And because we have been quite quiet for the last weeks, here are some details about the last Break Free operation.
The way they were presented in the Singapore press (Yuhuuuu! We made it for the press again!)
“Singapore’s people party stands for happiness, prosperity and progress, and it’s undeniable that for the latter two our country has excelled. According to the New Economic Foundation’s Happy Plant Index, Singapore is ranked 131th out of 178 countries; the public response has been that the government needs to create a much happier Singapore. A group of ambitious activists are trying to challenge Singapore’s mindset that the government is the sole responsible for individual happiness, because ultimately happiness is a personal choice.
Following the words of Mark Twain “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” The activist’s part of a group called Break Free conducted Operation Compliments at the pedestrian walkway, traffic light corners of Raffles City Mall, War Memorial Park, and even on buses to China Town. The group set up in groups holding up three placards sharing compliments, “You are Awesome”, “You are Beautiful”, “Smile for me”, “Wow! Wow! Wow!”, “You are Unique”, “You are Inspiring”. Operations Compliments objectives were not only to get over 400 smiles from pedestrians, bus, car, bike drivers; but especially to inspire others to smile for a better and healthier Singapore.”
And a few photos:
PS. We will post some more pictures and some spicy details about the operation soon…:)
During the last meeting of the Break Free group we ended up talking about compliments.
And how COOL it is to receive one!
As well as how COOL it is to make a compliment…and see the other person brighten up and feel better! (especially in these times, when sometimes people get too caught up in the economic crisis depression and forget to appreciate the nice things around)
This being said, here is our next challenge:
- for one week (until next Tuesday, 2nd June),make 5 compliments every day!
- share the impressions you get as comments to this post
But just before we begin, let’s clearly define compliment= an honest and genuine praise of somebody.
So it is not the intention to make compliments if you don’t feel like it. But I am pretty sure that during one day we can find at least 5 things that we like about people around us.
And if you want to spice up the challenge more, try it out with strangers!
Let’s say we find about 30 creative ways to use a Tea Cup. Yes, I am a tea fan
We’ll do this until Wednesday, 20 May. Then I’ll write a post and everybody will share his list of bizarre, unconventional, creative ways to use a tea cup.
Ready?
Let’s have some fun!
P.S : All the ones who get involved in this challenge will be rewarded with a Creativity Kit : online books, articles and many other cool stuff.
And since our mission is to challenge ourselves and others to break free from the ordinary, we could not have an ordinary celebration, could we?
So here are some glimpses of what we did.
11am - almost all of us met in Bedok Bus Interchange- 9 of us gathered (Basti, the Red Nose German; Smiley Ovi from Nepal; the colorful Hungarian girls Ana Maria and Bogi, Big Heart Maggie from Hong Kong, High on Energy Isabel from Netherlando- Phillipines, Best Photographer in Singapore: Yunyu, Excited Miranda from China, and Romanian myself).
This was the biggest operation in Break Free history! So far…
11.10am- the last one of us, Yasmine the Happy Egyptian, calls: “Guys, can you come and help me carry the helium tank?” (yes! helium tank!! :))
Basti, demonstrating self leadership, rushed to her help. Alone.
That proved to be a mistake as the tank was as almost as heavy as a real army tank. We needed three people to carry it to the place of the operation.
“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” - Alan Keightley -
How to Live a Remarkable life in a Conventional World
In this article I want to recommend you “A brief guide to world domination” - by Chirs Guillebeau. I read it few months ago and I really enjoyed it.
Some excerpts from the manifesto that explain its purpose:
“learn how your own personal goals can be directly related to helping other people. While you are pursuing your big ideas, you can also make a difference in the lives of others at the same time. I’ll tell you a few stories of ordinary people who have been doing this in very unique ways, and help you get started with your own plan of attack.
I should warn you now that this report is not for everyone. In fact, it’s probably not for most people. Instead of writing for the general public, I spent about 35 hours writing these pages for a small minority of people interested in living life on their own terms while making a dramatic, positive difference in the lives of others at the same time.
In short, I wrote it for people who are serious about ruling—or at least changing - the world. ……..
That path is paved with safe lives, middle of the road monotony, and little chance of failure. But where’s the fun in being like everyone else out there?“
The 2 main questions
For me, this manifesto offers a different approach than other articles on topics like “your mission in life”.
It makes you think about the following two questions:
#1: What do you really want to get out of life?
#2: What can you offer the world that no one else can?
“For far too long, we have failed to recognize the importance of EACH of these mindsets together—doing what you really want, and radically helping others.
The problem is that in the prevailing logic of our modern age, these two perspectives have traditionally been viewed as opposites. You can do something good for yourself, or you can do something good for other people. You can make money, or you can change the world. “
His goal is to visit every country in the world by April 7, 2013. CURRENT STATUS: 107/197!!!
“I have been self-employed for my entire adult life and have never had the dreaded “real job.” I recently turned 30 years old, so I figured that since I’ve made it this far, there’s no sense in looking for one of those real jobs now.
In 2006 I returned to the U.S. after spending four years as a volunteer in West Africa. During that time, I lived in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and six other African countries, helping to improve access to healthcare and clean water in the world’s poorest places. I worked with everyone from presidents to warlords, and learned a lot about unconventional living in the process. The four years I spent in Africa was by far the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had, and I only left it behind to enter a graduate program at the University of Washington in late 2006.
The conversation about world domination started earlier this year when I was getting ready to finish my master’s degree. A couple of friends asked me what I was going to do next, and at first I didn’t know how to answer. I went through the list of “normal” responses to that question—maybe I’ll start a new business, enter a Ph.D. program, go back to Africa, etc. But after thinking about it for a long time, I started telling people, “I’m going to start my own social movement.”
I’ll tell you a story that made me change my perspective on the things I could do.
I never thought about attending a singing class. Not because I was awful at singing (I think I have a quite nice voice). It’s more because I didn’t see the purpose of learning how to sing. I only sing to entertain myself (aka under the shower).
Besides, singing is not as social as dancing and you don’t have the chance to practice it so oftenly: when you go to parties you are supposed to dance, not to sing.
The list of reasons could go on…
So, as dancing was more important for me I planned to attend a tango dance lesson (my first one ever). BUT : as I didn’t payed attention to the announcement it turned out that the dance was actually …. music. A tango music class
I was with a Egyptian guy and he was looking like he wanted to kill me for bringing him there to sing in Spanish!!
During one hour we practiced our singing skills on a beautiful Carlos Gardel song, repeating over and over again.
In the end, we both had lots of fun and were really sorry that it ended so soon!!
I learned that singing is relaxing and very positive for your spirit. It’s a very simple expression of feelings delivered in a beautiful shape.
So, I strongly encourage you to try something you think you don’t like or you believe you’re not good at! Explore!
Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try.
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Let’s do something together.
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