How I Learned to Live With Passion (article: Elite Daily)

June 10, 2014September 18, 2014Leave a comment

My grandmother Brenda was born in the mountains of Alabama in 1942. By the age of 19, just months after giving birth to my mother, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Mental illness was not discussed in the 1950s and 60s like it is today. It was a taboo subject in rural areas of the South, which left many people shunned, hidden away and accepting the few treatment options that were often just radical experiments.

My grandmother was one of these hidden individuals. Brenda was institutionalized her entire adult life, bouncing around between mental hospitals and group homes in Alabama and Tennessee, until the day she died in 2012 at 70 years old.

Can you fathom being mentally and physically confined in a way that is completely beyond your control for 51 years?

Read the Rest of Brenda’s story here -> http://elitedaily.com/life/learned-live-passion-grandmothers-struggle-schizophrenia/

Authentic LOVE: Connected: Los Angeles

March 8, 2014March 8, 2014Leave a comment

Rosalie Bardo spent a day reaching out to a few locals in Los Angeles, California. Wandering from Hollywood and Highland to the Valley, asking them all one simple question.

Perspective:
What is Authentic Love?

“Often the simplest things are the most powerful. We are all CONNECTED and I genuinely believe we should never stop absorbing knowledge from those around us. Observe: Gain from another’s experience. We all have something unique to share, so go out and engage the world with compassion, patience and generosity.” -Rosalie Bardo

Connect with Rosalie via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rosaliebardo
Instagram: RosalieBardo

http://www.rosaliebardo.com

Video Produced by Bardo Entertainment (P) 2014
Song: Champion by The Chevin

Join Rosalie at the Dogs For The Deaf HollyWOOF Event!

September 11, 2013September 11, 20131 Comment

Rescuing and professionally training dogs to assist people, enhance lives & provide greater independence is what Dogs for the Deaf is all about.

Dogs for the Deaf rescues dogs from animal shelters throughout the western United States. After professional training at our southern Oregon facility, the dogs are placed with…
•People with a variety of disabilities and challenges including: hearing loss, deafness, and children on the autism spectrum.
•Full-time professionals (teachers, physicians, counselors, and licensed therapists) who work with people with various disabilities and challenges.

Join Dogs for the Deaf, along with some very special guests, at the Wilshire Country Club Oct. 27th, 2013 in Los Angeles, California, for an evening of hor d’oeuvres, refreshments, cocktails, and entertainment.

Get your tickets now for this great event!

Guests include Betty White, Elaine Hendrix, Lea Thompson, Ryan Lane, Kristin Bauer, Abri Van Straten, Stephanie Nogueras, David Faustino, Stephen Sorrentino, Stephanie Carpentieri, Joanna Krupa, Daniel Logan, Anderson Davis, Rosie Donovan, Randall, Roxie Bardo, Rosalie Bardo.

Join The Fight: Spread Awareness : Human Trafficking

August 10, 2013August 11, 20132 Comments

Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. It affects every country around the world, regardless of socio-economic status, history, or political structure. Human traffickers have created an international market for the trade in human beings based on high profits and demand for commercial sex and cheap labor. Trafficking affects 161 countries worldwide.

An estimated 20.9 million men, women and children are trafficked for commercial sex or forced labor around the world today.

Utilizing the power and influence of music, film, and celebrity –> MTV EXIT is a cutting edge and innovative media campaign that aims to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and exploitation.

http://mtvexit.org/jointhefight/#lightbox/1/

We need YOUR help to encourage greater awareness, stimulate a global conversation, and inspire change.

Human trafficking has become the second most profitable crime in the world creating a $32 billion industry: more than Nike, Google and Starbucks combined.

Victims do not agree to be trafficked – they are tricked – lured by false promises – or forced. Many are kept as slaves; starved, punished and beaten into submission.

The trafficker takes away the basic human rights of the victim: the Freedom to move, to Choose, to Control his/her body and mind, and to Control his/her future.

Trafficking in CHILDREN

Trafficking of children is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children states that there are 100,000-300,000 American born children likely to be victims of human trafficking each year.

The International Labor Organization estimates worldwide that there are 246 million exploited children aged between 5 and 17 involved in debt bondage, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, the illegal drug trade, the illegal arms trade, and other illicit activities around the world

Join MTV EXIT on GOOGLE+ , Twitter & Facebook

google.com/+MTVEXIT

BE A VOICE FOR THOSE WITH NO VOICE. Abolish Slavery. Take Action .

Other Great Sources to help Spread Awareness and Join the fight against Human Trafficking

http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/international-trafficking

National Human Trafficking Resource Center

Call 1-888-373-7888 or text BeFree (233733). The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) is a national, toll-free hotline, available to answer calls and texts from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.

(The NHTRC is a program of Polaris Project, a non-profit, non-governmental organization working exclusively on the issue of human trafficking. They are not a government entity, law enforcement or an immigration authority.)

http://www.endhumantrafficking.org/

http://dontsellbodies.org/

http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

http://www.castla.org/homepage

http://www.unicefusa.org/work/protection/child-trafficking/

http://www.worldvision.org/our-work/child-protection?campaign=11935146&gclid=CNSLj-3x87gCFa9eQgodWBwALw

Dare To Be

June 17, 2013June 17, 2013Leave a comment

When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.

When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.

When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.

When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.

When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.

When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.

When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.

When times are tough, dare to be tougher.

When love hurts you, dare to love again.

When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.

When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.

When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.

When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.

When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.

When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.

Dare to be the best you can –

At all times, Dare to be!”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Words Of Wisdom

January 1, 2013January 1, 2013Leave a comment

*An elderly Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life…

He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil—he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego. The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”

They thought about it for a minute, and then one child asked his grandfather…

“Which wolf will win, Grandfather?”

The Elder simply replied, “The one you feed.”*