From the category archives:

Power and Awareness

How a Hundred Dollar Gift to a Thousand Nonconformists Inspired me to raise $5000 for Charity:Water

The Newmark Theater was packed for the closing session of the second annual World Domination Summit early July in Portland, Oregon. As I glanced around me it was clear every one of the exactly one thousand seats was filled. After final speaker J.D. Roth presented, Chris Guillebeau took the stage to deliver the official send-off.

I tuned-out for a bit as he recapped the brief history of the World Domination Summit (WDS), newly minted but a year prior, and much unlike its name having more to do with conscious evolution, world peace, individual courage and “love domination” than what most people tend to associate with the words “world domination”. Guillebeau, a writer, blogger, entrepreneur and traveler extraordinaire, had created the event to unite nonconformists like him passionate about living a remarkable life in a conventional world.

He wildly succeeded, doubling the event in size from 500 to 1,000 people between its inaugural run in 2011 and its second time out in 2012. While he continued recapping the opportunities that had arisen and the many additional decisions that needed to be made in planning the second WDS, at which I sat, he began to tell the story of an anonymous donor. Despite being approached by numerous corporations, organizations and individuals alike, Chris and his team had made a firm decision that WDS would be entirely sponsor-free: no big brands, no speaker pitches, no logo fests; you get the idea. Despite knowing that, an individual wishing to remain anonymous had approached Chris and insisted on giving him $100,000 to use toward WDS 2012 in the way Chris deemed best with no expectations in return.

By then I was fully tuned back in, paying sharp attention to Chris’ story and beginning to notice murmurs throughout the audience, like the woman next to me gasping, then choking up in tears, muttering “Oh my god” under her breath in [click to continue…]

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Virgin Territory

photo credit: JessyeAnne

I’m headed to Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit (WDS) tomorrow, and honestly, I’m not sure what to expect. I’m going alone, and although I tangentially know some of the people who will be there, it’s starting out at least as a solo journey. Yet the mix of trepidation, anticipation and mystery I sense feels all too familiar to me as a seasoned traveler. It’s the same presentiment that always arises before a move into virgin territory.

That’s the thing about virgin territory – there’s an open-endedness, a blank slate quality, even an obscurity to it that disables you from seeing beyond but is exhilarating and provocative all the same, irresistibly luring you forward.

(By way of background, I’m attending the event this year because I considered Chris’ inaugural WDS last year, couldn’t make up my mind, and in the end missed my chance when it sold out. Regretting my decision, I knew I’d not repeat that mistake in 2012.)

Two nagging questions always arise before exploring virgin territory, and this time is no exception: 1) Will I be back? and 2) How will I be back?

That’s an oversimplified way of expressing my mind’s natural fear and curiosity over several things: [click to continue…]

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Five Guiding Questions for Living Life to the Fullest

photo credit: manymeez

We’ve all heard the clichés – life is fleeting. Time flies. As I write this the year is already a third over and it feels like it just started. Some years are like that, and 2012 is one.

That doesn’t do you a lot of good if you don’t have a guidance system for navigating life when it’s moving at warp speed (and I realize to many of you, it’s only moving at warp speed!). You can plan and goal-set and task-list all day long but you know what they say about the best-laid plans, right? Yeah, they change. Or you change. Or the universe takes matters into its own hands and course-corrects you, like it or not.

Which is why I’ve been pondering this post from Vicky White for a while. Given a forced choice between the two, I think I’d rather have a compass on my journey than a detailed, specific set of directions.

I didn’t come to that decision lightly. I’ve often wished for a higher power to “come down” and literally tell me [click to continue…]

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See the Change You Wish to Be

6648836467 d45c4022ae See the Change You Wish to Be
photo credit: Brittni Gee Photography

By now most of us have heard Ghandi’s famous exhortation “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. As we begin a new year, I propose we reverse his sage advice.

Better yet, apply it both ways.

I’ve pondered this a lot of late, deducing that both seeing and being the change we wish for are equally necessary and potent to manifesting it. And given the accelerated rate of change (plus no signs of it abating), we’ll need both our powers of action and vision to manifest a more harmonious, abundant healthy world in 2012.

Is Your Vision 20-20 in 2012?

So to begin, ask yourself: When you dream, plan, desire and ponder the future, is your vision clear or cloudy?

How, day to day, when you speak to your children, your parents, your partner, your clients, do you see them?

Do you allow them to have their dreams, plans, desires and wishes without considering what they want a negation of your own?

Do you see more of the same you’ve experienced so far, or, does your imagination allow for seeing what you’d prefer instead? Does your thought process permit the vision of your ideal?

Blurred vision is [click to continue…]

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New Year’s Reflection and Inspiration: Consciously Approaching 2012

6539128461 b0741f8724 New Year’s Reflection and Inspiration: Consciously Approaching 2012
photo credit: wrestlingentropy

This year for me, the holidays were quieter, simpler and less hectic than usual. Maybe it was the lack of travel (a rarity), absence of family visitors, or simply the days of the week on which actual holidays fell, but whatever the reasons I savored the calm spaciousness. As a result I’m relishing this time to thoughtfully reflect on the past year and sincerely contemplate my intentions, visions, and goals for 2012.

This is, to me, a big part of living consciously. Being in the moment and responding to what is, yes – that’s always called for – but conscious living also means having a clear intention and vision for the path ahead.

That’s even more necessary and powerful than it’s ever been before. Considering the shifting times we’re living through, the fact that we can consciously evolve – that we can choose how we want to progress both individually and collectively and remain conscious of it as it’s occurring – is a powerful opportunity not to be squandered or ignored.

For those living a life of utter (religious, service or familial) devotion, complete surrender is the path. They are content to journey where they are needed most. For the rest of us with more hybrid lives and their attendant wants, needs, dreams and passions, our journey boils down to two choices: a) consciously create a path or [click to continue…]

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Your Holiday Survival Guide to Staying Spiritually Centered

4198394849 376b7df340 Your Holiday Survival Guide to Staying Spiritually Centered
photo credit: seantoyer

To say holiday family gatherings can be challenging is a gross understatement. Take attendant seasonal stress, combine with deeply-ingrained behavior patterns rearing their ugly heads, mix in a few triggering personalities, a smattering of cultural conditioning, and finally toss in forced togetherness with people you might see (and begrudgingly at that) just once a year, and we’ve plenty to deal with right there.

Add a desire to express your spirituality, or moreover, share your enthusiasm over a spiritual awakening into this mix and it can be like throwing gasoline on a burning yuletide flame.

I don’t want to paint too bleak a picture or lapse into dysfunctional family stereotyping (easy as it would be to go there). Of course, not all families are dysfunctional nor geographically and emotionally disconnected. Yet the fact remains that family members estranged by time or distance often come home to roost at the holidays, making for uncommon interactions between people who don’t see one another on a regular basis. The holidays also involve more socializing than other times of the year do, and much of it happens in contexts that are ripe for confrontation, judgment, and argument.

If you’re newer to spiritual exploration, and especially if you’ve had a sudden and distinct spiritual awakening (as I did) religious holidays like Christmas and Chanukah and their ritual celebrations offer both challenge and opportunity, with more than [click to continue…]

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The Transformative Heart-Opening Power of Gratitude

50 Bamboo Grove 1024x768 The Transformative Heart Opening Power of Gratitude

This time of year, much of the northern hemisphere grows cold. Often the change in climate makes it easy for our hearts to grow cold too. We contract our bodies to stay warm, add extra layers to insulate ourselves. If we’re not mindful, our emotional bodies will mimic our physical bodies until we’re tucked tight in our cocoons, aptly-shelled until spring’s thaw.

For those of us living in the northern hemisphere, it’s certainly fitting that we celebrate heart-opening holidays like Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa during the darkest, coldest season of our year.

Then again, some of us get a free pass. Since I live in south Florida, this time of year marks the boundary between our wet and dry seasons, a welcome transition from balmy, moist sultry summers to cool, crisp delightfully sunny winters. It’s as if the season of heat gives birth to the season of light, both of which I resonate with and cherish deeply.

It Wasn’t Always This Way

Before seven years ago I lived in Chicago (“up north” as we call it down here). Back then this time of year felt [click to continue…]

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Do You Know Who You Really Are, and Are You Living As If You Believe It?

6097626576 98d8951ea8 Do You Know Who You Really Are, and Are You Living As If You Believe It?
photo credit: pr0d1gy

Recently this story about a journey crossed my path. You may have run across it yourself; it’s often read at funeral and memorial services:

The Dragonfly

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened their friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top.

When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, [click to continue…]

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The Importance of the Outer Journey

View from my Trail Ride in the Chilean Andes

Lately I’ve focused considerably on the inner journey – specifically, the path through my own most recent evolutionary shift in consciousness and personal growth, likely one of many such shifts any seeker undergoes in a lifetime. After moving through that growth cycle this spring, I had an amazing summer, abundant with travel to beautiful, familiar and far-flung places alike.

It reminded me of something: life isn’t all about the inner journey. The outer journey – in particular, the fact that you have one – is just as important. And naturally, the two are inextricably connected, for the outer journey sparks and fuels the inner; the inner is mirrored in live lessons and the physical reality of the outer. At least that‘s how it’s always been for me.

Insatiable Wanderlust

Those who’ve read the “meet Karen” page of this blog will know that the outer journey – I’m talking about literal travel here – is one I have been incredibly blessed to have with great ease and little effort of my own. It’s also been one of immense variety and constancy since I was a child. And it’s something I’d like to [click to continue…]

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How Wide is Your Lens?

5408149419 6e1593a1ac How Wide is Your Lens?
photo credit: Jules LaVerne

2011 is shaping up to be a year of rapid, no-nonsense “shifting into gear”. For many people – self included – we’re close to completing the transition through the gears which has defined the past few years. I don’t know about you, but I’m intending to enter a more stable place of greater alignment with my goals and desires in 2011. After the preceding (and apparently, ongoing) period of economic, climate and political instability, I welcome this final push even if it won’t be entirely comfortable.

Which is why right now, it really pays to have goals and desires; to have clarity of intention followed by intentional action. Alignment and clarity are necessarily linked – you can’t be aligned to something without defining it to begin with. The dimensions and areas of your life, of all you are, can’t be congruent without clarity. So I view clarity and more specifically, the willingness to examine and truthfully see as another defining lesson of 2011.

For some of us, this means simply opening our eyes or pulling our heads out of the sand and at long last facing what we’ve been avoiding. For others, it will be time to take off [click to continue…]

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