The Ultimate Peace Party

The Peace Project has begun! And one of the highlights of my week was a Wednesday trip to Dallas to offer a special "What If Up" preview party to pave the way for our upcoming Dallas events.

The What If Up Club teams with EFT Practioners, Meditation experts, HeartMath facilitators, and NonViolent Communication teachers to test the powers within us and the impact they can have on our external environment.

For four months, the city of Dallas is collecting crime statistics to show the correlation between group intention and an increasingly peaceful city.

Who would have thought PEACE could be so much fun??!

Love and hugs to all who joined with us in the expansion of possibility. We know that great things are unfolding for us individually and as a global community. Thank you, Dallas, for allowing me to be a part of an energy that is truly making a shift on the planet.

Check out our cozy crowd! Many thanks to Donna and Bruce for opening your home to us!

Something New...at the Y-M-C-A!

Yesterday was a new beginning.

I woke up before the crack of dawn and put my leggings on. Pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Dusted off my best t-shirt, and headed to the local Y.

My husband signed us up last week for a family membership. It's all part of our effort to eat right, take care of our bodies, and spend more time together.

I'm not one that likes to work out. With the blessing of a fairly high metabolism, I've been able to gloss over that area of my life for a long time. But something is shifting now...

Motherhood has brought me a new appreciation of my body and a new will to take care of it.

But still... I haven't had much of a workout since high school.

I arrived 15 minutes early for the morning class. Step Aerobics. I wasn't sure what it meant, but it sounded like something that might be more fun than pumping weights. I nervously stretched as I waited for my instructor to enter the room. Visions of gasping for air as my muscles screamed at me filled my mind. How hard was this going to be???

Today, I celebrate "big steps." Every step is precious, yet there are those moments in life when we know we've just taken a "big step." It's just one step, and the journey lasts a lifetime. But there is something in those "big steps" that brings a bit more "Living" to Life.

In the end, I loved my class. It was just the level I needed. It was fun, social, and kept my brain so busy wondering where to step next that the workout went by in a blink.

Stay tuned to see where this big step leads...

What big steps could you celebrate today?

The Gift Economy

A group of radicals converged upon Palm Springs this month. Led by Nipun Mehta, this unlikely band of revolutionaries turned my thinking upside down. Or maybe, I should say, right side up??

They were a part of the Association for Global New Thought's annual conference, The Evolution of Revolution. Together, they brought forth an economic model that left most of us scratching our heads: The Gift Economy.

Each member of this posse had launched a business fully grounded on the concept of giving. No price tags for services. No fundraising. No asking for resources. Ever.

Their prime directive: HOW CAN I SERVE YOU?

This is more than a corporate slogan. These visionaries had launched projects like the Karma Kitchen, where you show up and your meal is a gift. No prices listed. Your chefs and servers are all volunteers. Your meal is loaded with love. Before you leave, you are given an envelope and invited to pay it forward.

Then there was Silas Hagerty, who started a film company based on a documentary he had produced. SmoothFeather Productions operates on the gift-economy model.

I left their session awestruck at their courage and faith. But more than that, I could feel the passion and joy they were experiencing in giving their gifts so purely to the world. Their stories woke up something in me.

What if, as the What If Up Club continues to grow and expand, we make a commitment to this "gift economy" concept? What if everyone who leads and participates does so purely out of a desire to expand possibilities and uplift the world? What if others join in, gifting their talents, so that there is virtually no overhead for sustaining a global organization?

I returned home from Palm Springs to find a package in my mailbox. It was from "EfferVaCious," a member of our What If Up online community out of Surrey, Canada. When she first joined our online community, I helped her "What If Up" the growth of her clothing line, and have since connected with her commitment to finding work that supports her in putting her family first.

Wrapped in beautiful tissue paper and ribbons, I found a beautiful gift... Something from her clothing line (See picture above!). It's light, comfortable, stylish, and right there over my gut, the words: passion, courage and vision. Can you imagine any better words to have there at your core?

It occurred to me, we are creating gift economies. Maybe not consciously, like Nipun and his friends, but simply as a natural expression of the consciousness of gratitude.

I took the picture above last night at our Austin What If Up Club, next to Anneliese, who tirelessly promotes our gathering at Unity of the Hills each month. She gives her gifts so I can bring mine.

There is a new economy being born. It is grounded in gratitude. It is sustained by faith. It is fueled by passion. It requires courage and vision. And it is absolutely recession proof.

What do you have to give today??

Messages in the Carpet

It is my great joy to be spending the week at the 2008 Association for Global New Thought annual conference in Palm Springs, California. It is a week filled with inspiration, learning and connections. I have been blessed by the teachings of Michael Beckwith, the vision of Barbara Marx Hubbard and the music of Rickie Byars. And we're only half way through!

This morning, I headed down to the lobby of the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort where the conference is being held. There's an interesting thing I keep noticing as I step into the elevators here:

There are messages in the carpet.

Yes, actual messages. As I headed up to my room to write this blog, I was greeted with "Always Remeber to Laugh." Yesterday, I kept getting the elevator with "Live Well, Love Much."

Every time I step in to come to my room, or step out to go into my next session, there is that message. A different one in each elevator car. Each one, bringing me a bit of wisdom as I move through my day.

I think the Universe is always sending us messages like this... some not so overt, but all of them designed to lift us up and give us hope for the day.

I wonder, as the elevator begins to crowd, if others in our micro-elevator community have noticed the wisdom upon which they stand. It would be easy to miss in the midst of a full mind and a busy day.

My hope for each of us today is that we see the messages in the carpet... literally and figuratively. that we look past the fear and lack based thoughts of the world and instead seek the wisdom that gives us something to stand on as we navigate our changing times.

Live Well. Love Much. Always Remember to Laugh.

Here's to remembering...