Easily Amazed

This is a word for word replication of Christy’s post at Life Cultivating Life. It is projects like this one which I find easily amazing in their living expression of life cultivating life!

Michelle and Joel Levey, radiant and soulful friends and mentors, will be two of about 60 professional facilitators working to support the interactive conversation portions of the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York Sept. 15-17.

From the statement of mission by President Clinton:

“…This nonpartisan conference will concentrate a diverse and select group of current and former heads of state, business leaders, noteworthy academicians, and key NGO representatives to identify immediate and pragmatic solutions to some of the worldÂ?s most pressing problems. The workshops will focus on how to reduce poverty; use religion as a force for reconciliation and conflict resolution; implement new business strategies and technologies to combat climate change; and strengthen governance. Our meeting will emphasize dynamic group interaction to identify an agenda we can actually implement.

By identifying specific ways to address the challenges of our time and asking each participant to make a specific commitment to take action in one of the areas discussed, I believe this Initiative will prove to be a unique and effective forum for leaders and their communities around the world. What we begin during three days this September will continue throughout the year to come with coordinated implementation of our agenda…”

and,

“In my life now, I am obsessed with only two things: I don’t want anybody to die before their time. And I don’t want to see good people spend their energies without making a difference…You can change the reality of human history by systemic action.”

The coordinator of the facilitator group, Ruthann Prange, sent this request to subscribers of the Collective Wisdom Initiative listserv:

“If you are drawn to look at the website you’ll see the issues being addressed (poverty, religion, climate change, governance) and the invited participants from around the world would certainly be well served by the wisest available collective intelligence. So please send your strongest signals our way on the 16th and 17th, help enrich the field in which the conference participants will be working. And help those of us physically present to BE present, intentional about holding the space, and freed from our personal advocacy positions so that we can support emergent collective intelligence.

Can I see another’s woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another’s grief
And not seek for kind relief ? ( William Blake)

My professional life takes me into America’s cities. It is there i have come to “see” that there are 2 America’s in our country. Most priveledged folks need never enter these communites…need never to see the hopelessness, despair and slow genocide that takes place there on a daily basis. Perhaps that is why no one really planned for the removal of the poor from New Orleans…..

America is quickly becoming a country of extremes…and although our communities are often close together… the poor are, for the most part, invisible to the well off.

38 million citizens live in poverty in America. The rich are getting richer and the poor have fallen by the wayside…..

The tragedy we are watching un-fold on our TV sets have put poverty front and center….in the face of America….

my hope is that we respond deeply to this tragedy…… America must do more then just rebuild New Orleans…..

we need to look deeply into the hidden faces of poverty in America…

we need to change this picture…….

A question:

How do we invite people to be more aware of such experiences as recognizing another’s wide open door, or feeling an internal pulsing that ignites one’s being like effervescence? How do we open space for such awareness? Obviously one route that I enjoy is talking about it, pointing it out… Any practices that you enjoy?

Christy brilliantly responded:

sometimes it has taken years (years, i tell you!) of knowing someone superficially to suddenly realize that the normal polite walls and doors between me, and that person, were just veils. not even veils, just fog in my eyes. that realization does seem to happen faster these days–always i think about our friend anne stadler’s statement: “we have to develop the capacity for instant connection”. my capacity has definitely been developed and conditioned by my favorite habit of spending time with people who live in that open-doored open space (open to pretty much anyone, not only to me)–like yourself and like anne s, and other heart-tribe friends and relations, and like many spiritual teachers & practitioners i have gotten to know. also, having experience of the warm humming-fizzing-fire feeling makes it easier and easier to recognize each time it happens anew. noticing whether people let me look them right in the eyes or not, and whether or not i want to, is sometimes another clue for me.

of course, ideally i will want to open the door to any soul whose path i cross, but i can’t say that i have reached that stage yet.

speaking of an open door policy and walls and doors turning to fog, Karen shared:

In recent years, the boundaries between my work and play have become pretty permeable. These distinctions often feel like self (and other)-imposed artificial barriers that prevent us from embracing the fullness of being who and how we are. At some point or another, I just started treating my life as one big invitation to “come as you are” party, showing up as I am in whatever context in which I happen to be and do my best to interact authentically with whatever is…noticing and naming and opening and closing in service of furthering what’?s most honest within, between and among us.

Christy and Karen, Thank you both for inviting me to your “come as you are” party… and you that’s reading, it’s wonderful to have you with us!!

Michael Herman posts an email from a New Orleans pathologist, received via a friend of his, via family and collegial connections, and paints a pretty real picture:

The city now has no clean water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications. Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel that is admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting. These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families. Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear gunshots frequently. The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces of styrofoam to access. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence.

“Volunteers are truly the lifeblood of the American Red Cross, and we are calling on them now by the thousands to help support relief efforts in Louisiana and other states after Katrina,” said Pat McCrummen, American Red Cross disaster spokesperson. “We are looking at a long term, very significant response to this storm.”

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of this disaster and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need.

sometimes i catch my kids sitting, day dreaming and wonder what they are actually thinking. one sunday afternoon i walked into zoe’s room and she was quietly sitting on her bed. i stopped and looked at her and said “hi” she looked at me and said “mama, can i tell you something” “sure you can sweetie” “what will happen if im shopping and my husband and kids are not there, i will be lost” i said to zoe ” oh that worries you darling, but by the time you have a husband and kids you will be a grown up and you will know where you are wont be lost” she then said “and how will me and my husband be able to buy a car and house” i then said “well, you first go to school, then go to college and then get a job so that you will be able to pay for a house and car” “oh” she said and started to play with her toys. i was amazed that a child of her age (5yrs) worried about something so far off and began to think how much our kids worry about things but are not able to tell about them. typically i try not to fix their problems but i felt that zoe needed some help on this one! and as her mom am soo glad she had enough trust in me to ask!!

ashley, zoe says thank you.

I am so fortunate to get to spend a week with this wonderful man. My grandfather came and spent a week here in Seattle. We explored locally and traveled to Oregon’s coast and the Columbia River gorge. I feel very honored to be loving and supporting him as he transitions into a whole new phase of life. He’s spent the last 58 years of his life married to the woman of his heart. While her presence lives on within him, he opens to exploring this thing we call life from a different perspective. I can only imagine what it’s like to spend 58 years of your life unfolding in relation to another human being… and the courage that it takes to begin to walk the path without them physically present.

I love you dearly, Papa.