BLOG IT FORWARD What Inspires Me - Heroes, Rebels, Pioneering Souls

Hello friends and welcome to the 250th installment of the Blog It Forward project initiated by SF Girl By Bay. A thank you to the talented Red Glasses for her gracious introduction. And may I present tomorrow's illustrious torch bearer Rhonna Designs whose post I very much look forward to.

I wish to share the deeper roots of inspiration for me - that is apart from my amazing family, who I blog about all the time.

I'm going back to 1975 to reference my first hero, who at age 3 taught me that one can overcome ANY obstacle whatsoever with style, faith, compassion, discipline & perseverance. Muhammad Ali will for me remain the greatest that ever was & ever will be.

As I view these photos I look over at my uncompleted Ethnoscience report (which is now 6 giant volumes on The Cultural Use of Water) and see that the theme underpinning every image here is Man's relationship with our watery environment. Hmm.

Heroes I Have Loved

Cat Power who loves Pippi Longstocking and her piratous brand of anarchy

Muhammad Ali who needs no introduction but got one anyhow

Sheila Watt Cloutier and The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment who told me that I must be true to my passion in order to make meaningful change in the world

Dr. David Suzuki the reason I love science and became a nerd

Dominick Tyler amazing cultural and environmental photos

Rebel Rebels

Howard Schatz defying all boundaries to find the rarest of beauties - the naked truth

Man Ray whose work is as relevant today tattooed on my back as it was on paper in the 1930s

Mestre Leopoldina who taught me the meaning of Capoeira and Axé, & could literally dance circles around me at 70 years+

Martha for walking tall under all circumstances

Pioneering Souls

Ruth Asawa survivor, innovator, teacher

Heinrich Kley peaceful opponent of the Industrial Revolution

Charles and Ray Eams will NEVER go out of style

Frida Kahlo my first "art hero"

Long Lost Ancestors photo cred just one of the many tribes, clans and families in my tree

SF Girl By Bay Launches Blog It Forward Today

Victoria Smith, incredible blogger mastermind that she is, has invited the blogging community to participate in SF Girl By Bay's blogging relay entitled "Blog It Forward - The First Blogger Mash Up".

SF Girl By Bay is not award-winning for nothin' folks. Victoria does perhaps the best job out there - her voice is unique, her vision is clear and cohesive, her eye is sublime and best of all she shares all that talent with us. It is Victoria Smith that conceived the idea and followed through, organizing 40 + bloggers into groups to share what inspires them with the world.

I am excited to note that along with PoppyTalk, Ink On My Fingers and a plethora of other big names, the Blog It Forward Mash Up project will include yours truly, Re:Design Technologies, on March 16, 2010. You can find the full schedule here.

SF Girl By Bay's personal post kicked off the project today with style. Please check out the inspiration behind the mastermind. I am looking forward to a little peek behind the curtain once a day for the next 6 weeks from all of the Blog It Forward participants.