Tag Archives: #travelforpeace

Resilience: Stories and Lessons From An Ardent Photographer

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Today it is my pleasure to welcome Ron B. Wilson and his book Resilience: Stories and Lessons From An Ardent Photographer.

About the Author and the Book

Ron B. Wilson’s impressive 30-year career as a professional traveling photographer has taken him all across the United States and the world, from Cuba and India to South Africa and Morocco. Always with his camera in hand, Ron has captured moments of unforgettable history, including the tragedy of 9/11 and the fallout of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The common theme that binds all these stories together has been undefeated resilience. Ron’s journey will inspire readers to live, learn and better understand the everyday struggles of communities across our vast planet. Photographers eager to learn more about their craft will find practical lessons accompanying every story, and non-photographers can appreciate the life lessons that come from the art of capturing the human condition. For lovers of travel, photography, art or humanitarianism, this book is a must-read.

Find the Author

Main Website: https://artstyleflow.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronbwilson/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ronbwilson
Portrait Website: http://www.ronbwilson.com/newsite/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ronnie.wilson.739
Recent Speech on book: https://youtu.be/ABgPFg5iZ14
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronbwilson/

Buy the Book

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Resilience-Stories-Lessons-Ardent-Photographer/dp/0578808307/

Yes, there is a giveaway

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Enter here to win.

This post is part of a tour sponsored by Goddess Fish. Check out all the other tour stops. If you drop by each of these and comment, you will greatly increase your chances of winning.

My Favorite Excerpt

Life comes and goes if we don’t focus on what we really want. But I know what I want—I want to be a donor and an investor in the world. I want to make more deposits than withdrawals. I want my words and actions to carry weight, not to be fleeting and inconsequential.

Travel allows me to establish myself in the world, to make something real, to manifest things. Traveling gives us more stories to tell. And marginalized people have the right to share their stories with the world as much as anyone—maybe even more so. Privileged people like myself can help with that. I believe I was not born in the USA just to sit in my backyard and barbecue chicken on weekends, but to use my advantages, my resources and abilities, to help those who don’t have what I have. These are gifts to help others. Regardless of your passions, you must concentrate on what is important and what is real.

Don’t be afraid of the road less traveled. Heck, any road at all will do. The person who leaves is not always the same person who comes back. I don’t want to reach the end of my life and realize I’m the same person I was at 17. I want to evolve, to grow. I don’t want to regret
decisions I didn’t make, dreams I didn’t pursue, risks I didn’t take.

Thank you!

Ron B. Wilson — we appreciate your sharing your book Resilience: Stories and Lessons From An Ardent Photographer with us! Best of luck with sales and with all of your future endeavors.

Having Lunch in Dubai for World Peace

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I have no doubt that the more time people spend together, and the more they understand each other, the less likely they are to hate or kill each other. I feel so strongly about this that I wrote a book about how truly understanding another person would make it far more difficult to kill them.

Every so often I discover a group acting on similar ideas to make the world a better place, and it fills me with joy. Yesterday I had the privilege of having lunch with members of such a group.

I’m in Dubai, the largest city of the United Arab Emirates. This modern, cosmopolitan city of over two million is a whopping 82% expats. They come from every continent, culture and religion and, in spite of their current location, they bring plenty of biases and misunderstandings with them regarding Muslims in general and the Emirates in particular.

Enter a group called “Open Door, Open Minds.” Their idea is pretty much what you would guess. Come have a meal with us. Let us show you some of how we live while you ask questions. Any questions.

This organization not only performs outreach to Dubai’s many residents born elsewhere, but they also invite tourists coming through Dubai to participate. I was lucky enough to be in a tour group that did so.

The food is plentiful, and the hosts are warm and sincere. They invite you to try on the traditional clothing worn by your gender, and they take you on a tour of an old home.

They also answer whatever awkward questions the group wants to throw at them. Ours was pretty polite, but I got the impression that not all others were.

A map in the hallway shows the many places these tourists have come from. Have there been enough of them to achieve world peace? Of course not. But  ….. it’s a start.

Proud Mama Moment

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I’ve three wonderful kids, and one of them has just taken a job with a start-up. This company, called Noken, is designing a new app they hope will reinvent travel as we know it.
Check it out. Please. Every click I get will help me win a chance to go on a trip with her! (I’m hoping for Iceland. See Northern lights to the right.)
You also might find you like the concept.
Here’s a little text she wrote and sent me.