A Conspiracy of Blessings

Hiatus

2008-04-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

I need to take a hiatus from The Conspiracy. Spring has sprung in my life and I just don't have the time and space to meet any more requests at this time (for those who are waiting...I will fill the ones I've already received, it's just taking some time). Not only do I work full time, care for my kids, and co-chair a local nonprofit, but now I'm also starting a new business, putting on a community event in May, and stage managing a play for a run in June. Then the Pride Festival follows in September. And I'm making all kinds of new friends locally so I'm attempting to have a little bit of a social life as well. There are only so many hours in a day and days in a week!

I believe I will return to this project when the time is right. Generosity is a calling of my heart. Thank you for participating in The Conspiracy with me!

Blessing from Oneness (and an Update)

2008-03-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

"Our longing for the eternal kindles our imagination to bless. Regardless of how we configure the eternal, the human heart continues to dream of a state of wholeness, that place where everything comes together, where loss will be made good, where blindness will transform into vision, where damage will be made whole, where the clenched question will open in the house of surprise, where the travails of life's journey will enjoy a homecoming. To invoke a blessing is to call some of that wholeness upon a person now." - John O'Donohue, *To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings*

I love this quote that serendipitously made its way into my email inbox today. I say serendipitously because I have been undergoing a major spiritual awakening the last few weeks and residing in the place of wholeness, Oneness more and more. I like the idea that I can call some of this Oneness/Wholeness upon other people through my blessings.

I know I haven't be a very active blogger here lately, life got very overwhelming with illnesses and winter hibernation, as well as commitments I have in my community. I'm preparing to stage manage a production of The Laramie Project in my town next month! I'm very excited. Then there's this intense evolving process that I'm going through right now that seems to take up all the space I have left within. Maybe I'll try to share some about it in the coming weeks. It's definitely applicable to this project. I will do my best to bring more regular posts about generosity, kindness, blessing and gift economy, and should be able to fill any blessing requests that come in. There haven't been many the last few months, which makes me a little sad but also kept me from being more overwhelmed, so I accept the blessing of the project being in hibernation as well. But I hope to see it flower again as Spring awakens the world.

Anyway, thanks for listening and participating in The Conspiracy in any way that you do, even if it's little acts of kindness towards yourself.

Community Knitting Art

2008-03-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

Check out Knitta...

"Knitta began in August 2005, when the soon-to-be-Knittas were discussing their frustration over unfinished knitting projects: half-knitted sweaters and balls of yarn gathering dust. That afternoon, they knit their first door handle. Then it dawned on them… a tag crew of knitters, bombing the inner city with vibrant, stitched works of art, wrapped around everything from beer bottles on easy nights to public monuments and utility poles on more ambitious outings. With a mix of clandestine moves and gangsta rap — Knitta was born! Today, Knitta is a group of ladies of all ages, nationalities, and… gender."

Gift Economy Round Up

2008-02-26T11:20:00.000-08:00

Dave Pollard's signature essay on The Gift Economy: "When we engage each other in conversations about this question, we open up possibilities, we begin to feel and realize our own power, capacity, and mastery, we recognize that generosity has nothing to do with charity, and we sense the movement and strength of collective understanding, will and passion. We realize that together, collectively, collaboratively, we know more, and know better, than leaders, presidents, executives, economists, experts, and others who exploit our passivity to tell us what we should do and believe, and engender in us feelings of helplessness, dependence, and addiction. We have more capacity and power to act than all the multinational corporations and the tyrants and the state apparatus of control and repression. "

37 Ways to Participate in the Gift Economy: "You don't have to participate in a local currency or service exchange to be part of the cooperative gift economy. Any time you do a favor for a family member, neighbor, colleague, or stranger you're part of it. Here are some ways you can spend time in the gift economy, where you'll find fun, freedom, and connection."

The Hacker Milieu as Gift Culture: "To understand the role of reputation in the open-source culture, it is helpful to move from history further into anthropology and economics, and examine the difference between exchange cultures and gift cultures."

Generosity Received

2008-02-17T17:20:00.001-08:00

So although I didn't get creative or productive enough to make something to give away for the One World, One Heart blogosphere give-away, I did win something!

<---I won this beautiful necklace from Art With Moxie. What a lovely blessing to receive at the end of a very hard week!

I think it's positively amazing that over 400 people participated in this give-away extravaganza. There seems to be a connection between creativity and generosity, at least in the domain of creative bloggers.

Just For the Love of It

2008-02-16T15:58:00.000-08:00

Check out the Freeconomy Community.

"What is a Freeconomy?

A Freeconomy is a moneyless society in which no money changes and there is no duality between giving and receiving; here they are seen as the two sides of the same non-monetary coin.

Freeconomy is a manifestation of trust, kindness, community and love. Money and credit are a manifestation of fear, insecurity and greed. Freeconomy is the common denominator to all of its solutions; Money and credit are the common denominators of all the world's ills.

Right now freeconomies are the minority. This is unimportant. Soon they will be the overwhelming majority. Each one of us is a seed. The regenerative power of one seed cannot be underestimated. A forest can grow from the germination of a single seed, and similarly one simple act of generosity can give life to an infinite number of others."

From The Heart

2008-02-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

A Generosity Hero at work...

"For Toni Dukes, love isn't delivered with a sugary sweet Hallmark card or an overpriced bouquet of red roses. It's given in a Ziploc bag stuffed with a hat, gloves and a packet of Kleenex, and the words "From the Heart" written in black marker on the outside.

The 39-year-old single mom commutes to San Francisco from her home in Stockton to work the swing shift as a 911 dispatcher. Her days are spent driving 187 miles round trip to work in an understaffed department where she handles calls ranging from mentally ill people screaming at her to women going into labor alone to somebody who's just found their mother dead.

But Dukes hasn't been able to call it a day after her high-stress shifts. Her route to work takes her through the Tenderloin, and last year, she couldn't help but notice the homeless people and others down on their luck who were huddling outside in the cold.

So, using her own pocket money, she began venturing into the rough neighborhood on foot a few times a month to hand out the packets and to chat with people on the street - many of whom seemed more grateful for the conversation than the hats and gloves.

"My job is over the phone. I like to meet and greet. I like to talk to people face to face," she said. "It's amazing just for people to smile, to acknowledge them and show you know that they're there. They're not animals. They're just people without the same opportunities a lot of us have.""

Service Works

2008-02-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

Evelyn over at Crossroads Dispatches is one of my favorite art and gift economy bloggers. She has some intriguing insights and always shares something interesting.

Today I learned about Service Works.

Josh Greene is a 36 year old artist and waiter. Service-Works is his foundation that is designed to bridge the gap between his art career and his service industry career. Each month he dedicates one night’s worth of tips to fund a project. The site shares several of the projects he's already funded and offers an opportunity for artists to apply for one of his grants.

What a wonderful way to be creatively generous!

Love Notes & Guerilla Art

2008-01-26T20:14:00.000-08:00

I've been bloghopping this evening and found a scattering of lovely posts about sending Love Notes out into one's city...

It started with Jen Lemen, one of my favorite creativity and kindness bloggers. These are her Love Notes.

She reminded me of Keri Smith and I can't believe I've never linked to her How to be a Guerilla Artist manifesto.

Jen was inspired by her friend Krystyn, who spread some love around New York in response to watching the circus that responded to Heath Ledger's death outside her office building.

From her comments I found the Acts of Kindness blog. Yay, another sister in kindness!

I also found Titration's Guerilla Art Adventure.

Honestly, I haven't been so successful with my intentions towards daily kindness. I think I'll be doing my own version of love notes in the next few days. I was going to say "to make up for it" at the end of that sentence. But I need to be kind to myself and recognize that I tend to do things in bursts anyway...lots of activity and then big rests in between. And it's ok.

Seeds of Compassion

2008-01-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

I just learned about Seeds of Compassion from one of my favorite bloggers.

"Seeds of Compassion is an initiative to nurture kindness and compassion in the world starting with children and all those who touch their lives. By connecting parents, educators, and caregivers, Seeds of Compassion will inspire and empower adults and youth in the development of kinder and more compassionate local and global communities."

One World, One Heart

2008-01-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

Check out this creative-blogosphere-give-away happening right now. I'm hoping to participate, but don't want to commit till I have something ready. At this point I'm just sharing it with all of you.

The Gift Keeps on Giving

2008-01-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

The LA Times just released an interview with the author of The Gift, Lewis Hyde.

Power of Blessing

2008-01-22T10:43:00.000-08:00

"We bless the life around us far more than we realize. Many simple, ordinary things that we do can affect those around us in profound ways: the unexpected phone call, the brief touch, the willingness to listen generously, the warm smile or wink of recognition. We can even bless total strangers and be blessed by them. Big messages come in small packages. All it may take to restore someone's trust in life may be returning a lost earring or a dropped glove.

A woman once told me that she did not feel the need to reach out to those around her because she prayed every day. Surely, this was enough. But a prayer is about our relationship to God; a blessing is about our relationship to the spark of God in one another. God may not need our attention as badly as the person next to us on the bus or behind us on line in the supermarket. Everyone in the world matters, and so do their blessings. When we bless others, we offer them refuge from an indifferent world.

The capacity to bless life is in everybody. The power of our blessing is not diminished by illness or age. On the contrary, our blessings become even more powerful as we grow older. They have survived the buffeting of our experience. We may have traveled a long, hard road to the place where we can remember once again who we are. That we have traveled and remembered gives hope to those we bless. Perhaps in time they too can remember this place beyond competition and struggle, this place where we belong to one another... I first learned to do this from people who were dying, people who had moved into a more authentic relationship with those around them because only that which is genuine still had meaning for them. These people had let go of the ways in which they had changed themselves to win approval, and so they made it safe for others to remove their masks as well."

--Rachel Naomi Remen

A Kindness Resolution

2008-01-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

I haven't received any requests for over a month now, so I've participated in a few swaps instead. I also gave a spontaneous blessing package with a Transformation Doll to one of my fellow Board members because she just initiated a divorce. Amazingly, I only had one doll and it was purple. It turns out she has a very strong connection to purple. It trips me out how that happens, as if I made the doll for her intuitively before knowing it was hers.

I've also begun gestating a new creative project, which is demanding a lot of emotional energy and time for research. So I haven't been pursuing more exposure for The Conspiracy to generate requests (although I guess participating in the Every Day Kindness and Creativity campaigns may generate some participation). I'll gladly fill any requests that come in. But I'm trusting the flow of the Universe so that all of my actions remain authentic, instead of being driven by a sense of obligation. I don't want to get in over my head and lose my integrity (a kindness to myself and others!).

So I've decided to expand this blog a little into my personal life by connecting it with the Every Day Kindness project (I've added the blog roll to my sidebar), as well as sharing more of my own journey towards kindness. 2008 is my Year of Kindness.

A post from my other blog:

I just started reading Christine Kane's blog and love her advice to overthrow the whole resolution idea and instead choose a word to "be" for a year. Resolutions are all about doing, usually one specific thing, and we usually fail. Resolutions are not holistic. But choosing a word, or quality, to be for the year, to focus our conscious energy on, would be extremely difficult to fail at (we succeed even if we live it one moment) and could potentially have an effect on every aspect of our lives.

The serendipitous thing about this is that I started seeing my years as words two years ago when 2006 became the year of forgiveness. I was given the opportunity to forgive the all the biggest of of my old wounds. I was challenged to grow out of the survivor mentality, to see that I was more than what I had overcome, and I am no longer succeeding in-spite-of. I was challenged to forgive in the moment, continuing to serve others as my best self while they failed me and the community. I was inspired to forgive myself and learned how important self forgiveness is, especially as a mother.

2007 is the year of opening. I opened to my queer nature and returned home to the queer community. I opened to accepting the mantle of leadership...finally. I opened to new friendships. I opened to finding a diagnosis for my health issues after 10 years and understanding how much they have impacted my emotional life in that time. I opened myself to healing. I opened myself more to creative generosity. I opened myself to new forms of art making. I opened myself to the future, to the possible manifestations of my bliss, to the reality that I have choices and can pursue the life of my dreams (as opposed to feeling choiceless and tied down). Even this week, as 2007 ends, I opened to the idea of moving -- leaving this house I am so unhappy with (cheap landlords+old house=lots of problems) and moving away from feeling responsible for my ex. In 2007 I have released the boundaries and limitations I had artificially placed on myself and opened myself to the life of my dreams.

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet, friend or foe, loved one or stranger, as if they were going to be dead at midnight (including yourself). Extend to each person, no matter how trivial the contact, all the care and kindness and understanding and love that you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again." -Og Mandino

2008 will be the year of kindness. I have been focused on creative generosity, which allows me to keep a distance from the lives I am touching. I make it about the art and the giving, not about how I relate to each individual. I feel the urge to grow by responding to life, myself and others with kindness. Kindness is active and requires interaction of some sort. Kindness can replace my anxious social thoughts and allow me to be fully present to others. Kindness can open me to more connection. Kindness can inspire me to love myself enough to pursue good health. Kindness can carry me through each interaction with my ex until the day we no longer live together. Kindness can give me the space to accept all of myself and all of everyone else. Kindness can make me a better leader.

"Everyone is living with a pain body." Eckhart Tolle

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." Philo of Alexandria

I have been carrying these two quotes in the journal in my purse for a long time. But I have not been living them and I want to.

PS Part of my inspiration for choosing kindness in 2008 is my new blog friend, Kindness Girl.

Kind and Creative Every Day

2008-01-16T22:49:00.000-08:00

I recently joined two different blog community commitments for 2008 - Creative Every Day and Everyday Kindness. I find the camaraderie and support in the creative blogosphere to be uplifting and inspiring. I haven't been as intentional about these as I'd like, but I'm finding that my every day life already contains a lot of creativity and kindness. Although I've been participating in my own quiet ways, I haven't been blogging about it, so I thought I'd share what I can remember since the beginning of the year. I think it's pretty cool that I can find something creative and kind nearly every day.

Creative Every Day

1-discovering a healthier way of dealing with a long-term, in-home conflict
2-heartsharing blog post about my kids
3-
4-
5-important heartsharing blog post about the phase of creative evolution I'm experiencing
6-decoupaging the late holiday gifts for family
7-designing a digital newsletter for the non-profit I volunteer for
8-blessing package for a fellow Pride Board member who is in the beginning stages of divorce
9-divinatory reading for myself
10-researching/brainstorming for new art idea
11- researching/brainstorming for new art idea
12- (read a novel all day: is it creative to experience another life and world for a little while?)
13-important heartsharing blog post on the new art project I'm envisioning
14- researching/brainstorming for new art idea
15- finished art doll for a mail art swap
16- created envelope for goodies going out in mail art swap

Everyday Kindness

As I reflect on the last 16 days and consider what I have done that is kind, I realize that although I have not been as intentionally kind to others as I hope to become, I am being kind to myself nearly every day. I think this is valuable because I fell prey to the typical modern woman conundrum that is career + family + community = little care for myself over the last 7 years. Being kind to my self is a significant aspect of my personal evolution right now, especially regarding my health. Every day that I choose health through my eating and activity choices is a day of great kindness to myself. Every day that I willingly sit with the discomfort that arises from not engaging in my eating addiction is a day of great kindness to myself; especially days that include small steps towards integrating my shadow. Although my inner critic tells me it's totally self-centered (in a bad way) to count up kindnesses to myself, I'm going to be open to it.

1-discovering a healthier way of dealing with a long-term, in-home conflict
2-is it a kindness to write a blog post that is on my heart? I know it is kind to myself to take the time to journal and be open to the insights that come through writing. Is it a kindness to share my story with others? If so, is it always or only when someone gains something from it (i.e. posts that are commented on by others, indicating their appreciation of a gift in the writing)?
3-
4-
5-giving myself two used Isabel Allende novels
6-making the heart space to give to someone who isn't easy to give to
7-tolerating my daughter's overwhelmingness without getting grumpy
8-giving a blessing package for new friend in the beginning stages of divorce
9-
10-giving an elderly stranger my full presence to listen to his difficult circumstances even though there was nothing I could do for him
11-
12-giving my son my full presence to listen as he processes intense experiences without bombarding him with my attempts at guidance
13-
14-bought myself a book that could be vital to the art project emerging within; passionate prayer for a friend going through a difficult situation
15-compassion, patience and speaking the truth kindly with someone difficult to love
16-holding myself back from expressing my frustration with my work situation in order to see the gift in the struggle and take a mindful, compassionate approach to solving the issue

Secret Santa Society

2007-12-24T15:48:00.000-08:00

This is beautiful and inspiring and I hope I have the abundance to be this kind of giver some day...

"Larry Stewart, Kansas City's original Secret Santa, anonymously wandered city streets doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they needed it. For about a quarter century, Stewart quietly gave out more than $1.3 million to people in laundromats, diners, and thrift stores, saying it was his way of giving back for all that he had received in his lifetime. Stewart died of cancer earlier this year, but his legacy lives on: this Christmas, an anonymous friend who told Stewart in the hospital that he would carry on for him is out on the streets, handing out $100 bills, each one stamped with "Larry Stewart, Secret Santa," giving away $75,000 in total of his 'own money. "Anyone can be a Secret Santa,' he says. 'You don't have to give away $100. You can give away kindness. Help someone.'"

And he's not the only one. He has some elves and other Secret Santas joining him this year...

Secret Santa World

Some of the heartwarming stories of those who received gifts.... CNN, CBS, The Arizona Republic, & The Kansas City Star.

A Blessing

2007-12-24T15:25:00.001-08:00

May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work that you do
with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light
and renewal to those who work with you
and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of
refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in bland absences.
May the day never burden.
May dawn find you awake and alert,
approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.

John O'Donoghue

Today and Tomorrow's Blessings

2007-12-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

Today's Blessings: I put together the staff newsletter for the agency I work for. We have just over 30 employees. Today I attached a specially designed holiday card with one of my mandalas and a Smile Card to December's newsletter. Wednesday I will hostess the staff holiday party as well and am still brainstorming ways to bring creative generosity into the mix.

Tomorrow's Blessings: I will be sending out four blessing packages. One for a fellow Zaadzster who requested a journal; two for another Zaadzster and the young woman she's lovingly opened her home to; and one for a survivor of violence.

Putting the Humanity in Philanthropy

2007-12-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

A great article inquiring into how much we should give -- Putting the Humanity in Philanthropy.

"This time of year always gets me thinking and feeling hard about "philanthropy." What and to whom do we give? How big is the gulf between what we can give and what we do give? Who -- theorists, celebrities, family members, friends -- defines can for us? What effect does our giving, or lack thereof, have on our own well being? And finally, simply how much is enough?"

Women and the Gift Economy

2007-12-15T16:32:00.000-08:00

Charity Focus introduced me this afternoon to Genevieve Vaughan, who has written Women and the Gift Economy: A Radically Different Worldview is Possible and For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange, both of which are fully available online as part of the gift economy model.

"I believe that in discussing the gift economy we are naming something that we are already doing but which is hidden under a variety of other names (such as caretaking, mothering, etc.), and is disrespected as well as misconstrued. It is thus an important step to begin to restore its name and acknowledge its presence in many different areas of life. It is also important to re-create the connections, which have been severed, between the gift economy, women, and the economies of Indigenous peoples, and to bring forward the gift paradigm as an approach, which can help to liberate us from the worldview of the market that is destroying life on our beautiful planet. [...]

It is not because of a fatal flaw in human nature that we act so inhumanely to one another, but because of a complex tangle of gift-thread logics and strategies which become contradictory and promote adversarial behaviors. The tangle can be unraveled and understood, not within the exchange paradigm itself but by starting over, putting gift giving first as a theme for understanding the world."

"As we shift our focus towards validating the gift paradigm and seeing the defects of the exchange paradigm, many things acquire a different appearance: Patriarchal capitalism, which seemed to be the source of our good, is revealed as a parasitic system, where those above are nurtured by the free gifts of their 'hosts' below. Profit is a free gift given to the exchanger by the other participants in the market and those who nurture them. Scarcity is necessary for the functioning of the system of exchange and is not just an unfortunate result of human inadequacy and natural calamity."

"Exchange creates and requires scarcity. If everyone were giving to everyone else there would be no need to exchange. The market needs scarcity to maintain the level of prices. Exchange is adversarial, each person tries to give less and get more, an attitude which creates antagonism and distance among the players. Gift giving creates and requires abundance. In fact, in scarcity gift giving is difficult and even self sacrificial while in abundance it is satisfying and even delightful."

"World-wide, 19 billion dollars is spent on armaments every week. This would be enough to feed all the hungry on earth. Since this expenditure does not create any lifesustaining products, it acts as a drain on the nurturing economy."

Accept the Miracle

2007-12-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

Logos

Why wonder about the loaves and the fishes?
If you say the right words, the wine expands.
If you say them with love
and the felt ferocity of that love
and the felt necessity of that love,
the fish explode into the many.
Imagine him, speaking,
and don't worry about what is reality,
or what is plain, or what is mysterious.
If you were there, it was all those things.
If you can imagine it, it was all those things.
Eat, drink, be happy.
Accept the miracle.
Accept, too, each spoken word
spoken with love.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Gift Economy Round Up

2007-12-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

I've been holding on to some generosity and gift economy related web pages for several days in hopes of blogging about each of them. But since I've been too sick to write a lot I've decided to share them all at once instead. I'm watching It's A Wonderful Life tonight, which is one of my favorite generosity stories of all time, so it seemed the appropriate time to share.

These days nearly everyone has read or heard the White Envelope story about giving on behalf of a family member for Christmas (it was originally published in Woman's Day in 1982). Now there's the White Envelope Project, a totally Zaadzy kind of idea to inspire young adults into generosity and service.

Crossroads Dispatches is posting about giving a lot recently. This is one of my favorite blogs! It's a lovely combination of art, philosophy, and gift economy musings.

Running a Business in a Gift Economy Fashion (blog post The Gift): "And one of the things we've learnt is something incredibly counterintuitive to current North American culture: the more we give away, the better we do."

The Pyschology of Giving at the New York Times.

An excerpt from The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property by Lewis Hyde.

Need a favor? Want to offer a favor to someone else? Check out FavorsUnlimited, a new forum based on a lovely gift economy idea.

Intentional Acts of Kindness: Free Pass-Along Gift Cards

Reverant Generosity at the Mythic Journeys newsletter.

A Soul Sister in Creative Generosity

2007-12-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

From a comment on an uplifting blog I read every day I was lead to Kim, whose website is full of all kinds of creative generosity and kindness. But what is especially lovely is that she makes inspiring and hopeful "magic wands" for children suffering from terminal illneses and links to several other online projects that connect anyone who is inspired to share a little kindness with ill children who could use the extra lovins.

What a great way to start the day! Blissings to you all this holiday season!

This Holiday I wish ...

2007-12-09T14:43:00.000-08:00

I was just visiting Wishcasting and this week's prompt got me thinking...

This holiday season I wish to . . . open my heart and my daily consciousness to the spirit of generosity that abounds during this particular season and find reasons to celebrate. I'm not feeling particularly holiday spirited this year, nor did I last year, although several previous years I reveled in the opportunities to give from my creative stores and in the beauty of creative decorating. I love victorian and unusual Santa Clauses, the greatest archetype for generosity in the modern world. I love burgundy and gold ornaments and garland, which bring a rich sparkle to my home. I love the lights. I know it's not pc with environmental issues being what they are, but I love the lights sparkling everywhere. However I think my health issues and the state of my family have driven away the desire for celebration. It all seems energy draining. I want to find the place in me that can hold space for my family to enjoy this season, so I need generosity stories to feed my fire. Perhaps I need to spend some time at HelpOthers.org.

This holiday season I wish to . . . inspire people to consider being as generous the rest of the year, not in material gifts, but in the general sense of good will. We say Happy Holidays to each other all the time, strangers and friends alike. We give a lot, often spending considerable energy in efforts to show our love in the manifest world, whether through gifting or cooking or organizing events. We open ourselves to one another's stories, good feeling stories, generosity stories, peace stories, stories of overcoming selfishness (ego) in service of the greater community. But once Christmas Day passes, we stop greeting each other with the same level of cheer, we stop being so generous, and we give our consciousness to stories of violence (action movies and video games) and competitiveness and greed (reality tv, game shows).

Much of the intent of The Conspiracy of Blessings is to inspire people to reconsider generosity and recognize its value in every day life. Why do we limit ourselves and/or store up our natural propensity for lavish generosity until we're given permission by a cultural tradition to be blissful in our giving? I started the Conspiracy in December 2005 because I had all this art around me that I had put my loving and creative energy into and I knew it didn't belong hidden in my house. It needed to find homes in the world, needed to bring some kind of good feeling into the world.

When I give, even store bought gifts, it is always with conscious love and desire to show that person I honor who they are as an individual. I buy books and music for my children that I hope will inspire good feelings, a sense of belongingness and their own creativity. I give my children and family gifts that support their bliss--like a book on Soul Collage for my sister the art therapist or a drawing tablet for my son's pc. Or I give gifts that honor their spiritual traditions and foster self reflection (both of my children have learned how to use divinatory tools to bring insight into their personal journeys).

But giving to my family in this way wasn't enough manifestation of my bliss--creative generosity. I needed some place to give more. So I started homemade gifts for my friends and co-workers. I've done homemade candles, soaps, and holiday art ornaments. One year I painted or otherwise colored images from Shiloh McCloud's Color of Woman Journals and laminated them for each of my women friends. I chose the images based on who I knew those women to be, and included poems about womanhood printed on beautiful papers and laminated them as well.

In 2005 I needed to give more. I wanted to give beyond the holidays and felt like I needed to create a reason, a permission to be so generous. The Conspiracy came to life. I had already participated in the gift economy of the altered artist communities online and learned about random-act-of-kindness art that people would leave in their communities to be found by whatever stranger happened upon them. I decided to create a long-term project and document it online, as well as provide a forum for interacting with those who found my RAK Art in the community. I left little packages with beaded snowflake ornaments and my first art/word cards in public places...on restaurant tables, in public bathrooms at the mall, in planters outside of business downtown, and in free newspaper dispensers.

I later added the component of allowing people to request blessing packages for themselves or others. I have some other ideas of how to evolve and expand the project further but do not have the abundance to do more at this time. So I patiently use the supplies I unwittingly stock piled when abundance flowed more towards the project in the past until the Universe offers an opportunity to do more.

This holiday season I wish to . . . inspire and motivate myself to find and/or plan a way to make creative generosity a full time endeavor, at least for a little while. I'd love to have a year to commit my time to creative generosity ideas and manifestations, to discover what I'm truly capable of and here on earth to give my human family. I'd love to have at least a year to develop and live a gift economy lifestyle in every possible way. I'd love to have one year of my life where I did not have to make every single decision based on my family's survival and could have the space to truly find my place in the world.

I know it will come. I know every life experience I'm having will help me to evolve to greater capabilities of service. But I'm in a phase of feeling frustrated and questioning of my faith in the evolutionary process. I want to get to the part where I can focus on what and how I'm giving through my work instead of having to choose what will support a family of four. I don't know how to make the transition yet, but I know it will happen.

This holiday season I wish to. . . replenish and nurture my spirit. It's been an intense year. I want to focus on what brings me the greatest joy but is restful...like reading, writing, and doll and journal making. Creative generosity is what feeds my spirit most deeply. I know now what my bliss is. I just need to figure out how to make it my life's work.

This holiday season I wish to . . . be the change I wish to see in the world and learn how to bring my capacity for generosity into my relationship with my ex-husband/co-parent. It's time to heal the wounds, forgive the past and move forward in friendship. It's time to be generous with my love again.

What do you wish for this holiday season?

Blessing Art

2007-12-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the recent art blessings I've created: Butterfly Transformation dolls and Blessing Journals. I'm sharing the dolls because the pictures came out so much better than previous sharings.

The journals are a new endeavor. I decorate the outside with papers and embellishments, then include handwritten inspirational quotes and poems for women in transition throughout the book in hopes of encouraging the recipient on her journey.

If you know of a woman who may be encouraged by a doll or journal, please let me know. Remember this is a gifting project and costs nothing to you to request a blessing for yourself or someone else.

I Serve Life Because It Is Holy

2007-12-06T14:30:00.000-08:00

An article by Rachel Remen:

In recent years the question "how can I help?" has become meaningful to many people. But perhaps there is a deeper question we might consider. Perhaps the real question is not how can I help, but how can I serve?

Serving is different from helping. Helping is based on inequality; it is not a relationship between equals. When you help you use your own strength to help those of lesser strength. If I'm attentive to what's going on inside of me when I'm helping, I find that I'm always helping someone who's not as strong as I am, who is needier than I am. People feel this inequality. When we help we may inadvertently take away from people more than we could ever give them; we may diminish their self-esteem, their sense of worth, integrity and wholeness. When I help I am very aware of my own strength. But we don't serve with our strength, we serve with ourselves. We draw from all of our experiences. Our limitations serve, our wounds serve, even our darkness can serve. The wholeness in us serves the wholeness in others and the wholeness in life. The wholeness in you is the same as the wholeness in me. Service is a relationship between equals.

Helping incurs debt. When you help someone they owe you one. But serving, like healing, is mutual. There is no debt. I am as served as the person I am serving. When I help I have a feeling of satisfaction. When I serve I have a feeling of gratitude. These are very different things.

Serving is also different from fixing. When I fix a person I perceive them as broken, and their brokenness requires me to act. When I fix I do not see the wholeness in the other person or trust the integrity of the life in them. When I serve I see and trust that wholeness. It is what I am responding to and collaborating with.

There is distance between ourselves and whatever or whomever we are fixing. Fixing is a form of judgment. All judgment creates distance, a disconnection, an experience of difference. In fixing there is an inequality of expertise that can easily become a moral distance. We cannot serve at a distance. We can only serve that to which we are profoundly connected, that which we are willing to touch. This is Mother Teresa's basic message. We serve life not because it is broken but because it is holy.

If helping is an experience of strength, fixing is an experience of mastery and expertise. Service, on the other hand, is an experience of mystery, surrender, and awe. A fixer has the illusion of being causal. A server knows that he or she is being used and has a willingness to be used in the service of something greater, something essentially unknown. Fixing and helping are very personal; they are very particular, concrete, and specific. We fix and help many different things in our lifetimes, but when we serve we are always serving the same thing. Everyone who has ever served through the history of time serves the same thing. We are servers of the wholeness and mystery in life.

The bottom line, of course, is that we can fix without serving. And we can help without serving. And we can serve without fixing or helping. I think I would go so far as to say that fixing and helping may often be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul. They may look similar if you're watching from the outside, but the inner experience is different. The outcome is often different, too.

Our service serves us as well as others. That which uses us strengthens us. Over time, fixing and helping are draining, depleting. Over time we burn out. Service is renewing. When we serve, our work itself will sustain us.

Service rests on the basic premise that the nature of life is sacred, that life is a holy mystery which has an unknown purpose. When we serve, we know that we belong to life and to that purpose. Fundamentally, helping, fixing, and service are ways of seeing life. When you help you see life as weak, when you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. From the perspective of service, we are all connected: All suffering is like my suffering and all joy is like my joy. The impulse to serve emerges naturally and inevitably from this way of seeing.

Lastly, fixing and helping are the basis of curing, but not of healing. In 40 years of chronic illness I have been helped by many people and fixed by a great many others who did not recognize my wholeness. All that fixing and helping left me wounded in some important and fundamental ways.

Only service heals.

25 Days to Make a Difference

2007-12-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

Today I came across a wonderful blog by a girl named Laura who wants to spend the 25 days leading up to Christmas making a difference in the world in small ways. She's only 10 and she's doing this project to memorialize her grandfather. She started a blog three days ago and she's already had thousands of visitors! She's also inspiring others to do the same. Go check it out!

Alchemy of Abundance

2007-11-29T14:23:00.000-08:00

"The Way of Abundance is all too often misconstrued as a shallow sense of 'getting what one wants,' 'eliminating the negative,' or 'being free from pain.' Even the often-touted 'manifesting your dreams,' offers a psychological disposition that generally remains fixated around manifestation as 'the project of me.'

"But the 'project of me' can never be enough, for it does not meet 'the other,' and real living involves meeting. The touch and contact with all of life, the full freedom of non-separation, the completeness of full relationship, and the radiance of compassionate ecstasy is what we are inherently hungry for."

- Rick Jarow, *Alchemy of Abundance*

A Generous Heart Leads to Greater Peace

2007-11-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

"It is worth reminding ourselves that what brings us the greatest joy and satisfaction in life are those actions we undertake out of concern for others. Indeed we can go further. For whereas the fundamental questions of human existence, such as why we are here, where we are going, and whether the universe had a beginning, have each elicited different responses in different philosophical traditions, it is self-evident that a generous heart and wholesome actions lead to greater peace."~ Dalai Lama

A Reason Why The Conspiracy Exists

2007-11-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

First, an update: I sent out three blessing packages this Thanksgiving week, one of which is on its way to Brazil! The Conspiracy has now reached four continents!

“Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle,” said Philo of Alexandria

I happened across this quote during some blog hopping today and remembered that it is one of inspirations for The Conspiracy. I am deeply motivated by the idea that everyone is living the journey of the hero in thier own lives with epic successes and tragedies. Every human being is seeking to be loved, witnessed, and honored for their existence. Every human being could use a little kindness.

Love is the Magnificent Destination

2007-11-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

"As we expand, we melt. Our hearts open. Our thinking changes. Our obsessions subside, our addictions quietly pass away. This is the slow, elegant, loving process through which, little by little, we let go of the old and welcome the new. We open our hearts and allow in a few more people, just a few more relationship experiences, just a few more kinds of relationships. We learn there are no mistakes, and our hearts become a circle so large that there are no more boundaries, no differences, no judgments. We know the graciousness of that great undivided familiarity, in which there are no more strangers, only friends.

We stretch, and to our amazement we don't break. Instead, we grow. Suddenly, everything becomes easier, and our hearts, which once we believed could love only one person, or were battered so badly we thought they could never love again, expand so fully that the whole world is welcome. In such a state of openness, we see that we've only forgotten how to be together, we faintly and beautifully remember that once we were all together. We remember the way we were in a universe of incredible softness where there were no edges, no walls, no mind games, no rules. In that incredible world, we were happy. We loved one another. It wasn't a feeling. It was a state of being called joy.

The future of love is this all-encompassing embrace. For when we have expanded so much, we will finally arrive at a place where the heart can open its doors to everything and everyone. Our souls have been taking us on this journey and Love is the magnificent destination to which they have been leading us. Now we can feel joy. Now, at last, we can be satisfied. Now, finally, we are home." ~ Daphne Rose Kingma

Inspiring Kindness Kids

2007-11-17T17:21:00.001-08:00

Check out the Ohm Dog site where two fourth graders have started their own business, contribute 10% of their profits to charity, and promote kindness and peace through Ohm Dog's designs and messages. Kids are awesome!

Thou Art My Sister

2007-11-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

All I can say is Wow!

Thou art my sister, because we were born of the same great spirit; conceived from the same mound of earth; slept quietly together in the cradle of unknowing until He in his gentleness set us in the midst of humanity...you are my sister, I love you.

You and I are destined to be companions on the highway of life; together or apart, you are my sister I love you....if the color of my skin is different from yours it mattereth not, only let the beauty of our souls be kindred.

I will honor your wisdom and understanding, as you will mine, together we shall seek the seeds of truth in the distant rooms of the Great Spirit; the reflection of inner knowledge shall wear as beauty upon our faces...you are my sister I love you.

I will be human and fall down in rough places; but thy hand is near mine, I will reach for it. I shall not be alone. I will embrace you when the rains of sorrow visit you, I will visit your soul as if it were my own....you are my sister, I love you.

If death takes me from the lamp of life, and the veil of sleep falls across my eyes before yours, I will wait for you. I will come to lead you across the bridge of night into the meadows of the Great Spirit....you are my sister I love you.

Poem by Jean Humphrey Chaille

Creative Gift Economy Opportunities

2007-11-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

Radiohead released their album In Rainbows earlier this month in a pay-what-you-want format, which means you don't have to pay anything if you don't want to.

Trent Reznor and hip-hop poet Saul Williams just released their collaboration Niggy Tardust. You can pay $5 or you can take it for free.

Now Paste Magazine, an up-and-coming indie culture magazine that also gives you a cd sampler with every issue, is now offering a pay-what-you-want subscription starting at $1.00.

This is pretty amazing, but it brings up a lot of thoughts for me. I am lower-middle-class mother living month-to-month as I care for my family of four. The little bit of abundance I have left over at the end of the month goes to art supplies for this project. So essentially I'm giving away the only money I have to spare.

When a band I adore like Radiohead offers their album in a pay-what-you-want format, I have to ask myself, what is the right thing for me to do? I believe their album is worth the standard price for a cd. But I rarely buy cd's (I mostly listen to Pandora when I want to hear something specific or new to me) because I can't afford to, unless I want to give up my art supplies that fuel this project. Is it wrong for me to pay less than the value the music holds for me? Or can I consider it a karmic transaction (since I give my abundance away, can I receive the abundance another shares with me without guilt)? Or can I accept their gift now and give them what value their gift holds for me later, when I can afford it (and will I remember to)? What about the value of my promotion of their work in two different blogs and with local friends? Will my sharing lead to others buying their music for what it's worth?

With a magazine I look at it a little differently. They already make most of their revenue through advertising and rack sales. If I play less than I think it's worth for the magazine, but then bring it to a lot of different potential subscribers both online and off, I think that may be a pretty fair trade. I am the kind of person who shares what I love with as many people as I can. Maybe each issue I receive I will pass on when I'm done, either to a friend, through PostSecret, or out in the community some way.

I am excited that these opportunities to explore the concept of the gift economy are coming up. It gives me much to think about both personally and in the world at large.

The Salt Monument: A Global Symbol of Humanity

2007-11-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this?

I May Never Know You

I may never know you,

But I know you live somewhere,

Waking and sleeping each day,

Sustained by the great wave of breath

Breathing in and out of you

As it breathes in and out of me.

I may never know your name,

But I do not need to, to know

How your heart treasures the calling of your name

By someone who loves you.

I know this,

For I know this of me.

I may never look into your eyes,

But I know you search for meaning and hope
And answers to the why and how of life

As I do.

I may never touch your hand,

But I know you have a living body

Which needs nourishment and water,

Safety and touch,

As I do.

I may never know you,

But I know you cherish and yearn

For freedom and dignity

And the chance to make your dreams come true,

As I do.

I may never know you,

And yet I do.

The Salt Monument

From the welcome page: “Imagine if there was a place where every single person alive today, without exception, was actually represented and recognized both as a unique individual and as a member of the human family. Imagine too, if every day there was a welcome to greet each individual infant in the world on the day of their birth, and a way to say goodbye to each person in the world who died that day. When calamity or tragedy struck anywhere in the world, there would be a way to express our grief and caring together. When there were joyful victories for humanity, there would be a place to join in celebration. It would be a place where we could experience the reality of our world village.

Such a place exists. It is the Salt Monument. The Salt Monument is not just an idea or an ideal, it is an actual physical Monument and daily observance that has existed now for over ten years. In its stark simplicity, the Monument wordlessly conveys unfathomable truths about life, compassion, the inherent right to dignity of each person, our relative insignificance within the temporal and planetary context, and the present reality of our world. It is an invitation to contemplation and a plea to bring our shared humanity into vivid, penetrating focus.

The experience of the Salt Monument is inexplicable and ineffable. Some of those who have experienced it know how even a single encounter with the Monument can provoke irrevocable realizations about being human. For those who have not, there is no amount of words or description that can convey its utterly unique and unexpected impact. The Salt Monument is a place where we meet soul to soul, human to human, as one grain of salt to another in the symbolic presence of all humankind as our witness.

This website serves as a glimpse, a hint, of this unprecedented Monument.”

See also a beautiful blog post written about one's experience of the Monument.

What a beautiful concept and so full of the spirit of generosity! So happy to share with you this bright and sunny November Sunday morning.

More Blessings

2007-11-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

One of the recipients of a recent blessing package sent me a beautiful gift in return, her self published book Spread Your Wings and Fly: An Origami Fold-and-Tell with a set of deep purple paper cranes. What a lovely gift!

I never anticipated people returning blessings to me when I started this project. But I am glad to practice being a joyful recipient. So much inspiring creativity abounds in this world. I am also hopeful for the future of the human race because of the tremendous positive creativity I am honored to witness nearly every day from my little corner of the world.

A Shower of Blessings

2007-11-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

Wow! I am in awe of the blessings that have been showered upon me recently. I received Kara's package today, full to brimming with her art cards, buttons, magnets, and a stunning book of meditative photographs. Serendipitously, I had just run out of cards I could write handwritten notes on for blessing recipients. Now I have an abundance of beautiful cards! My heart is smiling in deepest gratitude.

Conspiracy Collaborators

2007-11-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I received a package envelope in the mail that jangled...a lot. Kind of sounded like there was something broken inside. I didn't recognize the address, even from people I've corresponded with concerning donations to the Conspiracy. I was intrigued. I opened it up to find it overflowing with papers and ephemera for art making. Jeanette at PostcardX sent me the package. I love that I get unexpected suprises from PostcardX every couple of months. It brings a little dash of creative magic to life. I must remember during lulls in blessing requests that I have an endless source of people to bless there.

Also, as noted in a comment on a previous blog post, Kara from Motherhenna.com and the wonderful "A Peace of..." blog and collaborative art project, is sending some 1000 Faces of Mother Henna art to include in blessing packages. Very, very cool.

Celebrate the Small Steps

2007-10-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

"We live in a society where only "big success" is acknowledged. We don't care about the small steps. We don't hear about the stumbles. Yet it takes outrageous courage to be in the middle of your journey. The middle is where it's at, baby.

Maybe you're growing a new business, writing the book of your dreams, or healing from a necessary divorce. There are the times when alligators are nipping at your raw feet, the rain keeps beating down, the moon is fading, your mother is calling, and you wonder if you are going to age in poverty with hopes that never came true. Yep, these are the moments that need celebration.

These are the times we need applause and ribbons and massive hot fudge sundaes and witnesses to our magnificence. These are the time we must love ourselves through the hunger and exhaustion. These are the times when we must celebrate our courage, the power, belief, and stubborn pluck it demands to keep just lurching and wobbling forward....

You are on the path. You are on the path. You are on the path. The path begins wherever you are, when you embrace your life with honesty, patience and compassion."
Tama Kieves, Trusting the Journey Times, October 17, 2007

Transformation Dolls

2007-10-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share a couple of the Transformation Dolls going out today, as well as the description of my intent behind the dolls. Of course you can't see the beautiful detail of the fabric texture and coloring, but you get an idea anyway.

Transformation Dolls are made with the intent to be a symbolic companion to the lives of women in transition and/or healing. It takes one full day to make a doll and I hold healing and loving intentions for you during its entire construction. I hold hope that you will nurture yourself and find the beauty in your life. In heart-full agreement with Oriah Mountain Dreamer, I pray that you discover the one word you are meant to be in the great love poem of life we are writing together.

The doll filling includes lavender and chamomile to induce feelings of calm and peace.

Butterfly dolls and/or charms are meant to symbolize the process of growth and transformation that you are embarking on or journeying through.

I use beautiful, bold colors with the following meanings in mind:

Purple is an uplifting color representing spirituality, wisdom, and the crown chakra – our direct connection to the Divine. We must remember to keep ourselves open to guidance and the still, small voice within, our deepest intuitions. We must learn to release and surrender, flowing with life instead of struggling against it.

Blue is a healing color and induces feelings of calmness or serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, and secure. It is the color of the throat chakra, which represents our voices and our will. Women too often keep our thoughts and feelings quiet, usually stuffing them deep inside, internalizing life’s difficulties and wreaking havoc on our bodies. We must learn to honor our truths and vocalize them when necessary.

Gold/yellow is related to wisdom; wisdom in thoughts, words and deeds. It is the color of the solar plexus chakra and motivates us towards making positive changes in our lives. Also related with optimism, self-confidence, spontaneity, flexibility, understanding. A sense of humor, joy, and laughter are natural balanced expressions of the solar plexus.

Orange represents constructive joy. Orange is the best stimulant and help in times of depression, loneliness, and boredom. Orange is the color of the sacral chakra, the energies of which concern our personal relationships. Are we in relationships that nurture and uplift us? Or are we settling for less than we truly desire?

Creative Generosity Hero

2007-10-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

"You wouldn't know it by looking at the man in the t-shirt standing on the street corner, but if you listen, it's easy to tell that David Juritz is a world class musician. He's just traded in concert halls for street corners. The violinist left his London home on June 9 and has since traveled the globe as a street performer, raising money to fund music education for some of the world's poorest children. Near Stanford University, he raised $500 in an hour; in Berlin, he got $16 after 3 windy, rainy hours; and in all, he's collected over $65K. But his best moments aren't associated with large amounts of money, he adds." From CharityFocus

Learn more him and the Musequality program at his website: Round The World and Bach

On Beauty

2007-10-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Andrew Schneider: “When a being is authentically what it is, the presence of Spirit within reveals itself as Beauty which touches our heart. Whenever we experience beauty, our soul is activated and love is awakened. And whenever you are true to yourself, you are beautiful!

“When we open to Spirit, we radiate beauty. Beauty transforms, so when we radiate beauty, we empower others and give them a glimpse of their own beauty, the Spirit within themselves, which is the source of their power. The key is that we must know we are beautiful, and feel that beauty within ourselves, before we can empower others.

“Beauty is magnetic and draws our heart into loving contact and connection with it. We only love what we, in our hearts, perceive as beautiful. Deepening our contact with, and appreciation of, beauty will increase the love experienced in our lives.”

Donations to the Conspiracy

2007-10-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

I received a comment asking about sending donations of paper or postage. I would be happy to accept any donations for the Conspiracy. I prefer material donations to money, so that people are as certain as possible that their donation goes towards what they intend (which is why I haven't added a donate button to this blog). I've also had people donate their own artful blessings to be shared with others, which have been very complementary to my own creations.

I can be emailed at blessingconspiracy@hotmail.com and I'll send my mailing address to you.

What Do I Do Exactly?

2007-10-23T14:19:00.001-07:00

I've received some inquiries recently into how exactly I piece together blessing packages for each recipient, so I thought I'd write a post about it so that people have a better idea of things.

Each package is a combination of both stock and unique pieces:

Every package contains a set of art & word cards that are not unique but highly inspirational writings or poems that I believe anyone could benefit from. I put together the writings with my mandalas, kaleidescopes or beatiful stock images I find online. Not everyone gets the same set--I try to draw on what little I know about them or trust the Universe is guiding me--and I'm always adding new ones to the bunch. Lately, for women I've also been intuitively drawing a card from the Grace Cards to include in their packages. I used Goddess Knowledge Cards from Susan Boulet in the past.

I create a unique envelope for each set of cards made from pretty papers, stickers, embellishments, etc.

Then I include something handmade: either a Transformation Doll, Blessing Box (full of at least 50 business card sized inspirations), or I'm going to start doing journals as well (they will be decorated on the outside and have handwritten quotes/poems/prompts on some of the pages inside). I've also made clay tokens with symbols or quotes. I'm thinking about getting back into clay again and maybe making inspirational tiles.

Depending on my abundance level at the time, some packages have contained Blessing Rings or cards from NepalesePaper.com.

Lastly, I include a handwritten note or card.

I wish I had the time and inspiration to put together entirely unique packages for everyone, but now that I've sent out more than 100 packages in the last year, I'm grateful I set things up the way I did. Everyone is guaranteed to get a unique piece of art from me, but also get a big handful of inspirations.

How much goes into packages often depends on my financial and art supply abundance at the time. Sometimes I'm struggling to get printer ink and card stock to print post cards on or postage for packages. Other times I have plenty of everything. I'm good right now. I'm still using the postage that was donated quite awhile back, but it's close to running out. That's when things might get more complicated since every package costs at least $2.00 to send. I'm just going to trust the Universe will provide as needed.

Smile Award and More Blessings

2007-10-23T14:08:00.001-07:00

Emma gave me the Smile Award recently, which I think is very thoughtful. I have a few subscribers to this blog and they have been very uplifting to me over the months.

I am very excited that my inbox is filling up with requests since the project was mentioned over at Create A Connection, a fabulous community art blog that I don't have enough time to properly enjoy. An especially lovely request is for a woman who runs a sexual assaul survivors' website and she wants some blessing packages to pass on to the women she works with. Now I have something to work towards, a few new dolls, boxes, and possibly a journal or two, something I've been pondering for quite awhile.

Smile Boston Project

2007-10-14T20:02:00.001-07:00

Check out generosity artist Bren Bataclan's Smile Boston Project. He leaves pieces of his art around town for people to pick up for free, but he requests that they smile more often and share their feedback at his site if they take the piece home.

Lovely Blessing

2007-10-14T19:59:00.001-07:00

I stumbled across this in an unexpected source recently...

Deep peace on the running wave to you
Deep peace on the flowing air to you
Deep peace on the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace on the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace to you

--Traditional Gaelic Blessing

New Requests

2007-10-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

Yay! I have three new requests to fill this weekend. I think I have three dolls left as well, which is perfect. I hope to spend considerable time this weekend working on Conspiracy art projects. It's time to think of holiday possibilities for the project since the winter tends to be pretty quiet in my life and I should have lots of time on my hands. I still haven't completed the basket of packets I'd like to take to our local domestic violence program staff and clients. Perhaps a bunch of transformation dolls would be the perfect final touch.

Imagination Needs Generosity

2007-10-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

"If we want to make the imagination feel at home, generosity shows us the way. How else can imagination thrive but in a place where welcoming comes first and where judgment feels no need to speak and finally feels no need to be?" --Sarah Wider

You Have the Power to Bless Life

2007-10-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

"Few people know that they have the power to bless life. We bless the life in each other far more than we realize. Many simple, ordinary things that we do can affect those around us in profound ways...the unexpected phone call, the brief touch, the willingness to listen generously, the warm smile or wink. We can even bless total strangers and be blessed by them."--Rachel Naomi Remen

You are the Tree of Life

2007-10-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

You are the tree of Life. Beware of fractioning yourselves. Never set fruit against fruit, a leaf against a leaf, or a bough against a bough, the stem against the roots, or the tree against the mother - the soil. But that is what you do when you love one part more than the rest, or worse yet, to the exclusion of the rest.

You are the Tree of Life. Your roots are everywhere. Your boughs and leaves are everywhere. Your fruits are in every mouth. Whatever the fruits on that tree may be … whatever its boughs and leaves may be … whatever the roots may be … they are your fruits; they are your leaves and boughs; they are your roots.

If you want the tree to bear sweet and fragrant fruit, and if you want it to be strong and green, pay attention to the resin – the life-blood of the tree. Love is the resin of Life. Love is the blood that must circulate unhindered in the veins. If you repress the blood, it becomes a plague. Hate is Love repressed or Love withheld. […]

You do not know the Joy of Love if there is any hatred in your hearts. That which you hate is bound up inseparably with that which you love, like the head and tail of the same coin. If you are truly honest with yourself, then you must Love what you hate and what hates you before you can Love what you love and what loves you.

Love is not a virtue … it's a neccessity of greater importance than bread and water, and more important than even light or air. Let no-one have pride in their loving. Inhale and exhale Love just as unconsciously as you breathe in and breathe out air. Love needs no-one to exalt it. Love will only exalt the heart that it finds worthy of itself. Don't seek out rewards for Love. Love is rewarded sufficiently with Love, just as hate is a sufficient punishment for hatred. Love accounts to no-one but itself. Love neither lends nor borrows; Love doesn't buy or sell.

But when Love gives, it gives all; when it takes, it takes all. Its very taking is giving. Its very giving is taking. Therefore is it the same to-day, to-morrow and forevermore.

–Mikhail Naimy, From “Book of Mirdad”

Your Own Flowering

2007-09-07T15:00:00.001-07:00

"I teach selfishness. I want you to be, first, your own flowering. Yes, it will appear as selfishness; I have no objection to that appearance; it is okay with me. But is the rose selfish when it blossoms? Is the lotus selfish when it blossoms? Is the sun selfish when it shines? Why should you be worried about selfishness?

You are born - birth is only an opportunity, just a beginning, not an end. You have to flower. Your first and foremost responsibility is to blossom, to become fully conscious, aware, alert; and in that consciousness you will be able to see what you can share, how you can solve problems." The Book of Understanding, OSHO

Stumbled across this lovely quote today and just had to share.

The Conspiracy is still in motion, although I've had few requests lately. Most of my focus has been on an event for a local non-profit that takes place on September 30th. I co-chair the Board of Directors so I've been extremely busy. I look forward to returning to doll making as a form of relaxation in October.

i thank You God for this most amazing day

2007-08-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

i thank You God for this most amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginably You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

~ e.e.cummings

Generosity Hero: Art in the Park

2007-08-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

"The artist is not a special kind of person;
rather each person is a special kind of artist."
~ Ananda Coomaraswamy

Demetrio O. Braceros nurtures a garden and has carved over 100 pieces of wood sculpture for the Cayuga Street Park in San Francisco.

From the article at Conversations.org... "What is it that you’re doing here so much from your heart? What I remember is this, his reading the situation and summarizing: "I wanted to inspire the kids."

I didn’t get the details about how he was given responsibility for the undeveloped parcel of land on Cayuga Street, but it happened in 1986, twenty years ago. At that time the place was just a raw stand of weeds and unkempt trees. In the neighborhood, he told us, "there were prostitutes, drug dealers and crime. People got killed up there," Demetrio told us, pointing to houses along the southern edge of the park. It was bad.

"I thought to myself, how can I help this place?" he told us. Speaking to Carlo, he tried to explain himself by quoting a biblical reference, "Let there be Light." It was hard to make out the words. Demetrio took Carlo by the arm and we all walked over to another one of his sculptures, a bust which might have been the head of Jesus. It was hard to say, but under it was written, "Let there be Light." Demetrio pointed to it. "There was darkness here," he said. "Evil. It needed light."

"These are not mine," he said, speaking of all the pieces of sculpture he’d made. Across the language barrier I made out something like this: "Whatever this creative ability it is that has been given to me, it is not mine to claim for myself, but to use for the good of all.""

Tomorrow's Blessings

2007-08-09T17:15:00.001-07:00

I am sending out two blessing packages with art dolls tomorrow: one to New Mexico on behalf of a friend to a woman having a rough time in her life and one to Miami, Florida for a Zaadzster who needs a "bushel of blessings".

I also used some birthday money to get some beautiful new fabrics and glass beads for the transformation dolls, so make more requests and give these beauties homes!

The Power of Anyone

2007-08-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

From Charityfocus.org's Daily Inspiration...

"It all started with a feisty ten-year-old named Talia Leman, who watched the Katrina devastation on TV and decided to do something about it. She launched an online campaign to convince kids just like her to give up candy for Halloween and instead, collect money door-to-door.The idea took. Plastic pumpkins overflowed with small change. Dollar bills filled former candy sacks. In three months, random kids across America raised $5 million dollars. Talia's group, now called RandomKid.org, has raised over $10 million dollars for hurricane relief so far. They call it the "Power of Anyone," urging kids to recognize that they can help bring about big change. Says Leman, "Just start with something little. Pick up the candy wrapper on the sidewalk, or recycle pop cans and donate the money to something. It feels great to help others.""

The Rose Man (A Generosity Hero)

2007-08-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

This is just awesome…

The fragrance always remains on the hand that gives the rose. –Mahatma Gandhi

“In Lake Placid, Florida, the local superhero is an 85-year-old retiree known simply as “The Rose Man.” The Rose Man – a.k.a. Willard Campbell – started using his petal power 20 years ago: “The idea hit me – Well, if I've got excess roses, why don't I take 'em and give 'em to the patients in the hospital?” Today, he not only brings free, weekly roses to just about every business in town, he brings them to just about every person in every business in town. Spending 10 hours a day driving around town, The Rose Man guesstimates giving about 25,000 roses every year.

Why does Willard do it?

“Because, first, I want to keep busy. And I enjoy it. And I enjoy giving them away. And I like to see the smiles on the people's faces that gets 'em,” he says.

“A lot of women say, 'I want to hug your neck.' Well, I don't do it for the hug on my neck. I get all the hugs I want here,” Willard says, referring to Opal, his grade-school sweetheart and wife of 65 years.

“I feel like if there was only one rose bouquet, that I would be the one to get it,” says Opal.

They lived in Kentucky, where Willard worked as a homebuilder before retiring to Lake Placid - if you can call it retiring. Willard spends up to 10 hours a day preparing and delivering roses to the delight of appreciative office workers.”

More here.

Pronoia

2007-08-01T09:12:00.001-07:00

SACRED UPROAR

Pronoia is closer than your breath and older than death. It dreams like a mountain, laughs like a river, prays like the sun, and sings the way the animals think. It's always as fresh as the beginning of time.

Life is a vast and intricate conspiracy designed to keep us well supplied with blessings. What kind of blessings? Palatial homes, attractive lovers, lottery winnings, career success? Maybe. But just as likely: interesting surprises, unexpected challenges, gifts we hardly know what to do with, conundrums that force us to get smarter.

Novelist William Vollman referred to the latter types of blessings when he said that "the most important and enjoyable thing in life is doing something that's a complicated, tricky problem for you that you don't know how to solve."

The Christian writer C.S. Lewis once said: "I thank God that He hasn't given me all the things I've prayed for, because as I look back now I realize it would have been disastrous to have received some of them."

Pronoia provides the gifts your soul needs, not necessarily those your ego craves.

Pronoia works because there is a Divine Being who comprises the entire universe. When I say, "Life is a conspiracy to shower us with blessings," I understand that this Divine Being is the Chief Architect, Builder, and Manager of the conspiracy, overseeing the evolution of 500 billion galaxies and everything in them, yet also available as an intimate companion and daily advisor to every one of us.

The Maker of the conspiracy constantly tinkers, always keeping the big picture in mind and moving in the direction of ultimate blessings for all concerned. But the Maker also loves getting help from us. To the degree that we co-conspire, the inevitable blessings ripen more lyrically and in greater fullness.

Pronoia asks us to be attuned to the shifting conditions of the Maker's ever-fresh creation. It encourages us to be quite happy about regularly divesting ourselves of the beliefs and theories that guided us yesterday so that we can see clearly what's right in front of us today.

Excerpt from Pronoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings by Rob Brezny

A Blessing Box

2007-07-30T15:09:00.001-07:00

I haven't worked on blessing boxes in awhile, but I have this one left for the next person who requests one. (Blessing boxes come with 50 or more inspiring quote cards inside.)

Blessing Dolls

2007-07-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

I've been quite busy making blessing dolls (as I'm currently calling them). I'm not sure where their homes are yet since I haven't received any requests in the last two weeks , but I'm very happy keeping myself busy creatively. From now on I'm going to focus on the butterfly and bird goddess patterns (I'll add more photos tomorrow) because I'm thinking about calling them Transformation Dolls with the intent of encouraging/inspiring women in times of change and growth. Future dolls will also include various herbs and stones that have healing or other positive properties and possibly an accompanying note with a description of the kinds of energy I've invested in the doll.

Good Music: The Polyphonic Spree

2007-07-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

"I'm projecting and reflecting a desire for you to come into my life..."

Isn't that a glorious lyric?

The Polyphonic Spree just released their new album, The Fragile Army. It's positively wonderful. I love their positivity and their tremendous symphonic sound. They're sound is so big it fills me up in a way I can't describe. It's soul music. I get goosebumps and/or tears sometimes, especially if I can listen to them on a loud stereo system or when I watch them performing live. You can see that these are people living their bliss, tuned into their Divine expression, and I think it's so overwhelming to me because there are so many of them expressing their Godness at once.

I love that even though this album is a response to the era of war that we are living in, it's still so lovely to listen to. It's not preachy. It's a little darker than their previous albums, but still witty and extremely joyful.

This link is the first video from the album for the song Running Away. The video is made up of 70,000 still images--it's pretty amazing.

Most people know The Polyphonic Spree by their song "Light and Day" which was featured both in the show Scrubs and the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (one of my favorite movies of all time!). Here is a video of a live performance of that song (so you can see their blissful performing). It's very sad that so many commenters on their videos think that people have to be on drugs to be so joyful.

Good News...Served Daily

2007-07-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Check out Gimundo, which shares good and inspiring news stories in a daily newsletter.

The Art of Gratuitous Praise

2007-07-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

A compliment is verbal sunshine. --Robert Orben

"Feeling blue? Unloved? As if nobody appreciates you? Maybe no one can see your inner wonderfulness. Or maybe you deserve to be forsaken. Maybe you are unloved because you're such a jerk, simply unlovable. Maybe you're a victim of the old maxim: "If you can't say anything nice . . . "

So when walking along 14th Street NW, you might be surprised to hear a chime followed by a reassuring voice:

"You help create a brighter future."

The avuncular voice calls out from a bright red-and-white-striped box perched on a platform of bricks, with a speaker at eye level and a grid of ventilation holes in the side. A small sign explains, "The Compliment Machine." The striking colors, stark lines and sharp corners lend the appearance of some strange installation of the municipality, perhaps from the Bureau of Self-Esteem or the Ministry of Happiness."

Read more at this Washington Post article about The Compliment Machine.

A Literary Lover of Pronoia

2007-07-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

“I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.”~ J. D. Salinger

I saw this quote on another blog today and felt it needed to be posted here. I do believe in the Universe conspiring to make me (us) happy, but never thought about individual people doing so.

What Blessing Means

2007-07-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

"To bless means to wish, unconditionally and from the deepest chamber of your heart, unrestricted good for others and events; it means to hallow, to hold in reverence [...] To bless is to invoke divine care upon, to speak or think gratefully for, to confer happiness upon, although we ourselves are never the bestower, but simply the joyful witnesses of life's abundance.

To bless all without distinction is the ultimate form of giving, because those you bless will never know from whence came the sudden ray that burst through the clouds of their skies, and you will rarely be a witness to the sunlight in their lives." Pierre Pradervand, from "The Gentle Art of Blessing"

Update

2007-07-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

I need to get better at recording the actual activities of the Conspiracy here.

Today I am sending out five packages, three were requested for friends and two are in response to blog posts I recently read at the Create a Connection blog. When I read stories about people who are having a tough time in life, I'll send an email inquiring as to whether they'll let me send them an art blessing. So far the responses have all been positive.

Packages are going out to Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Texas.

What in Your Life is Calling You?

2007-07-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

“What in your life is calling you?
When all the noise is silenced,
the meetings adjourned,
the lists laid aside,
and the wild iris blooms by itself
in the dark forest,
what still pulls on your soul?

In the silence between your heartbeats
hides a summons.
Do you hear it?
Name it, if you must,
or leave it forever nameless,
but why pretend it is not there?”

From Terma Collective's The Box.

A Serendipitous Blessing For Me

2007-07-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday and serendipitously I received a reciprocal package in gratitude for a blessing package I sent out a few weeks ago. Included was a beautiful handmade card and lavendar wand that smells divine. Although I never think about my gifting being reciprocated, this a spectacular blessing to receive.

She also donated some postage for future packages. What a lovely way to pay it forward!

A Gift of Lemonade

2007-07-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

Check out the recent gift economy lemonade stand run by the folks over at CharityFocus.

A Peace Prayer

2007-07-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

I am a sacred being.
I epitomize and personify peace.
There is peace within my soul.
I live a life of peace. I think thoughts of peace.
I eat the foods of peace. I pray a peace-filled prayer.
There is power in peace and peace in power.
In each moment, I meditate on peace.
I am supremely peaceful, so I draw all peace unto me.
I'm full of peace. Peace is my refuge,
for peace is in my divine friend, light, love and protection.
Peace is my refuge and strength.

Queen Afua, from Sacred Woman

Seva Cafe and Karma Kitchen: Love All, Serve All

2007-07-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

Check out this KarmaTube video about Seva Cafe, a restaurant in India based entirely on the idea of a gift economy. Gotta love their slogan, Love All, Serve All.

One night a week, the Karma Kitchen now does the same thing in Berkeley. They don't only gift guests with food, asking only that guests pay-it-forward, they also gift art, flowers, and anything else that inspires them towards generosity.

The Power of Giving

2007-07-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

Conversations.org is committed to the gift economy, so much so they give subscriptions to their print magazine for free--and there's no advertising attached!

Check out this article about three artists who gift their ceramic art (and soup!) in response to the war.

The Power of the Giving, Berkeley Art Center, Richard Whittaker in Conversation with Ehren Tool, Fariba Safai and Ashley Smith, Oct 21, 2004

"Fariba Bogzaron and Ashley Smith were still students at CCA when they decided to do something radical. They decided to prepare a large batch of home made soup (from a favorite recipe of Fariba’s mother), to construct a cart able to wheel a very large stainless steel pot along a sidewalk, and to make their way to Union Square in San Francisco on Black Friday[the day after Thanksgiving and largest shopping day of the year] where they would offer free bowls (that they made) of soup to any and all.

Ehren Tool, a marine who served in Iraq, upon finishing his tour of duty, enrolled at UC Berkeley to study ceramics in the Art Department. There he learned to throw on the wheel and found himself engaged in a new mission: making, and giving away, thousands of handmade ceramic cups—shaped like tea bowls and sometimes accompanied by a letter—each cup impressed with military emblems and images such as bombs, rifles and gas masks. Tool refers to himself as a “war awareness” artist.

The evening of our conversation only a modest crowd had turned out, but they were in for a special treat…"

The Shared World

2007-07-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is the whole post from CharityFocus Blog:

The wonderfully inspiring Arab-American poet, Naomi Shihab Nye wrapped a poem around an unexpected experience of kindness she encountered at an airport in Albuquerque and sent it off to exactly two friends ... who passed it on to friends, who passed it on to friends who ... and so the ripple of poetry and goodness went, and courtesy of Daily Good reader, Cynthia Loebig, here it is in front of all of you. At a recent reading of the poem, Nye ended the evening remarking, that this spontaneous series of people passing the poem on had probably resulted in more people reading it than would have had it appeared in a print magazine ...

Wandering Around an Albuquerque Airport Terminal
by Naomi Shihab Nye

After learning my flight was detained 4 hours,
I heard the announcement:
If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic,
Please come to the gate immediately.

Well -- one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress,
Just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her
Problem? we told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she
Did this.

I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick,
Sho bit se-wee?

The minute she heard any words she knew -- however poorly used -
She stopped crying.

She thought our flight had been cancelled entirely.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
Following day. I said no, no, we're fine, you'll get there, just late,

Who is picking you up? Let's call him and tell him.
We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and
Would ride next to her -- southwest.

She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.

Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and
Found out of course they had ten shared friends.

Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
Poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering
Questions.

She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies -- little powdered
Sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts -- out of her bag --
And was offering them to all the women at the gate.

To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
Sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler from California,
The lovely woman from Laredo -- we were all covered with the same
Powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookies.

And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers --
Non-alcoholic -- and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American, one Mexican American -- ran around serving us all apple juice
And lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.

And I noticed my new best friend -- by now we were holding hands --
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,

With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
This is the world I want to live in. The shared world.

Not a single person in this gate -- once the crying of confusion stopped-- has seemed apprehensive about any other person.

They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere.

Not everything is lost.

Sometimes Life Gets In The Way

2007-07-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

I sent out five packages today and will send out another three in the next couple of days. These are requests I received over the month of June but I allowed life to keep me from fulfilling. I have a hard time not feeling guilty when this happens. I feel a responsibility to follow through unless I've posted a message letting people know I'm taking a break. Especially if someone sends a message because they are having a hard time and need a little light in their life. Yet, I still allow myself to procrastinate because I feel no inspiration or I'm distracted by family or work life. It's a struggle to understand exactly what it going on within me, why I'll suddenly feel like I have nothing to give, or no desire to give. All I can hope for now is that Divine Timing is also at work and the packages go out when they are most needed.

Please don't let this discourage you from asking for an art blessing! I'm back on track again and will do better in the future to post a note during those periods of time that I may not immediately follow through on requests.

Blissings!

The Forgiveness Project

2007-05-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

Awareness, Education, Inspiration

The Forgiveness Project works at a local, national and international level to help build a future free of conflict and violence by healing the wounds of the past.

By collecting and sharing people's stories, and delivering outreach programmes, The Forgiveness Project encourages and empowers people to explore the nature of forgiveness and alternatives to revenge.

* * *

I think forgiveness is the most important quality to be nurtured in today's world--both for ourselves and others.

Donors Choose: A Giving Opportunity

2007-05-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Teachers ask. You choose. Students learn.

DonorsChoose is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. Here, teachers submit ideas for materials or experiences that their students need to learn. Individuals like you can choose a project and make it a classroom reality.

A Different Kind of Gifting

2007-05-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

I was reading about glamourbombs today and was led through some links to Drop Spots. The idea is that you find a secret hiding place in your town to leave a gift of some kind. Then you post your "drop" to the Drop Spots website so someone else can find your hiding place. They leave something for you--or the next person to visit the location. Sounds fun!

Gratitude

2007-05-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude."- Friedrich Nietzsche

I sent out nine blessing packages yesterday, including one to Japan!

What I haven't done until now is acknowledge on this blog a generous donation I received from a reader. She is an online acquaintance I met through Artella and she sent me *a lot* of postage stamps. I've now sent out at least 30 packages with the postage she donated and have enough left for at least another 20 more. It's the biggest contribution that's been made to the Conspiracy and I am immensely grateful every time I am sticking stamps on an envelope.

PostcardX: Random Acts of Mailed Kindness

2007-05-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I didn't have PostcardX in the links for this blog. I signed up last year and have received 9 marvelously quirky packages since. I've received poems and art, magazine cut outs, post cards, and even a coin purse made from a baby's sock with frogs! How wonderful weird is that!

I was wracking my brain for possible recipients of blessing packages today (I have so much piled up that I want to give away!) and realized I "owed" a few reciprocal packages to people who had mailed me from the PostcardX site. Now I just have to remember that site is there when I'm itching to send out packages and there are no requests from here to fill.

Art Dolls

2007-05-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

Recent packages have included these art dolls I started making the weekend before last. They are so fun! I have lots and lots of fabric and embellishments to use, so if you want to request one as part of a blessing package, please do so!

I'm also thinking about putting together a basket of these dolls for the local domestic violence shelter with some kind of encouraging blessing packet to go with them.

Study: Doing Good Make You Feel Good

2007-05-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

From an article at LiveScience.com: "There's a new incentive to doing good things for others: It makes you happier, according to a new study."

I have to say that I personally have a lot more joy in my every day life when I'm actively working on the Conspiracy or other service/generosity related activities.

Conspiracy Update

2007-04-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

After the recent rebirth of the project, I have sent out 12 blessing packages and will be sending out another six tomorrow. Some of these blessings have gone to some people in real need: a woman fighting leukemia and a gentleman with an undiagnosed brain disorder. One went to a mother who recently left an abusive marriage. It brings my heart such joy to participate in bringing a little kind creativity into people's lives.

Random Kindness

2007-04-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today I happened across this podcast project:

"Random Kindness is about the power of small gestures. In combination small acts of kindness can make an unbelievably profound difference in the lives of not only the recipients, but the giver too. Each episode will tell the story of a person/family in need of a helping hand.

Through this website you can help by donating the some of the money, goods or services that is needed. You don't need to give a huge amount. Little amounts will add up to big amounts. So give what you can and then pass it along. When we all do a little, we're actually doing a lot.Thanks for making a difference!"

Larry Genkin, Show Host

A Love Story

2007-04-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

From today's Blessing Experiment Newsletter:

"When the power of love
overcomes the love of power,
the world will know peace."—Anonymous

There's an old story about a group of monks living with their master in a Tibetan monastery. Their lives were disciplined and dedicated, and the atmosphere in which they lived harmonious and peaceful. People from villages far and wide flocked to the monastery to bask in the warmth of such a loving spiritual environment.

Then one day the master departed his earthly form. At first the monks continued on as they had in the past, but after a time, the discipline and devotion that had been hallmarks of their daily routine slackened. The number of villagers coming through the doors each day began to drop, and little by little, the monastery fell into a state of disrepair.

Soon the monks were bickering among themselves, some pointing fingers of blame, others filled with guilt. The energy within the monastery walls crackled with animosity.

Finally, the senior monk could take it no longer. Hearing that a spiritual master lived as a hermit two days walk away, the monk wasted no time in seeking him out. Finding the master in his forest hermitage, the monk told him of the sad state the monastery had fallen into and asked his advice.

The master smiled. "There is one living among you who is the incarnation of God. Because he is being disrespected by those around him, he will not show himself, and the monastery will remain in disrepair." With those words spoken, the master fell silent and would say no more.

All the way back to the monastery, the monk wondered which of his brothers might be the Incarnated One.

"Perhaps it is Brother Jaspar who does our cooking," the monk said aloud. But then a second later thought, "No, it can't be him. He is sloppy and ill tempered and the food he prepares is tasteless."

"Perhaps our gardener, Brother Timor, is the one," he then thought. This consideration, too, was quickly followed by denial. "Of course not" he said aloud. "God is not lazy and would never let weeds take over a lettuce patch the way Brother Timor has."

Finally, after dismissing each and every one of his brothers for this fault or that, the senior monk realized there were none left. Knowing it had to be one of the monks because the master had said it was, he worried over it a bit before a new thought dawned. "Could it be that the Holy One has chosen to display a fault in order to disguise himself?" he wondered. "Of course it could! That must be it!"

Reaching the monastery, he immediately told his brothers what the master had said and all were just as astonished as he had been to learn the Divine was living among them.

Since each knew it was not himself who was God Incarnate, each began to study his brothers carefully, all trying to determine who among them was the Holy One. But all any of them could see were the faults and failings of the others. If God was in their midst, he was doing a fine job of hiding himself. Finding the Incarnated One among such rubble would be difficult, indeed.

After much discussion, it was finally decided that they would all make an effort to be kind and loving toward each another, treating all with the respect and honor one would naturally give to the Incarnated One. If God insisted on remaining hidden, then they had no recourse but to treat each monk as if he were the Holy One.

Each so concentrated on seeing God in the other that soon their hearts filled with such love for one another the chains of negativity that held them bound fell away. As time passed, they began seeing God not just in each other, but in every one and everything. Days were spent in joyful reverence, rejoicing in His Holy Presence. The monastery radiated this joy like a beacon and soon the villagers returned, streaming through the doors as they had before, seeking to be touched by the love and devotion present there.

It was some time later that the senior monk decided to pay the master another visit to thank him for the secret he had revealed.

"Did you discover the identity of the Incarnated One?" the master asked.

"We did," the senior monk replied. "We found him residing in all of us."

The master smiled.

The Smile Mailer

2007-04-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

I plan to start sharing other inspirational projects people are doing related to generosity and creativity again.

At Zaadz I met the Smile Mailer. She send greeting cards, entirely for free, to anyone having a difficult time in life. All you do is submit a request to her website. So wonderful! So kind!

The Conspiracy Awakens!

2007-04-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

I am excited to announce that the Conspiracy of Blessings is out of hibernation* and energized to touch lives in creatively kind ways again. My inspiration for this re-awakening of the project comes from the funny fact that I have this huge collection of goddess paper dolls and altered cd’s that I made as decorations for a music festival that never happened. I’ve been storing them for two years, wondering what the heck to do with them. Last night I had the sudden inspiration to break them out and take a look at them again. They’re beautiful! The paper dolls are decorated with pretty papers, fabric, and embellishments. The cd’s are decorated with paints, papers and sparkling powders, have rings with color coordinated beads hanging from the bottom, and a hole at the top with a ribbon so they can be hung (I had intended to hang them from trees where they would sparkle in the summer sun). See pictures below.

My first thought was to take the goddess paper dolls to our local metaphysical shop (and maybe the cd’s to a local music shop) and have them give them away with postcards about the Conspiracy. But I realized that I like a more personal connection than that. I want to know where these little beauties are going. I want them to go where they will be cherished. I want to be able to send a personalized blessing energy to each of the recipients. And there is no better way to guarantee these things than to have people request them.

So here is the official announcement: please email me if you would like to receive a goddess paper dolls or altered cd (or both!) and I will send one out to you with a package of other little artful blessings. This is 100% free and I destroy your mailing address once I have sent out the package. You may also request these blessing packages to be sent to others if you so desire. Have a friend or family member who needs a little kind creativity in their life right now? Let me share a little artful love with them!

Woohoo! I can’t express how thrilled I am to feel the magic of this project flow through me again. At this time I have about 50 goddess paper dolls and 100 altered cd’s. If there is enough interest, I could easily make more.

*If you’re curious as to why the Conspiracy went into hibernation, the primary reason is that I ended my marriage at the end of last year and needed to focus on my own healing for awhile. I am very authentic about honoring my emotional spaces. This project isn’t about feeling obligated to give, it’s about being inspired to give from my genuine love for my fellow humans. I let myself take a break until I felt like I could give from my most authentic places. I’m so happy to feel like I can do that now!

In the Mainstream

2006-12-04T20:06:00.000-08:00

The concept of paying it forward has gotten some major press lately. Oprah did her greatest giveaway ever and had 300+ people perform random acts of kindness with $1000 cash cards. Some people leveraged that money into hundreds of thousands of dollars for people in need. Check out some of the videos if you have the time.

The other shocking pay-it-forward story is coming from none other than Starbuck's Coffee. They are handing out Cheer Passes and encouraging people to perform random acts of kindness this holiday season and share their stories. The started the campaign by giving away metro passes in NYC, movie passes in Chicago, and other acts of generosity in cities around the country. If a company is going to spend a lot of money on an ad campaign, why not have it revolve around generosity so it has a greater impact.

Wisdom

2006-11-18T01:31:00.000-08:00

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy."
Rabindranath Tagore

Campaign for Love and Forgiveness

2006-11-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

“Kindness in words creates confidence, kindness in thinking creates profoundness, kindness in giving creates love.” — Lao Tzu

Check out the Fetzer Institute's Campaign for Love and Forgiveness, which is taking place in partnership with several PBS affiliates, including the one in my town. Visit loveandforgive.gather.com and join others who want to contribute to a more loving and forgiving world.

Treasure Boxes

2006-11-09T10:46:00.000-08:00

In a previous post I talked about the gift "treasure" boxes I've been making for my coworkers, which include artfully presented notes from everyone who wanted to share an appreciative or inspirational thought with the recipient. I just had everyone email me their note and I added color images, printed them out on parchment paper, and cut them to fit inside the box. These are images of the last two boxes I've made. This is what I'd like to offer as a gift service to others...making a unique box for each recipient based on their favorite colors, textures, etc. and coordinating the messages from a group of people like a family, coworkers, friends, etc. I was thinking how awesome it would be to do them for teen girls and have all the women in their lives write them messages of wisdom about womanhood. Or a family in grief could be given a box of inspiration and hope to turn to for support in dark moments. There are so many reasons these boxes could work as amazing gifts to connect people to the supportive communities that surround them. I'm just not sure how to market them.

Flowing Again

2006-10-31T18:42:00.000-08:00

I put together and shipped out about 15 blesssing packages yesterday. It felt so amazingly wonderful to get into the creative flow again!

I finally followed through on my art gift idea of putting together a "treasure box" for someone that contains loving thoughts from the people in their life. I made one for my boss for her birthday and invited everyone in the agency to submit something thoughtful or inspirational so that she'd having something to turn to on difficult days when she wonders why she chose to be our Executive Director. I printed out people's thoughts with accompanying art on parchment paper and decorated a wooden box in her favorite colors. I put one of my digital mandalas in matching colors on the box's cover.

Someone in the agency came to me today and requested another one for one of our co-workers who is moving on to something new professionally. I love the fact that not only do I have a great job with a wonderful organization, I am working with people who inspire and appreciate my most authentic creative and generous impulses as well.

I am wondering if there is a market out there for this gift idea. People could request a box and coordinate getting thoughts from those who know the recipient to me by email. In less than two weeks, I could send them a unique box with the thoughts artfully presented inside. What I love about the idea is that it involves people on a personal level, but it doesn't have too much pressure and it wouldn't cost much compared to the emotional value it would hold. Some people just choose inspirational quotes or a very short note of appreciation. It doesn't really matter what people write, just that they've taken the time to acknowledge this person's importance in their life.

Maybe I'll flesh out the idea and make a link on the blog for people who might be interested in such a thing.

Resurrection

2006-10-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

“Every object and being in the universe is a jar
overflowing with wisdom and beauty,
a drop of the Tigris that cannot be contained by any skin.
Every jarful spills and makes the earth more shining,
as though covered in satin…

Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it.
It will turn to gold. Resurrection will be now.
Every moment, a new beauty.” Rumi

I am bringing The Conspiracy back to life. My soul has been hungry for the gifts of this service. I miss connecting with people. I miss having something to look forward to creatively.

My soul required some time to hibernate during a period of intense transformation. The process is not over, but I am feeling called to act on the transformations I've made so far and move forward with my creative life. Right now, The Conspiracy is the primary outlet for my creativity.
If you made a request in the last couple of months that has not been filled, please know that I am working on following through with every request I've received.

If you'd like to make a request, please do knowing that I am fully present again.

Thank you for your patience and understanding,
The Conspirator

Failure and Re-evaluation

2006-09-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

I have failed in that I have allowed life to take over and I stopped living the intentions I had for this project. I have let a few people down by not sending them what I said I would. I hope to catch up this weekend, but I have been distracted by the possibilities of a whole new project that leads in a completely different direction. Which is where the re-evaluation comes in. I'm just not sure where I stand with continuing this project right now. I need to see where this other path leads and if I can commit to both with my limited resources.

If you've made a request that hasn't been filled, please accept my apology and know that I will follow through on the commitments I have made.

Lovely Generosity Story

2006-08-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

There was once a wise woman traveling in the mountains who found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and she opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked if she might give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But only a few days later he came back to return the stone to the woman who had given it to him.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I'm giving it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. I want you to give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone." -Author Unknown

An Example of Generosity at Work

2006-08-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.freewheelchairmission.org/

Wow! (On Receiving Generosity)

2006-08-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

I've been on a journey to truly understand generosity this last year. Most of my lessons have come from learning how generosity is necessary to my bliss. I am learning how much I truly have to give and how deeply I desire to give all I have. In the last 24 hours I have received multiple lessons in receiving generosity. So many that I am in shock and awe of my bountiful blessings.

It started with my new boss telling me she plans to give me a bonus for my creative work on the agency's annual report. I have never been paid as a professional for my creative skills before. And I already have a hard time feeling comfortable with getting paid to do something I love so much. Playing with art on my computer is a hobby, not a job. Until now. This is big validation. And brings up big doubts about my worthiness to be financially acknowledged for my artistic abilities.

Then, when my mama-writer friends found out I was leaving to drive my son to the airport in San Francisco (250 miles away) at 2 a.m. on Saturday because we can't afford a hotel, one of them made a hotel reservation for me and gave me the cash to pay for it, as well as extra for food and fun, all under the auspices of a "late birthday gift." I've never had a friend do something like that for me in my life. Another in the group gave me a cash gift so we can take my daughter to the Exploratorium and aquarium because she's never had city fun even though her older brother has several times and is now off to Guatemala for a week with my sister (she'll get her own trip when she turns 16). And another is letting me use her car for the drive because ours is in questionable condition and shouldn't go long distance. What had become a dreaded, stressful idea after the financial decline that followed a month long stint of unemployment, has now turned into a comfortable and fun opportunity for the whole family. I feel so incredibly loved--like my whole family is loved--and there really isn't any bigger or better feeling than that.

Then our kitty came home. He's been missing for over three weeks. We were sad and ready to give up on him.

Then my husband got calls for two job interviews (he's been unemployed for 3 years). This is a big, big deal.

And I had a dinner with a new friend that was so magical (paid for by a gift certificate). You know that amazing chemistry you feel with some people; the knowing that they are destined to be important in your life? This is one of those friendships. I haven't felt this kind of magic in a long, long time.

I am so overwhelmed with gratitude. But I am also battling old demons. It is really hard for me to sit in acceptance of all these blessings. Intellectually I know I have opened my heart and given much to the world on the Universe's behalf. Karma, the law of abundance, and many other teachings would imply that generosity would be returned to me one day. But I've never had it happen quite like this. This is big. This is what being loved feels like. What does it mean that this great blanket of love would feel so awkward, so unknown? Whew. I have some real work to do. It shouldn't be this hard to just enjoy being loved. But at least a lesson that comes from positive consequences instead of negative ones. It's a nice change of pace.

Lovely Poem

2006-08-12T01:18:00.000-07:00

ALONE & UNFOLDING
by Rilke

I am too alone in the world, and not alone enough
to make every minute holy.
I am too tiny in this world, and not tiny enough
just to lie before you like a thing,
shrewd and secretive.

I want my own will,
and I want simply to be with my will,
as it goes toward action,
and in the silent, sometimes hardly moving times
when something is coming near,
I want to be with those who know secret things
or else alone.

I want to be a mirror for your whole body,
and I never want to be blind, or to be too old
to hold up your heavy and swaying picture.
I want to unfold.
I don't want to stay folded anywhere,
because where I am folded, there I am a lie.

And I want my grasp of things
true before you. I want to describe myself
like a painting that I looked at
closely for a long time,
like a saying that I finally understood,
like the pitcher I use every day,
like the face of my mother,
like a ship
that took me safely
through the wildest storm of all.

Back in the groove....

2006-08-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

I am employed again. Yay! I started on Monday with a wonderful agency that provides community services to the elderly. The culture is everything I have ever dreamed for in a work environment but was not experiencing. I'm excited.

My month of unemployment proved to be a vacation at every possible level of existence for me (except emotional since we had a few minor tragedies take place). I did very little art or blogging or anything else that might be construed as productive (other than cook wonderful meals for my family since I wasn't burned out every evening). I think it was good for me. I can be a driven over-achiever and have some lessons to learn about rest and the value of not being productive all the time.

Now that I'm working again, I'm feeling reinvigorated and motivated to expand the reach of The Conspiracy. I have some new art projects in progress to include with future blessing packages. I'm catching up on requests this weekend. And I'm inviting the Universe to bless me with new ideas and opportunities to evolve this project.

Thank you for being here and sharing this space with me.

Blissings!

The Sun's Generosity (again)

2006-08-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

The contributor of the post below also sent this lovely poem by Hafiz in response to a previous quote on "stellar" generosity....

The Sun Never Says

Even after all these years,
the Sun never says
to the Earth
"You owe Me."

Look what happens
with a Love
like that,
It lights
the whole
sky.

Hafiz

On Blessing

2006-08-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Someone sent me this beautiful passage on blessing...

The Gentle Art Of Blessing

On awakening, bless this day, for it is already full of unseen good which your blessings will call forth; for to bless is to acknowledge the unlimited good that is embedded in the very texture of the universe and awaiting each and all. "Hold constantly as a deep, hallowed, intoned thought that desire to bless, for truly then shall you become a peacemaker."

On meeting and talking to people, bless them in their health, their work, their joy, their relationships to God, themselves, and others. Bless them in their abundance, their finances...bless them in every conceivable way, for such blessings not only sow seeds of healing but one day will spring forth as flowers of joy in the waste places of your own life.

As you walk, bless the city in which you live, its government and teachers, its nurses and street sweepers, its children and bankers, its priests and prostitutes. The minute anyone expresses the least aggression or unkindness to you, respond with a blessing: bless them totally, sincerely, joyfully, for such blessings are a shield which protects them from the ignorance of their misdeed, and deflects the arrow that was aimed at you.

To bless means to wish, unconditionally, total, unrestricted good for others and events from the deepest wellspring in the innermost chamber of your heart: it means to hallow, to hold in reverence, to behold with utter awe that which is always a gift from the Creator. He who is hallowed by your blessing is set aside, consecrated, holy, whole. To bless is yet to invoke divine care upon, to think or speak gratefully for, to confer happiness upon - although we ourselves are never the bestower, but simply the joyfull witnesses of Life's abundance.

When something goes completely askew in your day, some unexpected event knocks down your plans and you too, burst into blessing: for life is teaching you a lesson, and the very event you believe to be unwanted, you yourself called forth, so as to learn the lesson you might balk against were you not to bless it. Trials are blessings in disguise, and hosts of angels follow in their path.

To bless is to acknowledge the omnipresent, universal beauty hidden to material eyes; it is to activate that law of attraction which, from the furthest reaches of the universe, will bring into your life exactly what you need to experience and enjoy.

When you pass a prison, mentally bless its inmates in their innocence andf reedom, their gentleness, pure essence and unconditional forgiveness; for one can only be prisoner of one's self-image, and a free man can walk unshackled in the courtyard of a jail, just as citizens of countries where freedom reigns can be prisoners when fear lurks in their thoughts.

When you pass a hospital, bless its patients in their present wholeness, for even in their suffering, this wholeness awaits in them to be discovered. When your eyes behold a man in tears, or seemingly broken by life, bless him in his vitality and joy: for the material senses only present the inverted image of the ultimate splendor and perfection which the inner eye beholds. It is impossible to bless and to judge at the same time. So hold constantly as a deep, hallowed, intoned thought that desire to bless, for truly then shall you become a peacemaker, and one day you shall, everywhere, behold the very face of God. -- Pierre Pradervand