June 3rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | 11 Comments »
I may be 47, but damn, I like rock ‘n roll, and all kinds of music.
During the Clinton Global Initiative last September, I was sitting on an aisle chair right near the stage. Former President Bill Clinton always plays good music before the start of each general session. I was in a “let’s rock this place” attitude and ready for the conference to begin with the opening Clinton-facilitated panel. It was entitled A Call to Action with Al Gore, Queen Rania of Jordan, Neville Isdell (Chairman of Coca-Cola), President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and U2 lead singer Bono.
During the conversation I noticed Bono waving discreetly and giving a peace sign in my general direction. Could he actually be trying to communicate with me? The room included some of the world’s most high-powered politicians, international business leaders, philanthropists, celebrit
ies and heads of state. Why is he trying to get my attention? I waved back, and received a thumbs up and another peace sign. Oh yes, a smile too. During the rest of this opening discussion there was a knowing understanding between us … it was as if we were listening to the same beat from the same drum, even though there wasn’t any music playing in the room. Maybe this is what they mean by catching someone’s vibes.
You might ask what this has to do with sustainability, grassroots movements or new paradigms. Maybe nothing … Maybe everything …
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April 20th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 12 Comments »
I was stunned. I had sat crying uncontrollably for over two hours as I watched the stage performance of Billy Elliot – the Musical at the Victoria Palace in London tonight. What a way to wrap up my 4 day trip to the UK. The culmination of events leading up to the performance only ripened me toward the experience of a blown mind and a melted heart.
It was only after reading Elton John’s words that I began to even find my writer’s voice to pen this blog:
“I am extraordinarily proud of what Lee [Hall] and I have created for the stage musical of Billy Elliot. The show demonstrates everything I love about the power of art. It can inspire you. It can transform lives. Art can make you look at life in a way you never have before. And it can take you places well beyond your wildest dreams.”
My loss of words, which for those who know me may seem an impossible phenomenon, wasn’t simply a result of the show. The process began when I showed up for my yoga teacher training early Saturday morning. In a heated room full of people from several countries, I followed a demanding set of instructions for hours. The secret was to keep my mind out of the room and let my body flow. I can’t remember how long I hung out in Downward Facing Dog pose, but I experienced burning through my shoulders, down my arms and across my chest, while the sensation of my heart melting permeated my body. At one point, I realized that I was not the only one in this alchemic process. I glanced to my right and saw Rick dripping buckets of sweat and then glanced to my left and saw a middle aged British woman with a red head band pushing herself to the point of shaking arms and strenuous breathing. We were going through the eye of the needle together and having the same realization … we were stronger than we knew.
After the morning session, the room was beaming with light, the kind of light that shines through when a shell or crust has a crack or has completely broken open.
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April 2nd, 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Last month I had the amazing opportunity to join my daughter, Camille, for her college Spring Break. We had decided to trek in the Himalayas above Dharamsala for our trip, starting at McLeod Ganj. I had been there before, most notably for Losar (Tibetan New Year) in 
February 1971 and again in 1972. Can it really have been that long ago? What a difference the decades have made as the village has grown in size! McLeod Ganj was then a small outlying area above Dharamsala, a neighborhood with a few wooden houses. In the center was a temple with a huge prayer wheel and a row of prayer wheels surrounding it. Here, devout Tibetans who had settled nearby to be in the energetic field of the Dalai Lama could make their daily circumambulations, turning the wheels as an offering and chanting mantras.
My mantra before the trip (and I found out that it extended during my trip), was, “What’s sustainability?” I had been working on wrapping my mind around this question since Audrey James from Paradigm Nouveau approached me last fall. My answers over the past 6 months have evolved into open-ended inquiries. The question itself is beautiful. So there I found myself in Dharamsala, India, with the Tibetan people, looking through the lens of this question. In short, my answer through observation was this:
Sustainability i
s not a place or a system or a method, an object or even a goal. Although the idea of sustainability can be a guiding principle in our planning, the truth is ultimately that nothing is sustainable “out there” because everything is in a state of flux. What really can be sustained lives within us. The Tibetans use the message from the Dalai Lama, “Never give up … work for peace in your heart and in the world … never give up.” This possibility of hope sustains them at the level of their soul. When their soul is sustained, life can continue to grow, even in the face of unthinkable circumstances.
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January 27th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
When Audrey James approached me about going to the Inauguration of our 44th President, I was thrilled! I would go as a team member of Paradigm Nouveau Enterprises, her transformational organization meeting the challenges of climate change, and also a sponsor of the Presidential Inauguration Conference. There was a reception at the Willard Hotel, right next to the White House, to watch the swearing-in ceremony. Parades, balls, galas-oh my! On to Washington!
After all the fuss of getting ready for the big city, I set my inner compass on travel mode, a curiosity about new people and places, a relaxed openness that allows adventure to happen.
This particular adventure is about the people … we the people .. headed to Washington in droves to celebrate a government of, by, and for the people.
Let’s meet some of them:
Ginger opens the gate to this particular adventure. With a confident gesture, she motions me to sit next to her in the departure lounge in Denver. “Are you going to the Inauguration?” I ask the obvious, and a huge smile spreads across her polished face, making it glow even brighter.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world- I’ve been working and saving for this for two years!” She speaks a bit about the extra jobs she has taken on: helping people organize, pack, move, and helping the Obama campaign as much as she could manage as a single Mom. Later, in the jetway, she and another inaugural pilgrim are talking exuberantly about how much they love Obama. “I HAD to come to see this so I could tell my five-year-old son about this moment. And I’m so happy he will grow up knowing it’s cool to be smart!” Everyone in earshot chimes in: “It’s cool to speak in complete sentences.” “It’s cool to be ethical.” “It’s cool to take care of yourself” “It’s cool to take care of other people.”
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