Our tribe...

Some indigenous cultures have a tradition of embracing and loving the member of the tribe who causes harm, pain or suffering to others. This is an act of treating pain (the wrong doer acted from his own pain) with love. They tell him he is loved. That he is made of divine love and he belongs. He may fight back but eventually the love (which never tires) wins. The community does not give up the battle to reclaim his goodness, no matter how long it may take. To give up on that member of the tribe is to permit darkness to infect the tribe.

We are facing the same battle today in many corners of our lives. It may seem that there is more darkness now than ever but that is not true. There is more love and light now than ever before because of all the hard work done by the generations that have gone before us and the work we are doing today. We, the light bearers, have brought so much love to the world that our planet has shifted and darkness can no longer hide. What seems like an endless series of scandals and injustice and war is the darkness bubbling up to the surface and into the light so it can be healed. It's overwhelming at times but we can bring love to all of this darkness. We are having the conversations, making stands for peace and learning how to have compassion in new and powerful ways. We must not give up, even if it takes generations. 

We heal this world every day with our acts of compassion and as we do, that energy ripples through the world and heals people we will never know. We are the wings of the butterfly and the hurricane is love. 

Just as the tribe does not give up on the evil doing tribe member, we cannot give up on humanity. Keep up the good fight. We are winning. And we are healing the generations before and after us by changing the story of our ancestor's children and our children's ancestors.

Namaste.

The Divine Cycle: Birth, death and rebirth...

Hey, humans!  We are surrounded by nature and nature offers us lessons whether we are paying attention or not.  Today, I was presented a humble lesson on birth and death (and darn if that doesn't somehow also have the sneaky little lesson of letting go attached to it!)

Birth and death are two perceptions of the same process. Everything - every animal, every plant, every minute, every relationship, every breath, every idea you have - everything experiences the two sides of this dichotomy in order to grow, change, and be present in this moment as it is intended to be.

Today it was my orchid that offered me the lesson - by both being born anew and dying in part at the same time. Since 2004, this beautiful plant has blossomed every winter. Today, it has at least six purple blooms waiting to be born. It also has a decaying, dying leaf. The plant is not unhealthy, it is simply putting its resources into being born anew, and not into keeping one very old leaf alive. We, too, must focus our energies on the parts of us that wish to grow, and be willing to simultaneously allow what is no longer necessary - or what must be given up - to wither and die. It is part of the natural order of things to live and die and be born anew. Don't spend all your energy on keeping something alive that is simply ready to go.

As you see the things around you - beliefs, ideas, relationships, perceptions, and purposes that once served you - now decaying in your life, rest assured that what is leaving you will create the space for the energy to be born anew in your life.  And what will be born anew will be full of the wisdom you've gained and the love you've found for yourself so what's coming will only be better than that of which you are letting go.

Namaste.

Death of a leaf empowers birth of budding new life.

If it's not love, let it go...

I've learned a lot lately about love and about the people with whom we play this grand "game of life."  It turns out we all want the same thing:  Love.  But we aren't all playing by the same rules - and we certainly are not all starting from the same level of skill.  I learned long ago (and I'm still learning) that not everyone has my best interest at heart and not everyone cares to.  If you're a soft love giving thing like me this can be a hard, hard lesson to learn...

Sometimes love really does just fall out of the sky;
let go of what isn't love and be ready  for it!

While some people do give and share their love selflessly, some take too much and devalue the love you give.  Some love disappears and some love just dies.  Some people cause harm in the name of "love."  Some demand your love in a way that suits them - but not you.  Some manipulate in the name of love.  Some just plain hurt you.  But I've learned lately that the time has come for us, the members of this beautiful human race, to love ourselves first and give love in real time only to those who deserve it.

We can (if we are so inclined) still love someone who takes too much by sending them love and compassion on the wings of a prayer - and giving that love we wanted to share back to ourselves. But there is no need and no reason to do anything that makes us feel anything less than wonderful inside.  In other words, there is never a good enough reason to give your love to someone who does not give you the same love in return.  The more we let go of those people whose "love" isn't really love, the more space we open for the kind of love we truly want to come rushing in.  ...But we need to be empowered enough to close that "not good love" door and believe in our right to do so before the next one (or two, or three) will open.

Bottom line, if it doesn't make you feel good, it's not love - at least not the kind that is meant for you. Whether it's a friend, your family members, a lover or an acquaintance  it's time to draw the line.  And it's time to demand, expect and allow only love which makes you feel as amazing as you truly are.  And yes, you are that amazing.  <3

10 truths: Picking up the pieces...

Ten truths worth telling:

1. That thing you really don't want to do is the one thing you really need to do.
2. All suffering ends.  You'll always pick up the pieces and build a stronger YOU in the aftermath.
3. Honor your impulses - if you don't, the energy builds up inside you and becomes something else you really don't want.
4. The time you spend in indecision changes the circumstances surrounding the things you must choose from.  You may have lost a very good thing by waiting to know if it was good enough to choose.
5. Real love never looks the way you thought it would.  Stop looking for it and starting feeling for it instead.
6. Don't allow someone else to choose for you.  They'll never be right.
7. When you don't feel good, put on your hottest jeans, your biggest earrings and pretend that you feel like a million bucks.  Even if no one else bears witness.
8. Dancing cures all ills, soothes all hearts, rids a mind of worry and translates emotional energy into joy, which is the fuel for the beautiful flow of life.
9. All joys and pains, friends and foes, triumphs and failures are meant to teach you something.  Pay attention - and love the painful moments as much as the blissful ones.  The greatest gifts lie in the darkest corners.
10. Falling in love is always worth it.  Always.  Don't tell yourself the old stories of heartbreak.  Heartbreak is only a memory.  Love is what is real, and it is waiting for you to open the door now.

A tree grows in the concrete.
It knows its odds of growing old are not great.
It cares not if its time is short,
rather it cares only to say "I'm here."
"This shadow is mine."
"I've earned what I've accomplished."
"I grew here to teach you a lesson, and
I'm happy to have had the opportunity to help you grow stronger."

3 ways to release, surrender, let go...

There's too much.  Too much of everything.  And for those of us who are sensitive, we are brimming over, swimming in the overwhelm and in need of release. I wish I had a manual for letting go, but I do not.  It seems that no matter how much I let go of, there's always more.  Some days it feels like a bottomless well... but something deep inside of me knows it is not.

We come here, to these lifetimes, to learn, to love, to lose and to let go.  We know we take nothing with us in the end yet we sure live like we do.  In fact, we take as much as we possibly can.  We hoard it - most of the time without even knowing.  We take all of the joys, all of the pains, all of the bliss and all of the sorrows.  Of course we want only the good things so we soak those up eagerly without cause for thought.  We adamantly reject and detest the bad things though because they feel so awful.  But in refusing and hating the bad, we make it grow bigger inside of us.  We focus so much energy on not wanting the pains of life that we sow such a fertile ground of Not Wanting Bad Stuff that we inadvertently attract more and more of it, over and over.  The law of attraction is real.  We really do get back from the world what we send out and when we are consumed with not wanting more of the bad (when we are neck-deep in the bad), that's all we're asking the universe for... and we get it.

This is where The Art of Letting Go comes in.  I should have a post-doctoral degree in this fine art by now.  I once purchased a book on Letting Go at a used book sale and treated it like my bible.  I carried it with me and read the analogies and thought about them over and over (red flag:  I was hoarding letting go).  I believed that the book Who Moved My Cheese was written for me and I had to own a copy after reading someone else's (yeah, there it is again...).  I needed to know *how* to let go and I wasn't going to stop until I figured it out (spoiler alert:  I don't claim to have figured it out, but I have donated most of my books and I have a few approaches I recommend trying).

Most of the time we know instinctively that we need to let go of things that no longer serve us (the knowing becomes clearer the more times we've faced the challenge of letting go - or, in some cases, when a close friend simply refuses to hear the story once more).  [So, Recommendation #1:  Get a good friend.  And be real honest with said good friend - ask for real honesty in return.  Buy good friend a drink and show up when good friend needs you to do the same.]

We need to let go so that we can focus on what we *do* want in our lives in place of the bad.  But those bad moments can be so insidious that they get stuck inside of us, refueling the automatic delivery system of exactly what we don't want any more of - so we get more bad, over and over, creating a seemingly bottomless well of hard, challenging, painful experiences.  Letting go of the thoughts, energies and (understandable) hatred of the negative stuff in our lives then becomes so challenging that it seems impossible to get out.  We feel as though we can't even remember what the good moments look like anymore.  The typical advice to "think positive" and focus on what we truly want becomes an irritating reminder that David is smaller than Goliath and he can't possibly win.  But what if the art of letting go happens in surrendering to the monster?  Can we love it enough to turn even our darkest moments and deepest worries into parts of ourselves that we can't help but love?

I believe so.

I believe that the brightness of love can shine its loving (and joyful) light precisely in the places we can't seem to escape.  By turning to face the monster and giving it love, we can shine our own light on the thing we want so desperately to let go of.  By loving that which we hate, we take away its power and we have nothing to avoid any longer.  The scary parts become the parts of us that are craving love and tenderness - something we have within us to give and feel much better than when we hate them.

Therefore, Recommendation #2:  Love the bad stuff, all of it, see it as part of yourself - a part that really needs a hug, to be held, to be told it's dream job is coming, it's beautiful and smart and has great hair... you get the point.

And because I'm a big fan of journaling - and writing in general, here's a third suggestion for your letting go journey, for good measure:

Recommendation #3:  Write a letter to God/your higher self/your guides/your angels/the person who hurt you/your future self/Santa Claus and tell him/her/it your deepest secrets, hopes, fears and desires.  Beg, plead, pray, bargain.  It doesn't matter what you say or how you say it, just that you are honest and that you are releasing some of the energy that is wrapped so tightly around what you need to let go of.  Then seal it up, burn it, hide it, shred it, bury it or read it back to yourself and hit delete.  It doesn't matter what you do with it because the message was delivered the moment you wrote it and acknowledged its existence   You've simply empowered your own ability to release (i.e. leg go) in the simplest of forms.  After all, it's all energy.  The fears, the hopes, the intentions, the messages in your letters, the worries you carry - all of it is just energy.  Release any small amount of that energy you no longer want and you will feel freer to start asking for and attracting what you do want.

I honor your strength, courage and determination in the battle of letting go.  ...And I have no idea who would own a necklace that says "let go" - not a clue.

On Divine Law...

Our story is never ending.  

The outcomes are not predestined, rather the opportunities and challenges that come up along the way.  

How we handle what we face is up to us and determines where we go next.  

Because the story never ends we must remember to always do what is best for ourselves and others because we are all part of the same divine energy governed by the Divine Law that says... 

*that which we send out to the world through thought, action or intent will indeed return to the place it came from... us*.

Divine Law, meaning that which is fair, loving and created for our highest interest, was created by Divinity and Divinity is the God energy that loves, protects and teaches us all as we learn that we are all indeed One. 

My journey is never ending and I choose to carry and embody love and right action for my companions along the way.

I embrace and I live by Divine Law.

I embrace and live by the Law of Love.

The un-shared ideas of quiet souls...

I've realized, over a recent period of self-directed disconnection from most of the stimulus happening in our world that so many people matter whose names we will never know and and so many solutions to problems in our world exist that will never be brought to light.  These inspired ideas and peaceful solutions won't even be brought to a level of consciousness other than that of the mind that thought it.

I've realized that our thinking, hurting, angry, over-communicative, over-stimulated and frustrated minds are so full that the quiet space needed for the gentle souls among us and peaceful solutions contained within them have nearly no place in our world right now... but it is precisely those souls and those ideas that are so needed.

The news bombards us.  The talking heads talk.  The angry politicians act without thought and fight without concern.  The egos are bigger than ever.  Acting on impulse, from anger and without thought - it's everywhere.  The injustice is ripe and rotting in our own front lawns but we can't seem to clean it up.  We can't seem to even call attention to it anymore because it is everywhere.  In fact, the stories that seem to capture and hold our attention are those rare stories of change and hope in the world - those are the ones that stand out from the rest.  Those are the stories we are truly seeking, but our pre-programmed and muddled minds always seek more and more stimulation and ultimately they forget the story of hope.  They turn back to the terror, the fear, the desolate reality of a world gone wrong.  We swim in it.  We are desperate for change and peace but we can't find it.  Too much gets in the way five minutes later.  The hope which seemed so palatable is once again gone and we are left seeking, knowing it is somewhere in the chaos of the rotten injustice.

The hope must be held on to.

Those of us with the hope, the ideas, the solutions, the programs, the generous hearts... we must dig deep and find all the courage we can possibly find to speak aloud those truths which we know can change the tides in our world.  It's hard, doing such a thing, because it requires strength and courage that come from a place which requires a loving fuel to keep us going... but such loving, hopeful energy is so hard to find right now.  Yet still we must try.

And keep trying because that's why we are here.

Just remember that when all of the noise and chaos around us becomes deafening, it is in that space that we can be heard.  We carry the story of hope so many are seeking - and the courage to do the work.  There will be times when we - when you - will need to be your own fuel.  When attentions wander and people forget that your ideas, your courage, your work of change are indeed valuable and are indeed changing the world, you must become your own fuel.  It was in the very same space of great pain and injustice in the world that the quiet and humble teachers throughout human history - Jesus, Gandhi, Buddha - walked quietly through the hells that surrounded them to tell their stories of Love, Peace and Hope.  Those teachers became leaders, those leaders became prophets and those prophets became spirits who guide us still today.  Call on them in your time of great need, but remember that you too contain the same courage they had.  You have the same kind of thoughts, the same space for hope, the same earthly body and the same calling to "be the change you wish to see in the world." (Gandhi)

You may be one of us, you may be that peaceful teacher and I tell you now that I  hear you... and you are not alone.  For it is in the time of great imbalance that true balance can be found.  It is in our destitution that we can so clearly see what hope looks like.  And it is in a world that appears devoid of love for our fellow human that we can recognize instantly what love looks like.  While many may become distracted and forget that they've seen the love, somewhere deep inside them their soul remembers what it looks like and they will keep seeking it.  Stand firm in the love and peace you bring to the world and those seeking it will find you.  God's plan is greater than any of ours and he has sent us to remind the world of that.

Be strong.  Be faithful.  Be courage itself.  Be what you were meant to be.

Eye of God

It's okay, you're not the only one...

I just received an email from a very close friend who moved to the other side of the world a couple years ago to follow her dreams.  She has.  But it's not enough.  It got me thinking (and writing) about how just about everyone I know is struggling right now.  I don't mean to say that people's lives are falling apart, in fact most "strugglers" I know seem to be doing okay "on paper".  They seem content and in most ways, they are FINE.  But fine just isn't enough when your soul is knocking on your brain and saying, "Hello, it's me, your higher self.  You're here for a purpose.  A big one.  And it's a big undertaking.  You won't fail, but you will have to change a lot of things - let's get going."

Sound familiar?

That's all well and good if you know what that purpose is (or at least think you know - or have an idea) and it's easy enough to live with if what you need to change doesn't cause you too much pain, or financial burden... but I don't think that's the case for many of us.  Maybe most of us.  I think we are all releasing something huge... and in some cases, we are releasing everything.

At first I thought it was mainly happening to my "generation" (let's call that Generation X - fancy label isn't it?) - but even that isn't right.  My mom is changing in ways I never imagined.  Others her age are turning over MASSIVE stones in their own lives.  At first, I thought my former students (who are now 18-24-ish)  didn't face as many of these challenges - I thought they had a different perspective because of their innate open-mindedness - they grew up living and breathing a kind of openness that has existed in their world view because they were born into a world that is connected via the webosphere.  They ARE the children of the global village.  But that assumption wasn't right either.  Many of them find the norms of society to be boring, redundant, pointless and un-engaging.  And they're right. How can we lose them before they've even really begun the "grown-up" journey?

Actually, I don't think we are losing them, I think they are leading us on this journey into Change.   For their generation, it's a default setting.  For us Gen Xers, it's a kind of refusal to conform.  For the once-radical baby boomers it's an overdue rebellion (they who got distracted raising us Gen Xers).  For all of us humans though, it is a very personal and very difficult set of questions, doubts, worries, self-examinations and, in the end, a battle that can only be fought and won with love and honesty.  Love and honesty with Ourselves.  Talk about a tough audience.

I wish I had answers for my girlfriend but I feel as though my only advice to her is to stick with it.  I'll stick with it too. (Mine is no less open-ended, unsettled, raw and inside out than anyone elses.)  Not only will I stick with my own uncertainty, pain, loss and confusion, I will do it right beside her (thank God for the internet).  And apparently I'll do it out in the open for the rest of the world to witness if they care to.  I suppose a big part of the self-honesty in this is admitting that we are not alone in the uncertainties - and then reaching out to ask someone to stand by us while we go through it.

This great collective of individual struggles is part of a greater human struggle to find what is right for all of us.  Collectively.  The Collective Human Population.  After all, we are all the same, aren't we?

What are you waiting for?

What now?

Which seeds are we planting?

I don't think I need to say much about September 11th today on the ten year anniversary of that awful day.  The sentiments have been written over and over today by almost everyone remembering September 11th.  We all have our memories, our personal stories and our pain.  I acknowledge that and I feel for us all.

But so much has happened in ten years.  So much has also not happened that should have...

A decade.  I remember feeling like a decade was a long time at one point but September 11th doesn't feel like it was a decade ago.  It feels so current and I'm afraid the reasons for this aren't what we would have wanted back in 2001.  Since then we've added wars, recession, out of touch politics and politicians and waste in more ways than I can even count.  Right after that fateful day it felt like We, in our Collective Soul As The Human Race all vibrated together, feeling like anything was possible.  Feeling like we could build anything, love anyone and right any wrong.

But where are we today?

I don't know my neighbors save for those in my hallway.  Money has been cut for practically everything and it has impacted my own life in major ways.  I've given up on politics and politicians - I just can't handle the layers and layers of spin, sugar coating and down right lies.  I'm glad to have been born an American but that's because it's all I've ever known and I've been given many entitlements from this side of the "border."  Who knows what my life would have been like had I been born an Austrian, a Frenchman or an African Maasi.

In the past ten years I've learned that borders are money-lines, most truths are lies and no one owns anything - not land nor buildings nor diamond rings.  It's all temporarily "ours" and ownership is an idea, not an right.  It all goes away and it all should because in the end, none of it really matters.

What does matter then?  That's easy for me to answer.

Peace.  Love.  Equality.  Fairness.  Abundance for all people (yes, it is possible).  An end to AIDS.  An end to stress.  An end to slavery, starvation and corruption.  An end to disconnectedness.  A return to our collective soul.  One Soul.  One humanity.

And that's what the next decade of my life will be about, no matter who is in the White House, the Kremlin, British Parliament or the apartment upstairs.  They are all just like me and I think more and more of them will learn this over the next ten years.  Here's to faith and here's to the kind of solidarity of purpose we all felt after September 11th - and a return to that seed which was planted that morning, not the twisted story of war and poverty and slavery and commercialism that has pushed us to the brink ten years later.

It takes Courage...

Courage is found deep within us, in a place we can't name or recognize - nor do we even believe it exists sometimes.  It can sometimes be seen by others but rarely do we see it in ourselves.  How do we find it then when we need it most?  How do we gather it up and put it to work lifting us up, moving us forward or getting us out?  Not a simple question to answer and not an easy thing to do.

Too often there are situations, adversaries or individuals who would like for us to stay precisely where we are, keeping us from growing or living our truth.  We've all experienced it.  All the "isms" in society, all the ways people are discouraged, all the moments we didn't stand up when we felt we should have - they are all part of a system of oppression that exists in so many shapes and forms around us all.  That these systems exist at all calls us all to stand up and overcome them as individuals and members of the greater human family.  So many people throughout history have lacked the courage and turned a blind eye or participated in the oppression themselves out of fear of becoming oppressed themselves.

Individuals throughout our human story have subscribed to the notion of "if you can't fight 'em, join 'em" and it has caused so much suffering in the world and delayed so much healing.  When an individual acts from a place of fear, he strengthens the oppressive systems that must be challenged and overcome.  When an individual acts from love, employing courage from his own heart, then the world can be changed and humanity can begin to heal.  Because these acts of courage are often taken by individuals, they can feel quite lonely and isolated but rest assured, so many are watching.  So many are aware and so many are looking for those who can lead the way.  This solitude in courage makes having it all the harder to muster but all the more important to find, employ and act from.

Courage is living according to your own truth, standing up for what you know is right and staying true to your unique path.  Since we all have different paths in life, only the Self can recognize the need for courage and then have the strength to make the move that must be made.  Others may tell us what needs to be done and their motives can range from pure love and concern to manipulation and power but only the Self can employ true courage and make the change, take the step or leave the situation.

No one else will ever tell you to become who you are.  No one else can help you become who you are meant to be.  Most people won't even bother to help another grow into who she is meant to be.  It's because of all of this that courage is one of those traits we most admire in one another.  We revel in the stories of those who overcame the greatest odds.  The stories that show us examples of humans living to their fullest human potential.  We need these stories so much that they become the lore that propels us to find our own truths and to fight for justice.  If courage weren't hard to gather within ourselves, we wouldn't retell stories of Joan of Arc and Jesus and Ghandi.  We wouldn't read books about heroes and we wouldn't define our history by a series of wrongs that have been righted and individuals who have done the impossible.

What is quite possibly the greatest thing in the story of Courage in our world is that once one person has found the courage to do what is best, right, good and honorable, we realize that we all benefit from that one individual's inner strength.  The story of human courage is as permeating as stories of long-lost loves found and deserving people who win in the end.  The difference is that while we all may not have long-lost loves to find or babies to save, we all have a truth to live and doing so takes courage - courage that is within us at all times.

Getting to that courage is something only some people do, but I believe we can all find it.  It's just a matter of believing in ourselves, digging deep and then standing up for something true in ourselves.  That truth, as long as it is based in love, is greatly needed in the world.

Stand - and act - from your courage.  Become who you are truly meant to be.  We all need each others' greatest Selves in order to heal so much in the world.  It's why we are here.  And we're all here for each other.

Soul groups & the power of love...

Spiritual teachers are telling us that we are all on a path to enlightenment.  We are starting to know ourselves in a deeper way and we are connecting with our higher, divine selves.  I've experienced this for years.  We are also tuning into our soul-level connections with each other and our soul groups are being revealed to us.  Have you noticed?

It happens when you meet someone with whom you have an instant understanding.  Someone you feel deep and pure love for and with.  When that happens, that someone is part of your soul group and it serves as a sign for you that your soul group is ready to find each other and do more powerful work on our planet at this time.  

As your soul sisters and brothers are revealed to you more and more, know that the purpose of this is to teach you - and all of us - how to love.  When you find that you love your friends, your teachers, your students, your colleagues... for reasons that you can't quite explain, then know that it is for the purpose of learning how to love all humans on Earth.  It is this love - as it expands to people we don't know and will never meet - that will replace hate and violence with peace and compassion in the world.  

Several members of my soul group have been revealed to me in recent years and it is clear to me that we each get each other in a way that goes far beyond the kind of friendship I remember having with people ten or twenty years ago.  There is a shift happening.

Are you aware of your own soul group?  Do you feel a deep love for people unlike any you've had in the past?  Pay attention to this and take a moment to reflect on why you are being given this gift at this time in life. And know that this kind of powerful and selfless love is divine and healing and you are a messenger of God... so go... and spread the love.

You gotta have faith (ah-faith-ah-faith)...

No, not for the reasons George Michael sang about (though that's good too), but for the purpose of getting through.  It seems that we spend so much of our lives getting through something.  An interview, a breakup, a project, a period of change....  We spend very little time in the static space that must exist between one thing and another.  Between achieving/winning/surviving/overcoming one thing before another pops up in our lives.  That between time is as rare as the half of a day when all of your laundry is clean and there is none in the laundry basket.  It's a small moment, it's there, but it's always quickly replaced by a new and growing pile of laundry to be done.  Again.

Unlike the ever-present chore of doing laundry which is mundane, mindless and entirely nonthreatening (save for the part of you that just doesn't want to do it), our ongoing process of getting through something in life just seems to keep coming in surprising ways.  Sometimes we find ourselves getting through something that crept up on us, completely unexpected.  Sometimes it comes as a shock.  Sometimes it's welcome and lovely and you don't mind it at all.  But life is always a series of one thing after another that we are going through.  Or, as you might say, one thing after another that we are living.

Tonight I'm focused on having faith for the getting through.  I'm not talking about the kind of faith that we call upon when we find ourselves in sudden and desperate communion with God.  Not the impetuous kind of begging for the strength to get through something that happens when we are in crisis or hurt or in survival mode. Rather, the kind of faith we have that allows us to move from one phase of life to another.  From letting go of and moving beyond something we know well and moving into the great unknown of the future - having faith along the way that all will be well and banking on it being better than we can imagine in the present moment.

That kind of faith that we humans manage to have in the getting through-ness of life is the kind of faith that is an intimate conversation between ourselves and the higher power that allows us to get through anything. And I do mean anything.  And as humans, across the great span of human history, we have gotten through so much and most of the time we have done it not realizing just how strong we were while we were going through it.

So here's to having faith... and getting through.

The look of love...

I've been to more weddings than I can count.  I've loved each one even more than I thought I would.  Being surrounded by so much love is contagious, you know.  Last night was no exception.

Meghan & Rob

Being witness to a promise made by two people to each other is quite a beautiful thing.  I've witnessed many broken promises and broken hearts in my life and they can be the kind of thing that leads some people to become despondent, pessimistic and give up on love all together.  But sharing in someone else's love story and being surrounded by so many others who love and support one couple's love story can fill a heart with faith in love and even - in my opinion - help to heal a broken heart and help some find faith again.  Thankfully, and despite a broken heart or two of my own, I've always had that faith.

The tradition I witnessed, as such, was full of the kind of ceremony and moments that one comes to expect at an American wedding.  The pledging of love, the kisses on command, the first dance and the reminder of long-standing love amongst the oldest and longest-married couples in the room.  It feels new and tender in this space if you open your heart to it, just like falling in love feels new and full of wonder - even after a broken heart or two.  There are some who have given up and closed themselves to knowing and witnessing what I did last night and to those people I say be open, forgive and believe in second (or third, or fourth) chances for love.

Love doesn't feel like or look like it does on a wedding day forever and some people, while they claim to know this, still seek moments in life that look or feel like the excitement of love at first sight or first kiss.  Far too many walk away prematurely when the honeymoon phase wears off because they prefer excitement and newness to the mundaneness of life.  Some hold on too long, suffering through something they should not and some (the couples who get to remain dancing the longest during that traditional married couples dance) have enough faith to hold on through the rough times that prove to be the cement of their foundation.  No love story looks like another and sometimes love is not promised forever.  But every opportunity for love teaches you something about yourself and gives you an opportunity to love someone in a way that can fill you with so much more than can be imagined or dreamt about.

So what does love look like?  I'm no expert but I've learned a thing or two...

Love requires work but it is generous in its giving.  Love does not exist on the surface of anything - not in the look of a person, an occasion or an interaction.  Sometimes even the most fumbling and awkward initial interaction can lead to the greatest love.  There is no perfect.  There is no script and there is no recognizable path.  The moment loves seems like it is something you have seen before, somewhere else, it is not love but rather someone else's story that's already been told (that includes your own).  Love is surprising and always shows you something you hadn't before seen - about the world, about life, about yourself.

So relax your gaze, open your heart and take a fresh look - no matter how many times you've tried before.  Perhaps what you are seeking will open to you when you change your own perspective and look in a new way rather than looking for something at all.

Love is a dance worth dancing - don't sit it out.

(Part 2) Peace is always the answer...

This is Part 2 of a two-party entry I began this morning.  There was much, much more to say.

My belief (click to read the previous post) is this:  War is never the answer... Peace is.  I have countless reasons why I believe this but only a few thoughts were shared in my previous post.  The reality of saying things out loud (or writing them out loud, as the case may be) opens me to other's opinions.  I love that about humanity.  I also love that I live in a free society where I am free to believe in Peace.  Specifically, as it turns out, the freedom of Peace.

Peace does not cost anything - and even someone living without freedom can embrace, embody and spread Peace.  Consider what Nelson Mandela has achieved through Peace, as a prisoner for 27 years of his life.

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work 
with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

- Nelson Mandela

Peace is made of love and when love is given, it multiplies, it heals and it is returned ten fold.  Peace is harmonious with our most basic emotional needs and the way we would treat a newborn baby or a child.  Peace is the only way to end suffering in the world even if you see the issue as a simple matter of physics.  Yes, physics.  While I am a very spiritual person, science supports what I am about to explain about Peace.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction (Einstein - another Peacemaker speaking of a "universal truth", if you will) and matter will not change on its own unless external conditions such as temperature, or internal conditions such as chemical content, are changed.  And a tiny, simple, almost imperceptible change can completely alter something from one form to another, like combining 2 Hydrogen atoms (H2) with one oxygen atom (O2) makes an entirely different compound every human needs for survival:  H20, or water.

We also need oxygen but, like hydrogen, when it is combined with other elements, entirely different and often deadly substances are created that are nothing at all like water. So, now that I have used almost all of my high school chemistry on you, you can begin to see why I will argue that bringing more Peace to the world has the potential to change things significantly simply by introducing it somewhere where it does not currently exist, if you only look at it from a scientific perspective.

If we go one step further and consider that quantum mechanics has shown us that things happen beyond our scientific method's ability to measure, then we can be even more open to the unknown impact of Peace on a world full of suffering.  And consider, for a moment, a mind-blowing discovery within quantum mechanics called Young's Double Slit experiment that illustrates how the act of observing a thing changes it (this fascinating discovery is also called Relational Quantum Mechanics).  If even passive observation can change the behavior of particles then I implore you to consider how prayer and intention for Peace by millions and millions of people can, indeed, change the world.

"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding"

- Albert Einstein

Here's a video illustrating Thomas Young's Double Slit experiment - worth the watch.  But stick with me on this Peace business...

So, since I am not a scientist (though I did love my high school physics class!), and because I do believe in the great power of the mystical and metaphysical, I will implore you further to consider just how powerful Peace has been on this planet and will continue to be.

The most famous peacemakers in history are household names - Jesus, Buddha, Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, The Dalai Lama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Yes, the greatest terrorists and murders in history are also household names but it is because of the pain and suffering they have caused, not the love they brought to the world.  When you hear the name Hitler, you instantly feel the impact of that name.  The fear, the violence, the unconscionable destruction of human life on a massive scale.  You heart sinks.  You sigh. Your shoulders drop or your muscles may tighten.  You would prefer not to have heard or read the name at all.  It is a name with a low, sinking, painful feeling.

But go back to the list of names I wrote in blue and read those again.  Pause on each one.  You gaze may rise, your face may relax, you may take a cleansing breath, you feel stronger, more hopeful, you might smile.  You might even nod or breathe audibly at the recognition of  a powerfully loving, giving, compassionate human being.  You may see pictures of each in your mind - Mother Theresa holding a dying child, Jesus healing the sick.  You may hear "I have a dream" in Martin Luther King's own voice in your head.  You may feel the sacrifice Gandhi made of his own body.  And all of these names together, emit Peace.  A strong and sturdy Peace that each has left here on Earth for us in moments like this.

I was challenged by a friend today on my statement that war is never the answer.  My friend challenged me not on the issue of Peace but on my insistence of "Never."  My friend argued that had we not gone to war against Hitler, he and the Third Reich would have succeeded with the extermination of the Jews.  As Gadhafi is now killing his own people, is war not a possible solution to allow his people to be free?  My friend doesn't like war either but argued that opting for peace and hoping for the best outcome, while desirable, is not preferable to war when there are instances that seem to have no other solution.  I understand this, but I still take a different view.

I respect my friend for making this statement as it planted the seed of what you are reading right now.  What I said in response was this:   Stopping Hitler was one thing, the world war that surmounted was something else. I believe that we are advanced enough as a human race to learn from thousands of years of war and death and destruction that war is never the answer. I think that something could have stopped Hitler years and years before he grew a following. Turning a blind eye was as much of the fertilizer for the Third Reich as Hitler himself was. And I still think that we are at a point in human history where we risk greater damage to the world and humanity than ever before if we do not find ways beyond war to address all of these issues that are arising and will continue to arise around the planet. My belief is that every Hitler, every Gadhafi, rises to power as a challenge to all of humanity to find a New Way to combat hatred. In order to find that new way, we must look outside the war "box" and see what else we have in us to employ. If we just keep turning to war, we'll never find that something else. Nothing changes if we keep doing the same thing over and over. So in order to turn hate to love, we must employ more love, more peace - and it is going to take ALL of us to do this.

Suffering around the planet is our opportunity to engage in the act of Ending Suffering.  After thousands and thousands of years, we have evolved as a human race to a global community with responsibility to each other just as we are responsible to our family, our neighbors and our nation.  There are no borders, there are no lines.  There is no difference between you and me and someone we've never met 7,000 miles away.  Our task as a human race is not to wage war, not to have more [money/food/possessions/power] than others, not to pretend it doesn't matter because it's happening to someone else born somewhere else.  You could have just as easily been born into the body of a suffering orphan in Africa.  And so could I.  Because we are now all connected, we must feel empathy.  And once you do, even for just a moment, you will also feel the innate need to replace the feeling of suffering (Hitler) with compassion (Mother Theresa).  Hatred with love.  War with Peace.

We were not born with a single cell in our tiny bodies that knew of hatred or violence or war.  These are man-made things.  We were born only with cells knowing of the need for food, human touch and love.  Think of the number of times a day a baby smiles or giggles.  The number of times a child laughs in a given day in comparison to an adult.  It is not until we achieve adulthood that we begin to incorporate fear, pain, suffering, abuse, trauma, neglect into the psyches of others.  And yes, we do it to others, just as others did it to us.  That baby was not born knowing these things - the world in which he grows up exposes him to it.  And therein lies the problem:  The cycle of suffering from one generation to the next by being born into a world that solves problems with fear, not love.

We must now solve the problems we face with love in order to end the cycle.  The time has come and we each have everything within us we need to become ambassadors for Peace on this planet.  And if you can begin to live your own Peace and then send it out to the rest of the world, imagine the power it might contain.  I won't try to convince you that I know it to be true (and I do), but the power of Peace, when spoken, when shared, when employed as a habit in your daily life, feels just as loving and powerful as the names of Ghandi, of Jesus, of the Dalai Lama, when they are spoken.  Those humans are not in the same room with you, nor are some even some even alive on this planet, but the mere mention or thought of their names can be uplifting.  That is the very same universal positive power that exists in prayers of Peace, conversations about Peace, and Peaceful action in your daily life.

And, just like love, when given, Peace comes back to you tenfold.  So bring Peace to your life today and see what happens. Choose to not engage in road rage tomorrow even if you are late for work and someone cuts you off (while it is not about what you get in return, pay attention to what begins happening around you - you might find that someone else lets you cut in front of them in traffic - or a parking spot opens up just as you need it).  Look for an opportunity to give something small to someone else - let someone go ahead of you in line at the grocery store, or give a dollar to a beggar and look him in the eye and smile while you do.

Perhaps, just like the electron in the video above which acted differently once it was aware it was being watched, we too can affect different behavior all over the world by becoming aware that everyone is watching us.  You're watching what I'm doing right now, who is watching you and how might knowing that someone is watching you change your behavior?  If you think about it for a moment, you'll find yet one more reason to act in Peace because whether you think you are being watched or not, the universal laws that govern our world will bring us more of that which we give.  So give Peace.  Today and every day.

“As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. 

You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself... 

Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.” 

- Nelson Mandela

(Part 1) War is never the answer... Peace is.

I believe that there are some universal truths.  Among those, one is very strong and very universal:  Like Attracts Like.  I have learned over and over in my own life that this is true.  What I know...

• Miserable people don't attract happy people (for obvious reasons) - and happy people don't allow miserable people to affect them.  But happy people do attract other happy people and misery loves company.
• "Do unto others as you would have done unto you"  There's a simple biblical take on Like Attracts Like.  Want to be treated with love, respect, kindness?  Then treat others the same way.
• If you think about or worry about something, it is very likely that it will come to pass. 
• Doing things the same way will always garner the same results.  So many people fail to realize this and they continue to hope for change but their behavior never changes.  They do this over and over and suffer mounting disappointment.  To change your outcome, you must also change your actions.
• "Fake it till you make it" works.  Want to feel better?  Happier?  More confident?  Act like you already are and your body/mind/cells will follow.
• Smile and people will find you to be more approachable, bringing more smiles to you in return.  Smile Attracts Smile.
• Fear getting sick and you will get sick.  

This is certainly enough of a list to get my point across.  But the real reason for this list and this post is to ask why, why, WHY can't we learn as a human race that WAR does not create PEACE?  

War Attracts War.  

War attracts hatred, fear, anger, defensiveness, retaliation, wrong action. 

Peace Attracts Peace.  

Peace is made of and creates more love, compassion, hope, understanding, openness.

War is never the answer.  

Peace always is.

The question, then, must be HOW do we create peace in the world?    I know how I work to create peace, how do you create peace in your world?   It is those same ways that will create peace between nations, between peoples and across the entire world.  But we must start now.  Wars have been fought since one man realized that he could fight for something he wanted rather than finding a way of obtaining something through love and cooperation with another human being.  If, for thousands of years, war has never "worked" (as evidenced by the massive amounts of war and hatred that still exist in the world today) then perhaps it is finally time to try a new approach that is not based in war.  Inciting more fear and hatred will only waste time, resources, energy and worst of all, human lives.

...It is not coincidental that I just heard a newscaster say the words "not a significant number of lives have been lost" since the bombing began in Lybia.  I'm afraid I've never met a living soul whose life wasn't significant.  Mine is.  Yours is.  We are all significant.

PEACE.  It's a UNIVERSAL song:

Sixteen thousand six hundred lost souls...

Over sixteen thousand individual human beings have perished in Japan since the disaster struck almost exactly one week ago as I write this.  These are lives that have ended violently and unexpectedly.  People like you and me with hopes, dreams, fears, lovers, crushes, pets, jobs, siblings, hobbies, favorite colors, memories, good days and bad days... dead.

...The "Fukushima Fifty".  A group of anonymous engineers on a suicide mission into the radiation to try and slay a monster that can't be seen, nor, seemingly slayed.

...Lybia.  No-fly zones.  Lybians asking for help from the US and even offering to pay for it.  Surface-to-air missiles.  Rebels attacked. Genocide.

There were so many reasons for me to be happy today but I struggled to be my typically cheerful self.  It's St. Patrick's Day today but the collective jubilation of the day seemed to be muted in a subtle way.  I shopped for a dress to wear to a friend's wedding and I found myself irritated by my own vanity in the dressing room.  How can this be important when I live on the same planet with so many people who are suffering right now, on a daily, hourly basis?

Surprising, unsettling, shocking things are happening all over the world.  Natural disasters, man-made disasters, war, famine, disease, depleting resources, abuse, slavery, power struggles, fights for freedom, and humanity's greatest and most realistic fear: nuclear destruction.  It's everywhere.  Even if you turn off your television or choose to ignore it, it's still there.  And we are getting to a point in our collective human story where we are all affected and none of us can ignore the problems any more.  We can distract ourselves, we can drown our sorrows for a night but when a new day dawns, it's all still there.

I wish I had more answers but I only have one.  I hope you trust me on what I do know and I hope you join with me in opening to it as well, especially if you feel as helpless as so many of us do.  We must give love.  It takes nothing from you yet it gives so much.  We all determine what it means to give our love.  None of us are immune to what is happening.  Just as Siddhartha longed to know what existed beyond the walls of his kingdom and then ventured out to learn the ugly realities of life, we will all one day either seek to know the truth or the truth will come find us.  Let us be like the Buddha and seek the kind of enlightenment within ourselves that will, in turn, serve to bring more love to the world.  Because...

Sixteen thousand six hundred people just like you and me had no idea that their lives would end one week ago.

The families of sixteen thousand six hundred people had no idea that they would lose loved ones.

The community of sixteen thousand six hundred citizens had no way of knowing that it would be turned to rubble.

The nation of Japan had no idea that it would be ground zero for the greatest natural disaster in written history and the unwitting host, now, to a man-made nuclear disaster with no foreseeable conclusion.

As far and as wide as we will look for answers, there will be many experts with many answers and no answers just the same.  The one answer that does exist for all of us lies in the hearts of Six billion seven hundred million people.  And it is this:  The choice we make to love and take care of one another for as long as we are on this earth.  It is the one answer we will always have and we can always employ.  It is universal to every situation in every corner of our world.  Love exists in an endless supply.  As long as ONE of us chooses to do Good for another person, then I believe humanity is on the right path.

...The path to love.

Time with Mom... and making her proud.

There is not a blog site with enough of space nor a book with enough pages to allow anyone, ever, to write everything there is to be written about the complex and holographic relationship between a mother and daughter.  I'm not even going to attempt anything of the sort.  Instead, here's what I have to say (starting with a concise list of twenty items)...

In five day's time, my mother has:

1. Celebrated the return of my 26th birthday (again).
2. Reminded me and informed several others that she spent two days of hard labor "bringing me into this world."
3. Watched me speak from the heart to a room full of people.
4. Met people who love me.
5. Met people I love.
6. Met some of my friends who are now her friends on Facebook.
7. Stayed up until 4:00AM, on purpose.
8. Made me cookies.
9. Conspired to marry me off.
10. Burned cupcakes.
11. Bought me $3.00 gourmet cupcakes.
12. Ate sushi for the first time.
13. Decided she doesn't like sushi and has no use for chopsticks.
14. Made a commitment to a monthly donation to my favorite cause.
15. Meditated with a group of women she'd never met ...and me.
16. Did not learn how to upload photos on her new laptop despite hours of my coaching.
17. Spent too much time on Facebook.
18. Made me laugh.
19. Frustrated me.
20. Made me wish she lived closer.

She'd have to make her own list of things I've done since she's been here but I'm pretty sure her list would be just as ridiculous.  And I know that she would add one thing, and it is this:

I've made her proud.  

She tells me that a lot these days.  She would be the first to tell you that she should have told me this a lot more during the first 20 years of my life.  But she and I have learned a lot and come to appreciate the fact that our greatest challenges with each other - in this most sticky relationship - are exactly the challenges we both needed to go through and overcome to become who we are today.

Somewhere along the way in life, I learned that motherly love can come from anyone.  I tell my students that they've made me proud because everyone needs positive reinforcement and the kind of love that comes from hearing these words.  I know I do.  And I think we should all affirm one another often as we can.  We should all say "You've made me proud" more often than we do.  This is not necessarily just a mother's job, of course, but I think many people assume that others get this kind of reinforcement at home and that's enough - but it's not.  And what's worse, we don't think it's necessary to commend one another.  Far too many people do not have mothers, fathers, partners, families, colleagues or bosses in their lives who can give them this kind of gift.  But you can.

There's a great deal of love, gratitude, power and magic in telling someone that they have made you proud.  So go ahead and tell someone that he or she has made you proud.   Today.

Thanks Mom.  You've made me proud.  ;-)

Gratitude is more than words...

I had the most wonderful weekend for 32 orphaned girls in Mtwapa, Kenya.

My birthday party for charity on Saturday evening at my friend Alex's house was a fantastic success.  It was a fun, happy and inspirational event attended by a diverse crowd of people who all care about things bigger than themselves.  They now, too, care about what is happening in Kenya.

I was delighted with the turnout, the money raised, and the awareness generated for my favorite charity, One Home Many Hopes, but these are just words and they cannot begin to express how I feel about what was and always will be a lovely moment in time.

Photo courtesy of Graham Marley, www.grahamwinslowphoto.com

My heart has expanded.

My hope has been affirmed.

My dreams have taken root.

My belief in humanity has strengthened.

And I've seen once again that something bigger than us 

brings us together in love.

As Thomas Keown, OHMH's founder, said to me as we slowly made our way to the door at the end of the evening, "the money raised is only a part of what is to come from this evening."  The seeds planted and the energy put into motion will surely bring us so much more - an immeasurable amount more.  This is the kind of hope that has led so many people to build OHMH into what it is today.  It is also exactly what I know and believe to be true and magical about the human spirit.  We dropped a pebble in the pond on Saturday night.  Now it's time to watch the fantastic journey of the ripples created by that pebble.

Just as there are not tools to measure the impact of my birthday fundraiser, there are not words for me to express my gratitude to all who were involved, all who gave, and all who will continue to give.

So for making my wish come true, I'll simply say

Thank you.

We are all affected by one person's pain...

Today I pray for miracles, faith, hope, 
compassion, cooperation and peace 

in the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan.


We are all one.

So many lives were ripped apart by the unthinkable earthquake in Japan today.  We are all connected, we are all affected and we are becoming a humanity that finally feels one another's pain and anguish.  This and all natural disasters happening around the world cause us all pain.


I hope you pray today, send your love and remember that we are all connected. We are all one.  Take care of each other today, we all need one another.  Your prayers, thoughts and good intentions are powerful for you and every other human on the planet.  

Girl Power, Women's Empowerment and the end of "the lesser sex"...

International Women's Day is 100 years old today...  How are we doing, humanity?  And what are YOU doing to change things?

Are we where we should be?  No.  We should be much further along on this journey.  I don't see one reason why not, either.  We've fought a long, hard battle.  Sure, my grandmother gained the right to vote (in the United States) in her lifetime and yes, it's illegal for someone to hire or fire on the basis of gender (in the United States) but tonight, in most of the world, such things are only dreams for women who can only focus survival and feeding their starving children.


Are more women empowered today than we were 100 years ago?  Some (in the United States and other developed countries) are, yes.  For for most women around the world, their great, great grandmothers' lives looked awfully similar to their own.  


Are women stronger and more powerful than they once were?  I don't know.  I believe that women contain an infinite source of strength and courage - and always have.  I also believe that 100 years has brought some of us closer to the freedom to USE that infinite source of strength and courage for more than just survival, therefore allowing us to tap into that source of power in new and more far-reaching ways.  But more powerful?  I don't think that's the right question to ask.  Perhaps the right question is, then, are we getting closer to the freedom to use our power?  Yes, I believe we are.  


The facts are terribly painful but I know that pain can be turned to passion to change the world.  From the horrific realities of the lives of young girls who suffer rape, torture and genital mutilation in third world countries to the sexism, oppression and gender bias that exists right here in the Land of the Free, women - and our collective feminine experience - contain enough suffering to motivate every single one of us to the kind of passion needed to change the world.  I believe that the call to action surrounding the rights of women is as great as the Earth itself - and the potential within womankind is the greatest untapped source of energy that this planet has ever had or will ever contain.


My life and my work is about doing what I can, as one woman, to empower and engage as many women and girls in the shift that I believe is happening on this planet.  From my work with One Home Many Hopes where we house, feed, love, and educate a group of orphaned and abandoned girls in Kenya, to my work as an urban teacher of business, creative expression and entrepreneurship, I do all that I can for every single girl who has entered my life.  The greatest thing I can do, in my opinion, is to remind each girl I know that she has a voice - a voice that must be used because only SHE can do what God sent her to this world to do.  Each girl, each woman, each human is here containing a gift of strength and a passion greater than she can imagine.  Once each girl, each woman and each human begins to realize this, and to see her own unique potential to do Good in the world, we will all be living in a world where the term "lesser sex" would never be used to describe a group of human beings who have suffered and survived atrocities such as these... (Source: dosomething.org)

1. Women perform 66% of the world’s work, but receive only 11% of the world’s income, and own only 1% of the world’s land.
2. Women make up 66% of the world’s illiterate adults.
3. Women head 83% of single-parent families. The number of families nurtured by women alone doubled from 1970 to 1995 (from 5.6 million to 12.2 million).
4. Women account for 55% of all college students, but even when women have equal years of education it does not translate into economic opportunities or political power.
5. There are six million more women than men in the world.
6. Two-thirds of the world’s children who receive less than four years of education are girls. Girls represent nearly 60% of the children not in school.
7. Parents in countries such as China and India sometimes use sex determination tests to find out if their fetus is a girl. Of 8,000 fetuses aborted at a Bombay clinic, 7,999 were female.
8. Wars today affect civilians most, since they are civil wars, guerrilla actions and ethnic disputes over territory or government. 3 out of 4 fatalities of war are women and children.
9. Rape is consciously used as a tool of genocide and weapon of war. Tens of thousands of women and girls have been subjected to rape and other sexual violence since the crisis erupted in Darfur in 2003. There is no evidence of anyone being convicted in Darfur for these atrocities.
10. About 75% of the refugees and internally displaced in the world are women who have lost their families and their homes.
11. Gender-based violence kills one in three women across the world and is the biggest cause of injury and death to women worldwide, causing more deaths and disability among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accident, and war.

And to end on an optimistic note, consider what investing in a girl's life can create in return:

"Girls may be the answer to some of the world’s most challenging problems. Research shows effectively investing in girls in developing countries creates a virtuous circle that improves health and prosperity for entire communities.  Girls who are better-educated earn more money, get married later, are healthier, and have fewer children than their peers. As earners, they invest more of that money back into their families, which accelerates the benefits of the initial investment, improving the lives of a whole new generation." From an article called "Philanthro-teens" at http://doc.mediaplanet.com/all_projects/6574.pdf

Know a girl?  Love a woman?  Have a mother?  Then you need to ACT.  A lot of words can be written, holidays can be celebrated and blogged about but change only comes from action.  So mentor a girl.  Fund a woman's new business idea.  And help me to banish an oppressive term that should never have been uttered in the first place.

Now, I ask YOU, what are YOU doing to empower women and girls RIGHT NOW?