Everyday Bliss

*** Update to the update 4/22: I’m going all the way home, to San Francisco on Saturday, 4/24, British Airways came thru with a last minute cancellation, called and booked me in. Wahoo! Leaving the rest as it was below though for posterity and export, to quote Bill Burroughs.   ***

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Here it is folks, selected highlights of being stuck as a traveller behind “The Grey Curtain”:

If you’ve been following the Paris Adventure Online, following me on Twitter or reading my updates on Facebook (pretty much the main places I’m posting while travelling) you know that like thousands of others, I’ve been stranded in Europe by the volcanic ash cloud.

And wait for it…this just in on April 21st: Heathrow now back open. Thank the Lord! Whose name apparently, is Adonis. Nope, I’m not kidding. Lord Adonis is the British Secretary of Transport in charge of such things.

The image at right was taken from BBC News on April 21 at 12:30pm Paris time. These travellers have been dossing down in the airport for almost a week, finally got boarding cards today, and are celebrating with champagne. I’m for a hot tub, massage and liberal application of chocolate, myself.

And then there were the inevitable gallows humor jokes that sprang up on Twitter and Facebook. One of the best I heard was “No, no Iceland…we said send us all your CASH. Regards, Europe”.  Here’s a random selection  of others from Britain’s Channel 4 News:

@hjortur: Sorry for the flight delays, Europe. We were aiming for London, but it’s hard to be accurate when firing a volcano .

@andylockran: ”Iceland goes bankrupt, then manages to set their island on fire. This has insurance scam written all over it”.

@pdacosta: “The last wish of the Icelandic economy was to have its ashes scattered over Europe”.

@islandpastor: “Waiter, there’s volcanic ash in my soup”… Waiter: “I know, it’s a no-fly zone”

The Personal-Ash End Of Things

Like many others, I’ve been rebooked – five times at this point. Like others, had cases packed & was literally in taxi ready to go when I fortunately got emergency call from British Airways not to come to airport.  This was the only time btw (and the third time I was rebooked) that BA notifications worked.

BA was helpful as possible but would absolutely not book me on a flight to San Francisco. I was offered any place else in Europe, when the cloud lifted, but no place in North America.

Like many others, I was reduced to begging. They’d heard it all before and while sympathetic, were not going to offer me a refund so I could book another airline that *was* flying.

“I’ll take anything to the American continent – Canada, Mexico, Peru – you go to Peru, I can see a British Airways flight to Lima from Madrid – how about that? I can get to Madrid on the train….bus…donkey cart. Anything!”

Finally, after I squeaked my wheel loud and hard enough, and made an absolute pest of myself by calling every fifteen minutes: “Ms Webster, I see this is the ninth time you’ve contacted us today, let’s see what we can do to get you home” – that’s the ticket folks! I was offered a flight out this Saturday the 24th to Phoenix, AZ. I took it and resumed praying the thing would go through.

We’re hearing that Katla, the second dormant Icelandic volcano and a bigger, nastier one (?!) is rumbling. My comment on the Facebook Ashcloud page was: “Now everybody, all together now: ‘Lullabye, and goodnight, and with roses bedight…’ Everyone keep singing ’til we all get home!”

Vagabond Coaches League & Rescue Tug

Molly (@shaboom) Gordon tweeted me that Michael Bungay (@boxofcrayons) Stanier was similarly stuck in Amsterdam. I joked with him over Twitter that we should call ourselves the “Vagabond Coaches League”, rent a tugboat and chug around European ports of call picking up stranded coaches and ferry the lot of us back home.

It would be just like Thomas Leonard’s Y2K RV trip across America to promote coaching.  We could party the night away, film the whole thing and sell book, DVDs and t-shirts as a product. It’d be a gas, gas, gas! (but no ash). Here’s our official t-shirt. Feel free to put this on your site if you’re a coach and were stranded by the ash. 

Although as to coaching, there were several opportunities for that. Group of British women tourists openly weeping in a cafe at hearing their flight was (yet-again) cancelled. When they said I could help I taught them EFT as in such situations people like to do anything to be proactive and EFT is one of the most active of the energy therapies.

We tapped and when that took the edge off, I taught them ETHOS to take them all the way into consciousness around the fact that they were safe, well fed and had a place to stay until they could get home. This is something I too am giving thanks for. They loved ETHOS and one said felt like stepping into her massage therapist’s office – it calmed her immediately. I left them with these two tools, the internet sites for more info and went off to see a museum I hadn’t gotten to see yet.

I’m good – I have a place to stay until Friday and then will do a hotel room for one night. Hopefully the shuttle I’d booked will take me to the airport rea-a-a-ally early as the flight is at gawdawful o’clock in the morning…

Short-Term Panic, Emotional Immunity & Other Biscuitry

While people were frantic to get back to their homes, we heard of fighting on trains and busses, bloodied noses on the Eurostar and a riot in Madrid. It was a relief to receive an email from ETHOS In Paris workshop participants, Anne & Jerome, saying they’d made it back to the UK with their children safely. On the whole however, I believe it’s been a time of great cameraderie, gallows humor and all.

Several older Brits I heard in cafes hearked back to the days of rationing during and after World War II.

“Ay-up lass,” one said to me philosophically “we’re all in it together. There’s nowt any one of us can do ’til that buggerin’ ash-hole’s done spewin’ its filth. Best sit tight and have another cuppa.” Rational wisdom from the mouth of a wizened Yorkshireman* old enough to be my grandpa, yet spry as a spring chicken and loaded down with Parisian goodies for his “young’uns”.

When the times get tough, the tough apparently go shopping.

But on the other paw, like many in private moments, I was caught in the grip of short-term panic and negative emotions. “Oh no, what if I never get home! What if that damned mountain spews for a year like it did in the 1800’s!”. Cue tears, railing at the universe in general and feeling sorry for myself in specific.

The worst was the feeling of stark loneliness when I was on the phone for hours with British Airways in the re-re-re-re-re-booking of my flights time after time. The toll that the stress of “not knowing” took was tremendous and had me falling into bed early, too exhausted to go out.

I wailed on the phone to my ever-patient husband who was doing his best to cope and was upset in his own right. I cried on the shoulders of friends while simultaneously trying not to. I was evil to a neighbor who snorted “Merde, l’Americaine!” for the tenth time to my face. He subsided in shock and hasn’t squeaked a word to me since. In short, I had a “little kitty fit” as we call it, when one of the cats throws a tantrum.

Once it was over, I set about employing the energy tools I had in my arsenal to shore up my Emotional Immunity. This is something I’ll be writing about more in the future, but the basis is the AM Energizers & PM Harmonizer exercises from my Everyday Bliss For Busy Women book.

How’s YOUR Emotional Immunity?

You can greatly increase it by simply tapping a round of EFT – with or without any intention or setup phrase behind it, and then doing an ETHOS set, ending up by stepping aside into Unlimited Self. When I do that, problems disappear like magic and the way is opened for me to do more productive things.

More productive like packing (done=done) and looking forward to my flight. In addition to getting home, it’s one of the best sleeps I’ve had on an airplane. British Airways is one of the few to offer full lie-down seats in Business class. Most seats that say they lie down flat only recline to within 30 degrees of flat so you’re at a kind of odd angle. I can actually stretch out in the BA sleeping pod and snooze almost as good as in bed at home. There’s a tv with on-demand movies, a plug for your laptop and peripherals and lockable storage drawer for same. You get a real sense of privacy and they provide earplugs and an eyeshade so the world goes away.

Somebody on Twitter asked about the food. They actually use china and silver service, with all the booze those who imbibe can hold. The kitchen is open through the journey with all the snacks and drinks you like and the flight attendants were some of the sweetest, even though they were in the middle of an industrial action when I flew. My halibut on the journey out was done to a turn and the veggies were crisp and good. How on earth do they do that aboard a plane?

I’m giving great thanks for all the many blessings this experience has been. Extra time with good friends, the ability to see myself rise to the occasion and surpass what I thought were my limits, increased love and expansiveness and…other things.

Will I make it back home this Saturday? Time will tell. And I’ll keep you updated.

Tune in next week for Maryam’s continuing adventures in: “Ash The World Turns”….

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Picture credit:  The Yorkshire Man by Mick Cawston: http://www.corsini.co.uk/fineart/yorkshire-terrier-prints.shtml

Just a week! In just a week I’m going to be on a big jet plane bound for PARIS. Whee! Well, that’s if the British Airlines folks are done striking and will consent to honor my ticket and ferry me there. 

So looking forward to my first real vacation in years! And for a month! Me! Whee!

Of course as I mentioned earlier here, you’re going to have a chance to come with me on the “DO THE IMPOSSIBLE” world tour, Paris edition and learn how to make the “impossible” (ain’t no such-a thing) happen in YOUR life.

Get in here! If you’re interested in being an Early Adopter (I reward Early Adopters very heavily) you can join my “Do The Impossible” Experience in Paris by filling in this handy form. I’ll be holding some very special calls and giving you previews of what’s going to happen and also what isn’t. Only those on this list will have a chance to get in on the earlybird and help me PLAN A DAY IN PARIS to videotape, and did I mention my super-secret weightloss tips? I’ve lost 75+ pounds so far, just doing my “energy thing” – so can you.  Sign up now – I’ll even send you a free gift of Parisian lore!

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Did you know about Earth Hour? A group of us were lounging on Navajo rug patterned chairs in a coffeehouse the other day, chatting about books, cats, kids & corn-based plastics. It was that languid, full-bodied chat that women have when comfortable with each other, the ambient temperature, satiety of their bellies and certain knowledge that a significant other is looking after the children, cooking or reservations.

Alois mentioned Earth Hour and the room started buzzing. Do you know about this? At 8:30pm on March 27th,

(that’s this Saturday, folks)

everyone who cares about the environment is switching their lights off for one hour to register mass concern and protest environmental policy changes not happening fast enough. I spoke of our pre-cycling/recycling efforts and of JBear’s biking to work. From bed I tread naked feet and comfy home-clothes to my office across the hall, so technically, I’m carbon friendly too.  Others put in compost heaps, biodiesel, community farming and child minding. We all sighed over reminiscences of the cute long haired hippie boys in the various communes of our youth.

My local co-op housing project in Columbia, Missouri put out the international Anarchy magazine. No, I’m not kidding.  And the oddity was, that I found it in Cambridge, England while living there, at an alternative bookstore called The Grapevine. I recognized the editor, typesetter, copy boy (this was the 80’s, mind) and had gone through crisis intervention training with the magazine’s accountant. They all recycled like crazed weasels, and even had an illegal still in the basement of one of the houses that brewed up some rather fine paint thinner they used to power a car they’d rigged up, decades before the real gasohol engines. I had a memorable date in that car…about which the least said the better.

My girlfriend J- was here today, visiting the Bay Area and taking a training. J. is an amazing lady I feel privileged to know. We  had a fine handful of hours together, chatting comfortably and reminiscing. As I get older, I so deeply value the tone and texture of these mature women relationships. It is so choice, and so eclipses what I had thought deep relationships to be in my youth.  Huzzah for us middlin’-aged broads. It’s a cool place to be.    J- passed me this video which is related to the observations above. Thanks for the pointers sweetie – your tribe is up to wonderful things…

There’s more at: http://www.fouryearsgo.org/

I haven’t packed and repacked my bags for Paris. I haven’t, as yet, even singled out which nighties, socks and skirts to take. My girlfriend Margie is scandalized by this, as to her the packing, repacking and re-repacking are a sacred ritual to be engaged in as a hedge against The Unforseen. Margie likes her trips just so, with few surprises and zero possibility of anything weird happening. People marvel that we’re friends but they do say opposites attract.

I’ll take the weird.

Weird is often much more wonderful, interesting and informative than the seen and re-seen. I’ve decided I won’t be going up in the Eiffel Tower though I may take a picture from afar…as I pass by on my way to L’Orangerie perchance. It’s supposed to be beautiful.

More beauty, ease, grace and joy please.

(thank you very much)

I’m still in the air about escargots. I love garlic butter, but now don’t really want that much oily stuff in my daily intake. And well…they’re the texture of pencil erasers and about the same size. Nice. (not) So I may visit the Great Snail of Montorgueil, but I don’t think I will actually eat one.

Either Christiane or Virginie said for the best French gourmet experience, I should opt for frog’s legs, which my mother claimed to have loved, but I keep thinking of that old George Carlin joke: “Where did they do with the rest of the froggy? Do they give him a little dolly and send him out on the street to beg?”

No frog’s legs, I just couldn’t stand the thought of being responsible for indigency in the amphibian population.

More thoughts on the morrow. When I might think about what to pack, and pull out my now-dusty French language CDs and books to have a last minute bone-up on language, customs and…food.

In case you missed all the clues I’ve been dropping on Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and other places, I am going to be spending my birthday month of APRIL IN PARIS, baby! Paris! (pictoral tour of the ‘hood is down below) Yep, I’m leaving the hubby and kitties at home and going on an all-inclusive American Woman’s Dream Vacation of a Lifetime to celebrate that once in a lifetime marker for a woman:

TURNING 50 YEARS OLD
(made it…whew!)

And…stay tuned because I’m going to make it possible for YOU TO COME WITH ME. Yep, you read it right,

YOU CAN COME TO PARIS WITH ME!

While not everyone can jump a jet and get in on the live experience, you CAN check it out with me, and won’t have to leave the comfort of your armchair. Promise. I wouldn’t go without making it possible everyone interested in evolution, transformation, a LIVE ETHOS workshop, new friends, gourmet food, sexy accents and having a good time to get in on the fun!

Hold onto your hats: there’s more juice in this baby than a whole orchard full of fresh peaches!

You probably already know that 25 years ago I was hit by a drunk driver and paralyzed, gaining over 150lbs. And how it took me nine years to walk, even though the doctors said I would never walk again.

I’ll be teaching some super-secrets of how I taught myself how to do “the impossible” and reverse paralysis, PLUS how I’ve lost 70+ pounds in the last year and a bit. Add to that my own “energy facelift” exercises and how YOU too can learn to:

“ACHIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE”

• Everybody’s been asking me why my pants are falling off! You’ll be able to model my success as I CONTINUE TO LOSE WEIGHT in Paris, scarfing down all that lovely gluten-free super-fresh French market food. I’ll teach you how to make some of my favorite yummy dishes too, so you get “Gourmet Paris” and “GlutenFree” too.
• Yes, I’m down four sizes and counting. You’ll learn some of my extra cool weightloss secrets and be able to climb inside my head to see my Body Communication & Shape Shifting program in the making. This is Practical Magic folks, for everyday comfort and best-living.
• Plus you’ll visit Parisian restaurants, get to meet neighbors and friends and get the scoop on famous landmarks and not-famous-but-cool Parisian places, people and things.
• You’ll even get to help PLAN MY DAY by telling me where YOU want to go in Paris. I’ll take you with me – it’ll be the next best thing to being there!
• And of course, you’ll also learn how to Achieve The Impossible in your own life through 4 WHOLE WEEKS OF LIFE-SHIFTING LESSONS, learning how to get your “can’t do it, it’s impossible” to “Done = Done”. (come learn the secret of what that means!) The Magic of Done is the Whole Point.
• You also really need to be here if you’ve always wanted to have a super jumbo deluxe vacation for yourself and you never got to take one.
• Oh yes, there will be massage and spa stuff. And coffee. And sidewalk cafe action. And girlfriends. And a live ETHOS Workshop. And lots and LOTS of energy.

I’ll be getting back to you a little later on the specifics, but if you’re interested in becoming an Early Adopter (we reward Early Adopters very heavily around here) you can join the “Achieve The Impossible” Experience in Paris by filling in this handy form. I’ll be holding some very special calls and giving you previews of what’s going to happen and also what isn’t. Only those on this list will get notification of these juicy free calls, so do sign up now – I’ll even send you a free gift of Parisian lore!

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The Oh-So-Chic Neighborhood Tour

And now, just to wet your whistle, here are some of the sights and interesting places we’ll be surrounded by, courtesy of Google Maps:

Montorgueil is the old open market area of Paris and is close to my apartment. This is my new god, says the hubby “the Great Golden HypnoSnail”. Yes, the French really do eat snails, though my local contacts wonder if it’s become more of a touristy thing. There are seven smaller slimers if you can see ‘em – each about as big as two fists on top of L’Escargot Montorgueil. And of course The Great One. Trying to decide whether to go here for my birthday or not. What do you think? Do I have the guts to eat escargot? I wonder myself….

Here’s my front door, sandwiched as most Parisian front doors, between shop fronts. In this case “L’avion Rose” (a gay restaurant and play on the phrase “La vie en Rose” – “The Pink Life” which denotes gay culture) and Hanano sushi restaurant. I won’t lack for entertainment or food. Hope there’s a floor show…

But if I get bored, my neighbors on the right can provide me with Hip Hop & Soul records, a haircut or videos…

And next to the hip-hop shop the Librarie Scaramouche who provide theatre masks, marionettes and Commedia Dell’Arte errata. I am SO going to dive into this shop as well as the Maison de la Poésie (House of Poetry) and Theatre Moliere. Wow…and just next door to the Library Scare-a-mouse (to quote the hubby) is…

Passage Moliere! Theatrical aficionados will rejoice. As will the JBear, for right next door and not ten steps from my apartment is Jean-Bernard’s Wine Cave. Not cellar, *CAVE*. The Bear’s put in an order for a good Beaujolais.

Here’s my interesting across-the-street neighbor, what the web describes as the “Big Butch Lesbian” Unity Bar. Huzzah! Women to have drinks with! With my haircut, I’ll fit right in…

This is L’Horloge a Automate – a funky concrete plaza that goes through to the next street and contains antique clock displays. And I might get a tattoo….or not…

A store called Nag Champa! It’s GOT to have incense! Looks funky and just up the street. Woo!

And down the other way MASSAGE AND COFFEE? ARE YOU KIDDING? I am SO there! Wish they’d taken the photo when the place was open so we could get a glimpse thru the blinds…

And on the corner, a cute little breakfast-dinner cafe (morning coffee will be here, oh yeah) and wonder of wonders on the street where I live, a Fromager, or cheese shop! Whee!

And on the opposite corner, on busy, vibrant Rue Rambuteau just across from the Centre Georges Pompidou, a pharmacy for those necessary lost-my-toothbrush kind of purchases. I want to experience French toothpaste, deodorant and hair products. Having spiky hair, good product is important.

Marketing choices in flavor and fragrance have always been an interest. When I lived in England in the 1980’s, a popular fragrance for years was something I could only describe as “fuschia-pink gumdrop”. Another was “bamboo”. I’ve never smelt these fragrances in America. I also once had “Irn Bru” (a strong & dark Scottish soda) flavored toothpaste. Pass on that, if you’re ever offered. Trust me.

Finally, just across from Centre Georges Pompidou, is the Flunch cafe hooking up to L’Horloge a Automate and what we’ve christened the Fabulous (if dour) Flying Flunch-Mittie (for its resemblance to our Tosh-cat). I shall make a pilgrimage and leave a handful of catnip in homage. I may even lunch at Flunch. Maybe.

I just learned (all praise to Google) that Flunch is a self-serve cafeteria style chain and “If you need to use the toilet, take your receipt with you: It shows the lavatory entrance code, which you’ll need to unlock the door to the toilettes.” I’ll consider myself forewarned on that count.

That’s it from the French Front for now. Stay tuned for the next installment on my fantabulous apartment, ETHOS in Paris, and how YOU can join me on my travels, to Achieve The Impossible!

Since Thanksgiving of last year, I’ve been contemplating something very big. Quite out of the ordinary and not what you might expect but…I seem to specialize in doing things not the way everyone expects and with the most amazing outcomes no one could have predicted.

In fact, you could say doing the unexpected is something of a brand identity.

I’m going on an adventure, that expresses every single one of the Bliss Keys.

For my fiftieth birthday…

And quite by myself…

Somewhere far away where English is not spoken so often…

And adventures, history, romance abound.

I couldn’t talk about it until now because I didn’t know if it would come together.

But this is an adventure I want to take you on. An adventure we can have together, no matter where you are.

Initially I wanted to take my five best girlfriends and ship all of us out on a cruise of the Greek islands for my 50th. But one by one those friends have dropped by the wayside in myriad of no-fault ways that were nothing more than just growing apart with different agendas.

Now I have new girlfriends who are even cooler and more hip to what I’m into, but I really get that this timeperiod is about me and me alone. Stepping into Unlimited Self it is all so clear, so easy…

to set aside an epochal moment to savor first and alone…
to suck the marrow out of
and grow new wings…
to fly boldly into the unknown,
shrieking with wild, ecstatic laughter
to harvest the burgundy-currant juice of deep wisdom
to savor the clarity, aliveness and precious living in each and every day.

Stay tuned, there will be more. Now that the decision is made, watch what unfolds…

It’s thrilling to be on the precipice of something new and amazing.

What are you doing that is bold, fearless, outrageous and entirely in the service of yourself, for once?

What are you doing to serve your own highest needs today?

Please comment and let us all know, and I’ll be back with more later…

I just met a wonderful new person on Twitter: @stillettochick a.k.a. Betty-Ann Heggie. She’s an energy junkie like me and had this wonderful post on her blog:

Is the Energy in Your City Serving You?

Aug 28, 2009 – Saskatoon, Sask.: Is the energy of your city serving you? A friend in Europe emailed me to say that when she enters a city, she feels the energy and can tell whether it’s male or female. For instance, she spent most of her life in Zurich and got a definite masculine vibe from its focus on production efficiency. She now lives in Prague, which has been called the “mother of cities”; indeed, she feels a warm, loving, healing embrace from the city. I experienced this when our daughter was choosing a university. We drove to many good schools that she wasn’t even interested in touring once we arrived and she felt the energy of the city.

To see if there was anything to this, I contacted Patty Beach, an expert on masculine and feminine energy…

This is a great article as is Betty-Ann’s blog. I spent a few moments reading through articles here today and now have a great new blog to add to my daily reading list.

Check out the rest of this great post at Betty-Ann’s blog:  Stilletto Chick Sees The World.

There are so many lessons in Presence, in Community, Leadership and Cooperation we can learn from animals. Here’s just one more for the holidays. Before you roast that Christmas goose (if that’s your thing) check out what these community-minded fowl can teach us all.

Leadership Lessons We can Learn From Geese

Geese Fact: As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an “uplift” for the other birds to follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 70% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Our Lesson: People who share a common direction and a sense of community get where they are going quicker and easier — because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Geese Fact: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Our Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

Geese Fact: When a goose tires, it rotates to the back of the formation as another goose flies to the point opposite.

Our Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skills, capabilities and unique arrangement of gifts, talents or resources.

Geese Fact: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Our Lesson: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups — where there is encouragement to stand by one’s heart or core values and encourage the same in others — is the sort of honking we seek.

Geese Fact: When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then they launch out in formation and try to catch the flock.

Our Lesson: If we had as much sense as geese, we would stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

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Note: Though many others have been credited, Dr Robert McNeish of Baltimore, MD is the author of this piece, which was written in 1972 as a lay sermon delivered to Northminster Presbyterian Church in Reisterstown, MD. Dr McNeish was a biology teacher who enjoyed observing the geese on the eastern Atlantic shores of Maryland. Thanks to the exhaustive research of Sue Widemark for the provenance of this article.

I rarely make political statements, but this is one I happen to think is important, and it’s not about people, it’s about the environment. It’s a good point they’re making along the lines of  an untutored person thinking "if one pill is good, five must be better" and killing themselves through ignorance.  Biofuels are great, but the authors of this newsletter Avaaz (see below) have a good point about green technology caveats. Vote your conscience…

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Biofuels are billed as a way to slow down climate change. But in reality, because so much land is being cleared to grow them, most biofuels today are causing more global warming emissions than they prevent⁵, even as they push the price of corn, wheat, and other foods out of reach for millions of people⁶.

Not all biofuels are bad–but without tough global standards, the biofuels boom will further undermine food security and worsen global warming. Click here to use our simple tool to send a message to your head of state before this weekend’s global summit on climate change in Chiba, Japan, and help build a global call for biofuels regulation:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/biofuel_standards_now/9.php?cl=60989106

Sometimes the trade-off is stark: filling the tank of an SUV with ethanol requires enough corn to feed a person for a year. But not all biofuels are bad; making ethanol from Brazilian sugar cane is vastly more efficient than US-grown corn, for example, and green technology for making fuel from waste is improving rapidly.

The problem is that the EU and the US have set targets for increasing the use of biofuels without sorting the good from the bad. As a result, rainforests are being cleared in Indonesia to grow palm oil for European biodiesel refineries, and global grain reserves are running dangerously low. Meanwhile, rich-country politicians can look "green" without asking their citizens to conserve energy, and agribusiness giants are cashing in. And if nothing changes, the situation will only get worse.

What’s needed are strong global standards that encourage better biofuels and shut down the trade in bad ones. Such standards are under development by a number of coalitions⁸, but they will only become mandatory if there’s a big enough public outcry. It’s time to move: this Friday through Saturday, the twenty countries with the biggest economies, responsible for more than 75% of the world’s carbon emissions⁹, will meet in Chiba, Japan to begin the G8’s climate change discussions. Before the summit, let’s raise a global cry for change on biofuels:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/biofuel_standards_now/9.php?cl=60989106

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

Hey there fellow Stillness fans. It’s not like Words can really capture an occasion like hearing Eckhart Tolle lecture, but I’ll try. I’m leaving in a few minutes for San Rafael, where we’ll hear Eckhart tonight from 8 – 9:30pm and Saturday from 1:30 – 4:30pm at the Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium. If you’re there and find me, we’ll meditate together.

At right is a picture I found on Tolle’s website of him looking even more puckish than usual with a calico mittie. He often speaks of animals, cats in particular, as being more aware than we are. He once said the most accomplished Zen master he ever knew was a cat, so it’s not suprising to see him with one. What mutual delight on the faces of these two friends.

Here’s what the event says about itself: "…Now you are invited to experience this visionary teacher in a live, face-to-face encounter. Here is a rare opportunity to be drawn into the "spaciousness that words can only point to" by the vibrant, conscious presence of Eckhart Tolle himself."

I’ve heard about the effects of an evolved spiritual teacher conferring shaktipat, spontaneous awakening and initiation, by merely sitting in the teacher’s presence. Where I have seen most reference to this is in what is said about the spiritual teacher Amma – the Hugging Saint as she is called. I have heard this said of Tolle as we. Without anticipation, am looking forward to feeling what a room full of people being in presence together will feel like.

It’s extraordinary how I’ve come to this feeling of not looking forward, yet taking all the actions I need to take to be there. An immense clearing occured this week that lasted four days. Before the clearing the mind was busybusybusy with monkey brained chatterings. As I reach today and am marvelling at how resilient the pain-body can be, yet also how easy to take out, once you know what it’s doing, a flushing of inattentiveness seems to have happened.

Presence is one of many states that I move in and out of as I continue coming to awareness of my own pain-body. To be constantly in that state must be truly miraculous. I will get back to you later on being in the presence of one who is there most of the time is like.