SOCIAL justice

Sustainability is very important to me but I wonder if it comes at a cost.

I listened to this awesome lecture by Charlotte Gerson, the healthy 88 year old with no doctor and no problems, thanks to her vegan diet. I totally agree with everything she talked about but it really made me wonder about a few things. Really, the only thing that goes against my beliefs are social outings. By that I mean, generally, I don’t eat out, except when with friends. I don’t use disposable cutlery/cups except at parties. I don’t go to malls, except with people. In her lecture, Charlotte says she NEVER goes out to restaurants. She NEVER does anything harmful to her body (putting bad processed substances in) and I can’t help but wonder if it is becasue she is old and doesn’t have to follow social conduct as much.

Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with people, I just wonder if we could all be happy and healthy together without harming the planet. Can we fight for social justice and be sociable?

Us and Them

On the weekend I had the pleasure of seeing “Us and Them,” an interactive show up on by Headlines Theatre.

I as the show began watched the shadows dance under the glow of the sunlight (stage light). The harmonics tickled my ears with their delicate touches of perfections, it was a quiet beauty.

As the opening scenes unfolded I observed many things. When I began looking for differences, they grew to be great and many. I think we see what we want to see. When you look for differences they are infinite. I also saw consumerism get in the way. Quite literally, one character couldn’t see his path over his big screen TV. I see a social irony here….

Also apparent to me were the differences and perspectives in every situation. There is an inside to every window and a room behind each wall.

A large theme that the show presented was the modern differences in gender. Transgendered stigma was explored. It is something that I have only been part of dialogue on recently and I am still learning about issues and challenges faced by transgendered people. This is an area where I am fairly ignorant. Man… Woman… can’t we just be people? I am curious if these issues would exist outside of North American culture.

“We never know what we do.”

– DAVID DIAMOND

Is too much equal to nothing at all?

After the play we engaged in a DIALOGUE. In a dialogue, we suspend judgement and listen to others, even those with whom we don’t agree. This dialogue was centered around hot to build bridges, tear down walls, and stopping putting them up in the first place. The community in the room looked for access points to create these new outcomes.

“Is the wall inside yourself?”

– DAVID DIAMOND

I was left with these conclusions. Laughter, silliness and acknowledgements are the ANSWER TO EVERYTHING. I want to be a celebrator of differences and an empowering force of change in the world : )

US AND THEM runs until Saturday, November 12th. Shows are at 8PM at The Cultch. Dooo it!

My Thinks & Notes from Joyologist Tricia Huffman’s Let’s Relate & Communicate Webinar

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TODAY I ATTENDED YOUR JOYOLOGIST, TRICIA HUFFMAN’S LIVE WEBINAR. CHECK OUT HER SITE!

Communication makes relationships. Every connection you have with another person is a relationship and RELATIONSHIP = to relate to another… to be in the same place as someone (physically, emotionally, mentally?)

Who are you BEING with all people (yourself included)? to be or not to be…

your being = thoughts, actions, attitudes, words, clothing, choices, beliefs … often without speaking

I am a teacher at all times.

“We are all human.” – Tricia Huffman

BE LOVE.

LOVE YOURSELF.

“clean it up as it comes up.” – Tricia Huffman (this is similar to “making shit up” and the interpersonal mush described in clear leadership)

Questions to ask others:

• What are you present to? Where are you at right now?
• Is there anything you want to clear up with me?

FIND YOUR OWN VOICE. With everything I learn I find great value in puiting it in my own words. Thought: I think bad words are like sarcasm. I think they mask insecurities and have a negative pull… how does duality relate to this? Maybe some cussing is required for some clean talks.. hmm.

Plans and ideas are allowed to change! I am not trapped in anything!

“listen through love.” – Tricia Huffman

Expectations set us up for failure.

People fall asleep to acknowledging others. Show people how much you love them! Acknowledge people! Thank them!

Fully listen! Repeat back to people what they have said.

Dear Jenni: Stop trying to “fix” people and give them advice. They know the answer. TRUST them and acknowledge them for being the intelligent people they are. It is not my job to fix other people. I will have compassion, but I will not be responsible for them. I can’t change others behaviors but I can change my own reactions… “cant change the wind but you can adjust the sails ” …why would you want to make someone you love “wrong”?

“everything is either a request for love, or an expression of love.” – Tricia Huffman

I wonder how different cultures love full out? When I first started actively participating in positivity I was all HUGS and HIGH FIVES. It was a very physical thing for me. This is a very North American image of how to “love full out” and I am curious about other cultures and how others experience this.

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QUESTIONS:

What is your view on using “love” to end e-mails and in conversations with acquaintances? I really want to bring love into all of my actions but I am afraid people will think I am unprofessional. People are always going to judge you. Don’t let that stop you. Dive into fear.

How do gossip and venting fit into being love? It’s okay to vent sometimes, but always go back to the source and communicate with the person directly afterward. If other gossip to you, tell them you aren’t comfortable engaging in that energy. Why are you wasting your energy on that? If you really want to change this you need to talk to that person about it.

Many things you said reminded me of a book/course I recently experienced called “clear leadership”. coincidence, or are you familiar with it? “I” language.

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EXPERIMENT: Venting to myself.

I am a very extroverted and oral communicator so I wanted to try

Before: I felt curious and apprehensive about trying this and I felt a little scared that my Mom would hear me haha.

During: I communicated my experience to myself and was able to understand my experience better.

After: I am missing feedback and I wish I had done this with a video camera.

Soooo I tried that but the sound didn’t work and I have decided that is wasn’t meant to be, but I will experiment further the next time I want to vent : )

Giving Giggles to Phone Survey Professionals

Him: On a scale of 1 to 9, please rate your experience.

Me: 11!

Him: On a scale of 1 to 9…

Me: The scale cannot contain my excitement! 9 is not a high enough number to express how I feel.

Him: *laughs*

Mission accomplished : )

My First Leadership Workshop!

Today I was honoured to give my first workshop at the SFU Leadership Summit.My topic was “How to change the world and yourself in the process”. I basically talked about my personal journey with positivity, SuperForest, and how I created my manifesto. It was really a full circle moment. I am so grateful for the people that I personally invited who attended, and the unexpected group from my high school that sat in the front row, and the people I was suprised to see, and the people I didn’t even know who came out!
In making the presentation I had a much needed opportunity to reflect on myself and my perspective. Due to an interesting transition into 2011 with some events that really taught me a lot about myself I had almost forgotten little bits of me. I am glad to have evolved and found those little pieces that have been lost for the past few weeks.
I can’t really word this in the best way yet but I was thinking…When it feels like part of you is totally dependant on someone else, it is interesting that when they leave, some parts of you were really just you all along.

This reaffirmed my idea that there is only oner person in the world, really. Yourself (so me haha). Everyone else is just your perception of them. So when people change you, they don’t really… you change you. You have all the tools you need to be whatever you want.
I really enjoyed presenting and I got a lot of positive feedback after the presentation. I feel like I want to do it again. I’ve already started thinking of things I could make more awesome about it.
I feel like there is a message here. A message of love, and making the world a better place. I feel like I want to keep telling this story. To anyone who will listen.

I am excited to see where this takes me.

KWAN SEUM BOSAL! NAMASTE!