Would it Be Different?

If we knew for SURE:
That this life we're living is a game, or a classroom;
A fleeting experience, a gift from the Source of Being,
And just a precourser to our ultimate reunion with Oneness...

Would it change the way we appreciate our lives?

One Little Thing

Today's Happy Thought:

We live in a multi-verse full of synchronicity, in which our approach to life largely creates our outcome. In this way, life can be seen as a privilege, an opportunity for us to express, serve and experience.

Playing All-Out

I do this...my friends do this. I hope you do this, too!

"Nobody ever gets the best of you if you're doing something for love.
And if you're not doing it for love, you'd be better off finding something that you could do for love. Because you're not growing unless you're doing something for God.
If you're not doing something for God - if you're not doing it for the highest principle, then there's no point in doing it. You're just getting by. And mastership is anything except getting by. You do everything until it sings.
And why? Because you want to. You love to."

-- Sri Harold Klemp, What is Spiritual Freedom? pp.143-144

Global Concerts for Peace

I love it when people mix consciousness, peace and music! It's just such a potent combination.

Enjoy the beautiful video trailer for Project-Peace on Earth, which is due in 2010. Their literature says, optimistically, "Peace has begun."

Its transformative aims center around the precept that "sound is the basis of form," and the filmmakers go on to describe the workings of string theory.

It is a set of concerts staged by leading musicians at sacred spots around the earth: Egypt's Great Pyramids, England’s Stonehenge, Australia's Ayers Rock, Peru's Inca Pyramids, Japan's Mount Fuji, and California's Mount Shasta. It includes a concert tour bus "Crisscrossing the nation."

You can go to their website to learn what they are up to today. The entire endeavor is to raise funds for practical, immediate aid for children around the world: Food, shelter, safety, health and education.

The video footage includes inspirational ideas from luminaries as diverse as Casey Kasem, Deepak Chopra and Jack Canfield. And as you look into the eyes of the children and ordinary people/mystics from around the world, I think you'll agree that enlightenment, for oneself and for the planet, isn't that impossible a dream, at all...

A Spiritual Conspiracy

This poem was given to me in third-generation xeroxed form by a girlfriend who showed up at our Goddess get-together. I didn't expect to see it so widely represented in the blogosphere! A wonderful example of an underground phenomenon, and it seemed to articulate an activity that so many of us already feel we are creating. Peace and Earth stewardship needs the lovers as well as the warriors!

By ~ Author Appropriately Unknown


A SPIRITUAL "CONSPIRACY"

On the surface of our world right now
There is war, violence, and craziness
And things may seem dark.

But calmly and quietly
At the same time
Something is happening underground.

An inner revolution is taking place
And certain individuals
Are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up.

This is a global co-operation
That has sleeper cells in every nation.
It is a planetary Spiritual Conspiracy.

You won't likely see us on T.V.
You won't read about us in the newspaper.
You won't hear from us on the radio.

We don't seek glory.
We don't wear any uniform.
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.

We are in every country and culture of the world
In cities big and small, mountains and valleys
In farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.

Most of us work anonymously
Seeking not recognition of name
But profound transformation of life.

Working quietly behind the scenes
You could pass by one of us on the street
And not even notice.

We go undercover
Not concerned for who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done.

Many of us may seem to have normal jobs.
But behind the external storefront
Is where the deeper work takes a place.

With the individual and collective power
Of our minds and hearts
We spread passion, knowledge, and joy to all.

Some call us the Conscious Army
As together
We co-create a new world.

Our orders come from the Spiritual Intelligence Agency
Instructing us to drop soft, secret love bombs
when no one is looking.

Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Smiles ~ Kind words
Movies ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Websites
Social activism ~ Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness…

We each express ourselves
In our own unique ways
With our own unique gifts and talents.

"Be the change you want to see in the world"
That is the motto that fills our hearts.
We know this is the path to profound transformation.

We know that quietly and humbly
Individually and collectively
We have the power of all the oceans combined.

At first glance our work is not even visible.
It is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains.

And yet with our combined efforts
Entire tectonic plates
Are being shaped and moved for centuries to come.

Love is the religion we come to share
And you don't need to be highly educated
Or have exceptional knowledge to understand it.

Love arises from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse
Of all living beings.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
Nobody else can do it for you.
Yet don't forget, we are all here supporting you.

We are now recruiting.
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.

For in this spiritual conspiracy
All are welcome, and all are loved.
The door is always open.

~ Author Appropriately Unknown

Authenticity: Staying Current With Yourself

Staying current with oneself means being clear in one's feelings and with one's communications. We tend to censor ourselves and leave so much unsaid. This causes a backlog of unresolved emotions and pulls us out of the moment. Then, we wonder when (and even if) we will ever get to see life working in our favor again. We risk having a state of "reversal" unless we can stay as current as possible with our true feelings, even if we can't always share them all with others.

Relationship Coach Rori Raye wrote this simple but brilliant essay:

How to love your feelings and stop pretending

TO LOVE YOUR FEELINGS, try this simple first step:

When something's bothering you - anything -
something someone did or something that happened,
no matter how small it seems to your brain, STOP.

Notice that your head is running a bunch of
thoughts, and notice that your insides are being
pulled in different directions.

One of the directions might be your head
spinning and spinning about what happened.

One of the directions might be the awful
feeling in the pit of your stomach that got
"triggered" by what happened.

Whatever thoughts and feelings you notice -
choose the one that's in your body instead of the
one that's in your head.

You may be tempted to keep getting pulled into
your head - after all, it's used to spinning
around thoughts and things.

That's okay. Don't argue with your thoughts or
beat yourself up for having them.

Just locate whatever you notice that's in your
body. A stuck place around your heart, or a
tenseness in your shoulder, or a nauseous feeling
in your stomach.

Then, just simply, say to yourself - I Love My
Feelings.

You may be tempted to judge them - to tell
yourself your feelings are foolish or silly, and
that you need to be more positive or straighten up.

For now, just say, over and over - I Love My
Feelings.

What you'll feel, the moment you say that to
yourself - and mean it as much as you can - is a
second or two of relief. You'll feel something
relax.

And that's great! That's all you need.

Try this in bits and pieces throughout the day.
Just say to yourself I Love My Feelings - and
let me know how it works for you!

Invictus: The Poem That Gave Mandela Strength

Sometimes a poem can be a really useful tool, something to remember and hold on to, a gift from one striving soul to another.

This poem was a pivotal part of the recently released film, Invictus, in which Nelson Mandela shares that it had inspired him during his 27 years in prison, helping him to "stand when all he wanted to do was lie down".

Thanks to Angelique Goodwin for posting this on Facebook today!
(from www.poemhunter.com)
***

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley


Entertainment Tonight wrote:

Morgan Freeman is excited to hop on the plane next week and share 'Invictus' with "Madiba," Nelson Mandela's nickname in South Africa. ET was with the cast on American soil Thursday night for the Los Angeles premiere of the film.

The newly crowned Best Actor by the National Board of Review said of screening the film for Mandela, "He's special and if we can do this for him, that'll be more than special."

Though director Clint Eastwood "will let the younger guy…like Morgan" make the long trip to South Africa, he did say the Oscar-winning actor "was born to play Nelson Mandela, so that should be no surprise that he's doing it and he really is quite splendid in it."

Amy Goodman's Trip to Haiti Ends on a Joyful Note

He calls it the one of the best days of his life. As a rescue worker of some 20 years, Jean-Philippe Oustalet said he's used to pulling dead bodies out of disaster areas. But on Tuesday, after spending 7 days trapped under the rubble in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a 25-year old woman was carried out, alive and, apparently, singing. Jean-Philippe Oustalet and his team from Rescuers Without Borders had struggled for 12 hours to free her. "She had a desire to live that I've never seen."

You can see Amy Goodman's telecast here

(This transcript is available free of charge. However, your donations help Amy provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.
Donate - $25, $50, $100, More...)

Guest:
Jean-Philippe Oustalet, French search and rescue worker of the group Rescuers Without Borders.

AMY GOODMAN: When we were broadcasting yesterday in the morning next to the Port-au-Prince airport, right in the property of the airport, we were surrounded by a sea, a map of the world, of search and rescue teams, their national flags blowing in the wind. We saw Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Britain, France, South Africa. We walked over to talk to the group that was closest to us, right behind us, right near Costa Rica. It was the French rescue workers.

We talked to the head of the group. They’re called Rescuers Without Borders. His name is Jean-Philippe Oustalet, who described the remarkable rescue, that happened just two days ago, of a twenty-five-year-old Haitian woman, an accountant, who was buried under the rubble in a store for seven days. He describes what happened.

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: [translated] Yesterday, we found a woman of twenty-five years old. We localized—we found her at 12:00 in the morning. We left at midnight. And it took twelve hours to get her out.

AMY GOODMAN: And where was she? Which part of Port-au-Prince?

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: [translated] She was in a supermarket for seven days. She was in a place where there were three stories. She was about a meter away. We could touch her hand, but it was too tight. We couldn’t get her out.

AMY GOODMAN: You could talk to her?

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: [translated] We had to consolidate it with support, so it wouldn’t crush her.

AMY GOODMAN: You could talk to her?

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: [translated] Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: What was she saying to you?

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: [translated] She’s an accountant. She had come to buy food, when it fell down on her.

AMY GOODMAN: She did not have food or water?

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: No food, no water. No food, no water. [translated] No. Incredible. She had a desire to live. I’ve never seen that.

AMY GOODMAN: What did she say to you? When you could touch her, she could talk, but you couldn’t yet free her.

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: [translated] We told her that we could get her, and she was saying, “Thank you.” But we told her we weren’t there for the thank yous.

AMY GOODMAN: How did it make you feel?

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: [translated] I’m a search and rescue specialist, which has come for twenty years to all the catastrophes. [in English] It’s my better day, because I have found a lot of cadavres. [translated] I found a lot of cadavers. [in English] And when you found one life, my best day.

AMY GOODMAN: Your best day? Your best day?

JEAN-PHILIPPE OUSTALET: My best day, after—as securist, it was my—I have three best day: when I know my wife and when my two childrens was born and, after, yesterday.


AMY GOODMAN: Jean-Philippe Oustalet, head of Rescuers Without Borders, the team that had come to Haiti. Yes, one of the best days of his life, he said, in this horror show that is the earthquake that has rocked Haiti to the core.

Mo'Nique Doesn't Believe in Leg Shaving - Pictures and Video

This just makes me happy. Anyone in Hollywood taking a stand for comfort, authenticity, eccentricity just makes me feel right at home. After all, as (I think it was) Andre Gide said, "Surrealism is Realism!"

From the Huffington Post:

Mo'Nique was dressed to the nines at Sunday night's Golden Globes, wearing a long golden gown with a wrapped bodice to pick up her award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama. She also dared to go all-natural under the flowing fabric, showing off her hirsute gams on the red carpet.

Click on this link for the picture of her immaculate pedicure, golden gown and sandals...and furry legs. The video footage is also really interesting, I just wish there was more of it. She insists on her respectful due and almost arm wrestles Joy Behar.

In 2006 Mo'Nique talked about her body hair with The View's Barbara Walters and showed America "what a real leg looks like."

International Criminal Court Complaint Filed Against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Tenet, Rice and Gonzales; International Arrest Warrants Requested

Some might think this is too overtly politicial; but for me, the very idea that torturers will be treated as criminals by the International Criminal Court is cause for celebration.

It's hard to tell whether this complaint will have "legs." It seems to be the equivalent of a citizens' arrest. But it would be great if it does result in arrests, prosecution, or at least a lot of press coverage.

Our country refused to acknowledge the newly formed ICC, and pressured its allies to do the same. The logic was that if they didn't join it, they couldn't be prosecuted by it. They only agreed to join if the ICC would grant immunity to American service people and leaders. (At the time, nobody knew why. 9-11 hadn't happened, and we hadn't yet invaded Iraq.) I look forward to No more protection for war criminals, no matter which country they represent, or what ideals they profess.

Champaign, U.S.A./The Hague, Netherlands (19 Jan 2010). -- Professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, U.S.A. has filed a Complaint with the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) in The Hague against U.S. citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice, and Alberto Gonzales (the “Accused”) for their criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition” perpetrated upon about 100 human beings. This term is really their euphemism for the enforced disappearance of persons and their consequent torture. This criminal policy and practice by the Accused constitute Crimes against Humanity in violation of the Rome Statute establishing the I.C.C.


The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute. Nevertheless the Accused have ordered and been responsible for the commission of I.C.C. statutory crimes within the respective territories of many I.C.C. member states, including several in Europe. Consequently, the I.C.C. has jurisdiction to prosecute the Accused for their I.C.C. statutory crimes under Rome Statute article 12(2)(a) that affords the I.C.C. jurisdiction to prosecute for I.C.C. statutory crimes committed in I.C.C. member states.

The Complaint requests (1) that the I.C.C. Prosecutor open an investigation of the Accused on his own accord under Rome Statute article 15(1); and (2) that the I.C.C. Prosecutor also formally “submit to the [I.C.C.] Pre-Trial Chamber a request for authorization of an investigation” of the Accused under Rome Statute article 15(3).

For similar reasons, the Highest Level Officials of the Obama administration risk the filing of a follow-up Complaint with the I.C.C. if they do not immediately terminate the Accused’s criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition,” which the Obama administration has continued to implement.

The Complaint concludes with a request that the I.C.C. Prosecutor obtain International Arrest Warrants for the Accused from the I.C.C. in accordance with Rome Statute articles 58(1)(a), 58(1)(b)(i), 58(1)(b)(ii), and 58(1)(b)(iii).

In order to demonstrate your support for this Complaint you can contact the I.C.C. Prosecutor by letter, fax, or email as indicated below.

Francis A. Boyle
Professor of International Law
Law Building
504 East Pennsylvania Avenue
Champaign, Illinois 61820

Phone: 217-333-7954
Fax: 217-244-1478


The Honorable Luis Moreno-Ocampo
Office of the Prosecutor
International Criminal Court
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM, The Hague
The Netherlands

Fax No.: 31-70-515-8555

Email: OTP.InformationDesk@icc-cpi.int

January 19, 2010

Dear Sir:

Please accept my personal compliments.
I have the honor hereby to file with you and the International Criminal Court this Complaint against U.S. citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice , and Alberto Gonzales (hereinafter referred to as the “Accused”) for their criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition.” This term is really a euphemism for the enforced disappearances of persons, their torture, severe deprivation of their liberty, their violent sexual abuse, and other inhumane acts perpetrated upon these Victims. The Accused have inflicted this criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition” upon about one hundred (100) human beings, almost all of whom are Muslims/Arabs/Asians and People of Color. I doubt very seriously that the Accused would have inflicted these criminal practices upon 100 White Judeo-Christian men.


The Accused’s criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition” are both “widespread” and “systematic” within the meaning of Rome Statute article 7(1). Therefore the Accused have committed numerous “Crimes against Humanity” in flagrant and repeated and longstanding violation of Rome Statute articles 5(1)(b), 7(1)(a), 7(1)(e), 7(1)(f), 7(1)(g), 7(1)(h), 7(1)(i), and 7(1)(k). Furthermore, the Accused’s Rome Statute Crimes Against Humanity of enforced disappearances of persons constitutes ongoing criminal activity that continues even as of today.

The United States is not a contracting party to the Rome Statute. Nevertheless, the Accused ordered and were responsible for the commission of these I.C.C. statutory crimes on, in, and over the respective territories of several I.C.C. member states, including many located in

Europe. Therefore, the I.C.C. has jurisdiction over the Accused for their I.C.C. statutory crimes in accordance with Rome Statute article 12(2)(a), which provides as follows:

Article 12
Preconditions to the Exercise of Jurisdiction

2. In the case of article 13, paragraph (a) or (c), the Court may exercise its jurisdiction if one or more of the following States are Parties to this Statute or have accepted the jurisdiction of the Court in accordance with paragraph 3:

(a) The State on the territory of which the conduct in question occurred …

So the fact that United States is not a contracting party to the Rome Statute is no bar to the I.C.C.’s prosecution of the Accused because they have ordered and been responsible for the commission of Rome Statute Crimes against Humanity on, in, and over the respective territories of several I.C.C. member states.

Consequently, I hereby respectfully request that the Court exercise its jurisdiction over the Accused for these Crimes against Humanity in accordance with Rome Statute article 13(c), which provides as follows

Article 13

Exercise of Jurisdiction

The Court may exercise its jurisdiction with respect to a crime referred to in article 5 in accordance with the provisions of this Statute if:

(c) The Prosecutor has initiated an investigation in respect of such a crime in accordance with article 15.

Pursuant to Rome Statute article 13(c), I hereby respectfully request that you initiate an investigation proprio motu against the Accused in accordance with Rome Statute article 15(1): “The Prosecutor may initiate investigations proprio motu on the basis of information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.” My detailed Complaint against the Accused constitutes the sufficient “information” required by article 15(1).

Furthermore, I respectfully submit that this Complaint by itself constitutes “a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation” under Rome Statute article 15(3). Hence, I also respectfully request that you formally “submit to the Pre-Trial Chamber a request for authorization of an investigation” of the Accused under Rome Statute article 15(3) at this time. Please inform me at your earliest convenience about the status and disposition of my two requests set forth immediately above.

Based upon your extensive human rights work in Argentina, you know full well from direct personal experience the terrors and the horrors of enforced disappearances of persons and their consequent torture. According to reputable news media sources here in the United States, about 100 human beings have been subjected to enforced disappearances and subsequent torture by the Accused. We still have no accounting for these Victims. In other words, many of these Victims of enforced disappearances and torture by the Accused could still be alive today. Their very lives are at stake right now as we communicate. You could very well save some of their lives by publicly stating that you are opening an investigation of my Complaint.

As for those Victims of enforced disappearances by the Accused who have died, your opening an investigation of my Complaint is the only means by which we might be able to obtain some explanation and accounting for their whereabouts and the location of their remains in order to communicate this critical information to their next-of-kin and loved-ones. Based upon your extensive experience combating enforced disappearances of persons and their consequent torture in Argentina, you know full well how important that objective is. The next-of-kin, loved-ones, and friends of “disappeared” human beings can never benefit from psychological “closure” unless and until there is an accounting for the fates, if not the remains, of the Victims. In part that is precisely why the Accused’s enforced disappearances of about 100 human beings constitutes ongoing criminal activity that continues as of today and will continue until the fates of all their Victims have been officially determined by you opening an investigation into my Complaint.

Let us mutually suppose that during the so-called “dirty war” in Argentina the International Criminal Court had been in existence. I submit that as an Argentinean human rights lawyer you would have moved heaven and earth and done everything in your power to get the I.C.C. and its Prosecutor to assume jurisdiction over the Argentine Junta in order to terminate and prosecute their enforced disappearances and torture of your fellow Argentinean citizens. I would have done the same. Unfortunately, the I.C.C. did not exist during those darkest of days for the Argentine Republic when we could have so acted. But today as the I.C.C. Prosecutor, you have both the opportunity and the legal power to do something to rectify this mass and total human rights annihilation, and to resolve and to terminate and to prosecute the “widespread” and “systematic” policy and practice of enforced disappearances and consequent torture of about 100 human beings by the Accused.

Unfortunately, the new Obama administration in the United States has made it perfectly clear by means of public statements by President Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder that they are not going to open any criminal investigation of any of the Accused for these aforementioned Crimes against Humanity. Hence an I.C.C. “case” against the Accused is “admissible” under Rome Statute article 1(complementarity) and article 17. As of right now you and the I.C.C. Judges are the only people in the entire world who can bring some degree of Justice, Closure, and Healing into this dire, tragic, and deplorable situation for the lives and well-being of about one hundred “disappeared” and tortured human beings as well as for their loved-ones and next-of-kin, who are also Victims of the Accused’s Crimes against Humanity. On behalf of them all, as a fellow human rights lawyer I implore you to open an investigation into my Complaint and to issue a public statement to that effect.

Also, most regretfully, the new Obama administration has publicly stated that it will continue the Accused’s policy and practice of "extraordinary rendition," which is really their euphemism for enforced disappearances of human beings and consequent torture by other States. Hence the Highest Level Officials of the Obama administration fully intend to commit their own Crimes against Humanity under the I.C.C. Rome Statute – unless you stop them! Your opening an investigation of my Complaint will undoubtedly deter the Obama administration from engaging in any more “extraordinary renditions” -- enforced disappearances of human beings and having them tortured by other States. Indeed your opening of an investigation into my Complaint might encourage the Obama administration to terminate its criminal “extraordinary rendition” program immediately and thoroughly by means of issuing a public statement to that effect. In other words, your opening an investigation of my Complaint could very well save the lives of a large number of additional human beings who otherwise will be subjected by the Obama administration to the Rome Statute Crimes against Humanity of enforced disappearances of persons and their consequent torture by other States, inter alia.

The lives and well-being of countless human beings are now at risk, hanging in the balance, waiting for you to act promptly, effectively, and immediately to save them from becoming Victims of Rome Statute Crimes against Humanity perpetrated by the Highest Level Officials of the Obama administration as successors-in-law to the Accused by opening an investigation of my Complaint. Otherwise, I shall be forced to file with you and the I.C.C. a follow-up Complaint against the Highest Level Officials of the Obama administration. I certainly hope it will not come to that. Please make it so.

Finally, for reasons more fully explained in the Conclusion to my Complaint, I respectfully request that you obtain I.C.C. arrest warrants for the Accused in accordance with Rome Statute articles 58(1)(a), article 58(1)(b)(i), article 58(1)(b)(ii), and article 58(1)(b)(iii). The sooner, the better for all humankind.

I respectfully request that you schedule a meeting with me at our earliest mutual
convenience in order to discuss this Complaint. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

This transmission letter is an integral part of my Complaint against the Accused and is hereby incorporated by reference into the attached Complaint dated as of today as well.

Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.


Francis A. Boyle
Professor of International Law

Amy Goodman, Partners in Health: Compassion and Aid in Haiti

Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman has gone directly to Haiti this week, with her colleagues Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Elizabeth Press, to experience the real conditions in the country. She must have done a little extra homework before she went, because her fantastic MLK Day footage of "Beyond Vietnam" and "I Have Been to the Mountaintop," King's lesser known but richly accurate (and controversial) speeches, were still featured today.

"In 1957, a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years, we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression...It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us...“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

"Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken, the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investments.

"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society...A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

"This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind... I’m speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality."

***

What Amy shares and shows in her frequent updates, has been heart-rending. She is connecting with people and serving as an independent monitor of governmental and relief organizations in the aftermath of last week's devastating earthquake.

You can keep in touch with their daily stories through Twitter, Facebook or this link to her blog.

****

Partners in Health is a special organization, because they "live and work within communities to help build and strengthen health systems; to deliver and sustain medical, social, and economic services; and to promote solidarity."

So it's especially fitting, and an extra blessing, that one young couple decided to contribute a big part of their wedding fund to Partners in Health's efforts after last week's devastating earthquake. You'll see in the story below, how their decision to make this gift will only strengthen the meaning of their special day. When ordinary people reach far beyond their circle to do what they can to ease the suffering of people they will never even meet, it's a big step out into a powerful sense of global love.

from the Partners in Health website:

Our partners in health: Leah Bogen, Bride-to-be
01/18/2010

We've been incredibly touched and inspired by the outpouring of support we've received over the past 6 days. From to celebrities to sports teams to activists--we are so thankful to all our partners in health. Below is a message from one of the thousands of supporters standing in solidarity with PIH, and with the people of Haiti.

Leah Bogen and her fiance Will.

Today I donated the food budget for my wedding to relief efforts in Haiti. Getting married and planning the perfect wedding is something most women, including me, dream about for a very long time. The perfect dress, decorations, catering, flowers, cakes, the list goes on and on. It is my chance to be "queen for a day" and it feels great. My fiancé and I have been planning our wedding for a few months now, meeting with vendors, setting our budget and having many long conversations about creating the perfect wedding.

Running in tandem with our wedding planning conversations over the past few days has been the horror and human tragedy in Haiti. I woke up Sunday morning and sat down with a cup of coffee and the newspaper and read about people with no food or water, having limbs amputated in makeshift hospitals in a last chance effort to save their lives. I suggested to my fiancé right then that we should donate part of our wedding budget to disaster relief in Haiti. Anyone who has planned a wedding knows how tight the budget can get, but without a moment's pause he said "YES! I love you SO much!"

We have decided to donate our food budget - 25% of our wedding funds - to aid victims of the Haiti earthquake. Our friends and family can go without a fancy wedding dinner, especially if it means helping provide food, medical care and shelter for those desperately in need.

The tragedy in Haiti is so huge I hope that other brides- to-be will take this message to heart and find a way to donate to a relief organization. Find something in your wedding budget that you don't need and just cut it out. Assess what is most important to you on your wedding day, harness your bride-power, and take action to do something that will make your wedding unbelievably meaningful! Your wedding will be spectacular, and the money you donate will make a huge difference to someone in dire need.

Sincerely,
Leah Bogen
Duluth, MN

P.S. My fiance suggested your organization as the group we should donate too, you have done amazing work already and we know you will still be in Haiti long after the hype dies down and other groups leave. We hope others will do the same, and find money in their budget that they can do without.

Agape International: Coming Home to the Heart of God

Today a friend and I visited the famed Agape International Spiritual Center in West Los Angeles (Culver City.) "Agape," as you probably already know, is the Greek word for selfless love.

I'd heard great things about this New Thought megachurch for well over a decade, but had never been. The 1500-seat sanctuary was full for both the 11:00 service and the special Love Concert to benefit Haiti, which followed at 2:30. The congregation is racially diverse and the teachings of the church are on the adventurous side of Science of Mind.

They really take the whole metaphysical ministry thing to a whole other level, as they affirm that each person is a unique expression of beauty, freedom and joy - not just theoretically, but with such an energetic delivery, that you can really feel it as a living reality, right now.

Dr. Michael Beckwith and his partner, Dr. Rickie Byars Beckwith, have set a tone of exquisite tenderness and authenticity that is disarmingly effective, especially for a gathering of that size. I finally understand why this is the church of choice for all of my "spiritual but not religious" friends in Southern California.

Some great quotes from the Agape materials:

Living as love is a way of life that brings heaven on earth.

You don't have to "get your act together" to start being a positive presence on the planet, a spiritual revolutionary.

Agape’s vision is fueled by the love of God, the One, indefinable yet unmistakable Presence whose vehicle on earth is the human heart and soul.

The Concert, to raise funds and supplies for Haiti, was love-filled and full of surprises and celebrity appearances. Agape's ministry is very music and art-oriented, and we were treated to one knockout performance after another. But I think my favorite moment was when Teena Marie came on stage looking like the lady you might be standing in line behind at the grocery store - wearing just a simple sweater and jeans, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Then, with outrageous verve and mastery, she belted out a full-choir gospel tune about...reincarnation!

Where else on the planet are you going to experience something like that?

Mama Gena: The Art of Reinvention, for Women

Here is the latest dispatch from women's empowerment Goddess, Mama Gena. Her School of Womanly Arts in Manhattan provides a place for women to experience a zesty spin on a life well lived: honoring all parts of our selves, and grabbing life with all we've got.

I love her answer to the query below. The idea that our anger, confusion and pain are sacred parts of our inner lives is very intriguing to me. That's my jewelled thought for the day.

You can find Mama Gena's books online, or go to her website to learn more about her in-person workshops in NYC. SALUD!

***

Darlings,

C'mon. Who out there hasn't been knocked flat-out on the floor with news that has turned your world inside out? Perhaps it was a job loss, the death of a loved one, or a long held secret revealed. These moments grab us by the "you-know-what's" and demand to be dealt with. SG Sigi's question just called out to me to address.
Read on . . .

Mama,

I am fresh out of 25 year marriage, very recently divorced, and in my mid-life (turning 50 this month!). I know you have gone through a similar life situation and come out of it even more fabulous! How'd you do it?

How can one survive and thrive after a difficult breakup/divorce, with kids or without? How does one move-on and rekindle our fire and passions after a long relationship is over. How can we rediscover ourselves and recover from the aftermath of a difficult divorce or the end of a long term commitment as it's often a time when a woman feels as if she has lost some of her appeal, self esteem, self confidence, independence, trust, motivation, spark, appetite, magnetism, etc?

What are some steps we can take to start over and get that fire/vibe back in light of the daily challenges, let alone fall in love with life again and then attract that special, healthy, satisfying relationship/partnership?

In a nutshell, how do we not let ourselves go into a downward spiral, even during the most difficult times, but rather lift ourselves up again, as we deserve?

Thank you for your inspiration!

SG Sigi

Dear Sigi-

Oh, child. Your question does bring me back. . .way back to that very special, very sacred mid-divorce feeling of wanting to just lie down in traffic. Or crawl into bed and never get up. Or simply press the transporter button and vaporize. Sigh. I feel for you, Sigi!

When I first separated from my ex, I was completely overwhelmed by everything. How could I raise my daughter, alone? Walk the dog, alone? Feed all of us? Take care of all of us? I was moving through mud and muck.

Around that time, my friend, Sally gave me a gift of a series of dance lessons with her husband, Alex. I threw the gift card in the garbage. I knew I did not have time for such frivolity. But then, a few hours later, I remembered- "Oh, I am a Sister Goddess! And Sister Goddesses prioritize pleasure. I have to grab any pleasure offered, whether or not I feel like it!" And, back I went, to the garbage, and fished out the card with the free dance lessons, and called Alex. It was a turning point. And I am beyond grateful to Sally for reminding me of my own Sister Goddessliness.
Don't get me wrong- she'd let me have my days in bed. There was definitely a place for me to honor my grief, rage and despair. But when I couldn't bear to face one more decision, one more change, one more by-myself moment, she was there to open the door and let pleasure have it's turn at spinning me around the dance floor. Everyone should have a Sally in their life- and in the Sister Goddess Community you will.

So Sigi, the very key step to remember as you wrangle and herd and shepherd yourself through each day, is that you are my sister, and you are a goddess. No matter how it feels, right now. And my biggest recommendation is to keep very close to all of the tools and arts of the School of Womanly Arts. The reason I created the Mastery Program was to provide women with the support that they needed, to not only finesse these life transitions, but, to fly with them.

The answers you seek, the sparks you crave, the magnetism, appeal and hotness that feels out of reach- they can all be attained gracefully and with a hell of a lot of humor with the support of a community of women, committed to their pleasure, and committed to standing for you, and your desires. When you attend my Intro Class: The Womanly Art of Reinvention, you will begin to get a glimpse of what is possible for a woman, when she chooses to use the Tools and Arts to support her life transition-no matter what it is: divorce, birth of a child, starting a company, job loss, health scare, cross country move, death of a loved one, or financial crisis. Whatever it is, this community has seen it and will stand for you in the face of it.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again- reinvention is not for sissies- but for a Sister Goddess (like you-like me-like every woman reading this. . .) it's the stuff of legends.
And you, my dear Sigi, are a legend in the making!

With so much love and pleasure,

Mama Gena

Darlings, I swear we each have reinvention in our DNA. It's just one of the genius things about us women- we are designed to create.

Spiritual Healing for Disasters

This is an excerpt from the website of my friend, Joel Bruce Wallach. He is one of the most effective teachers I've ever known, featuring some very down-to-earth methods of rerouting energy.

Note: Although this was written in response to the recent quake in Haiti, this healing information is helpful for any difficult situation, anywhere, anytime.

Do large-scale disasters seem overwhelming to you?
You can learn to face your fears, and you can utilize your awareness to help make a healing difference in the situation.

Are you willing to learn how you can make a difference-- to go deeper than your fear, so that you can tap into a greater power that we all have access to?
Staying in fear is easy. Going beyond fear may take some work, but you can do it. Use the methods described here to understand how to cope, and learn how you can help make a difference in the world.

How could you make a difference in such a vast situation?
If you can hold a positive intention, you can make a difference. Everything in the world is a physical expression of an underlying grid, or network of energy. You can help this energy shift and heal.

How can your intentions possibly make a difference on the physical plane?
If you can imagine a new possibility, you can help shift the energy of a situation. At first, it may seem that you are only imagining the shift. You are shifting the underlying energy of the situation, along with the healing work of thousands of other people. Together, you are all making a difference in the energy. And this shifts the situation, gradually, by helping the situation re-align itself with the universe in the most helpful way.

How can you clear negative energy?
If you can massage the shoulders of a friend, you can help lift negative energy away.
If you can imagine an ice cube melting on a hot sidewalk, you can help shift negative energies.

A philosophical question that may have arisen in your mind. . .
Is it the karma of people in a troubled region to experience the difficulty that they are now experiencing? The answer is that yes, to some extent, it is their karma. Karma simply refers to repeated patterns. However, it is also your karma, as one who is aware of the situation, to help to the extent that you can. In other words, you can help change the pattern. And that is why you are exploring these healing methods now-- because you intuitively recognize that whatever led to recognize a particular situation, you yourself recognize that you can be part of the solution. The assistance you give now makes the planet a more safe and positive place for you and your family, and for everyone else as well. If you like, consider your assistance as the creation of good karma. Or simply as something you choose to do to help make the planet a better place for everyone.

Here is how you can use these basic skills to make a difference for the planet. . .
These principles work, and they are effective for you whether you are working within a religious framework, or whether you are seeking understanding of fundamental laws of the universe. When you utilize these principles of basic energy healing, you are cooperating with the cosmic intelligence of this universe, whatever name you may give to this essential intelligence. Thank you for co-creating a better world for all.

1. Face your own personal fear:

- Notice your breathing, and notice where your breath is flowing in your body.

- Notice the tense spots. Gently breathe into these areas.

- The tense spots are the fear, trapped in your body. There is nothing wrong with having fear, because it is a natural response. So, there is nothing to judge.

- Just breathe into the tense spots in your body, and the fear will gradually melt and flow away. It may not release entirely, and that is fine. You do not need to be perfect to help heal a situation.

- Imagine that you are embracing and loving the parts of yourself that feel the fear. Tell yourself:
I love myself, even when I feel fear.
I forgive myself for feeling fear.
Even though some fear is present, I can still help heal this situation.

- Let the fear energy within you flow through your heart, and circulate through your body. Your heart actually has the power to transform your fear into a healthy energy. As it circulates through your body, it actually becomes positive energy. Prove this for yourself.

2. Recognize that you are protected:

- You exist amidst the infinite universal energy. It is all around you. And, it is within you. Whatever name you call it, recognize that it contains the energies for healing, balance, and protection.

- Imagine this universal energy in which you exist, however you would like to imagine this energy. You may feel it, see it, hear it, or you may just know that it is there.

- Breathe it in. Do this calmly and gently. Imagine that this moment expands, so that you have infinite time to breathe.

- Let the universal energy remind you that you are part of the universe. As you sense this connection, begin to get a sense of peace and hope. Sense that more is possible than you may have realized. Remember that you can use any name or concept you prefer to describe this universal energy.

3. Get perspective, or distance, from the situation you wish to heal:

- Imagine the situation located at a safe distance from you-- this keeps you from feeling overwhelmed or surrounded by the situation that you wish to heal.

- Imagine the situation as being small-- for example, imagine an earthquake site as a small map of the region. Place it about 10-20 feet, or 3-6 meters, in front of you. This keeps it manageable, and is much easier for you to work with.

- It is fine if you see the region in a symbolic way, such as a small map, or a small ball of energy. This frees you from unnecessary details, and lets you work with the essential matters of energy balancing.

- Get the universal perspective on the situation-- see the situation, however big it may seem to be, as a small dot amidst the infinite universe. This helps you bring universal healing energy to the situation, and frees you from becoming overwhelmed by the size of the situation.

4. Connect the situation with universal healing energy. Whether you call the energy God, Allah, Brahma, Sat Nam, Great Spirit, Chi, Divine Intelligence, or simply Universal Energy:

- What does the healing energy look like? The universal intelligence has no particular form, because it is the underlying consciousness that creates and vitalizes everything in the universe. So, keep it simple. Just imagine it as a sparkling energy that is everywhere.

- You are imagining the situation that needs healing in front of you, at a safe distance, surrounded by the universal intelligence of the entire universe. And so there is definitely enough healing energy for this situation. You do not have to use your own personal energy to heal this situation.

- Use your hands to massage the universal energy through the situation needing healing. Massage the universal energy directly through the situation, as if the situation were flexible enough to let the universal energy easily flow through. Remember-- you are working with the essential energy of the situation, and that is why it is flexible. You are not trying to force healing energy into the physical level of reality.

- Massage the universal energy towards the situation needing healing, and massage the stagnant energy away from the situation. Let the universal energy dissolve the stagnant energy.

5. Lift the heavy energies of the situation away:

- A challenged situation tends to have vast accumulations of heavy, stuck energy. It is much easier to confront if you see the situation as small, and at a safe distance from you.

- Imagine that your hands are made of energy, and that they are protected by universal energy. You might imagine your hands as protected by large energy gloves.

- Use your hands to life the heavy stuck energies away from the situation.

- Imagine that the heavy energy becomes softer and lighter as you work with it.

- Move the stuck energies at a great distance from the planet, and massage the energies into the universe, so that the stuck energies disperse and dissolve in the universe. This is actually a form of recycling, because the energies will then be available to the universe as fresh new energy.

- Each time you help release energy, you reduce the pain and pressure in the region you are assisting.

- Work gradually-- release a little energy at a time. Do no try to release it all at once, because that is only going to create frustration. Each time you release and dissolve some negative energy, you are improving the situation safely and gradually.

- As you release the surface layers of stuck energy, you may notice deeper stuck energies. Be patient, and calmly help these deeper energies release and dissolve as well.

6. Expand the positive spiritual, or universal essence of the region:

- Everything in the universe has a core essence of universal energy. Whether you call it divine energy, or just universal intelligence, it is the basic vibration of which this universe is made.

- Imagine this universal essential energy as a universal spark of light, vibrating in the center of the region. You are imagining this universal spark as shining within every aspect of the region. Remember that you are seeing the region at a safe distance in front of you.

- With your hands-- protected, if you like, by energy gloves-- reach towards the spark, and help it expand. Massage the spark, so that it spreads throughout the region. Help the spark shine outwards, in all directions. This helps the universal essence in the region flow to every aspect there-- the people, the land, the houses, and everything else in the region.

- Massage the universal spark in the region outwards, so that it unites with the embracing presence of the universe. Then massage the surrounding universal energy directly into the region. And so you are massaging back and forth, from the region out to the surrounding universe, and from the surrounding universe back to the region. This weaves the region into alignment with the universe.

7. Assisting with specific needs in the region:

- Now that you have worked with the underlying energetic blocks in the situation, you have helped create more clarity, balance, and universal alignment in that area. You can now help with improving the specific needs of the region, such as:

need for food, need for shelter, need for healing, need for calmness, need for love, need for feeling connected to the universe, and much more.

- Do you remember seeing the region surrounded by the infinite universe? Within that universal energy are the specific energies of food, shelter, love, healing, and any other specific energy you can imagine.

- What does the energy of Food look like? Just imagine a sparkling energy surrounding the region. Let this sparkling energy represent Food. Why would this make a difference? Because when the underlying universal energy of something is present, it is easier for that substance to manifest in appropriate ways.

- Use your hands to help massage the energy of Food, from the surrounding universal energy, and weave this energy throughout the region. Massage the energy of Food directly into the energy fabric of the region.

- Use your hands to help massage the energy of Love, from the surrounding universal energy, and weave this love-energy throughout the region. Massage the Love directly into the energy fabric of the region.

- Remember that these gifts from the universe are flowing directly from the universe to the region. The gifts are not flowing from you. You are a catalyst. You are not the source.

8. You have helped heal the energy in a region. Now what?

- You have helped create an energy shift in a region. This shift affects everything else on the planet.

- Imagine the planet in front of you. Imagine it as being small, like a little globe. Put it at a safe distance from you.

- On that little planetary globe, see the region where you were helping with healing. See the region as a little spark on the planet.

- With your light-gloved energy hands, massage the energy between that region and the rest of the planet. This helps balance the energy between that region and the entire planet. Massage back and forth, between the region and the planet, and you will notice that the entire planet becomes smoother and more balanced.

- Now see the planet as a little globe, surrounded by the sparkling energy of the universe.

- Massage between the planet and the surrounding universe. This creates balance for the entire planet.

9. Release from the process, and set the positive flow in motion:

- Gently release the image of the planet, of the region, and of everything that you were working with. It is time to let the healing process function on its own.

- You can come back to the healing process anytime. However, you must not stay linked to the situation, because that would be draining to you, and would not help the region. If you wish to work with these methods later today or tomorrow, that is fine. Each time you participate in universal healing work, you bring the region to a new level.

- You may have high hopes, and you may be delighted to see that your participation is helping. However, it is just as likely that you will find that troubles continue on the physical plane. Be patient with yourself. You have helped create genuine good, and yet you are co-creating with a situation that may take time to heal.

- You may wonder, at times, if it is worthwhile to assist. It is. You are helping make a difference. The virtues of patience have been taught for thousands of years, and for a good reason. Your strong emotional reactions only create pain for you and for others. Patience is a challenging lesson, but a necessary one.

10. Stabilize your energy, and continue with your day:

- You started by noticing your breathing. Notice your breathing now.

- Notice where you are breathing in your body. Breathe into those areas that are still tense, and love and forgive yourself for any fear or tension.

- Use your energy hands to smooth your own energy. Massage all around yourself, as if smoothing and integrating your energy.

- Use your energy hands to lift any stuck or heavy energy off of your body and out of your energy field. Imagine that you are lifting the energy out of yourself, and releasing it to the universe so it can be recycled. You may have to do this several times, as energy often releases in layers, rather than all at once.

- Imagine a sparkling healing vibration all around you. Use your imagination, for imagination is the pathway to accessing subtle universal energy. This is your direct connection with the universal energy. Breathe it in, and feel that every pore in your skin is receiving this energy. Let the universal energy receive any stagnant energy releasing from you, so that the released energy can be recycled. Now you are ready to continue with your day.

Why does this method not utilize the words and concepts of name favorite religion or teaching here?
I have specifically not mentioned many words and concepts that you may prefer to use. However, I do encourage you to substitute your preferred words and concepts when you practice these methods. These methods are a framework for you. Do use the methods in a way that is in alignment with your beliefs and understandings about reality.

Thank You for helping make a difference on the planet. Recognize that your work has helped make a shift in a good direction. Understand that you, and millions of others, each working in their own way, are co-creating a more positive world. Thank you for helping manifest heaven on earth.

Many Blessings,

Joel Bruce Wallach

jwuniverse@earthlink.net

Please share these methods.
You may republish this paper, if you credit the author and the source:
Joel Bruce Wallach
http://www.soul-healing-now.com/spiritual-healing-for-disasters

The Yes Men: It Takes a Lie to Tell The Truth

Do we love the Yes Men? Oh, yes, we do!

"Ascended masters of media hoaxing, sociopolitical pranking, and Tactical Embarrassment."

Seldom has social criticism had such teeth, while having so much fun. Mike and Andy have been dropping into corporate board meetings, conservative think tank dinners and international press events for the better part of 10 years. And now they have a new film out to tell about it. "The Yes Men Fix the World." (Trailer) Especially adorable are the inflatable "Halliburton Surviva-Ball" pillbug suits. Brilliant!

You can feel the prickle of stage-fright on the back of your neck as they infiltrate these media events and commandeer the microphone for some deadpan truth-telling. The way they poke little holes into the audience's normal perceptual routine is deeply subversive. I guarantee that spending any time with these guys will make you want to invent some naughty truth-revealing schemes of your own. And I hope you will!

Here is their official website.

Wikipedia has a great synopsis of who they are and what they do, calling them "a group of culture jamming activists who practice what they call 'identity correction' by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organizations. From their offices in Milwaukee, they create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they want to spoof, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, symposia, and TV shows. They express the idea that corporations and governmental organizations often act in dehumanizing ways toward the public. Elaborate props are sometimes part of the ruse."

Here is a link to a collection of video clips of their audacious stunts.

From the promo for their book, in which they teach you how to do what they do:

Not only do the Yes Men punk powerful corporations and make films about it, they also write books (or, a book)! This book is the companion book to The Yes Men (2004), the United Artists documentary that followed Andy and Mike as they impersonated the World Trade Organization on TV and at business conferences around the world. Delighted to speak as the organization they oppose, Andy and Mike tried out every shock tactic they could think of for their unwitting audiences. Weirdly, the experts never noticed the joke and seemed to agree with every terrible idea they came up with. The book is richly illustrated in full color throughout, featuring photographs of Mike and Andy getting deeper and deeper into their assumed identities. Also liberally dispensed are many of the hilarious e-mail exchanges between the Yes Men and various officials and individuals around the world who have asked their advice on issues of world trade.

So don't forget, kids: If life is getting you down, break out the mischief and get a few friends to help you!

Words of Encouragement

Thoughts that come from our favorite luminaries can help to lighten the load we all bear, because we know that other people, some great souls, have shared our feelings and challenges, too.


“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world, and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E.B. White


Not only is it your right to be happy, but your innate state of being. Do you know that too? - Beca Lewis at Perception U


Pleasure is the key to your deepest intelligence, your deepest integrity and your most profound sense of yourself. – Mama Gena


Don't ever give up on life. Life can be so beautiful, especially after you've spent a lot of time with it. Because then, life becomes like a lover you have been close to for so many years. You know him so well, and yet every day he gives you a surprise. - Yoko Ono (shared by Heather Duke)


"All this creation is part of God's manifestation, even the pain and the suffering of this world. But so is your desire to end it, so GO with that desire!" - Ram Dass (from FB site for Conscious Shift Revolution).


"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
Yet that will be the beginning."
- Louis L'Amour


Why is this blog called "Jewels of Happiness?" When I was younger, I seemed to have a pretty much endless reservoir of optimism. The myriad disappointments I encountered in young adulthood just bounced off of me. Depression was just a toy I played with. It was melancholia, really, and no big deal. I sought out the rougher parts of town, the really gritty experiences, the hardest work I could find. It seemed that no matter what happened, nothing sordid or discouraging could take away my basic shine.

But things aren't quite so easy these days. Life hasn't gotten any harder (it's always been really challenging) but it seems that lately I don't have the capacity to bounce back quite like I used to. You could say that I take the ugliness of life a lot harder than I did before. It's all become too real; it's not funny anymore.

Since I am finding that I am continually up against a cold, hard wall of existential Nothingness, when I come across a thought that makes me feel that I can go on, or one that helps to re-frame what's going on with this crazy life we all share, I can really feel the relief that it brings.

Like a jewel. I decided that if I can keep finding these jewels and stringing them together, this might be a decent practice for feeling my way through 2010. So I started this blog and encourage you to chime in whenever it suits you.

In the spirit of "no fluff, no filler," I included a few quotes which I found very helpful. Maybe you have one that really sticks with you, and you would like to share. What keeps you going?

The Last Lecture: Randy Pausch

Professor Randy Pausch put a new spin on Carnegie Mellon's "Last Lecture Series," which posited, "if you were about to die, what is the most important thing you would want to tell your students?" by giving an inspirational talk in the last months of his battle with pancreatic cancer. "Damn, I finally nailed the venue!" he joked.

"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" was the title of this lecture. Pausch was a pioneer in the field of entertainment technology, and co-created a program called Alice, which teaches computer programming to kids, with fun.

"I don't know how to not have fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun."

The full video of this talk is 1 hour 20 minutes, is quite bittersweet and has valuable recurring themes, such as: “Brick walls are there for a reason: to let us know how badly we want things.” and "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."

An excellent 4 minute film about Pausch's "Last Lecture" project and personal philosophy is here.

His decision to make the most of his dying experience gives an amazing inspiration. "You have to decide if you're a Tigger, or an Eeyore. I think it's pretty clear where I come down in this debate."

Keeping Track of the Miracles

A certain friend of mine, trying to cheer me up from my Funk of Doom this weekend, brought me a Coffee Bean/Tea Leaf mug emblazoned with the homily:
"Life is a Series of Thousands of Tiny Miracles."*

I was touched by the impromptu gift, but still wondered, "Yeah, yeah, but where am I gonna find the few grand my dentist wants me to pay, to keep my teeth from falling out?"

"I don't know," she replied. "Mine are messed up too, have been for a year, and I can't afford to fix them either. I'm hoping to stem the tide someday."

OK, so neither of us know how we're gonna save our teeth. But she has a habit that is very creative - she writes down every time that something really unexpectedly good happens to her.

Keeping track of miracles in this sort of situation is definitely worth making the time for.

Besides, the mug is right - we are surrounded by incredibly unlikely circumstances, by which we navigate our daily lives: The meeting of sperm and egg. The flight of the bumblebee. Water, for goodness sake. The firing of synapses. The internal combustion engine. Nonverbal communication. Love, sex and romance. Freeway driving. "I'm a fan of electricity," my daughter concurs, looking up from her animated computer game.

Far more proactive than simply counting one's blessings, logging the miracles that happen is a way of celebrating the life-giving power of good will, of bringing in astonishment to bridge the corrosive sameness of daily life.

And, if the "Law of Attraction" people are right, it's a good way to create more of the same.

So I dare you. In a little notebook or your journal, take a moment to consider what happened recently that was incredibly unusual and positive. And if something really superb happened, write in and tell everyone about it.

*(attributed to Mike Greenberg)

Countries That Prioritize Happiness and Peace

Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times, wrote in a recent essay: The Happiest People:

"Hmmm. You think it’s a coincidence? Costa Rica is one of the very few countries to have abolished its army, and it’s also arguably the happiest nation on earth."

He quotes the World Database of Happiness, which calls itself "an ongoing register of scientific research on the subjective enjoyment of life."

In the article, Kristof discusses how the countries of the world ranked in regards to self-reported contentment in several key areas.

Prioritizing human and environmental well-being is not a common benchmark of successful development, but it should be.

Another country that has demonstrably prioritized happiness is Bhutan, with its "Gross National Happiness" Indicator.

A BBC special from a few years back describes this outlook.

One spokesperson termed it as "a development philosophy that puts people at the center...where we look at not just the material needs but the spiritual needs of people." In the 25+ years that their current king has held office, forested terrain has increased, and he also made a decision to share power equally with their Parliament. "To us, GNH means that the ultimate goal of development should be happiness. Not purely economic development, but carefully balanced with spiritual health, the environment and generally the quality of life."

Unfortunately Bhutan has also been widely accused of expelling thousands of Nepali-speaking residents and others through forced displacement and ethnic cleansing. But the unique determination to consider the political, social and spiritual well-being of the citizens is commendable.

Here is a short contemplative film about Bhutan

This from Wikipedia:

A second-generation GNH concept, treating happiness as a socioeconomic development metric, was proposed in 2006 by Med Yones, the President of International Institute of Management. The metric measures socioeconomic development by tracking 7 development area including the nation's mental and emotional health.[3] GNH value is proposed to be an index function of the total average per capita of the following measures:

1. Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of economic metrics such as consumer debt, average income to consumer price index ratio and income distribution
2. Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of environmental metrics such as pollution, noise and traffic
3. Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical measurement of physical health metrics such as severe illnesses
4. Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of psychotherapy patients
5. Workplace Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor metrics such as jobless claims, job change, workplace complaints and lawsuits
6. Social Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as discrimination, safety, divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public lawsuits, crime rates
7. Political Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of political metrics such as the quality of local democracy, individual freedom, and foreign conflicts.

International attention to the nature of development can be seen: "Rethinking Development: Local Pathways to Global Wellbeing", the Second International Conference on Gross National Happiness was held in Antigonish, Nova Scotia June 20–24, 2005, co-hosted by Genuine Progress Index Atlantic (proceedings online); the Coady International Institute; Shambhala; the Centre for Bhutan Studies; the Province of Nova Scotia; the Gorsebrook Research Institute at Saint Mary's University; and the University of New Brunswick.

Do you know more about countries or even companies which are prioritizing the human and natural element over profits? Write in and tell about it!

Ho'Oponopono: The Subtle Threads Connecting Us

This is an excerpt from Joe Vitale's writings about Dr. Hew Len
Thanks to Nancy Markell for sending this in!

Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients--without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.

When I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend. How could anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could even the best self-improvement master cure the criminally insane? It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story.

However, I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho'oponopono. I had never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I had to know more.

I had always understood "total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible for what I think and do. Beyond that, it's out of my hands. I think that most people think of total responsibility that way. We're responsible for what we do, not what anyone else does--but that's wrong.

The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would teach me an advanced new perspective about total responsibility. His name is Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. We probably spent an hour talking on our first phone call. I asked him to tell me the complete story of his work as a therapist.

He explained that he worked at Hawaii State Hospital for four years. That ward where they kept the criminally insane was dangerous. Psychologists quit on a monthly basis. The staff called in sick a lot or simply quit. People would walk through that ward with their backs against the wall, afraid of being attacked by patients.

It was not a pleasant place to live, work, or visit.

Dr. Len told me that he never saw patients. He agreed to have an office and to review their files. While he looked at those files, he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal.

"After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to walk freely," he told me. "Others who had to be heavily medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever being released were being freed."

I was in awe. "Not only that," he went on, "but the staff began to enjoy coming to work. "Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff than we needed because patients were being released, and all the staff was showing up to work. Today, that ward is closed."

This is where I had to ask the million dollar question: 'What were you doing within yourself that caused those people to change?'

"I was simply healing the part of me that created them," he said. I didn't understand. Dr. Len explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life- simply because it is in your life--is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life. This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy or anything you experience and don't like--is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.

I know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live. Blame is far easier than total responsibility, but as I spoke with Dr.Len, I began to realize that healing for him and in ho'oponopono means loving yourself.

If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want to cure anyone, even a mentally ill criminal you do it by healing you.

I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself. What was he doing, exactly, when he looked at those patients' files?

"I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again," he explained.

That's it?
That's it.

Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, you improve your world.

Let me give you a quick example of how this works: one day, someone sent me an email that upset me. In the past I would have handled it by working on my emotional hot buttons or by trying to reason with the person who sent the nasty message. This time, I decided to try Dr. Len's method. I kept silently saying,'I'm sorry' and 'I love you.' I didn't say it to anyone in particular I was simply evoking the spirit of love to heal within me what was creating the outer circumstance.

Within an hour I got an e-mail from the same person. He apologized for his previous message. Keep in mind that I didn't take any outward action to get that apology. I didn't even write him back. Yet, by saying 'I love you,' I somehow healed within me what was creating him.

I later attended a ho'oponopono workshop run by Dr. Len. He's now 70 years old, considered a grandfatherly shaman, and is somewhat reclusive. He praised my book, The Attractor Factor. He told me that as I improve myself, my book's vibration will raise, and everyone will feel it when they read it. In short, as I improve, my readers will improve.

"What about the books that are already sold and out there?" I asked.
"They aren't out there," he explained, once again blowing my mind with his mystic wisdom. "They are still in you."

In short, there is no 'out there.' It would take a whole book to explain this advanced technique with the depth it deserves. Suffice It to say that whenever you want to improve anything in your life, there's only one place to look: inside you. When you look, do it with love.

If something is bothering me, I just think of the issue and repeat the mantra - 'Thank you, I forgive you, I'm sorry, I love you' over and over again

"I Love You"
"I'm Sorry"
"Please Forgive Me"
"Thank You"

Clowning and Caring - Patch Adams

The fact that Patch Adams exists makes me very, very happy! He's a doctor, a poetry aficionado, a social visionary and monkeywrencher, a global humanitarian and... a clown. What you might call a Real Human Being, he shows me that there are an infinite number of ways to be effective in life, by being oneself and working outside (or even within) one's comfort zone.

Oh, and he's raising money for a hospital.

Here's a bio, from his website: www.patchadams.org

What he's up to TODAY:

CLOWNING AND CARING in ECUADOR

January 2-8, 2010

Gesundheit! Institute and the School for Designing a Society invite you to participate in CLOWNING AND CARING, an educational clown tour in Ecuador. The tour will combine daily clowning with daily workshops in imagination and inquiry into the locale of our clowning.

Ecuador, on the equator in northwestern South America, is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries, hosting a great variety of endemic species of flora and fauna. Its 2009 constitution is the first in the world to ensure Rights of Nature (ecosystem rights). The capital city of Quito (where we'll be) has been named a World Heritage Site for having the best maintained and least changed historic city center in Latin America.

In addition to clowning and care in clinical settings, there will be daily practical workshops in clown technique, love strategy and reflection on where we are. Patch Adams will be leading this trip.

Themes

Day 1, afternoon: The Red Badge of Courage: the Clown and the Nose The politics of 'help': exactly who am I 'helping' when I clown? 'Them'? 'Me'? 'It?' Charity versus bi-directional care. Clowning as anti-hierarchical intervention, clowning as invitation to social chaos, as a trick to bring love close, as warming up public spaces.

Day 1, evening: The Art of Making small things BIG, so as to make BIG THINGS small Clowning as a way of making small things (small actions of kindness, simple props, "fictional" premises) BIG in order to make BIG things (overwhelming grief, pain) small. Clowning as a way to invert a disproportionate relationship between joy and suffering.

Day 2: What is YOUR love STRATEGY? A 3-hour workshop with Patch Adams: how love is thoughtful action, not only emotional expression. Discussion on how to design strategies for showing and engendering 'love'. Hands on exercises.

Day 3: WHERE AM I? Eyes on Ecuador, I: Where are we? What is it? Who are 'we' in it? How to 'look a system' when visiting another country briefly? Discussion of the economic, historical, ecological, cultural, compositional life of Ecuador.

Day 4: W(here I am!!!)HERE AM I? Eyes on Ecuador, II: discussion of domains of personal, communal, public. New questions for old answers, new answers for old questions.

Day 5: Synthesis of our week's experience Talk back sessions in small and large groups: Have I changed? Has it? What's my next step?

Instructors/Facilitators

Patch Adams—entered medical school in 1967 to use medicine as a vehicle for social change; promotes and practices living a life of public joy as a revolutionary act; fount of ideas for avoiding burn-out in long-term social justice and health. Enthusiator.
Susan Parenti—composer, playwright, pianist, accordionist, poet, virtuoso speaker; critical observer & dramatizer of language's troubled relation to thought; composing not only pieces but also contexts where pieces might function: house theater, scripted rehearsal, timed discussion. Adept at making her personal curiosity social.
Mark Enslin—composer, actor, bassoonist, guitarist, oud player, apprentice tabla player, listener, teaching composition facing the power of the respondent, assignment as an art form.
Melanie Meltzer—clown and scholar, mover and steadier, catalyst.
Jacob Barton—composer, inventor of instruments and of means, aspiring metaclown, language hacker

Further playful readings on clowning:
Re-Designing the Character of the Care-Actor by Susan Parenti
Metaclown by Jacob Barton

Taking Back Our Money!

In Copenhagen last December, Dr. Vandana Shiva asserted that locally-oriented organic farming could solve up to 40% of the global warming problem. Sounds simple, right?

Well, that same localized approach applies to our money, too. Keeping it out of corporate hands takes a little bit of logistics but is worth it!

At long last, I just switched my cell phone to CREDO, part of the Working Assets company. It feels nice not to be giving the Plutocracy my money anymore.
Over the holidays, they started running a special that is (finally) do-able: free phone, 1000 talk minutes, 1000 texts for $49.99 a month. They're even buying out folks' current cell phone plans. I picked it up a few weeks ago. So far, so good!

(Oh so hey, email me at gotgoddess@yahoo.com if you're thinking about signing up. I think they're handing out cash for referrals!)

*****

Found on Huffington Post: MOVE YOUR MONEY. Video and articles about how and why to bank locally, invest locally, get your money to work WITH you, not AGAINST you!

*****

And sent in by my friend, Woody:

Stop Using your Credit Cards.
UseCashMovement.org
By Bernard Schaer

If you have credit cards, like most of us, you˙ve probably been
getting mail from your card-issuing bank lately. A letter per card is
what I˙ve been getting during the course of a few weeks, advising
me of changes they are going to make to the terms and conditions
that govern the use of my card. Adjustments, they call it.
In light of the second phase of the Credit Card Act of 2009, kicking
in in February, card issuers are raising interest rates and fees even
on customers who have been paying their monthly payment regularly
and without fail to stay ahead of the new law.

Another thing that will be outlawed by February 2010 is the
universal default scam which has been applied generously
and profitably in the past. Today, with universal default, if
you˙re late paying your credit card bill, your insurance, mortgage
or car loan rates can also increase says Heather McGhee of Demos,
a New York public policy research group. A single late payment can
raise auto insurance rates as much as 50 percent.

Big Banking is out of control. Many corporate financial
institutions received a share of a trillion dollars of taxpayer
money as bailout. At the same time banks hiked interest rates on
existing credit card debt, lowered and/or canceled small business
credit lines, and imposed more and higher fees and penalties with
near impunity.

As taxpayers, workers, citizens and merchants we can fight
back. There is an easy, immediate and direct path toward banking
and monetary reform that benefits people, not corporations, through
everyday transactions in the marketplace.

Use cash.

Today, one of the biggest moneymakers for Big Banking are credit
and debit cards. Users of debit and credit cards pay for the
convenience these cards provide through fees, penalties and
interest. Merchants pay fees that average about $3.50 on every
$100, plus the cost of those days they wait to be reimbursed by
the banks. The merchants pass these fees on to their customers in
the form of higher prices. Every time we buy something we pay that
fee, whether we know it or not. It˙s this simple: Every time we
use cash instead of plastic, we will deprive banks and financial
institutions of the profits that purchase the influence and power
that has corrupted our financial and monetary system. Together we
can change the balance of power by doing just two things: Use
cash instead of plastic and the local merchant might even give
you a break for paying cash. Enlist others to do the same. Go
to http://www.UseCashMovement.org

Bernard Schaer
Las Vegas

Nature Boys

This kid is so in love with Nature and apparently doesn't care who knows it! He is so goofily un-self-conscious, I just had to share it with you.

And here: my favorite (so far!) musical interpretation of Nature Boy, the song that Nat "King" Cole immortalized. Legend has it that early Capitol Records was practically built on the proceeds! Watch as these two seemingly extraterrestrially talented musicians turn this tune on its head in the best way imaginable...

A Unique Destiny

It's amazing to consider the intriguing IDEA that we each have a very specific individual destiny - one that plays itself out over the course of lifetimes, and which ALWAYS has a happy ending...eventually! Because everything comes from Source, articulated very individually, quirks and all, and returns to Source. In that process is a unique story for each of us.

Right? No other possibility!

"Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence."
Og Mandino 1923-1996, American Motivational Author, Speaker
(Sent in by Don Strong)

A homegrown motivational video by Chuck Cirino "to myself," Sent in by Steven Overstreet. Its final phrase jarred me, got me thinking.

Wonder how it would be for people to create motivational art for themselves...Interesting idea!

A Thousand People Singing HU!

HU is a sound, like OM, which is a representation of the energy stream that flows through all of life. Using it can put you in touch with the Flow very quickly. It is an ancient mantra, and is found in many mystic traditions throughout the world. Some people use it as a meditation aid: to still the mind, to feel life's Oneness or even for help in making a decision.

It is pronounced either hoo or hue (hue being the more preferred version that I'm aware of). It can be sung at any time, in any situation. It can be sung at any tone, with any variation, in breaths long or short. The spiritual path of Eckankar ("co-worker with God") refers to it as "A Love Song to God." There is evidence that this may have been the first word humans used to address the divine.

You can even sing it silently. There are many interesting tales about things that happen with people when they're singing HU, for themselves or for others. It usually serves to calm someone's distress or to reorient a situation. Occasionally it creates a connection to some interesting visual/sound/meditative phenomena.

This is a link to an audio clip from the website for Eckankar. It includes a recording of over 1000 people singing HU.

Some Real New Year's Resolutions

I really like what these two girls did. And I hope you will, too!

In this first very rockin' video a young woman confronts all the mean things she's been told, or has told herself, about herself. She decides to love herself anyway, completely "as is."

In this second one, another young woman takes this inspiration and runs with it. It's possibly even better than the first video.

I greatly admire their technique and think it's worth trying. Therapeutic, definitely!

Christmas Eve Birthing Miracle

On Christmas Eve of 2009, Mike and Tracey Hermanstorfer were at the hospital in Colorado Springs as Tracey was giving birth to the couple's third child. Then, suddenly, everything went wrong. Mike watched helplessly as both his wife and unborn son died - and then later revived - in the delivery room.

Click here for the video story.

"My legs went out from underneath me," Hermanstorfer said. "I had everything in the world taken from me, and in an hour and a half I had everything given to me."

Which reminds me...the first, best and cheapest way to enhance our lifestyle is to keep track of our blessings: everything that we already have, and everything that's going RIGHT!

Spiritual Vitamins: The Starbucks Love Project

Yes, I know it's Starbucks, thus potentially trite and superficial...but in the spirit of playing all-out I simply must post this video as our first Powerful Happy Thought for 2010! It is just that wonderful.

This video is so full of detail and perfect purity, I'm pretty sure I can watch it every day this year and still feel its amazing effects. See if it does the same for you!

Also, if you go to the search engine and type "Starbucks Love Project" you will see all sorts of interesting links related to how they made the video and why.

Happy New Year! How it progresses is largely up to us. And, splendidly, we've all got each other!