The Humanity Blog

2008-11-17T16:31:00.002-05:00

Children’s March A Huge Success!

The Thousand Youth March for Humanity brought together more than 1,300 students by official estimates, from kindergarten through college, along with some 500 or more adults. We all united in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, November 16 – a picture perfect day! Our message was simple: “We want no bullying around!” We delivered that message loud and clear, with original songs and poetry slams and dance and great speeches of hope. To our knowledge, this event was a first anywhere in the United States.

It’s just one example of what The Humanity Project is all about: Finding practical ways to help fulfill human potential, such as stopping bullying. Listen for our next podcast, at the end of this month, which will help explain more fully what we’re really trying to accomplish. This group is not New Age, not religious. Our efforts are practical and our ideas are rooted in realities we all would recognize in our individual lives. Stay tuned for that program. But for now, thanks to everyone who helped make The Humanity Project’s Thousand Youth March for Humanity such a powerful anti-bullying message.

2008-11-01T17:57:00.003-04:00

Frequently Asked Questions: Thousand Youth March for Humanity

Q: What are the basic details? Who is doing this? Where, when, etc.?

Conceived and organized by the nonprofit group, The Humanity Project, the Thousand Youth March for Humanity will bring together more than 1,000 students, grades K – 12, to march for an end to school bullying. The march will be held on Sunday, November 16, 2008, rain or shine. It will begin at Huizenga Plaza in downtown Fort Lauderdale and proceed for 8/10ths of a mile through closed, police-protected streets back to the plaza for a rally with bands, balloons, brief speeches and a call-and-response anti-bullying chant from the crowd.

Q: What time should participants arrive and how long will the march and rally be?

The march begins promptly at 1 p.m. Walking time is likely to be about 45 minutes for all marchers to complete the route. The rally will begin immediately after the march itself and will end by 3 p.m. Participants should arrive by noon on march day and will be free to go right after the rally ends. Buses will line up at 3 p.m. to pick up students who came by bus.

Q: What is the march route?

The march will begin at the plaza, located on the corner of Andrews Avenue and Las Olas Boulevard, then head north to Broward Boulevard, east to SE 3rd Avenue, south to Las Olas Boulevard, then west on Las Olas back to the plaza. Students, parents, teachers, administrators, volunteers and the public will gather in the plaza and street for the rally.

Q: You said “rain or shine.” This march really will happen even if it rains?

Definitely. Even if it rains. In fact, this strong statement against bullying becomes even stronger if students turn out in large numbers despite challenging weather. Just bring ponchos, umbrellas or whatever else you need to stay dry.

Q: I’d like to know more about the reasons behind the march and about The Humanity Project.

Go to their website at www.thehumanityproject.com and listen to their September podcast or read their blogs about the march.

Q: Ok, how can I take part?

Contact The Humanity Project’s president and founder, Bob Knotts, at 954-205-2722 or email him at rsk1writer@bellsouth.net.

Q: Where should I park for the march?

The public parking garage near the main library has plenty of room. There’s also public parking at garages just north and west of the plaza in the Riverwalk area. Make sure to arrive early so you can find a good space and get to the march at noon.

Q: How do I volunteer to help?

Again, call or email The Humanity Project at the number or address listed above.

Q: I know someone who might want to sponsor or donate to help pay for this important event. How can they do that?

The Humanity Project is urgently seeking sponsors and donors to cover the substantial costs of the Thousand Youth March for Humanity. In return, those sponsors and donors will be given broad public exposure for their community involvement through the media, Internet, flyers, banners and more. Just call 954-205-2722 to help. Our current sponsors now include Nova Southeastern University, Florida Marlins, AutoNation, Children's Services Council, Yellow Strawberry Global Hair Salon, Freeman Orthodontics, Framing By Morris, Downtown Development Authority, State Farm and Office Depot Foundation.

2008-10-24T16:41:00.002-04:00

Marching Forward

At The Humanity Project, we’re very pleased. The Broward School Board, which runs the sixth largest school district in the United States, has officially declared Sunday, November 16, “Thousand Youth March for Humanity Day.” This unprecedented event will bring together students from kindergarten through 12th grade to take back their schools from the bullies. Thank you for this honor, Broward School Board. We also want to thank our growing list of sponsors, which now includes Nova Southeastern University, Florida Marlins, State Farm, AutoNation, Freeman Orthodontics, Downtown Development Authority, Yellow Strawberry Global Hair Salon and Children’s Services Council of Broward County. Next month, we all will join together with thousands of students and community groups and churches and arts organizations with one simple purpose: to make bullying socially unacceptable. We hope you’ll want to help our effort in whatever ways you can. Just go to the Contact Us page at www.thehumanityproject.com to call or email for more information. Or donate at our Join/Donate page at this same website. Thanks!

2008-10-07T14:35:00.002-04:00

Thanks, Nova!

As The Humanity Project continues our hard work on the fast-approaching Thousand Youth March for Humanity, we have reason today to celebrate. We welcome an important new sponsor to our efforts: Nova Southeastern University, an influential institution in South Florida. NSU has just joined our growing list of supporters for this big event, which is a march by students to end bullying in their schools. In effect, the students are taking back their own school yards, halls and classrooms from the troublemakers. It's part of The Humanity Project's programs to help make bullying socially unacceptable behavior. We’re proud that NSU wants to work with us.

Nova is based in the Fort Lauderdale area, with a lovely 300-acre campus and more than 26,000 students. It’s the largest independent institution of higher learning in the southeastern United States. The university also boasts a group of experts on the issue of bullying. We gratefully add NSU to a sponsor list that, as of this writing, also includes the Florida Marlins Major League Baseball team, AutoNation, Downtown Development Authority, Children’s Services Council and our old friends at Yellow Strawberry Global Hair Salon. Thanks to each of you and to Nova. Together, we can help end school bullying – and help prevent the psychological and physical damage to kids that often results from this abuse. The Thousand Youth March for Humanity can serve as our rallying point for change.

2008-10-02T10:56:00.003-04:00

Thousand Youth March for Humanity

I hope you’ll listen to our new podcast, which is titled exactly the same as this blog: “Thousand Youth March for Humanity.” It will explain more than I can in this brief space about the unprecedented event The Humanity Project is organizing and leading this fall. On Sunday, November 16, we’ll head up a march of more than 1,000 school kids, grades K – 12, to stop school bullying. Think about that. When is the last time you’ve heard of students from five-years-old to 18-years-old coming together for anything? Then ask yourself when you’ve heard of kids from vastly different economic and ethnic backgrounds supporting the same cause. Then think about this: Have you ever heard of a massive number of students marching to take back their own schools from the bullies? I suspect the answer to all those questions is that, no you haven’t heard about this before. That’s why the Thousand Youth March for Humanity is unique. Our sponsors right now include the Florida Marlins, AutoNation, Yellow Strawberry Global Hair Salon, Downtown Development Authority and Children’s Services Council. But we need more sponsors and donors – lots more. An event this huge doesn’t come cheap. We hope the whole community will come together to say that bullying must be seen as socially unacceptable from now on, like drunk driving. Bullying is dangerous. Bullying damages and sometimes destroys young lives. This march can be the beginning of a new attitude about school abuse and violence. Because bullying isn’t just kids being kids. It’s kids harming kids. This march is our chance to join together and deliver one simple, powerful message about bullying: “Enough!”

2008-09-05T17:14:00.003-04:00

Our Anti-bullying Work

At our first meeting with the nation’s sixth largest school district, The Humanity Project had one clear message: “We believe that bullying must become socially unacceptable, just like such things as drunk driving or smoking in crowds.” That remains our goal in all our anti-bullying efforts. We believe strongly that students, parents and teachers must begin to view bullying differently. It’s no longer kids just being kids. Bullying is socially destructive behavior.

We’re proud of the Thousand Youth March for Humanity that we conceived and will now organize and lead, a major public anti-bullying event that's unprecedented in Florida and perhaps in the United States. More than 1,000 students, from grades K – 12, will march through the streets on Sunday, November 16, 2008 to take back their own schools from the bullies. We think that the message delivered by these youths will be as clear as our original comment to the Broward County school district: “Bullying must become socially unacceptable.” News coverage is likely to help us deliver that message far beyond the borders of Broward County in South Florida.

The Humanity Project also created our own innovative anti-bullying program that we’ll take into those same South Florida schools beginning later this year – and we’re very proud of this as well. Our entertaining, thought-provoking half-hour presentation will be seen by elementary school students. Again, the message is very clear: “Bullying hurts everyone in school, not just kids who are bullied. So everyone must view bullying as socially unacceptable behavior.” It’s all part of The Humanity Project’s mission to show the many real, practical connections that link human beings – and the ways that we can lead our lives for the betterment of both humanity and ourselves at the same time. Helping yourself, helping humanity. That’s The Humanity Project.

2008-08-31T12:39:00.003-04:00

Clearer Mission, Clearer Focus

It’s nearly Labor Day as I write this, with September almost here. As we move toward the autumn, I want to share The Humanity Project’s newest improvement. We have revised and more tightly focused our mission statement. This is part of our continuing effort to more clearly explain what The Humanity Project really is offering. Our vision and “How We Do This” statements also have been re-written. Here is the latest statement of our goals – offered in the hope that many more people will want to help us reach them. Thanks! And Happy Labor Day!
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Mission:

To teach individuals how to take practical action for the betterment of both humanity and themselves.

Vision:

To create world-wide acceptance of a practical philosophy showing that individual effort can serve the highest interests of the individual and humanity simultaneously, with programs and writings available to all children and adults.

How We Do This:

We are not religious, not New Age. Our cutting-edge programs, writings and other teaching tools encourage individual thinking and are empirically based. We teach children and adults to see themselves in a larger context, recognizing many more of the meaningful connections among human beings and then acting for the highest interests of all. This work includes an innovative, school-approved anti-bullying program for grades K – 5 and the Thousand Youth March for Humanity, conceived and organized by The Humanity Project, which will bring together more than 1,000 K – 12 students to help abolish bullying in South Florida schools. This website provides interviews, practical information and original modern fables in our podcasts and blogs. In essence, The Humanity Project teaches engaging lessons about the importance of focusing not on “me” or “them” but on “us.” Helping yourself, helping humanity at the same time. That’s The Humanity Project.
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2008-08-09T17:23:00.003-04:00

Finding the “Us’ in Everday Life

I am sitting in sweaty gym clothes as I write this, just back from the gym. I know, I know. Not the prettiest image, for which I’m sorry. But I want to explain just how fresh the idea for this blog is. I thought of it 15 minutes ago at Gold’s Gym in Hollywood, Florida. I was working out on a stationary bike when I said to myself, “Ok, how would I apply The Humanity Project philosophy to this situation? Right now?” That philosophy essentially says that we live more meaningful lives as individuals by focusing our attention on contributing not to “me” or even to “them” … but to “us.” So the question was, “How could I contribute to us – both myself and others at the same time – while just working out at the gym?” Here’s what I came up with:

I could smile. That really does make me feel better but it also improves the general attitude in the gym for others. It helps “us.”
I could exercise harder. By being in better shape, I make myself stronger and healthier, which of course is good for “me.” But how can I view this as also truly being good for “us”? These were my some of my thoughts about that question:

1) If I’m in shape, I’m better able to help others, including friends, in everyday life. I remember the time before I overcame my back problems. I had to have my then-spouse lift suitcases out of the car when we traveled. I couldn’t pick up things to assist friends when they moved or needed help shifting furniture around their houses. Or whatever. This is the kind of thing many of us are called on to do often, even if it just means hoisting a couple gallons of milk for an elderly lady at the grocery store or helping to clean our own home.

2) I’m stronger in case someone really needs my assistance in an emergency. This isn’t everyday stuff – but it’s not far-fetched either. Where I live in South Florida, bystanders routinely are called on to aid drivers whose cars have veered into one of our many canals. Any of us may be involved in, or be near, an auto crash or a fire or some other event where strength and confidence in our physical abilities is needed. Ask the people who survived 9/11 about that. God forbid any of this actually happens to us, of course. But it literally is true that we may be needed and that we’re a stronger, better prepared citizen if we are in good shape.

3) Exercise improves my attitude, self-confidence and health. This has many ripple effects for the good: It makes me a more balanced human being emotionally. It helps me cope with difficult people and situations more effectively. It frees more of my best at work, in social situations and everywhere else. I am less likely to suffer some physical ailment. Etc., etc. And all of those things benefit others in lots of direct and indirect ways.

But working out with “us” in mind has a deeper, more far-reaching benefit too. It can help me to feel connected to my fellow human beings, lifting me out of a life lived in isolation, only for “me.” Try it yourself and you’ll see what I mean. By thinking and acting for “us,” rather than “me” or even “them,” I add a much greater purpose to everything I do, even something as ordinary as going to the gym. And that purpose gives my life a richer meaning.

I hope you’re starting to get the idea. Focusing my actions and thoughts on “us” offers me a very good reason to get out of bed every day – to live my life in ways that benefit both me and others at the same time. I stay motivated because it benefits me. I stay connected to others and find meaning in my life because it benefits my fellow human beings too, which becomes an additional powerful motivation for me. In turn, all of this improves society by improving the individuals in it, starting with me. Right now, at the gym. That shift in perspective is among the key goals of The Humanity Project’s program: finding a sense of connection and involvement with every other human being by living for “us.” We believe our unique program can teach anyone how to make and maintain that mental shift, adding purpose and meaning to our everyday lives. Even if we’re just sweating on a stationary bike at Gold’s Gym.

2008-08-01T11:15:00.004-04:00

Giving Help, Getting Help

We have some great news for members and friends of The Humanity Project! Our innovative, entertaining anti-bullying program for grades K - 5 has been officially approved for the sixth largest school district in the United States. In Broward County, Florida, young students will learn our message that bullying hurts everyone in school, including kids who just watch. This ties in perfectly with The Humanity Project’s mission to teach children and adults that all people are intimately connected – and that we each can live in a way that helps both others and ourself. Also, The Humanity Project proposed and now will organize and lead a major public event: the Thousand Child March. On November 16, 2008, more than 1,000 schoolchildren from grades K – 12 will march through downtown Fort Lauderdale to support the campaign to abolish bullying. This event is now officially approved by the Broward public school system, which is aggressively doing something about the bullying that is a problem in schools everywhere. You’ll be seeing a lot in the media about The Humanity Project’s march as the date comes closer.

But to do all this, we need concrete help in many forms, especially volunteers and money. The first two champions of children and safe schools have stepped forward to give us their support. The Children’s Services Council of Broward County is a venerable, tax-supported institution in South Florida doing incredible work of all kinds to help kids. A great organization staffed by hard-working, committed people. We have just learned that the Children’s Services Council will donate $1,000 toward our $20,000 + budget for the march. A big thank you to CSC for this generous help! We look forward to a long and mutually fruitful association with that wonderful group!

Also, our longtime podcast sponsor, Yellow Strawberry Global Hair Salon in Fort Lauderdale, is doing more to help us now. Owner Jesse Briggs, along with his terrific daughter, Denise, and great lifelong partner, Flo, are backing The Humanity Project’s anti-bullying efforts. First, Yellow Strawberry has donation boxes around the salon for contributions to our anti-bullying cause. Second, they have posted signs offering a terrific deal to their customers: Donate $1,000 to The Humanity Project’s anti-bullying work and get a $500 Caribbean Dream Relaxer treatment – and of course, a significant tax deduction too. Caribbean Dream Relaxer is the safe, popular new hair straightening treatment created by Yellow Strawberry and available worldwide. So it’s a win-win for Yellow Strawberry customers, who can get a lot by giving a lot. A big thank you to Jesse, Denise, Flo and everyone at Yellow Strawberry! With friends like them and Children’s Services Council of Broward County, our anti-bullying campaign is sure to succeed!

2008-07-25T11:14:00.003-04:00

This is the fourth in a series of original modern fables by The Humanity Project. They are short, fun, fictional tales that we hope will help demonstrate key points of The Humanity Project message. Stories have been used to teach moral lessons for centuries, from the ancient Greeks through the Bible and up to today’s self-help gurus. That’s also our goal with these stories. We hope you’ll enjoy “The Tale of the Small Hole.”

The Tale of the Small Hole

Life is tough if you’re nothing but a small hole. For big holes, sure, things aren’t quite so bad, sure, sure. At least bigger is better, as everyone knows. But for each small hole poked into the fabric of this world somewhere, there is almost nothing to do but to live in hollow boredom.

The worst of it was this, though: The Small Hole wasn’t even sure, totally sure, he was even a hole even. He was round. Sort of. He was empty inside. Kind of. But he sat among rows of black lines on a field of white. His best guess was that he came into being as a tiny hole in a sheet of paper. But he wasn’t sure, not totally sure, not sure at all.

The Small Hole had lived all his small vacant life with this terrible uncertainty. Big holes at least had some purpose anyway. They could let big things pass through them anyway, like a tunnel that is a pass-through for cars anyway. At least it was something to do with your day. Even some small holes could be useful sometimes, it seemed, as when a finger scratches an itchy leg through the pocket hole of old jeans. Even small holes had a purpose even, sometimes. Not a grand purpose, mind you. But amid the nothingness of small hole life, even small purposes were welcome.

So sat the Small Hole, day after day. Round and empty, sort of, kind of. Unable even to think of himself as a big nothing even, because he was only a small nothing after all. The Small Hole had no purpose and nothing to give at all.

Or so it seemed.

Until the day he overheard one voice uttering some very interesting words. (Yes, holes can understand whatever people say. Most recognize several languages as well as signing for the deaf.) The Small Hole heard one man’s voice talking, followed by very beautiful sounds. The same voice again, then more sounds of a beauty the Small Hole had never heard before. And then once more, the same man’s voice again, once more yes the same man’s voice, but now very loud, very bellowy now. This is when the man’s words got very interesting, if also very loud.

“You’re late!” the man’s voice bellowed. “You have the most important moment in this whole work – and you’re late! Play on the downbeat, as it is written!”

The Small Hole understood the words, of course, but he could not make sense of their true meaning. What was the bellowing man talking about? Soon enough, the Small Hole would learn.

Because now the voice of the bellowing man continued: “I can’t believe my ears! One note to play and you get it wrong! That cymbal crash is the climax of this great symphony by this great composer and you cannot be late! On the downbeat, Mr. Nada! It’s right here on your page! Let me show you!”

What was the bellowing man saying? The Small Hole glanced quickly around now, excited. Because something was happening now. Yes, now the bellowing man was drawing a circle in pencil now. A circle around … him! Around the Small Hole! The bellowing man was drawing a circle around the Small Hole, which of course meant the bellowing man had been talking about the Small Hole!

And now the Small Hole suddenly understood something he never had understood before. Something that made everything make sense at last. Because the Small Hole was not a hole at all after all, after all. He was a musical note. Sitting in the middle of a sheet of lined music paper, all alone. All alone – because he was so important.

“The most important moment in this whole work,” the bellowing man, who really was the orchestra conductor, had called the Small Hole. “The climax of this great symphony by this great composer,” the bellowing orchestra conductor man had added. Then the bellowing conductor had drawn that circle in pencil around him, around the Small Hole.

Yes, the Small Hole understood now for sure, for sure. He wasn’t a Small Hole. He was a Big Note. He was the Big Note that made the cymbals of the orchestra crash loudly together at just the right time at just the right place in the music for everyone in the audience to enjoy. For sure, the most important musical note in this great symphony by this great composer!

And the Big Note understood one thing more, for sure. He understood that this is how it goes sometimes, for sure, for sure. Because sometimes we are sitting just a little too close to the page to see everything, that’s all. Sometimes it all looks just too big all around us to recognize our real place among it all, that’s all.

Sometimes we have a more important purpose, much more important, than we think. Yes, this is what the Big Note understood at last. Except sometimes we just need someone to draw a circle around us, in pencil, to show us what we were missing all along.

The Humanity Project believes purpose is what we each find for ourselves. It is our perception of our place in the world as an individual. The Humanity Project also believes that every human being can live a fuller, more meaningful life by recognizing that we each have something important to offer. Finding that larger purpose, and making it the focus of our everyday existence – that’s what The Humanity Project is all about. For more on this idea, we suggest you listen to our June 2008 podcast, “Me, Them … and Us.” You can catch this at www.thehumanityproject.com. Just click there on The Humanity Podcast and look for the podcast dated “6.26.08,” then click again to listen. Thanks!

2008-06-30T12:55:00.003-04:00

Me, Them ... and Us

This is just a quick post to let you know about a new podcast. We think it's an important podcast for you to hear. It's about a new way to look at the world -- not being all about "me." But also not being all about "them."

At The Humanity Project, we believe in a different philosophy. We think our lives can and should be lived for "us." We can live, act, think and love in ways that contribute to all of us together. See what we mean by going to our home page at www.thehumanityproject.com and clicking on The Humanity Podcast. Then click on the top podcast, "Me, Them ... and Us." We think you may find it helpful as a way to live your everyday life.

2008-06-02T11:43:00.002-04:00

Anti-Bullying Efforts and The Humanity Project

I want to fire off a quick blog to tell you about this website’s latest podcast, which deals with anti-bullying efforts in South Florida. I also want to let you know a little about The Humanity Project’s new anti-bullying program. This work fits nicely with our group’s mission, which is non-religious and science-based. The Humanity Project is all about helping individuals to lead fuller, happier lives through giving. We call this unconditional giving – that is, contributing to society without worrying what’s in it for us. We also promote the idea of a common bond among all individuals. Our program for elementary schools focuses on making bullying socially unacceptable, including the introduction of this idea: “If you hurt someone, you hurt yourself. But if you help someone, you also help yourself!” That message is just one part of the overall program that shows students why bullying is a bad thing for everyone. Our work especially centers on persuading so-called bystanders – those children who aren’t bullies or bullying victims. If we can get all students, along with adults in the schools and parents, to agree that bullying is socially unacceptable, the school culture will slowly change.

The sixth largest school district in the United States is already tackling this issue in a big way. Broward County, Florida is the home of Fort Lauderdale. It’s also a place where a progressive, forward-thinking school board and superintendent have made anti-bullying a priority. Superintendent James F. Notter and the board members have appointed a task force to recommend specific curricula and policies for the coming school year. In charge of that task force are two terrific women: Shelly Heller, an attorney and mother of four, and Aimee Wood, a school prevention specialist. I hope you’ll check out May’s podcast, just posted at www.thehumanityproject.com, featuring an interview with Shelly Heller about all this.

If you want to contact Shelly or anyone in the school system about these anti-bullying efforts, you can do it in a couple of ways. You can email The Humanity Project at rsk@thehumanityproject.com and we’ll forward it. Or you can go to the Broward school district website at www.browardschools.com and look for contact information there. The Humanity Project sits on two of the five subcommittees working to create Broward’s anti-bullying curricula and policies – and we’re proud of that work. We hope to lend our innovative ideas to the anti-bullying efforts in Broward County, Florida for a long time. And we will be happy to share our program with other school districts or organizations anywhere in the world.
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2008-04-04T16:18:00.002-04:00

This is the third in a series of original modern fables by The Humanity Project. They are short, fun, fictional tales that we hope will help demonstrate key points of The Humanity Project message. Stories have been used to teach moral lessons for centuries, from the ancient Greeks through the Bible and up to today’s self-help gurus. That’s also our goal with these stories. We hope you’ll enjoy “The Tale of No-Time Nora.”

The Tale of No-Time Nora

No, no, no, no! No was No-Time Nora’s favorite word. Often she would say, while hurrying past him or her in some frantic flurry, “No! Sorry! No time!” No time for coffee with a colleague. Sorry! No time for sewing with her sister. Sorry! No time for a film with a friend. Sorry! No, nor time to stop and listen, nor time to stop and chat. Nora was far too busy for frivolous stuff, for time-wasting things like that.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry! Gotta go feed the dog! And then the cat,” she would blurt into her cellphone while darting door to door, car to apartment, in very few seconds. Usually just 26 seconds flat. Though with her arms loaded with grocery bags, Nora would sometimes wave one spare finger, very quickly, toward her neighbors Paula, Spencer and Nat.

No-Time Nora had showers to scour, you see. Washing to wash, dusting to dust. Endless errands, a list of things-to-do that filled up her day. Important stuff, time-taking chores like that. And when they were done, just before bed, there was always the company of her dog. And her cat.

There was no time at all for doing with others. There just were not two seconds in her day to give two seconds to anyone at all. She never could squeeze in one instant for friendly frolics or friendships, she never could eek out one moment for moments of family fun. Though sometimes Nora paused long enough to admire her checklists showing all the chores she just got done.

Of course, none of Nora’s “no’s” was entirely necessary. Her shower was completely mildew-free. Even her dog was scrubbed down and her cat was washed clean. As were Nora’s doors and windows and every one of her window screens.

But at least her busywork life kept her so, so, so busy. So busy she had almost no time to notice how busy she was being unhappy. No-Time Nora just numbly buzzed with a busy loneliness throughout each busywork day. With no one and nothing in her busy life but one fat dog. And one very fat cat. And one sparkling shower – oh yes, and also one totally spotless white bathmat.

Until one day, Nat helped Nora with an armload of groceries, smiled and said to her, “Nora, my neighbor, some of us plan to help out another neighbor who needs some real help this weekend, just down the street. I know you’re always rushing off to do chores in a frantic flurry. But why not help us help our neighbor for just two hours – or just one hour’s helping if you really have to hurry?”

She could at last meet all the nice neighbors in their nice neighborhood, Nat told Nora. Giving two of her busy hours to someone else might make her smile more than she seemed to smile now. She could set aside for a while, Nat suggested, all the endless chores of her frantic, flurried life. Nora might even talk a bit with Spencer and Paula – who, Nat explained, were his son and his wife.

Nora pondered Nat’s invitation for just a moment. For two seconds Nora gave his suggestion a first and second thought. Maybe she really needed to meet some people. Maybe doing something for somebody else would do her some good. Maybe a nice smile with some nice neighbors would make a nice change. And with Paula and Spencer, she might even have some pleasant words to exchange.

But you know, of course, how No-Time Nora answered Nat. “No” was the first of the few short words in her no-time reply. “No time for helping neighbors, but thanks, Nat – goodbye!”

Sometime later, after Nat was gone, Nora told herself she really would like to help her needy neighbor. Why, of course she would! Because she was a giving person after all. If, if, if only there were more hours in her busy, busy day. But on the big neighbor-helping weekend, of course, she really had to scrub down the dog and clean up the cat. “And then there’s that dirty shower to scour,” Nora reminded herself, “and I really, really must wash that filthy white bathmat!”

Time for sharing herself with others was time that No-Time Nora always seemed to lack. Besides, when she had tried sharing herself with others, in the long ago past, others sometimes didn’t share themselves back. Life was so, so much simpler with just her one sparkling shower and her one fat dog – and
her one very fat cat.

The Humanity Project says there’s no need for No-Time Nora to live in such busy, lonely isolation. She was prevented from connecting with other people mostly by fear and anger – that is, her memory of times when she had reached out but didn’t get the response she expected. The Humanity Project’s program teaches a practical system for sharing our best with others, without expecting anything from those people and without worrying that they won’t be grateful for our help. Unconditional giving. This frees us from the kind of feelings that held Nora back. We learn to focus on giving rather than getting. In turn, that makes us feel happier and allows us to connect with our fellow human beings in important ways. If you know a No-Time Nora, tell her (or him) to call The Humanity Project at 954-205-2722.

2008-03-15T14:47:00.002-04:00

Finally, A New Blog!

Hello to everyone! I know it’s been a long, long time since the last blog. This pause in the action is unusual for The Humanity Project – and there have been many reasons for it. Basically, I have been focusing my efforts on building a stronger live organization here in South Florida so we can get the people and funds to do more. More for kids and adults here and elsewhere, in the community and online. We have big plans and big ambitions. One of the major current projects is developing our program of unconditional giving for the schools, where it can work effectively as an anti-bullying program. As the author of 23 books for young people, I know our system can be very useful in reducing bullying.

In addition to all this, I was away for nearly a month on a travel assignment. Since I’m not paid at this point by our organization, whose money is limited, I have to earn my living doing writing for magazines, blogs and other places. It was an amazing trip – Australia, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. I learned a lot, including many things that directly have influenced my thinking about The Humanity Project and how to do what we do even better. But it was long time away from South Florida too.

Anyhow, I’m back and we’re moving forward. We’re making efforts to beef up our board of directors with new people, new ideas and new sources of income for our nonprofit group. The Executive Service Corps of Broward County is helping us with that. We’ve also begun a campaign for new members and volunteers. And we need your help! Please join us – it’s only $75 a year and your donation will support our work and add your voice to our group. Just go to the “Join the Project” page on our website to make a secure credit card donation. I’ll be back in this space soon with new stories and new ideas about how unconditional giving really can help you lead a happier, more meaningful life – and help others at the same time. Help Yourself, Help Humanity. That’s what The Humanity Project is all about!

2007-12-30T12:59:00.000-05:00

This is the second in a series of original modern fables by The Humanity Project. They are short, fun, fictional tales that we think will help demonstrate key points of The Humanity Project message. We hope you’ll enjoy “The Tale of Generous Jen.”

The Tale of Generous Jen

Upon some time lived Jennifer once. Writing a children’s book, she was, all in lovely scented verse. Writing only once, perhaps twice, a month. Perhaps. When she could find some time.

This was how Jennifer’s scented children’s book began:

“Music comes alive at night, you know.
Every note has ears to hear.
It listens for the first sound of your snore.
And waits for your dreams to come near.”

Enchanted imagination was Jennifer’s great gift, telling us of things no one else could think to tell. Much more than these few lovely words, oh yes, Jennifer had almost written. But all the rest was still locked inside her head, just dancing and humming to get out for some young someone-else to read.

Just when Jennifer’s words would be unlocked free, oh my – this was anyone’s guess. If those words would ever be unlocked at all. Because Jennifer was so generous, you see. “Generous Jen,” her family all called her. Jen’s fingertips were usually far too busy helping someone else with something else for those fingertips to unlock her enchanted imagination. Whether that help for someone else was needed much or not.

No matter how many other fingertips were busy baking cookies for the church bake sale, Generous Jen always volunteered her fingertips too. No matter that her mother rarely wore some pair of worn pants – Generous Jen hemmed them up some half-inch higher with her busy fingertips. Just in case her mother changed her mind. Every friend who didn’t really need help packing up to move got Jennifer’s generous help anyway. Every friend of a friend who didn’t really need a ride to the airport got their ride anyway from Generous Jen.

There was not a “no” bone in her body any time anyone hinted they might prefer a “yes” from Jennifer. Always giving, giving, giving something or other to someone who didn’t really need her smallish gifts. That was Generous Jennifer.

If that’s what real giving really means, of course.

Because some gifts are gifts much easier to give than others, perhaps. Perhaps.

Much easier to give, at least, than writing scented verses.

At The Humanity Project, we believe “Generous Jen” isn’t really giving her best. But we also feel sure that she could. Our 10-point program can help Jennifer free that enchanted imagination – and the other great qualities that make her a unique individual with much to offer the rest of us. We all have that same potential, each in our own way. Learning to give the best in ourselves to others throughout each day, without expectation of reward or fear of rejection, can help release that potential. We hope you’ll want to join The Humanity Project to find out how a giving life can make you happier. And we hope you’ll tell your friends about us too!

2007-11-16T12:40:00.000-05:00

First Member Meeting A Success!

Thanks to those of you who made it to our first official meeting for members last night. This is the start of a live monthly session about giving and happiness. To those who signed up on Meetup.com but couldn't be there, hey – we understand how busy life can be sometimes. You did miss a wonderful first meeting, though.

There were ten of us and we had some excellent French bread and Brie, kindly donated by Marie-Noelle. We also had some nice red wine, juices and soft drinks and water. Oh yeah – and a fun, interactive talk about happiness!

As part of the talk by The Humanity Project’s president, Robert Spencer Knotts, we enjoyed a roleplaying skit that illustrated how approaching others with a giving attitude can help make us happier. We also heard an original short, funny fable about a giving life – and then we all took part in making some music together. Everyone pitched in to add something to the sound. The talk seemed to get everyone thinking and we sat around for about a half hour afterward, just chatting casually about giving and being happy. This was not silly or frivolous chatter. It was a meaningful discussion among all ten of us about the practical, effective lifestyle taught by this organization. I think we all benefited from the discussion.

If you live in South Florida but couldn't make it, no problem. Our next meeting is on Thursday, December 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Dania Beach. (The third Thursday of each month is our regular meeting date.) Please come and join us!! And Happy Thanksgiving, in advance, to you all!! No matter what part of the world you live in. The Humanity Project still has our free website, with this blog and podcasts and other features – and many new exciting, innovative website features coming. Have a wonderful holiday!!

2007-10-23T13:48:00.000-04:00

This is the first in a series of original modern fables by The Humanity Project. They are short, fun, fictional tales that we think will help demonstrate key points of The Humanity Project message. We hope you’ll enjoy “The Tale of Techie Tom.”

The Tale of Techie Tom

Thomas was a technical type. Totally. His colleagues in IT called him TT. To them, he was “Techie Tom.” But he felt sure all the Ts in his nickname were merely a teasing for him, initials given not with affection but with disdain. His colleagues didn’t really like him, TT would think each day. No one wanted him around. Except for his whiz-bang wizardry on the Internet, he was a man of little interest and lesser use to anybody. Or so TT thought.

Eating lunch this day, alone as usual and thinking typically techie things, TT picked up a magazine. One article instantly caught his attention. “The Humanity Project helps people live more happily through learning to give to others,” the story read. TT scratched his earlobe and other parts. A bit of smelly tuna was stuck to his lip when he lowered the magazine and said out loud, to himself only, “What does that mean anyway? That’s stupid! What do I have to give anyone?”

But TT kept turning the magazine pages. Because the magazine article next said, “The Humanity Project teaches us to focus our actions and thoughts on giving all we can to others each day, without expecting reward or fearing rejection. This ‘giving life’ connects our daily individual efforts to something larger than any one person: humanity. And that can help bring us each greater meaning and happiness.” Now TT was terribly troubled. In an untypically testy display of emotion, he tossed the magazine to the table and stalked angrily from the lunchroom. “‘A giving life!’” he tsked and snorted over and over, walking back to his safe, separate cubicle.

On the way, TT passed two techie colleagues talking about music or something. He never listened to anyone’s untechie chatter and heard not two words. So he did not overhear one colleague telling the other that they’d never find a drummer for their weekend jazz trio. Of course, TT had played the drums all through high school. Still had a drum set hidden in his closet. “‘A giving life!’” TT snorted again as he walked past.

TT still tsked and snuffled as he passed Theresa’s cubicle, who looked up from her techie tinkering long enough to sigh to herself, “TT’s such a cute guy! Too bad he doesn’t like anyone around here.” Then she watched him stalk past her and she got a funny, sad, if-only look in her two eyes. Down the techie hall, TT closed his ears again and hurried by someone who was touring techie cubicles collecting donations for some good cause or other that didn’t concern him anyway. Back within his safe, separate cubicle space now, TT did not phone his mother who was ill or his older sister who missed his voice or his younger brother who had always admired him. And TT, who loved and understood baseball, did not make plans to coach a Little League team that season or support the local major leaguers by attending even one game. After all, TT had a TV. And after work, TT did not take his seriously major techie talents down the street to the struggling school with all the broken computer terminals. The list of did-nots is too long to list here, in toto. Instead, TT fired up a microwave pizza, alone at home as usual, and turned on the ballgame. “‘A giving life!’” TT tsked one last time, to himself. “I’ve got nothing at all to give. And even if I did, who would want it anyway?”

The Humanity Project could help Techie Tom understand that he has a lot to give! Like some of us, he just doesn’t see all his talents and gifts very clearly – and all the people who need them. Because the truth is that Tom isn’t merely a computer technician, a “techie.” He’s a human being with lots to offer colleagues, family, children and his community at large. If you know a “Techie Tom” type, tell him or her about The Humanity Project. We’ll help show that person how they can start living a “giving life,” finding happiness and meaning through helping other people. Just call us at 954-205-2722!

2007-10-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

Thank You, Office Depot

It’s been a longer time than usual since my last blog. There’s a reason for that. We’ve been very busy in our community, working to build our board of directors, find a web designer who will help redesign www.thehumanityproject.com at a bargain price and much more. We’ve held our first live talk before a community group in South Florida and we have other live events scheduled. All this is part of turning The Humanity Project into a group that is much broader, and more hands on, than just this website. We are working with real people in our community to teach folks to live happier lives through contributing to others – giving. Of course, we’ll also have many more features on this website to teach this giving lifestyle to those who don’t live in South Florida. That will happen when we get our website redesigned at last.

Meantime, some supporters are stepping forward to help us. We just gained a very significant new sponsor this week: Office Depot. This great chain of stores has long been my destination for the many office supplies, office furniture and other materials I use in my work, both as a writer and as president of this group. I’m typing this blog on a desk, and sitting in a lovely office chair, that I bought at Office Depot a couple of years ago.

Office Depot Foundation’s president, Mary Wong, just sent a generous contribution that will help us carry out our important work. The Humanity Project can’t adequately thank Mary or Office Depot for this support. It shows foresight and imagination to recognize the potential of this organization – and to see that we have the ideas, experience and desire to turn our approach toward happiness into something that will help many people. We can only do that with help from others first, though – help from places such as Office Depot and people such as Mary Wong. We are most grateful for this assistance. And we won’t forget their early sponsorship of this growing, determined nonprofit group. We will make an even bigger difference in the months and years ahead. And Office Depot will deserve a share of the credit for that. Thank you, Office Depot!
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2007-08-06T14:55:00.000-04:00

Small Things

Something happened to me the other day that may help to illustrate what we mean by a “giving lifestyle.” And it might also help to show how small things we do spontaneously throughout a day can make a difference to someone else.

A young woman called me up to sell an insurance policy of some kind. She was pleasant, with a warm and gentle voice. I declined politely, as I always do with telephone solicitations, and asked if she would take me off her call list. She agreed with a sweet, “Yes sir,” and was about to hang up. But a thought occurred to me just then and I blurted out, “Before you go …” So I told her what I’d been thinking during my conversation with her: “You have a very pleasant voice and manner on the phone. It made a difference. Even though you didn’t make a sale, I wanted you to know.” She thanked me in a way that suggested the remark had meant something to her.

I had found a small opportunity to express myself through an action that might help someone else, just a tiny effort to reach out during my day. But who knows what impact my comment may have had on this young woman? Maybe it provided nothing more than a brief ego boost before it rolled off her back. But maybe not. Haven’t we all had the experience of hearing just the right comment at just the right moment in our lives – and always remembering those words? I know I have. It’s possible that my remark will help deepen her self-confidence somehow. Maybe the fact that someone went out of their way to say something nice will touch her and help renew her faith in humanity. Who knows? But it can only do something positive, I think. I offer all this, not to call attention to my own minor action, but rather to illustrate that small things CAN make a difference. And that doing those small things, and the larger things that we also can contribute to others – that’s what we’re talking about at The Humanity Project. Living a giving lifestyle. It helps others, it helps ourselves. And it can help to make a better world.

2007-07-18T12:56:00.001-04:00

Why Help Others?

It’s a good question. Why should we work so hard at helping other people? Sometimes I find myself asking the same thing. Why not just help … me? I’m important too, after all. And I don’t see anyone going very far out of their way to do wonderful things for me. All of this gets to the very heart of The Humanity Project. Service to others as a way of life. It’s what we teach here. But living that way takes a great deal of effort. Why bother?

If we view helping others only as something “nice” or “good,” we won’t do it. None of us is a saint. People mistreat us, ignore us, misunderstand us. We feel hurt. We feel frightened. We feel angry. It doesn’t seem natural at first to focus our attention on others when we have our own urgent needs. In my experience, though, shifting my thoughts from helping myself to helping others immediately changes my feelings for the better. I stop thinking about me, first of all. So many of our problems can be worsened, often even created, by dwelling excessively on ourselves and our needs. When we end this cycle of thought, we usually feel as if a burden has been lifted. We also have a totally different perspective on our day. The issue becomes, “What can I do to help someone else – right now?” You, as the unique individual you are. How can you use your personality and experience, your interests and talents in any way to serve others? We’re not talking about volunteer work necessarily, though of course this can be part of your efforts. We’re talking about using that sense of humor to make someone smile. Or that musical ability to write a new song that you share with others. Or finding a better way to reach out to a family member who’s struggling. Whatever it may be.

Adopting this attitude, and learning to hang on to it throughout each day as much as possible, can help us recognize that we each are part of something larger than ourselves. Humanity. This world of ours truly is a collective enterprise. It’s possible, and it’s rational, to view everything you do all day long as some effort to serve others, to serve humanity. The quality of our work, the way we greet strangers, the attention we devote to driving our cars – everything we do affects other people. Recognizing this reality and viewing our lives in this way is no sacrifice. It’s a reflection of our deepest feelings about the human race. Buried inside all of us somewhere, we do care about each other. As we practice this giving lifestyle, we eventually see something else: Helping others sincerely and eagerly is simply a higher form of love. We learn to “get” in our lives most powerfully by giving. We receive a richer sense of connection, of meaning, of purpose as a direct result of working so hard to help others each day. We become happier in a way that few people achieve. That’s the answer to the question: Why help others? And that’s what The Humanity Project is all about.

2007-06-20T16:16:00.000-04:00

Humanity Programs

Here’s an update on The Humanity Project that’s well worth reading: Our organization is developing new programs to help you learn how to live more happily. We’re talking about specific, step-by-step methods that we will post on this website and make available to anyone at no cost. We think that’s exciting news.

We’re just in the process of working out all the many details. Then we want to run our ideas past psychologists, chairmen of university psychology departments and others for their opinions. We’ll make adjustments based on their feedback. But we feel confident our new programs can help you lead a happier life. We’re also working on a special program just for kids. We’ve been in discussions with libraries and others about offering talks to children, live chats where we present this kids program in a fun, interactive way.

Because the whole idea of The Humanity Project is to teach a simple lesson that most of us haven’t learned: that our individual lives can be happier and more fulfilled if we learn to focus on service to other people. We want this to be a change in attitude, from a self-centered lifestyle to what we call a giving lifestyle. To us, this requires being fully the individual you truly are, then looking for ways to express that unique personality and experience, your talents and interests, as actions that help others. We want you to do this throughout each day. A giving lifestyle. Scientific research is proving that this approach helps us lead happier lives – and obviously it makes the world a much better place. Please join The Humanity Project! We need your help to teach this vital lesson!

2007-05-15T15:44:00.000-04:00

Blogs, Podcasts, Etc.

As we continue to focus on reworking this website, and our entire organization, we must make other changes as needed. Right now, this means our blog will be less frequent. But only for a few weeks.

Last week, we told you we’re going from a weekly to a monthly podcast. Our home page feature, The Humanity Spotlight, now will be the place where we make major announcements. For our blog, we’re going to publish a new one when we have something worth saying – and in time, once our website redesign is done, that will mean more frequent blogs. Instead of adhering to a rigid weekly schedule, we’re going to just do a blog when we feel a blog. At the moment, most of our efforts are behind the scenes. We’re working at building a broader board of directors, finding contributors, locating someone who will carry out our website redesign for a bargain price and more. Again, we ask for patience. But we do want to keep you informed about what we’re doing – and why. We know that, once we’re done, The Humanity Project will serve your needs in a way we haven’t been able to do before. We think that will be worth this brief wait.

2007-05-08T10:32:00.000-04:00

Changes, Changes …

Yes, more changes are happening at The Humanity Project. We really do think you’ll be happy with the results when they’re all finished. But for now, these changes mean you’ll see some different things on this website.

Last week’s changes included our move into a new headquarters. It’s a comfortable place with more space than our previous office. We think it will make an inspiring spot for us to work. But the most important change to you is this: our mission has been refocused. We now are committed to helping people live happier lives through dedicated service to others, something we call a “giving lifestyle.” This goes way beyond simple volunteer work, though volunteering may (or may not) be part of the answer for you. We’re talking about a complete attitude shift, from self-centered thinking to outer-directed thinking focused on the needs of others. Scientific research is proving that this attitude is the very thing that makes us happiest in the long run – doing for others helps us more than anything else, oddly enough. That’s the idea we’ll be teaching on this website and in the community. But for now, we’re in transition. So this means we’ll be changing the frequency of our podcasts – from weekly to monthly. And we’ll now update the home page feature, The Humanity Spotlight, when there’s something important to tell you about. Basically, our web operations are in a temporary slowdown so that we can work on the website redesign. When that’s done, we’ll come back with bold new features and even more exciting podcasts and blogs than in the past. Stay with us. And if you can, please help speed up the completion of all our changes with a donation. Just go to our home page, click on “Join The Project” and make a tax-deductible contribution. We need your help. Thank you!

2007-04-30T11:20:00.000-04:00

We’re Moving!

This blog will let you know that more changes are underway at The Humanity Project. We’re moving to a new headquarters, only four miles from our current Fort Lauderdale, Florida home. The new address will be in Dania Beach, a delightful sea town just south of Fort Lauderdale.

As we move over the next week, we’ll be unable to continue our regular features – but this is only a brief pause. Our podcast will be interrupted for two weeks and our daily feature, The Humanity Spotlight, also will be on hold for several days. This blog should continue as always, hopefully next week as scheduled. Hang in there on the interruptions, please! We’ll be back soon – and then we will begin to work hard on our website redesign. All of it just means one thing: The Humanity Project is becoming a better, more practical organization to help you in more ways.

2007-04-24T09:51:00.000-04:00

New Mission Statement

If you go to our home page, then click on “About Us,” you’ll read something new. It’s our official new mission statement. This will tell you exactly what The Humanity Project is all about, now and in the future. The statement was adopted by a vote of our board of directors and is legally part of our organization.

But the new “About Us” text goes beyond that one-sentence mission. It tells you how we will be fulfilling this mission – which will be through our writings and educational materials and network of resources. And the new “About Us” also explains that we’re undergoing major changes now, with a complete website redesign planned in the near future. At the moment, we’re in the middle of moving our offices across town here in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area. Things are a bit messy, as they always are in any move. But in a couple of weeks, we’ll be getting settled into the new place. Soon after that, we hope to focus on our website redesign. For now, bear with us – and please check out our changed mission statement. It’s part of the new Humanity Project, with a focused mission that we think will help you more than ever.