I live in a country where we drive on the right (not the correct, but literally the right) side of the road, and our cars have steering wheels located on the left side of our cars. And until this week I’d never driven any other way. Now I am visiting a country where they drive on the left side of the road, trying to be sure I position myself and my vehicle in the appropriate locale at all times.
When I first climbed behind the wheel, my instinct was to think...
In today’s social movements, there is typically online organizing (“Click here to do this good thing”) and there is offline organizing (“Excuse me, ma’am, would you sign this petition to do this good thing?”). But hold on to your clipboards because I’ve seen the future. And I am here to tell you that a new wave of community organizing is dawning at a bar, dog park, spa, cupcake shop, playground, and yoga studio near you. Let’s call it “Deep Offline Organizing.”
We are talking deep,...
As the chocolate buzz of Valentine’s Day fades, I find myself thinking about radical acts of self-love. Over the last week I’ve polled my friends, asking them for their take on the qualities of someone in a state of self-love. For some, the question conjures images of a person standing with good posture, shoulders back and down, heart open, in the physical embodiment of that classic “inner body bright” stance of Anusara Yoga. For others, it is expressed in one’s character: confident but not...
We’re still in that time of year when we challenge ourselves to create new and healthier habits. The newspapers are full of specials for gym memberships and packages of yoga classes. Many of my friends have resolved to work out for 45 minutes a day, or meditate for 15 minutes a day, in the efforts to retrain their brain chemistry and lock in a new pattern of being. As I’ve thought about what I most need and what might provide me with a new boost of energy and hope, I’ve decided that I want...
If you’ve found your way to this blog, the chances are that you might consider yourself an activist. If that’s the case, chances also are that you or someone you love has had issues with balance. Perhaps you or that special someone has even made a recent New Year’s resolution about the topic? You know what I’m talking about; it’s what others often call ‘"life/work balance," but for us, it doesn’t divide up quite so neatly. Those of us who call ourselves activists often see our work as a...
When people ask me why I do the work I do, the answer is easy. I do it because I deeply love the people I have the honor of collaborating with. For me, environmental and social justice activism isn’t just a job or a vocation, it is a golden ticket into a beloved community. It seems that those who devote their lives to the betterment of one another and the planet are a special kind of family, building a kinship unparalleled in other workplaces. And it is those community bonds that have kept...
Here we are, it’s finally happened! The end (and restarting) of the Mayan calendar, 11:11 a.m. December 21, 2012. Ironically, there was a while there when I thought frantically about these moments. Seriously, I must have spent hours during the late 1990's and early 2000's, fretting over where I should be for this momentous time. In the Mayan temples of Mexico or Guatemala? On a lush tropical island like Hawaii? Surrounded by friends at a big party, or on a solo backpacking trip?
But...
Recently I met someone who reminded me about what really matters, someone who inspired a perspective that remade my world anew. And for that reason, I’m so glad I can say yes to the question that is all the buzz across Texas: "Have You Seen Leon?" When I first spotted Leon, he was sitting in the park with a man and a woman, playing a guitar. They seemed to me to be three attractive and interesting looking people, and I decided that they must be a burgeoning indie rock band, collaborating...
In the past few months I’ve been saddened by the pain and confusion the deep political divide has caused in so many of us across the U.S. Just before the November election, the NPR show This American Life devoted an entire episode, which they called "Red State, Blue State," to this phenomenon. Like in the radio program, during my recent travels I heard from folks of all party affiliations (and from none at all) who feel they lack the skills and the wherewithal to bridge the growing...
Perhaps the most challenging campaign for a spiritual activist is the one for the health and well-being of our own inner environment. It’s a gritty grassroots endeavor that goes on tirelessly all day long: at the kitchen table, on the yoga mat, at places of worship. At times, it can feel challenging to forge and hard to fund, and we may sometimes fear we lack the skills to win. And even when we remember that we have the Divine as a partner in the work, this campaign may still seem...
It seems like all over the world, everywhere I listen these days, there are amazing conversations going on about women, leadership, and power. The dialogue is validating the instincts of so many, who believe that women can “do power differently,” and that the success of our collective future lies in cultivating women leaders and embracing a more feminine-centered approach to power.
These conversations are happening in a big way at the Omega Institute, which this weekend...
I came to activism out of a desire to make a difference, but I stayed for the music. I marvel at music’s capacity to open us up, lift us up, and touch us so deeply. And I marvel even more at how it connects us to one another and to the causes we hold dear. Like meditation and prayer, music engages us in a way that is truly transcendent. Emma Goldman had her dancing, and for me it is the music that keeps me inspired to be a part of the revolution. People will say they were ‘moved’ by a song...
“My dear friends, your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.” -Representative John Lewis, Democrat from Georgia, and one of the original Freedom Riders speaking at the Democratic National Convention
I’m in awe, and I have to say thank you to politician and spiritual activist Rep. John Lewis. Thank you Rep. Lewis for saying out loud to the nation and the world something I’d actually penned a few days earlier but...
"Treat the Earth well: It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children." –Ancient Indigenous Proverb Next month, the town I live in will play host to a very special gathering of those who feel called to serve as guardians of future generations. If this is something that resonates with you, read on and please consider joining us! The first ever Women’s Congress for Future...
I’ll never forget the first time I heard about Karma Yoga, the yoga of service. I was in a yoga class taught by the fabulously healing and transformative Marla Wedge, and was holding one of my favorite poses, Half Moon, which involves balancing on one foot and one hand. And on this particular day my body found its way into what felt like a perfect expression of the pose. Marla reminded us that when in proper alignment in Half Moon Pose, it would be as if we could slide between two floor-...
A conversation with a friend and fellow activist inspired me to offer some special love and appreciation to all of you parents out there this week. My friend, a longtime mover and shaker in the environmental justice movement and recently a mom, shared with me her sadness and anxiety at how much time she spends parenting these days and how she “can’t find the time to engage in any real activism anymore.” I emphatically offered her my perspective, which is that I believe conscious parenting...
There is so much to learn on this journey of spiritual activism and sacred service, and I have a stack of books on my nightstand to aid me on this path. And while I don’t believe that book knowledge alone is the key to social change, read on for a sampling of amazing gifts and insights to be had from this summer’s reading list! I look forward to finding out what is on your list and encourage you to post reviews in the comments section of this blog. I will confess openly, I’m sentimental...
This week I was given an unexpected gift of clarity. I realized with surprise and shock that I was doing a bunch of work I didn’t really want to do. The kicker is that I’d volunteered for these tasks, and here I was, staring down a To-Do List that didn’t feed my spirit. How could this have happened? It is riling to think about how many of us spend hours each day doing a bunch of things we really don’t enjoy. Whether serving in the role of parent, faithful employee, or volunteer community...
Recently a fellow traveler said to me: “I have no heroes. I have no gurus. I don’t look up to anyone. But I have many people I look across at and sit in circle with to create a better world.” This really resonated with me. In today’s world, where so many issues call us to a higher standard of personal responsibility and civic engagement, and in a time when communications tools make it possible for us to reach so many with our ideas and contributions, should we still be (as Bonnie Tyler...
Musings on Buddhism’s ‘Sympathetic Joy’, FOMO and the Global Climate Crisis
I have a confession to make: I am in recovery from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). I became acutely aware of my condition last month when an injury kept me from attending the United Nations Rio+20 Conference in Brazil. I’d been at the first gathering in 1992, the second 10 years later, and this was a premiere happening for environmental and sustainability activists everywhere, so it felt like my...
