How two buckets and two miles helped me see.

This weekend my daughter and I participated in a Walk for Water to raise money for the purchase of a well for a village in Africa. The walk wasn’t long, just two miles, but at the one mile mark we filled the buckets we had been carrying with water. Where the first mile was breezy and full of conversation, the second was marked by grunts and groans, spilled water and fatigued arms. It was just a small taste of what over a billion people have to do every day to have clean water.

The well will be purchased and installed through World Vision which shares these facts on the Water & Sanitation page of their website.

Every 21 seconds, a child dies from a water-related illness.

When a community gains access to clean water, its child mortality rate drops by half.

In many regions, women and girls walk for hours every day to collect water that often isn’t even clean.

In partnership with other organizations, World Vision has plans to drill 825 deep wells in rural West Africa that will bring the gift of health and clean water to nearly 500,000 people over a six-year period.

The well we walked for will provide water for 100 villagers for their whole lives. The total cost will be $5,400. That’s just $54 per person. We spend that and then some on a mediocre dinner out. I’m not asking you to donate to the well I am working toward. All I’m asking is that you consider donating to World Vision’s quest to provide clean water to rural West Africa. This is their donation page specific to providing clean water.

Access to clean water is one of the most pressing problems our world faces. As the earth’s population grows demand for water increases but supply does not – at least not without our help.

Two Three related articles:

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_50821.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0319/p06s01-woeu.html

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/132/water-water-everywhere.html?nav=inform-rl

How to get unstuck from a thinking rut

We’ve all been there. Mired in the muck. Working to solve or move or create only to feel like every effort lands us right back in the same tar pit. New ideas don’t come because our thinking patterns don’t change. Our brains form habits. We use the same logic, make the same assumptions and take the same path time after time. Here are some ways to stay open and fluid.

1. Read. Read.

2. Read about a subject that challenges you intellectually. We all want to feel smart so it’s natural to choose reading material that reinforces the intellectual picture we have of ourselves. But where does that get you? Put yourself back in school. Read something that makes your brain hurt.

3. Try to understand a point-of-view that differs from your own. Are you a conservative? Talk to, listen to and don’t argue with a liberal about a subject you are both passionate about. Then attempt to argue the others side. You already know how you think, and it’s not working. Assimilating another person’s thought process can help you approach your problem differently.

4. Read up on a subject that is distinctly different from what you are working on. Are you trying to optimize your manufacturing? Read about painting techniques. Are you trying to change your study habits? Read a book about the space program. The pathway that your work needs to take can often be found in the techniques of other disciplines.

5. Have a conversation about a subject you’ve been writing or thinking about. Talk with a trusted colleague or friend. Don’t edit – let the stream-of-consciousness just happen. Don’t dismiss what your conversation mate might interject. Accept it all to keep your mind open and let the conversation go where it goes.

What techniques do you use to stimulating new thinking when you’re stuck? Share them in the comments and I’ll combine them all in a new post at a later date.