways. We have ski in/ ski out facilities and the skidoo, hot tub in the snow, authentic atmosphere and our tiramisu!
Next year our winter menu is first track morning crews, ski touring weeks (nordic), retro style sporting events. To be continued...
The Saanewald Lodge is a Ski in/ Ski out, in summer, within 300 meters from the Gstaad Golf Club. They call themselves a sport/ lifestyle hotel and active slow life is their philosophy. More to come as summer arrives. Want to give you time to check it out before venturing off to Europe on your hiking nature adventures.
Nestled in the heart of the Saanenland Mountains, the Saanewald Lodge is the perfect home for sport amateurs and nomadic spirits in search of experience. It also attracts retro style enthusiasts and slow life aficionados.
