Have Fun • Do Good: February 2010

I'm on Day 5 of my Have Fun Do Good Daily Practice: Move, Play, Reflect, Connect, and once again the biggest challenge for me is making time to play. It was easy to play over the weekend, but fitting it into the work week is proving challenging.

I know this is very commencement speech-ish, but I looked up the definition of play in the dictionary. The definition I found the most intriguing was:

a : recreational activity; especially : the spontaneous activity of children

which led me to the definition of spontaneous:

1 : proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint

and the etymology of recreation:

from recreare to create anew, restore, refresh

Isn't it interesting that we associate play with children's natural tendency to spend time creating new experiences? Do we play less as we get older because we learn to not follow our natural feelings, and to regard new experiences as risky?

If I ask myself in this moment what I naturally want to do that would restore and refresh me, I can think of lots of things like: bake a new cookie recipe, read one of the new books I got from the library, or go to a yoga class I've always wanted to check out, but I don't have the time.

Are we really only meant to play on the weekend? My question for you is, how do you make time to play every day?

Flickr photo credit: Play with Me!! uploaded by Ryan Carr

With all the depressing stories on the news, you'd never know that there are all kinds of amazing people out there who not only have big visions for a better world, but are making their big visions real, but there are!

Below are links to conversations with 48 big visionaries who I've interviewed for the Big Vision Podcast over the last four years. Please note that because the interviews take place over four years, some people's work and lives may have changed. They may have new job titles, be working somewhere else, and in some cases, have new names! The way they are titled below is how they were listed at the time of the interview.

I hope their stories inspire you to make your big vision for a better world real. You can subscribe to the show on the Big Vision Podcast website, or via iTunes. If you have suggestions for people for me to interview for future shows, please email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com, or leave a comment below.

2010

Rebecca Kousky, Founder, Nest
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2009

Jennifer Lee, Owner, Artizen Coaching
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Bryant Terry, Eco-chef, Food Justice Activist, Author, Vegan Soul Kitchen
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Seane Corn, Co-Founder, Off the Mat, Into the World
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Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO, Women for Women International
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Kjerstin Erickson, Founder and Executive Director, FORGE
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David Cohn, Founder, Spot.us
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Jose Corona, Executive Director, Inner City Advisors
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Lisa Witter, Co-author, The She Spot
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Kimberly Wilson, Founder, Tranquil Space Foundation, author, Tranquilista
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Patricia Loya, Executive Director, La Cocina
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2008

Christina Arnold, Founder, Prevent Human Trafficking
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Cristi Hegranes, Executive Director and Founder, Press Institute for Women
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Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women
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Anisha Desai, Executive Director, Women of Color Resource Center
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Janessa Goldbeck, Director of Membership, Genocide Intervention Network
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Ari Derfel, Co-owner of Back to Earth Catering talks about his year of saving trash.
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Martin Fisher, Co-founder and CEO, KickStart
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Marisa Handler, author, Loyal to the Sky: Notes from an Activist
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Cami Walker, Founder, 29-Day Giving Challenge
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Marianne Manilov, National Team Leader, The Engage Network
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Favianna Rodriguez, Political Digital Artist and Printmaker. Co-Editor, Reproduce and Revolt!
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2007

Reem Rahim, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Numi Tea
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Jodie van Horn, Campaigner for Rainforest Action Network's Freedom From Oil campaign, and the Coordinator for Plug-In Bay Area
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Priya Haji, CEO and Co-founder of World of Good.
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Paul Rice, founding President & CEO, TransFair USA
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Van Jones, co-founder and President, Ella Baker Center
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Chris Messina of Citizen Agency and Ivan Storck of SustainableMarketing.com and SustainableWebsites.com talk about how to start a green coworking space based on their experience with Citizen Space in San Francisco, CA.
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Elizabeth Pomada Co-Founder, Writing for Change Conference
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Marsha Wallace, Founder of Dining for Women
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Shalini Kantayya, filmmaker, A Drop of Life.
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Paola Gianturco, photojournalist, author of Women Who Light the Dark
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Andre Carothers, Co-founder and Executive Director, Rockwood Leadership Program
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2006

Alli Chagi-Starr, Co-Founder, Art in Action / Art & Media Director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights’ Reclaim the Future Program
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Eric Fenster & Ari Derfel, Co-owners, Back to Earth
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Brahm Ahmadi, Executive Director, People's Grocery
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Mei-ying Ho, Co-Director of SOUL
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Abby Rosenheck, Founder and Executive Director, Urban Sprouts
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Ilyse Hogue, Global Finance Campaign Director, Rainforest Action Network
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Steve Williams, Co-founder and Executive Director of POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights)
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Anna Lappé, co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen and co-founder of the Small Planet Fund.
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Nola Brantley, Parenting and Youth Enrichment Director, and the Coordinator of the Sexually Abused and Commercially Exploited Youth Program at the George P. Scotland Youth Program in West Oakland
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