Carmen Bracamonte and the "Deep Stories" Blog

DEEP STORIES: DOLPHIN TALE MOVIE

2011-04-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

To many of us, deep stories are certainly part of ordinary lives.

But what really makes a deep story today? What makes a story deeply uplifting so we can’t stop talking about it?

. . . Perhaps, it’s the low-key acquaintance of a hero.

. . . Perhaps, we meet a hero that is totally unexpected.

. . . Or maybe, we encounter such as “uncommon hero” that comes into our lives and suddenly . . . inspire us to reconcile our struggles with the unshakable universal laws of hope, love, unity and will power.

Stories of hope are excellent gifts in the making of humankind.

And, as we see humankind unfolding again and again “no-matter- what,” the anticipated movie trailer Dolphin Tale shows us that those heros are still around us.

This film follows true events in the life of Winter, The Dolphin. And, I’m sure like me, you just can’t wait to see it on 9.23.11. I have so many questions about the true events that made this film possible thanks to Warner Brothers and executive producer, Bob Engelman.

Can you imagine?

Being only a baby, Winter got her tale injured when caught in a crab trap and had to be amputated. Thanks to divine intervention (because ... let’s be candid... we need to tie the dots somehow), Winter captures the heart of Sawyer, an 11 year-old boy, who naturally befriends her.

With so much anticipation, I’m dying to see how Sawyer manages to convince a pioneering doctor, Kevin Carroll (well-known for his prosthetics work), to design Winter’s Tale. There is not media outlet that can totally do the magic for me until the movie is revealed. It is touching to think about the “miracle”that restored Winter’s ability to have a normal dolphin life. Thanks to some Facebook fans, I know that I’m not alone on this.

Meanwhile until the movie is here, we just have to rely on each other, so please tweet about #dolphintalemovie every time you have news, questions, and stories to share.

Winter now swims and sings to the joy of her new friends, who visit her at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Tampa Bay, Florida, where she lives.

As we often take for granted how connected we are, one- to- another, I’d like to recommend a wonderful heartwarming book series of tenacity and encouragement that reminds us about the power of adversity, and introduce us to a very special hero again-- Winter, The Dolphin. Craig Hatcoff and daugthers, Juliana and Isabella, authored the book “Winter’s Tail: How a little dolphin learned to swim again,” a non-fiction plot based in the real saga of Winter.

Dolphin Tale Movie is certainly a deep uplifting story that shakes our hearts... realizing once again that it doesn’t matter what we’re going through in life, there’s always hope when we come together as a community. Would you agree?

AWESOME: Little things that made me smile in "THE BOOK OF AWESOME."

2010-04-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

Usually when things go south (like the “new normal” seems to be these days), most people follow the flow and become hopeless, depressed, frustrated and angry— a very human way to deal with tough times— but luckily not the only way. Fortunately for those of us who firmly believe in the paradigm shift (the way we see the problem, it’s the problem!), there are a few people (typically the ordinary type) who decide to control what’s in their power. That’s the case of Canadian HR worker, Neil Pasricha, who going through a divorce in 2008, decides to turn his worst year into something positive by writing about just one thing and one thing only that he would find awesome on a daily basics. Although not a writer, Neil attracted thousands of followers to his “1000 Awesome Things” Blog and landed a book deal, appropriately titled, “The Book of Awesome.”

It’s the little things that we forget about (our brain is quick to register negative emotions better), as described by the publisher, the Book of Awesome is "a high five for humanity and big celebration of life's little moment," The Book of Awesome reminds us that the best things in life are truly free and universal.

In simple words tinted with a bit of Seinfeld’s sarcasm, thousands of awesome things are highlighted in the book. Some of my favorites are:

• Popping Bubble Wrap

• Wearing underwear just out of the dryer

• Fixing electronics by smacking them

• Getting called up to the dinner buffet first at a wedding

• Watching The Price Is Right when you're home sick

• Hitting a bunch of green lights in a row

• Waking up and realizing it's Saturday

Despite the success of his blog and the release of his book, Pasricha said he has no intentions of changing his daily life in a phone interview with Reuters. "I commute an hour a day to a job in the suburbs and I work in a cubicle," he said. "I like work because I like the people I work with. I'm not a writer and I don't know how to use a semicolon. I just like observing the world and documenting it."

Learning from ordinary lives and people, we find the best solutions ever. And that to me, it’s awesome!

Carmen Bracamonte is curious, inquisitive about the world we live in — and leads The Market To Flip initiative where she advocates about social media and marketing with responsibility.

SPOTLIGHT: THE DAY I "GREEN MY PARENTS" -- THESE KIDS DESERVE A HIGH FIVE!!!

2010-04-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

With “Earth Week” celebrations, we went over 1,000 online subscriptions to most reliable sources and spotlighted amazing kids joining the Green My Parents initiative, a national youth movement committed to save over $100 million, seed the green economy and save the planet. Starting where? Closer than you can imagine — Home.

But before you start, learn to read utility bills, and teach Mom & Dad to do the same. Knowing how much money you spend on electricity, water, gas, etc. will prove how much you save your family. With these steps, an average family could save over $1000.

§ Shop Smart. Stop wasting astronomical amounts of money: Study ENERGY STAR. You just killed all the vampires. Don’t invite another energy sucker into your home. Before buying new stuff, find out how much energy and/or water it uses. AJ, a GMP Champion, crunched the numbers for a refrigerator on its last legs. He gave his mom a list of ENERGY STAR fridges and cost savings. Their new fridge pays for itself in three years– average savings is $51 per year.

§ Play “Where did my food come from?” A fun, mealtime game ‘Hey, where did this tomato soup, these fish sticks, that salad, come from?’ Start with the youngest person at the table. Let them pick one thing on their plate and ask the question. Challenge your parents to reduce the number of miles travelled for every food item on your plate!

§ Shower shorter. Take a 90-minute shower…spread over 30 days. Every 5 minutes wastes up to 25 gallons– that’s 8000 gallons a year. Get your family down to 3 minutes. You’ll need a timer. A family of four could save over $50.

§ When it comes to walking, step it up. Challenge your parents to choose one regular, neighborhood route- a trip to the store, school drop-off, or a night at the movies. Now tell them to walk or bike it. Remind them that the bus, walking, biking or carpooling are not “alternative” transportation for kids. Save about half a gallon of gas per trip or $75 a year.

§ No, Speedracer, No! What’s the best way to save time, gas and money driving to school or work? Leave earlier. Teach your parents that speeding barely saves time, but increases the costs of fuel, tickets and insurance. For every 10 miles, driving 65 instead of 55 saves less than 2 minutes. Tell them to slow down: boost miles per gallon (MPG) up to 30% and save over $150 a year.

§ Drive your age, not your shoe size. Show your parents the most efficient cars on the road. It they are over 40, try a hybrid: some of them get over 40 MPG. Show your grandparents the all-electric vehicles coming out in 2011: the Nissan Leaf gets 367 MPG. Hybrids could save over $900 a year on gas.

§ Kick the bottle. Think the price of gas is hard to swallow? Try bottled water! Bottled water can be over $6 a gallon– twice the price gas. People say you should drink 8 glasses each day. If you drink bottled water, you could be throwing away $1000 a year. Help your parents kick their habit: invest in a filter and portable canteens.

Discuss and debate more in our blog.

NEIGHBORHOODS MAKING A POSITIVE CHANGE

2010-04-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Pinellas County is leading a movement of positive change by enlisting restaurants who are willing and able to offer healthy choices in their menus. A proactive initiative-- now followed by Hillsborough County-- facilitates Pinellas residents of all ages to select dining options that offer dishes reviewed by certified county nurse educators and nutritionists. If you are a restaurant owner and wish to learn more details about the "Healthy Choices" Program, please contact us. In The Chronicles of Carmen Bracamonte, we keep reporting on local restaurants who have a social responsibility and a genuine interest to place the customer first. We point you out in the right direction. Meanwhile, you can check some happy program's members below.

As a result of a growing interest in healthier lifestyles and customer requests for healthier dining options, the Pinellas County Health Department has introduced the “Healthy Choices Restaurant Program.” The local restaurants that display the Healthy Choices Restaurant decal have promised to offer sensible solutions for overabundant waistlines by offering “Take Half Home” or “Cook to Order” options.
A few of Clearwater’s participating restaurants are listed below. For a full list of “Healthy Choices Restaurants,” or more information on this program, go to Pinellas Wellness.
Country Harvest 33983 US Hwy 19 N
Nature’s Food Patch 1225 Cleveland St.
Quizno’s Subs 1530 McMullen Booth Rd.

IS THE WAY WE SEE PROBLEMS, THE PROBLEM?

2010-04-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

The way you look at things may be the key of enduring happiness.

Last weekend, we had a stormy weather in my home town so I decided to kick back, relax and watch TV on a Saturday night. Although not entirely excited, something made stick to the Hallmark Channel’s Front of the Class. By the end of the movie, I was totally sold on the Brad Cohen’s story.

A nationally recognized second-grade teacher, challenged with Tourette Syndrome (TS), a neurological disorder where a person has both motor and vocal tics, is certainly an ordinary man making a huge difference in the world. ”Doctors and scientists don’t know the exact cause of TS, but some research suggests that it occurs when there’s a problem with how nerves communicate in the brain. A disturbance in the balance in neurotransmitters — chemicals in the brain that carry nerve signals from cell to cell — may play a role in TS,” explain the experts.

Can you imagine what’s like to be ridiculed every moment of your life growing up for actions that are out of your control? Brad, even these days, is often thrown out of churches, museums, movie theaters and golf courses because he is considered an ‘inconvenience’ by others. Imagine that! Nevertheless, his courageous vision got me thinking. . . How in the world you made up your mind and decide to put aside tremendous challenges to make sense of your life?

At my brother’s request, I am reading Stephen Covey again (remember him?). He was a very popular author in Corporate America back in the 90’s. Every single company in the country fought to book him as a speaker to explain ” The Power of Paradigm Shift.” In his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Covey says that “only humans experience paradigm shifting, what we call the [Aha!] moment when someone finally sees the composite picture in a different way.” I can’t imagine how bounded Brad Cohen could had been with his reality growing up, and yet, be able to turn this powerful light inside-out that gave him the tools to pursue his dream of becoming a teacher despite his disability.

The movie takes you through a series of events and people that Brad faced early in his childhood going to school, and later in his adulthood, searching for the dream job. And although some tough moments, Brad never gave up. There was a light in his soul ignited by his passion to live up his purpose that he only had time and energy to focus on what he ‘could do’ to arrive to his destination. Then, I remembered Stephen Covey again, “the way we see the problem is the problem,” and decide to put it in practice myself– day by day at work and with my family. Believe it or not, I felt happy all the time. I still feel that way. I wonder if this is the key to endure true happiness forever and ever.

Brad was nationally recognized as The Outstanding Teacher of the Year in the entire State of Georgia, where he lives with his wife and immediate family. He is now making a big difference in the Brad Cohen’s Tourette Foundation teaching others suffering from TS that it’s okay to be different — all is needed is to see the problem from the right angle. What a story!

So what do you think? Is the way we see problems, the problem? I know it is not that simple. All begins we our decision to choose the right angle!

SPRING CLEANING OPTIONS FOR EMOTIONAL DETOX

2010-04-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

By Carmen Bracamonte

Traditionally, spring motivate us to perform rituals that help us reorganize our home, daily routines, and annual events such as doctors' appointments, home appliances check-outs, filter changes, clock spring- forward set up, and more . . . we should stop for a moment and focus -- first and foremost -- in ourselves at the risk of being judged as selfish. Before we take care of others, let's consider some spring cleaning options for emotional detox.

You need to allow yourself go through the awareness process. Willingness is a key factor. Once that happens you realize that you have created a life of patterns of experiences that tend to repeat through different people and situations. And since it is your own experience, you have the power to control it by changing these patterns and allowing self-discovery to empower you.

Paradigm shift

Since you are now aware of self-destructive patterns, you realize that you are viewing the world through colored glasses. Your own perceptions are blocking your experience. Now as ‘the shift’ happens you start to view the world from a neutral pair of glasses.

Love yourself

Once your perceptions about your life and the world in general start to change, a sudden neutrality emerges and a stage of love creeps in. A love for yourself, for life, for the pain and the gain, the more the love penetrates, truthfulness emerges and then you remain true to your mind body and spirit.

Echo phenomenon

There is a medical term called "homoeostasis," which means the ability of a cell to maintain its internal state. If we extend our understanding of this, we see that somewhere there is a tendency of the mind to maintain its original state. For that to happen life echoes back to you situations that you have dealt with only to test your new reality. This is a tricky and difficult stage that we only surpass through practice and dedication.

Empowerment

Empowerment is the feeling of enthusiasm and vigor. You realize now that your thoughts determine actions, your actions make your habits, your habits make your character and character creates your future.

Mindfulness

There are two components to mindfulness. One is to focus attention on immediate experience, allowing for increased recognition of mental events in the present moment. The other component involves adopting a particular orientation toward one’s experiences in the present moment, an orientation that is characterized by curiosity, openness and acceptance.

Divine grace and faith

The more you see the good in all; including yourself, you zone into not just your own divinity but also see the divinity in others around you. You now continue to share your experience with others helping them grow as well.

2010-03-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

CURIOSITY AS A DOORWAY TO COMING ALIVE

Written by Carmen Bracamonte

I’m not a psychiatrist but I read a lot about anything that can help me evolve as a human being; and I must confess that this never-ending curiosity has enable me to capture the beauty that the pursue of purpose brings by focusing in ordinary moments.

Self-reflection, as a choice, has inevitably changed me in perspective— reminding me all the time that life is just a collection of moments. Like all of you, I wish to be happy all the time, but it’s not that easy, so in the process of self-reflection, I’ve learned to identify and develop my own strengths, which ultimately serve as an intervention to improve my life without hoarding into addiction, questionable social behavior or the use of expensive professional help. It takes practice and the payoff is amazing. I prefer to think that if one capitalizes on our strengths and inner power, one can be resilient and optimistic, and thus have a happier and more productive life. Look at the Susan Boyle’s story. “She’s laughing all the way to the bank with her second album,” Show Biz Spy reports this weekend.

2008 Sundance Film Festival’s The Visitor made quiet an impression on me. Walter Vale – the lonely, isolated professor in the movie – is a typical example of positive intervention through self-reflection. In the movie, Walter is fading away (vs. flourishing). He lives a mindless existence, without a purpose, going through the motions in his academic work. He could be described as an automaton, consuming and floating along the surface of life. Walter eats alone, drinks wine alone every night, and is disengaged at work meetings. He avoids anything new and when he’s offered to go to New York City to give a talk at a conference, he contrives numerous reasons to get out of it. I was going to stop watching this depressing movie, but out curiosity, I wanted to know what could possibly happen to Walter at the end? Would he commit suicide? Would he become an addict or pervert? On the contrary, Walter, a man who’d previously been merely “visiting” (vs. living) his life, shifted into a mode of engagement, connection, and meaning. And, guess what? Although fiction, he had a powerful message! “Curiosity as a doorway to come alive.”

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Welcome to Carmen Bracamonte's Positively Change Me Blog

2010-03-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you for considering being a regular visitor in this blog.

If you've taken the time to visit, you may be wondering what has possessed me to create this blog.

And the answer is simple. Society - the way it is now - has turned out to be a furious influence in all of us. Never than ever before, we are more vulnerable to extreme negative pressing experiences. The recession, a new government, technological advancements that risk of privacy. They are only a few factors influencing the way we think, act and feel in our daily lives.

If you are like me, I strongly believe that positive energy will bring positive results. The key is to be consistent and perseverant. Unfortunately, every where I turned in the last couple of years, I find individuals dealing with self-destructive addiction, depression, desperation, lack of meaning, anger, frustration. The list goes on and on. . . . A quick example of this is what we see on TV, read on the newspaper and find on the Internet. Aside my beautiful immediate family, positive people -- those who believe in positive change -- are simply in extinction.

My sincere hope in this blog is to connect with individuals who still feel that they can overpass the current society threats, and are able and willing to share proactive solutions for our contemporary days' trials and demands.

Do you often wonder why the pursuit of happiness is hard to fulfill? Do anxiety, anger and stress invade your mind and soul often? Do you have failure as the only constant in your life? Well, if you answer "YES" to any of these three questions, rest assure you're not alone. That only reflects the current status of millions of Americans today facing joblessness, loneliness, lack of purpose, terminal diseases, self-destructive addictions, extreme poverty, and much more devastating life experiences that-- you and I very well know -- exist.

Despite exposure to the newest strategies to help us be happier, all comes down to our own ability and determination to positively change ourselves. I spent years test-driving the wisdom of the ages, scientific studies, and tips from popular culture just to find myself going back to the same dark whole over and over again every time someone hurt, disappoint or betray me. One day, I decided to stop this self-destructive path and positively change simple, small, tiny aspects of my life. Things that were only important to me and that I was able to control. In other words, things that I wanted in my Circle of Influence. Sooner than expected and almost unnoticed, I found myself building a healthy foundation in my life and soon I began to discover the meaning of my life. Being able to focus on what I could control, truly change my life for good.

If you find yourself in the same dilemma, please don't let life pass you by. Take action now. Hopefully you will be willing to read and participate in this blog to follow along my own experiences and the experiences of the individuals like you -- who have trusted this forum to help each other-- concentrate on what we think, say, and feel to apply positive change in everything we wish to do in life.

My sincere hope is that as the days go by, I find more people interested in walking the path of ongoing positive change. The only change that guarantees you a complete HAPPY LIFE no matter what life throws at you.

Thank you for visiting. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Your friend at Positively Change Me.