Ode : Exchange

Being the change I wished to see

dderella — 2009-11-18T10:55:51-05:00

By: dderella

In May 2009 my six-figure real estate job came to end, and I knew I had to embrace the change like so many others. My husband and I had been sitting on a trademark intellectual property for several years. We wondered, "if not now, then when?"

I believe that all changes happens for the greater good of the soul.

We decided to fully commit to developing Be the Light, Be the One™, a social brand and online presence that educates, inspires and supports personal health and global transformation. We strive to create new possibilities for ecological sustainability, social justice and a healthier world.

What we think, feel and consume affects the whole…individually and globally.

Our purposeful products are carefully selected to embrace oneness: the idea that all life is connected, evolving and sacred. They also bridge the worlds of science and spirit and help us discover key insights to essential questions like, “How do we show up in my life?,” “How are we making a positive impact?,” and “What are the tools and resources available to us along the path?”

Our online emporium offers tools and resources for conscious change. Our hope is to be a source of reflection and inspiration as we build community, support meaningful connections and create new possibilities for ourselves and the world.

Essential questions for loving relationships

lexsisney — 2009-11-17T12:51:13-05:00

By: lexsisney

Have you ever noticed how the work week tends to build up a dust of separation and isolation between you and your significant other? You’re doing your thing. Your partner is doing their thing. You’re both busy, doing your best to juggle the demands of work, home, family, kids, money, carpools, workouts, homework, meals, cleaning…basically managing the constant demands of modern living. You already know from experience that it’s so easy to fall into the trap of living together and “missing” each other at the same time. If you’re not careful, this dust of separation and isolation can build up over time into lasting soot that discolors your relationship. The result is a loss of intimacy, love and connection.

Happy couples make a commitment to regularly wash away the dust and renew their closeness, affection and bond. How do they do it? One way is a weekly ritual practiced by couples across the land: Date Night. Dinner and a movie. A walk in the park. Drinks at the club. A romantic night in. You name it. Couples engage in dates of all kinds as a way to spend time together, reconnect and hopefully enjoy each other’s company. But let’s be honest…some dates are better than others.

What makes a date good or bad? If you think about it, it’s not the activity of the date it’s the intimacy and connection inspired during the date that is all-important. If you’ve ever gone to a five-star restaurant only to get in a terrible fight with your lover, you know exactly what I mean. Similarly, if the intimacy, love and connection are strong, you can have a great date at the local burger joint. It’s not the activity. It’s the intimacy.

In a long-term relationship, getting to this place during a date can sometimes be difficult. This is because it’s not just you and your partner on the date. Each of you also brings a week’s worth (and sometimes more) of accumulated dirt to the evening. Stressors from work and family, hurts and wrongs felt during the week, unspoken needs that aren’t being met, hopes and fears around money, relationships and self. How can you wash these away and enjoy true connection with your partner? Like a lot of other important things in life, it gets a lot easier when you know what questions to ask.

Below are eight questions you and your partner can ask each other on date night that can help rebuild love, intimacy, connection and trust in a matter of minutes. Some of the questions take courage to ask at first. It’s ok. Be courageous. They get easier with practice.

Is there anything I’ve been making you wrong about?

Is there anything you’ve been making me wrong about?

What needs do you have that aren’t being met?

Is there anything that you’ve been trying to say that I haven’t been hearing?

What are you happy about in our life?

What do you want to be acknowledged for?

What are you committed to in your life and work this week?

What do you need to let go of in order to make that happen?

When asking the questions, your job is not to judge, critique, or defend. Your job is to listen from a place of openness and sincere interest. If you find yourself feeling angry, hurt, or sad by something your partner said, let it go and listen more. If need be, you can bring it up after your partner has finished answering all eight questions.

When answering questions, your job is to accept full responsibility for your life experience. Use “I” statements such as “I’ve been trying to say that I miss you running your fingers through my hair,” instead of “You never run your fingers through my hair.”

Try these questions out on your next date. You’ll be amazed at the level of love, connection, and intimacy suddenly “found” in your relationship.

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The Underground Railroad to Success

leaho — 2009-11-16T11:16:00-05:00

By: leaho

Investing In Women (IIW) has awarded a $500 “stimulus package” to a female-owned business, The Underground Railroad To Success (URS). URS was started by Tanisha Cunningham in 2009 and helps foster care children prepare for adult life. Growing up in foster care herself, Cunningham saw the need for additional support, especially when children are no longer eligible for state run services. Soon after her foster care ended she began a career in child welfare, “I wanted to stay there because my passion had always been to give back, because I knew the struggles of living in foster care, and the fear of leaving unprepared, not having a place to go or having the skills to obtain a job.”

The goal of URS is to teach foster children, especially those who are aging out, how to live independently as adults while becoming an integral part of society. “Aging out” is the term used for children who go into foster care, but are never returned to their families of origin or adopted by others. They stay in the system until they turn 18 or graduate from high school. For the most part, they are left to fend for themselves as best they can. Cunningham notes that, "If the next generation is responsible for shaping our future, then we need to make sure that they are trained to do. Children in foster care are no exception to this rule."

The grant from IIW will give the non-profit a chance to market their business and spread the positive effects of their efforts.

Listening with your eyes

Chintana — 2009-11-13T11:27:15-05:00

By: Chintana

Meditation is a process of listening and purification. In quietude, we connect to deep moments of calmness, stillness and openess. We come in contact with a soft power that can be used for self healing and realization that can transform pain into progress.

There are many ways to meditate. I regularly practice sitting, walking and writing meditation. Often times, my writing practice will begin with an exercise in detailing. I simply list what sits in front of me which becomes a process of listening with my eyes. Then, I pick an item off the list and conduct a ten minute timed writing practice. I let the pen flow without crossing out. I allow raw thoughts to surface and don't worry about editing. This form of writing practice separates the editor from the creator.

After the timed writing session is over, I read the words that surface from the steady connection of nose, heart, head and hand. I end by sitting in meditation for ten minutes; recalling any phrases that might carry deeper meaning in my self reflection. This usually leads to subtle yet striking insights for my daily life.

I approach this process over and over again without growing tired. I have come to learn that it is a simple yet profound way to study oneself and to listen to what the inner and outer world has to convey.

I learned to conduct writing practice from Natalie Goldberg and have recently started a blog to share my experiences: www.ilikezen.com

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Impermanence

KeriDouglas — 2009-11-11T14:05:50-05:00

By: KeriDouglas

How does one begin to understand the notion of impermanence? Perhaps the fall leaves, the death of a loved one, the sun rise in the morning…or words of wise spiritual teachers?

In the last weeks, the word "impermanence" has been used by three very different people. Rabbi Steinlauf used the word ‘impermanence’ when he welcomed everyone into the Sukkha tent built to represent the temporary nature of life and still being willing to live life fully. A week later in the very same spot stood the Dalai Lama who wished to learn how the Jewish community thrived in exile despite hardships and atrocities. Then an art gallery opening presented Eleanor Kotlarik Wang, whose collection of paintings titled “Impermanence” captured the faded cave paintings of Buddhists images in western China, the very end of the Silk Road.

At first glimpse, the series seems as though of collection of abstract impressionistic illustrations. However, trying to understand, walking up close, standing to the left side and then walking away and looking back from the right side, the realization hit.

Eleanor Wang states, “Impermanence. The Buddha images are an attempt to explore the notion of existence – to see for a moment an object or life force that appears solid and real, yet is in a stage of change and decay from the moment of its creation. This religious and philosophical component of many of the oriental religions initially confused my more western sensibility which tries solidifying experiences and memories. This more fluid approach to the understanding of life is one of the more mysterious responses to my time in China.”

There is no code to understand the symbols, colors or images. Understanding is just there. As truth is self evident, so is understanding. The concept of impermanence and the contradictory nature is brilliantly captured by Eleanor who engages the viewer into a conversation about “what do you really see?” She explained that just as some of the cave sculptures and paintings in western China are illusions of what they once were and some still as brilliant in color as if they were painted just yesterday. This contradiction of present yet past is this delicate notion of impermanence.

East meets West: Before the fall of the Berlin wall

Chintana — 2009-11-10T12:35:04-05:00

By: Chintana

It’s the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.

I was eleven years old on November 9, 1989 and was living in an egg colored split-level home with burgundy trimmed windows out in rural Georgia.

My only memory of the event was how my father smirked and said, “the communists are dying” as he sat in a ribbed tank and navy blue jogging pants watching the world change through the frame of a large wooden TV set. He was listening and watching the news so intensely that I couldn’t tell what was feeding the channel: him or the pair of wire rabbit ears resting on top of the television. Sitting upright in his armchair, my father, a refugee of communist Laos, felt fully vindicated in that moment.

I was 26 years old when I thought about the Berlin wall again. In doing research on the Coca-Cola brand, I once read that when the Berlin wall crumbled, the world’s leading soda company made a strategic decision to be present at that historic moment. Freedom fizzed as East and West Berlin reunited and people rejoiced over a bottle of Coke. After the fall of the Berlin wall, Coca-Cola began building plants in eastern Europe.

In 2006, the Coca-Cola launched a global campaign entitled, “The Coke Side of Life.” The core message was to drink a Coke and be happy; choosing the Coke side of life was an act to become positive, spontaneous and colorful in any given moment in life.

The first taste of freedom for my family came in October of 1980 when I was a wide-eyed two year old baby. After seven months in the Nong Khai refugee camp, we left Thailand and flew to the Philippines. We landed in Manila and loaded onto a bus that snaked around mountainous roads for many hours before arriving at yet another refugee camp. The bus was full of Lao families looking out the windows. Some of us suffered from motion sickness while others had stomach aches from eating canned Spam. But all of us were shocked by the scenery beyond the bus.

The moment the bus stopped, the buzz was all about the ocean. My siblings were among many youngsters who jumped out and raced down the jungled beach path to the watery vastness. Elders who were too tired to make the hike shouted for them to put it in a bottle and bring it back.

My brother, John, told me how it felt that day.

“It tasted like all of our tears. The water was cold against my skin. I finally knew how freedom felt,” he said. “I stood there and water was all around me. People were happy and splashing each other. Our lives smelled differently at that moment.”

Wet with mixed emotions of scary happiness, John walked back up the path with an armload of Coca-Cola bottles. Each one was capped with ten ounces of ocean water for the elders. Older aunts, uncles, grandpas and grandmas curiously uncapped the world and choked on their first sips of salty sea water.

The Filipino camp provided cultural orientation for us. ESL courses were taught to everyone. We lived in buildings that were from a former U.S. military base in Morong Baataan. Along with the ocean, we saw many other things for the first time: carpet, toilets, bath tubs, showers, stoves, canned food and light sockets. With the first steps onto carpet, people often fell to their knees and softly petted the surface with their hands. It was curious to them. They couldn’t understand what animal fur it was made from.

It was a convergence of East meets West. Communism would come crumbling down with the Berlin wall nine years later. With Coca-Cola bottles of ocean water, we had uncapped another world of possibilities.

I sit tonight reflecting on the importance of history… both political and personal.

My heart swells. I am grateful for all beings alive and dead who are responsible for my present moment. I realize deeply the concept of interbeing tonight. I would be nowhere without the direct and indirect actions of others. Living is a communal act in this manner…our present is only a moment brought forth by the doings of our past and the intentions of our future. In this moment, we are enacting the power of life and lineage.

Palm oil industry bans ad

Toast — 2009-11-09T17:20:59-05:00

By: Toast

An advertisement for Malaysian palm oil has been banned in the UK, dealing a major blow to the credibility of Malaysia’s palm oil industry. Members of the hunter-gatherer Penan tribe in Borneo have welcomed the ban, saying, "Oil palm plantations have not benefited us at all; they have only robbed us of our resources and land."

The Penan live in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, and are fighting to stop the forests they rely on being cut down to make way for oil palm plantations. Survival International is calling on the Malaysian government to halt plantations and logging on their land without their consent.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned the magazine advertisement, placed by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council. The ad claimed that Malaysian palm oil was "sustainable" and contributed to "the alleviation of poverty, especially amongst rural populations."

The advertising regulator ruled that these and other claims made in the advert were misleading and could not be substantiated.

Members of the Penan tribe who have already lost much of their land to oil palm plantations said today:

"Our people welcome the ban on the magazine advert by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council. How come the advert claimed that palm oil helps alleviate poverty, when from the very beginning oil palm plantations have destroyed our source of livelihood and made us much poorer? A lot of people are hungry every day because our forest has been destroyed."

Oil palm plantations and logging are destroying the forests the Penan hunt and gather in, and polluting the rivers they fish in. Without their forests they have difficulty finding enough food.

Survival International's director Stephen Corry said today, "Claims that Malaysian palm oil is green and people-friendly will not wash, especially with the Penan. The industry’s expansion onto their land is a disaster."

Palm oil is used in many everyday grocery products, and is increasingly being used for biofuel.

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Give to America's schools - keep teachers and kids engaged

bizwizkid — 2009-11-09T11:03:53-05:00

By: bizwizkid

Our national nonprofit organization iLoveSchools.com matches America’s donors of new, used and in-kind resources with school teachers sorely in need.

In a nutshell teachers visit our site, go shopping in our store and create WishLists of anything they need. We then find donors including individuals, parents, alumni, local and national businesses to donate the resources. 97% of every dollar goes to the teacher of the donor’s choosing. That is, we keep 3% for payment processing fees and have a guilt-free ask for 10%. Donors decide if we get any contribution vs. our taxing them for our service.

Another facet allows donors to post a DonorOffer of any new, used or in-kind resource. Donor's list their items along with a photo and specify the school type, classroom subject, economic and geographic criteria. Only teachers fitting that profile see the ads allowing everyone the ability to focus their giving.

Some examples of our recent successes:

• Over 200 of President Obama’s campaign offices gave us computers, furniture and supplies which we donated to school districts in over 12 states.

• Copernicus Educational Products gave us over $50k of new carts, easels and storage units which were distributed to elementary schools throughout the country.

• Lexmark gave us dozens of pallets of new printers and photo paper which we also distributed to schools across the nation.

• Individual donors are offering everything from music recorders, desks, art supplies and a plethora of other items

We invite individuals, parents, PTA, PTO, educational foundations, businesses large and small to visit our site and see how you can get engaged with our schools. We're all in this together!

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What are you grateful for today?

JoeMonkman — 2009-11-05T17:45:41-05:00

By: JoeMonkman

“The litmus test for self-realization is a constant state of gratitude. This gratitude is not something you can look for or find. It comes from another direction, and it takes you over completely. It’s so vast that it can’t be dimmed, or overlaid. The short version would be ‘mind in love with itself.’ It’s the total acceptance and consumption of itself reflected back at the same moment in the central place that is like fusion. When you live your life from that place of gratitude, you’ve come home.”

- Byron Katie, A Thousand Names For Joy

This year more than any other I feel like I have touched that eternal place of gratitude that Byron Katie speaks of. I have many people (I’ll start with myself!), events and situations to thank for helping me achieve that feeling. Each time I experience it I am overcome with a sense of oneness, deep connection and serenity. That sense of gratitude always brings tears to my eyes, no matter how long it lasts, and no matter where I am. It stops me in my tracks and nearly takes my breath away. Then it asks me to breathe deeply, see the magnificence all around me and hear the heartbeat of all things. The feeling of gratitude gives me a glimpse into what peace and acceptance really are.

Today I am grateful for a daily gratitude practice, my parents, siblings, friends and mentors, the work and words of Byron Katie, a clutter-free office, my students and clients, new business opportunities, the ability to think and act "out of the box." Also, Sunday music sessions, a sweaty workout at the gym, all of the money that I have now and that is on the way and the food in my 'fridge and in my belly.

What are you grateful for today?

(The gratitude image is from Twin Muses, the creator of "greener greeting cards.")

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Soap Hope: All-natural soap to end global poverty

KristinSchutz — 2009-11-04T12:49:12-05:00

By: KristinSchutz

May 16, 2009: Doomsday. With a degree in public relations and an economic environment of fear and hiring freezes, I found it hard to have faith in finding a decent job in public relations and even less faith in a job that shared my vision for progressive change. Then along came a job at Soap Hope: a company with a deeply integrated social mission to end global poverty.

The first thing we learn as an introduction to PR at school is "Don't Lie." As a PR practitioner, I am well aware of the traps and narrow roads that challenge our paths as communicators. But at Soap Hope I have never once felt the need to lie or twist the truth. *Sigh of relief* It's nice to work for a social responsible company.

Serendipitously, Soap Hope brought hope to my career but more importantly it brings hope to women entrepreneurs locally and globally.

The founders, Salah Boukadoum and Craig Tiritilli, founded Soap Hope after selling their technology company. Taking a full pendulum swing in the other direction, not only in product and services but also in corporate culture. The two decided to found Soap Hope on a strong social mission to end global poverty. Soap Hope invests 100% of profits into anti-poverty organizations that provide microloans and business training for women entrepreneurs.

The social mission is based on the founder’s innovative business model called Good Returns, an innovative, sustainable paradigm in which businesses invest resources in non-profits that improve the lives of others and reciprocally the businesses benefit through returns on investments, increased community visibility and enhanced reputation. In this model a for-profit company simply delays dividends by one year in order to accomplish a positive social purpose.

Rather than donating a portion of a company’s profits to a charity, the Good Returns model engenders a cycle of mutually beneficial results.

In exchange, these nonprofits tell others about Soap Hope, helping to gain visibility in the market and giving customers a special reason to choose Soap Hope over other vendors. This completes the virtuous cycle of Good Returns.

Good Returns isn’t simply a charitable act, it is a sound business investment.

My days at Soap Hope are filled with cheery scents of the stacks and rows of all-natural soap in the adjacent room. Each day I leave smelling of lavender, geranium or some other flora or fauna. Each bar of soap represents money in a woman’s pocket, empowering her economic freedom. Giving back to the global community never smelled so good.

To learn more about the Good Returns model or to try some soap, connect with us at www.soaphope.com

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