Good news for humankind!

From the week of October 23 – 29 2023 C.E.

Egypt completes massive solar farm that can power one million households

The Benban Solar Farm near Aswan, Egypt, is now the largest solar park in Africa and the fourth largest solar farm globally. At least 20,000 jobs were created for the construction of the park and 6,000 permanent jobs were created for maintenance and management.

New York just made the largest state renewables investment in U.S. history

New York is investing in a massive 6.4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, made up of three offshore wind farms and 22 onshore clean energy projects. It’s going to be enough to power 2.6 million New York homes and deliver around 12% of the state’s electricity needs once it’s all online.

Scientists in Brazil are developing the first vaccine that could help break cocaine addiction

Dubbed “Calixcoca,” the treatment, developed by researchers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, triggers an immune response that blocks cocaine and crack from reaching the brain. Last week, the project won the top prize of €500,000 at the Euro Health Innovation Awards for Latin American medicine.

Japan’s Supreme Court strikes down sterilization requirement for trans people

In its decision, the court said that the requirement forces trans people to make the “cruel choice between accepting the sterilization surgery that causes intense bodily invasion and giving up important legal benefits of being treated according to their gender identity.”

Indonesian government recognizes ancestral forests in Aceh for first time

The Indonesian federal government has recognized 55,700 acres of ancestral forests on the northern tip of Sumatra for the first time. Indigenous communities in the region have welcomed the recognition, saying it will give them legal protection to manage their forests in a sustainable manner.

New Caledonia expands strictly protected coverage of its swath of the Pacific

A decade ago, New Caledonia established its entire 502,000-square-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as a marine protected area. However, only 2.4% of the park prohibited fishing, drilling and mining. Now, the New Caledonian government has designated an additional 7.6% of its EEZ to be highly protected.

Quick, simple blood test helps diagnose bipolar disorder

The researchers from the University of Cambridge found that, on its own, the blood test could diagnose up to 30% of patients with BD, but combining it with the online psychiatric assessment significantly improved the diagnosis rate, especially in people whose diagnosis was not obvious.

Offshore wind development accelerating rapidly in The Philippines following presidential executive order

In just a span of five months since EO 21 was issued, the number of offshore wind energy service contracts awarded to qualified investors went from 38 to 78. The biggest growth in terms of gigawatts and allocation happened between August to October when the number of rose from 63 to 78 contracts with a total of 61.6 GW.

Scientists in the U.K. say they may have made biggest cervical cancer treatment breakthrough in 20 years

In the study by the UCL Cancer Institute, 250 women with cervical cancer received the new treatment – an intensive six-week course of carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy. Five years later, 80% of those who had received the new treatment were alive, an 8% improvement over the control group.

Young driver fatality rates have fallen sharply in the U.S. over last two decades

Using data from 2002-2021, the Governors Highway Safety Association says that fatal crashes involving a young driver in the U.S. fell by 38%, while deaths of young drivers dropped even more, by about 45%.

Egypt commissions its first large-scale wind farm (2000 C.E.)

The state-owned Zafarana wind farm is located in Suez and was built in eight phases between 2000 and 2010. The farm is 120km2 in size and boasts 700 turbines with a combined capacity of 545 MW. The €110 million wind farm was supported by soft loans from Denmark, Spain, Japan, and Germany.

Egypt achieves over 50% renewable energy mix for the first time (2034 C.E. ???)

With increased political commitment and the plummeting cost of renewables worldwide, the North African country blew past its 2022 goal to increase its share of renewables in its power mix to 42% by 2035, achieving a majority of its power from renewables one year earlier.

Goals vs. dreams

In today’s culture, we talk about and put a lot of meaning into our life goals. We use these aspirations to orient our lives and how we move through them.

On one hand, I’m a big fan. Goals can be focusing and grounding. It can be empowering to hold a vision of what we can be and do and then set out to realize it.

But goals also bring problems and limitations.

When we get too focused on goals, our lives can become all about the future. They distract us from simply being in, experiencing, and attending to the present moment. We reserve fulfillment and satisfaction for those few moments just after we’ve achieved a goal. We spend most of our time in discontent, doubt, and struggle because we haven’t yet accomplished what we’ve set out to do.

And “goals” often come from a place of ego. They are often our mind’s attempt to fill some hole within us or get some external validation we’ve been yearning for. Goals often represent something we think we should be or what we need to do to be good enough, lovable, or worthy.

I like replacing “goals” with “dreams.” This simple shift in language can open up worlds.

First, I have a sense that my “dreams” may very well not come to pass. I don’t expect to realize them or need them to feel fulfilled and content.

Second, where I usually construct goals from a place of ego, like sleeping dreams, I think of life “dreams” as arising within me. I don’t choose them. They choose me. I don’t create them. I catch them. When I come from the paradigm of goals, I am often trying to control what my life is about. When I come from the paradigm of dreams, I open myself to what life is calling me into.

What a relief! Maybe I don’t have to be constantly striving and struggling to feel fulfilled or complete. Perhaps I can simply listen to the mysterious call of the universe within me and move myself toward it, without any need or expectation that I ever arrive.

Peter Schulte

Life & Career Coach

Founder & Executive Director, Spark of Genius

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