MentorFactor

Changing the World One Decision at a Time

In Paul Hawken's book Blessed Unrest, he writes of a new type of movement afoot in the world. This "movement" defies the ordinary definition of "movement," where there is a central organization with rules, hierarchy, and a charismatic leader. This new "movement" consists of millions of environmental and social justice organizations around the globe. These small, seemingly disjointed organizations are made up of "people who want to save the entire sacred, cellular basis of existence--the entire planet and all its inconceivable diversity" (p. 8).

I am interested in how, when we decide to transform ourselves, society is transformed, not in some false duality, where one has to transform before the other can be transformed, but that transformation happens simultaneously.

This brings me to the individual, who has the power to decide. If society is to be transformed, how does the individual, compassionate social entrepreneur or activist choose to live his or her life. Is there a process, written or otherwise, that we can glean from those among us who put themselves on the line for the rest of us every moment of every day?

Today, October 29, 2008, at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern time), I am beginning a BlogTalkRadio program to explore this question. To listen in:

From your computer, click here.
From your phone, call (646) 649-1983.
If you cannot listen during this timeslot, you can click here to listen later.

My guest today will be Ted Glick. Ted is the Policy Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network/U.S. Climate Emrgency Council, lifelong activist, and author of Future Hope: A Winning Strategy for a Just Society. Ted will discuss his life as an activist and his personal process of living that facilitates social change.

 

The Freelancer Primer

People often ask me, "How do I break into freelancing?" One way, I tell them is to sign up with www.ifreelance.com and Viola! you are a freelancer!

But, seriously, there are a few things that really must be done to have yourself perceived to be serious about freelancing:

1.       Pick a business name other than your own name and register it with your local county or city as a business. You might want to do this at the same time you pick an internet presence, so that you get the name you want.

2.       Set up a bank account for the business.

3.       Talk to an accountant about what you want to do and get their advice on how to structure the business (i.e., “C” corp, “S” corp, LLC, etc.) Get them to set up your QuickBooks, if you don’t know how to do it. (Business accounting should be kept separate from your personal accounting.)

4.       Interview small business attorneys to find someone you are comfortable with. Ultimately you will want this person to develop a standard contract for you. DO NOT USE SOMEONE ELSE’S CONTRACT…get your own and do not give it to others. Your lawyer will write it for you. It will be $600 WELL SPENT. You will also want this attorney to review any contract (i.e., from the client) before you sign.

5.       Register your internet name, if you haven’t done it already.

6.       Sign up with GoDaddy (or some other hosting company) and build your website. (GoDaddy has templates that make it VERY easy: WebsiteTonight.)

7.       Get business cards made (see www.vistaprint.com).

8.       Check on networking groups in your area (business leads groups, Chambers of Commerce, etc.). Network like a mad-person! Give others leads and they will reciprocate.

 

That’s the quick-and-dirty freelancing primer!

Reflections

A lot has happened over the last month: I have become braver. I am feeling more confident about what I am learning and feel that, somehow, I’m able to express it in a way that makes sense to others.

 

The month can be broken into aspects. The first I will call the Goerner Aspect: I just completed a book review of Dr. Sally Goerner’s book The New Science of Sustainability. I am astounded at the richness of the material and the positive spin on what easily could have been a very negative message. I also contacted Dr. Goerner about visiting her in North Carolina. We are still trying to decide on a time before Thanksgiving. Both of these activities took a great deal of courage on my part.

 

The second aspect I will call the Movement Aspect. I decided to give a speech at Toastmasters about my own personal transformation to the rhythms of Gabrielle Roth (see "A Story of Transformation."). It was very risky…totally out of the box for that group and out of my own comfort zone. However, the reaction was so positive that when I went to the Practical Conference on Communication in Chattanooga, TN, this past weekend, I volunteered to give the updated version of my Strategic Planning for Your Life workshop when one of the speakers didn’t show. I have been updating that workshop as I continue my learning in my Ph.D. program, but I hadn’t dared to present it. I played the Roth rhythms as background to the presentation and during the exercises I asked attendees to complete. At the end of the workshop, I asked them if they would mind staying to give me feedback on how they felt during the workshop, i.e., what worked for them and what didn’t. Most said they had positive experience, but a few expressed feelings of discomfort. I asked for specifics and they provided me with wonderful information I can use to fine-tune the workshop even further.

 

The last aspect I’ll call the Visual Aspect. Since my trip to Italy, I have been taking photographs in earnest and have been pushing myself to experiment. I take/make pictures of everything—people, landscapes, water—this weekend, in Chattanooga, I focused on reflections in water: On the Tennessee River and at Ruby Falls, the tallest underground waterfall in the world.

 

Ruby Falls

 

Reflections on the Tennessee River

 

 

 

 

A Story of Transformation

I was scheduled to speak at my Toastmasters' group this past Monday night. I'm speaking at a conference in Chattanooga in a couple of weeks on "Managing Conflict within Global Teams." I had planned to do a 20 minute version of this presentation for my speech at Toastmasters. However, when I was working on the speech, it just wasn't coming together. I had no interest in the subject matter; there was no energy around it. Working on it had made me feel worn out, spent. I emailed the Toastmaster for the evening and told her I was not ready.

I decided to clean my kitchen. I turned on Gabrielle Roth's CD "Tribe." The drums, the rhythms make my skin "burn." This video describes her methodology.

I began to move. One of my professors had posted a video from "Strictly Ballroom" early in the morning. I kept hearing the older woman say, as she beat on the young man's chest, "Feel the music here. Don't be afraid." All of a sudden, my head "opened" up and a speech poured through me, from beginning to end, without hesitation, without my first writing it. I was stunned. I emailed the Toastmaster back and told her I was going to speak.

I tried it again. I started the "Chaos" rhythms and began to move. The speech "spoke" me again. That is the only "practice" I had.

On my way to the meeting, boombox in hand, doubts set in. But I kept hearing, "Feel the music here. Don't be afraid." When it was my turn to speak, I turned on "Chaos" one more time and let the speech flow into the room. It was amazing; the energy was full and electric and filled the room with white light. When I finished, no one moved for what felt like an eternity. The feedback I got was that it was the best speech I had ever done. (I felt that, too, but it was nice to have it confirmed by peers.)

I had a revelation, an epiphany, as a result of this process. It is that in order to transform, there MUST be movement. While this may be obvious to most people, and even to me, I don't believe, until the last CIIS intensive and my trip to Italy, I had actually EXPERIENCED this concept in quite the same way. Movement has become, for me, a way of knowing. 

Later that same evening, I had decided to go to bed at 10:00. I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned for about an hour and a half. I kept hearing what sounded like a distant television and there seemed to be a light on in the house. I even came downstairs to see if I left my TV on (it wasn't). Finally, as I drifted off, a shiny, black snake appeared out of a black velvet darkness in my dream-state. It came within 12 inches of my face and looked at me with wide, golden eyes. I was not afraid. I knew the snake was the Kundalini energy I had awoken and the open eyes meant that I was finally seeing clearly. As the snake emerged from the darkness, so I, too, am emerging.

What was the speech? I have to write it down. I will post it when I get it written.