Not a very good one :)

Peace waves )))
Sean

1) Do you celebrate the 4th of July?
Yes, but mostly for the picnic food and fireworks.

2) Which do you prefer: pasta salad, potato salad, cole slaw or apple pie?
Potato salad.

3) Do you watch or read the news? (freedom is a global issue afterall)
Yes, I like the Daily Show and the BBC for news.

4) Do you vote?
Yup.

5) Would you have fought in the revolutionary war?
Maybe, but probably not since I'm not a white man ;)

Hello All

Jessica here.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July in the USA, our Independence Day. And this week our Friday Five is about just that, tea parties in Boston, fireworks, powdered wigs and sovereignty.

1) Do you celebrate the 4th of July?

2) Which do you prefer: pasta salad, potato salad, cole slaw or apple pie?

3) Do you watch or read the news? (freedom is a global issue afterall)

4) Do you vote?

5) Would you have fought in the revolutionary war?

Here's  mine :)

Now I'm going to move into the more personal as a way of sharing what I'm learning about these powerful areas, navigating the way to abiding love.

In the last couple of weeks, the clarity has been getting much sharper around my own relationship to insecurity in my lifetime, and perhaps many lifetimes. I don't mean to sound arrogant here, but I know that the work that has come through me is powerful and has helped many people to discover more about themselves, what they seek, and move towards awakening to their potential. This awareness has been with me since I was a child, though back then it would get me into a lot of trouble. I had no idea that I was working with fire, and that fire needs a strong container and a lot of respect in order not to burn me, the surroundings, or other people along the way.

Let me clarify -- it wasn't and isn't the power of intuition or Spirit or Healing that got or gets me into stuck places...it's nearly always some form of insecurity. And the further I walk the trail of healing and teaching, the more Awareness is cultivated, the more Awareness is cultivated, the stronger the force that hits against any illusions I'm still carrying, no matter the size.

Insecurity is one of the biggest illusions of all. It, at one time or another had me convinced I was unattractive, insignificant, not good enough, not strong enough, and just not lovable by anyone from whom I was wanting love and not seeming to get it.

Have you ever been out and about and noticed someone you found really really attractive, smiled in his or her direction, and got nothing in return? How'd that make you feel? Did you spend the rest of your time at that gym, restaurant, store, bar, club, or wherever working to make yourself appear more attractive to get the recognition you were craving. I have done that. And in recent times, have caught that reflex in-action. I have been working to connect the dots and notice how my insecurity can be triggered by outside events, and what choices I have made when I'm under its influence. Kind of like D.U.I, but more like L.U.I.I. (Living Under the Influence of Insecurity). Maybe we'll have programs around that one day! Maybe even "traffic tickets" for operating under the influence of insecurity! I'm being a bit funny here (even if only to myself), but maybe that kind of reinforcement would help us all wake up more quickly to how we live, think, and feel...and to begin to make new choices to see, hear, and feel the Truth, rather than what the voice or feeling of insecurity is trying to convince you and I.

In my adult life, one of the areas I've been most influenced by insecurity has been through the way my ego percieves my value. It has gotten this through how much money is in my bank account, what kind of people have been interested in me (or not) romantically, and what people say, think, and feel about me as a person. I'm sure I'm the only one here, right? Ha ha!

In the last couple of weeks, this study of mine has honed in on the area of my work as a healer and teacher. While I was up in San Francisco recently with the healing work, I was scheduled to teach my mentor David Elliott's Level 1 Healer Training Class. The registration for the class stayed steady at 3 participants, no matter what (the first and second classes had over 30 participants). I knew I couldn't afford to spiral into any ideas about there being something wrong, as that might close down the energy of the work entirely. I'd come too far to walk back down that old road. Though I did glance at it a few times! I decided to look at this particular class as holding some powerful teachings for me, and stayed engaged in asking what those teachings might be. And while trying to remain open, without preconceived notions.

I wanted to fill the class, and was reaching inside myself for the familiar energy I would use to do that...a combination of passion, enthusiasm, and something else. Well, the passion was there. The enthusiasm was there. But something was missing. What was it? And as I tried to reach for this "mystery substance", I felt my body contract, my throat close, and a very uncomfortable feeling move through my nervous system.

A wake up call.

What was this? What was going on? And if I couldn't use whatever it was, how would I fill the class?

What revealed and continues to reveal around this is extremely potent for me in my development as a healer, a teacher, and as a human man with a heart. What I've been seeing is that throughout my life, I've had a knack for motivating people and getting them to do or try things I believe in. What I hadn't seen was that there has been a strand of energy in the midst of my best intentions that would color people's experience of me and what could be delivered through the Work. And if you've ever cooked with the spice Saffron, you know that one tiny strand of it can color and flavor a huge stockpot of soup.

In my motivation of people to take a certain class, whether with me or someone else, there have been many times when this "strand" was present. This strand has a very masculine and somewhat forceful energy to it. So even when my heart has been wide open and energy flowing, when this strand was present, it would color the experience, and leave me wondering why this person or that person stopped showing up, or disappeared on the heals of having what they described as a profound, life-altering opening.

And there's plenty of training and development for this "strand" out in the world. Whole bodies of courses and coaching programs that have this feeling running silently in the background.

Let me back-track a bit. I have carried financial debt since I entered college and took on student loans. Several of the loans were absolutely necessary to get me through school. The later student loans were so I could have a nicer lifestyle while doing it. This is where the insecurity comes in. You see, growing up, I didn't really fit in. Though I didn't realize that it was my insecurity that was keeping me from fitting in. Not my looks, not my clothes, not where I lived, insecurity. This insecurity would drive me to say and do things that had an abrassive edge to them, and the abrassive edge would push people away.

However, I couldn't see it. The ads I saw growing up told me that if I wore different clothes, owned cooler music, went to the right restaurants, that I would be seen as good enough, and wanted. It was all "outside" of me. That's the illusion that kept me on the hamster wheel all these years.

The insecurity pushed me to do all sorts of things in the name of self-improvement, and most of it on credit! Now, I'm not saying that credit is bad. Just like that old saying about guns. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Credit isn't bad, I just don't think most of us were educated about what it is, how it really works, and in cultivating awareness around how and when to use it (rather than being used by our own insecurity through credit). It's interesting to me that credit cards are considered "non-secure credit".

What I felt when using the credit was stored or suppressed for later. Well, later is now. And I am here now to connect the dots, rectify the past, and share what I'm learning along the way so we can all move beyond insecurity to what we're really here for and THRIVE.

So coming back to that "strand" in the midst of my efforts. That debt that I carry was loaded with all the insecurity I felt throughout my life around my worth and my value as a man and as person. So if that strand was activated in my experience when I was encouraging someone around doing the work, because it was woven with insecurity, it would look for and connect with any insecurity in you and unbeknownst to me at the time,it would have some leverage to get someone to take action. Amidst the best conscious intentions for the highest good, was the subtle energy of manipulation trying to pull at the good that was trying to be created and elevated through the work.

This has not been an easy thing to see and digest. I have to walk very consciously and tenderly through this territory, cultivating even deeper self-love and neutrality. I have to notice how insecurity would rather that I not share and expose this side of my humanity, that it would rather encourage me to sink in silence.

I've gone too far down the road to be interested in either sinking or silence. And the more I step into the work, the clearer it becomes that it's much bigger than me.

It has been my practice to send out emails and make followup calls to people on my lists that I have worked with around the country before heading out to their city with the Work. Some appreciate the calls as they get innundated with emails and wouldn't otherwise know I was coming. Others were able to feel this strand in the background, and probably some didn't even know what they were feeling...just felt something uncomfortable....something they could quite name, that didn't match up to their great experiences around the work, but which felt nonetheless.....off.

What I have learned in relationship to David Elliott and this work is that my job around my humanity and seeing through my shadow is to know in my heart, deeply, that I am 100% good and loving...to keep putting attention on this knowing and let it melt away the vestiges of the illusion of insecurity.

A few weeks ago 40 of us gathered with David in the high desert of Joshua Tree deep into Joshua Tree State Park for a simple and powerful ceremony around a fire. Prior to the ceremony, he sat in the early morning hours and opened his intuition through hearing, and was given statements for each of us to make and have witnessed by the elements, the group, the desert, Spirit, Reality....here is the one I was given:

"Do you know how much I care about you, and you, and you -- and this work. I am beginning to figure out how little this experience is about my ego, my needs, how smart I appear, how many answers I have, how enlightened I am. I'm a seed, I'm germinating, sprouting, and growing now. I am beautiful!"

For any of you over the years and lifetimes who have ever in any way felt manipulated, cajoled, pushed out of my insecurity through any you may carry, I deeply, humbly offer you my apologies. I have only ever had the best intentions in my heart. I call that energy back to me, and to the light of Truth for it to be fully healed. May you be completely free from any and all forms of suffering and the causes of suffering. May you have happiness and the causes of happiness. May you know you are 100% good, 100% loveable, 100% LOVE!

Thank you Spirit, thank you David, thank you Mom and Dad, thank you to all my friends past and present, thank you to all of my clients who continue to be teachers to me, bringing in areas that I get to work with more deeply in myself...and I thank myself, for not giving up, for reaching through the pain and illusions of the past to Trust and Faith and Love.

Love,
Scott

You.

I'd like to get to know you, the creature sitting on the other side of the screen reading these words that were drummed out in haste by some obviously-earlier version of me.

I'd like to know what you're thinking now, and where you'll be going after your online respite is over, and what you're looking forward to. I'd like to know what you're concerned about and what regrets you've suffered in your life. I'd like to know what you need most, and what you want, and what it is you're here to give. I'd like to know where you're sitting as you read this, and what's scattered around you, and I'd like to know what connects you--what shared thread there is--with all the other 'yous' of this entry, past and present and future.

And yes, I suppose it doesn't matter; I'm not sure any human being can fully know another. Still, we can try, and still I suppose there's some delight to be had in this, that the quest for understanding can never be totally complete.

Can't wait for this!

Definitely hungry
and willing to be more patient
as everything really worth realizing
is already here
the more i relax
the more i smile and
let go
while remaining attentive to exchange
the easier its getting to see the Truth
right under my nose.
Ahhhh……
THANK YOU!!!
You are the storyteller now
each word
a note
passing through the
flute of the spine
chakras
the holes
breath awakening the
senses to recognize and allow
His/Her Light
to permeate and
reveal.


Scott Patrick Schwenk     June 19, 2009

This is hard for me to admit, but I so rarely feel safe. I used to think I did, and then tasted, once, and fleetingly, what it was really like to feel utterly secure and at home and relaxed.

I remember nearly crying at how foreign the sensation was, how alien and strange, and at how foolish I’d been to blithely preach my imagined belief in the basic trustworthiness of the world. I realized my regular state is more akin to a child, just given to hold the most delicately ethereal bubble, worried that a forceful breath or unskilled jolt would burst it. This is what the world feels like to me–so beautiful, and so transient, and so gently and briefly entrusted to us, or rather to our briefly-lived experiences. And even though the lack of safety I feel is not some deep insecurity, even though it’s more a breathless anticipatory tension about a certain inevitable loss, it’s still hard.

There are moments, though. I feel safe when I’m held; I have an almost troublesome need for physical human contact, and an equally troublesome inability to relax into embrace. I feel safe when I’m writing; I have an inescapable need to put into words the beauty I see around me, and a parallel worry about my attempts to share being rejected or just misunderstood. I feel safe when I’m present, but this, sometimes, is the hardest thing in this world to be.

Anna and I have an announcement to make:

On this, my birthday
as Anna and I awakened
we were inspired and birthed a new being
(not a baby!)
we have decided to write a book together
on love and the internet

look forward to it!

:D

Many Blessings

Today is my birthday
and I received a warm wish from Anna's daughter Natalie
who thanked me for loving her mum so much
I felt it important to post my response to share with others here:


I love your mum a great deal
and she loves me in the same way
Our bliss is very natural and spontaneous

In Buddhism there is the idea of compassion or "bodhicitta"
this means love for all beings
I think this is profoundly important in a relationship
and the actual "secret" to true happiness

For a genuine relationship to flow effortless and free
we must love both the other person AND ourselves in the relationship

We know that the joy we bring our partner
is returned to us many times over
In bringing joy to another
that is the only genuine way that we ourselves can receive the others joy

If we were to take a selfish view instead
and try to GET joy for ourselves from the other
by controlling the other and dictating conditions to the other
that is when it backfires

What we create instead
is an environment for a desire and attachment filled relationship
where the conditions no longer exist for love to flow freely

When we perceive that something is wanted from us
we feel used and objectified
and that closes down our natural propensity to give
How does it feel when someone comes to us
and demands "I want this", "Give me that"?
It doesn't feel right, does it?
There is no sense of gratitude
no expression of appreciation of the other

For this reason
we have the paradox
that the selfish attitude when manifest in relationships
leads to the very failure of the relationship
while the limitless giving to our partner
is what creates the condition
for our partner's limitless giving to us

Many blessings

On our first anniversary

Anna and I reflected on how we got here
and where we are going

One year ago today
I journeyed halfway around the world
to be with another human being
(hey, she's a hummingbird, why didn't she fly to me! :D)
whom I met here on Gaia
and fell in love with

Our courtship was followed here on Gaia
and we shared our wedding with all our friends here

My, how time flies
(even though it is not real :D)

We are 2 living beings who found each other
amongst these billions of other people
I met lots of other living beings where I lived
and so did she
but love isn't something predictable
it's very mysterious, isn't it?

One thing Anna and I know
is that our time here is short
as it is with everyone
realizing this
we must love each other
and love all others
to our greatest capacity possible
and inspire others to their own greatness
because in the end
loving others is really all that counts
This life is too precious to squander

Together
we are each others greatest teachers
and each others best students

Thanking all our friends at Gaia again
for celebrating our lives with us

Please go to Hummingbird's blog
and celebrate with her

My wedding vows are shown
Anna said her's spontaneously

From the Team bloggey :)


1) What music soothes you? (an artist, genre, song, etc.)
I love Carlos Nakai, who does Native American flute music. I also like the Killer's When You Were Young right now, played loud and cathartic.

2) Do you use scents for relaxation, if so which ones? (essential oils, bath salts, food, candles)
I love candle and bath salts with things like ylang-ylang and mint. I like cooking as creative expression, the smell of vanilla always gets me.

3) Do you ever get massage, acupuncture or do yoga?
I try to get massage regularly for health reasons.

4) Which friend(s) or family members do you go to for support and love?
I go to my sister and my fella Eric. I also talk to my aunt and uncle sometimes.

5) If you could go anywhere to relax where would it be?
Somewhere warm and beautiful. Maybe a jacuzzi with aromatic scents emanating or a natural place that's breathtaking. If I could be transported to fall in the northeast I'd like that too.

Hello Beautifuls!

This is Jessica.

This week we're celebrating the simple and peaceful things that make our busy lives more beautiful and relaxing. We need to take care of ourselves so we can care for others, after all! So, please join me in answering the questions for this Friday Five. It's my hope that we can share ideas and help each other take better care of ourselves and, as a result, the world around us.

1) What music soothes you? (an artist, genre, song, etc.)

2) Do you use scents for relaxation, if so which ones? (essential oils, bath salts, food, candles)

3) Do you ever get massage, acupuncture or do yoga?

4) Which friend(s) or family members do you go to for support and love?

5) If you could go anywhere to relax where would it be?

As for mine :)

Now, we have a little present for you! We're going to take you on a journey with the video below. It shows a single photo of a beautiful sunset over the water and has affirmations we've created for Gaia and Gaia Soulmates. It is intended for Soulmates users, so it's focus is on bringing forth healthy and loving relationships, but don't we all need that?

Seriously, this was recorded by our very own Jodi - with her lovely South African accent no less - and is so deeply relaxing. The first time I listened I felt calm and hopeful. I felt like I was remembering what was important and who I can be in the world. So please...take a deep breath, click play, close your eyes and enjoy.



I hope you are all feeling warm and inspired. May you have gorgeous, peaceful and warm weekends of goodness. 

Oh Icarus!
This flame that burns
so bright
blowing through
every chamber of your heart...
You must build
to these heights
Capacities like these
so rarely grown overnight.
Your yearning for Truth
pushes you to the edge
Your shadow,
yet unyielding
flares with the fuel of
these passionate leaps
costing you
costing you
costing you
oh so much
my dear.

Oh Icarus,
slow down,
the battle is already won
when you look with the
eye of wisdom
past the view
you've come to know,
You'll see,
You'll feel,
You'll KNOW;
Reality is much kinder
gentler and patient
than the world you've
let mold your every thought.

Oh Icarus!
Let the Truth reveal,
For she will carry you
like no pill
bottle
or sweet ever can.
She will soothe the ache
and give you a taste
of the home
the home you never left.

Flying so High
is the ego's game...
Burning you out
through need for
money and fame.

Oh Icarus!
Why wings of wax?
Spread the ones
Your Creator crafts
Within you,
and know
Your Holy Name.

There's only time
and no time at all.
Paradox can be
Your entry,
Or your
Most staggering fall.

Yes, Oh Icarus!
Open the wings of your Heart
Ride on the the
Currents Her breath

Know the Love you seek
release these ghosts of pain.

It's time to wake up!
It's time to wake up!
Oh Icarus,
It's time to wake up!

Scott Patrick Schwenk    6/26/09

Indistinguishable from magic.


Beautiful people of Gaia...

One of my favorite "laws" comes from Arthur C. Clarke. "Any sufficiently advanced technology," he wrote, "is indistinguishable from magic."

It's true, no? I'm amazed by the amount of magic I've witnessed in my own life so far... and I'm delighted to invite you to come experience a new variety of magic this July.

In a few days, MaestroConference will unveil the beta version of a new telegathering technology. As part of their launch, they're offering over 60 free trainings with luminaries such as Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and Gregg Braden. (The full calendar is here.)

My personal not-to-be-missed is Patty and Paul Richard's free Wild Attraction: The Energetics of Extraordinary Relationship, which will take place on July 9th. Patty and Paul are two undiscovered teachers with amazing heart and integrity, and I've found their work magical in its own right. But there are dozens of others to choose from, and I'm sure no matter which you attend you'll be impressed.

Also, I just want to say that I'm happy the launch is finally here. :) I was lucky enough to preview an earlier version of Maestro a few weeks ago. I found it more interactive and participatory and vivid and fun than any other online or virtual training I've tried--so much so that It was hard not to chirp about the news to others. Because of this, I understand why their crew is sponsoring this event. If you enjoy the experience as much as I did, you'll be bound to tell others, and so there's no need for any "catch" when you register--just a full month of free programs and calls.

Again, you can register (and find out more about MaestroConference) by following this link. Have a click, and have a look, and mark your calendars... July is going to be wonderful. :)

To love and learning and the crazy wonderful miracles we so often and so easily and so innocently take for granted,

Siona.

Dearest Anna, Hummingbird
Mother, daughter, wife,
teacher, student, giver or love, receiver of the gifts of the universe
lover of life
receiver of my love
my partner, my companion on this journey to the center of our hearts

Happy Birthday, my beloved
and thank you for being the biggest part of my life
This year is the first year
of our "triple threat"
your birthday, our wedding anniversary and my birthday
back to back honorings!

Together, we laugh and cry
sing and dance
tell good AND bad jokes
cook and eat
break bread (and eat it too, yummy!)
you are the yin of my yang

Thank you for coming into my life
teaching me
guiding me
sharing your past and present with me
giving me your love
and receiving mine

May we continue traveling this road together
bringing awareness and bliss to all beings (including ourselves)
uncovering the hidden jewel
of our true nature

I thank the universe for my beloved

E ma Ho

Only Now
You reveal Your face
has only
ever
and Always
been
His face...
The Love with which
You love me,
His love...
A thousand 'thank you's'
will never be enough
To paint the picture of
my gratitude...
And so I go onward
Spreading these seeds.

Scott Patrick Schwenk 6/24/09

Come, Spirit, Come…
Fill this pen with
Your endless ink.

Come, Spirit, Come!
Shatter the glass
In all the windows of division,
That Your sweet breath of freedom
Would blow through all
Dilapidated buildings of despair...

Come, Spirit, Come!
Reveal the Trust
Joy and
Truth
Contained in the
Seeds
The core of all
Your Holy Names.

Your smile on my face
Will open more hearts
Than a thousand
Lectures intoned
With perfected pace,
Rigorous study,
And a starry-eyed gaze.

Come, Spirit, Come!
Bring the Awakening
Part the veils
Grounding Your
Love into these
Traveled soles.
Coursing through every footstep
Ingraving Your invitation Home
Into sidewalk cracks
Splitting sidelong
In every metropolis

Germinating,
Sprouting,
Growing the
Seed of Creation,
In the compost of the mind,
Revealing only Grace, and
The Faceless Face,
No birth,
No death,
Just This...

Come, Spirit, Come...

Scott Patrick Schwenk 6/25/09

Hello wonderful people!

It's Jessica.

I'm happy to be here Wednesday welcoming our new Gaia members to this beautiful community. This week we're going to be welcoming two lovely ladies and asking a few simple questions about joy, learning and life.

Please give a warm round of welcome hugs to le soleil. She is a gorgeous soul who loves nature and beauty. Check out her stunning and artistic blogs! And, here is what she had to share with us :)

Gaia: What in your life gives you the most joy?  
le soleil: Being in the wilderness farrrr from “civilization” :)

What called you to Gaia? What were you seeking? 

I was looking for an online oasis in the midst of all the noisy,
controversial, superficial social sites where you have to have 100s of
“friends” to be “worthy.”  I prefer a smaller, authentic group of
friends both on- and off-line.  Gaia offers a wide variety of groups
and discussions, allowing one to interact at their own pace; I like
that.

What would you most like to learn, or what would you most like help with? 
My spirituality is sourced from nature and creating, but I enjoy learning
about others' spiritual sources and exploring together without anyone
imposing their “right way” on others.  This kind of environment creates
a safe, free space to share and explore…and undoubtedly, triggers new
ideas, thoughts…  :)

What is your favorite animal? 
I simply adore (big) dogs (like huskies, wolf hounds, German shepherds, Great Danes…)

Now say hello and give some love to Flowering. She's a deep thinker, like so many of you and loves exploring spirituality and doing yoga. Her answers are simple and lovely:

Gaia: What in your life gives you the most joy?
Flowering: My children and husband, Colorado mountains, sunshine, fresh air, meditation.

What called you to Gaia? What were you seeking?
Like-minded friends and a place to express myself and read others' genuine expressions.

What would you most like to learn, or what would you most like help with?
I would most like to just be my genuine self, thereby giving others permission or example to also be that!

What is your favorite animal?
Cats.

Let's spread some kindness and love and send our hellos to these fresh faces ;)

The Obama Administration will lend Tesla Motors $465 million to build an electric sedan and the battery packs needed to propel it. It's one of three loans totaling almost $8 billion that the Department of Energy awarded Tuesday to spur the development of fuel-efficient vehicles.

 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk behind the wheel of a Model S electric car in March.

The loans are the first awarded under the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program to help automakers offset the cost of retooling to build eco-friendlier cars that are at least 25 percent more fuel-efficient than 2005 models.

"We have a historic opportunity to help ensure that the next generation of fuel-efficient cars and trucks are made in America," the president said in a statement. "These loans -- and the additional support we will provide through the Section 136 programs -- will create good jobs and help the auto industry to meet and even exceed the tough fuel-economy standards we've set while helping retain our competitive edge in the world market."

The Obama Administration announced last month that it is raising fuel-efficiency standards from the current average of 27.5 miles per gallon to 35 miles per gallon by 2016. Chu said the loans will help automakers achieve that goal.

Tesla said its share of the pie will help get the Model S sedan (pictured) on the road by the end of 2011.

"We are honored to receive one of the first loan awards in this program," company CEO Elon Musk said. "I'm confident we'll put the money to very productive use. We look forward to producing the Model S."

Tesla has long been counting on the loan to help it build the sedan it unveiled in March and had been in discussions with the agency for about nine months. It had sought $350 million to retool a factory to build the car and $100 million to manufacture battery packs and drivetrain components. Those packs and components will be used in vehicles built by Tesla and other automakers  most notably Daimler, which recently bought nearly 10 percent of Tesla to jump-start development of the Smart EV.

Musk said the money will be disbursed on a monthly basis. Repayment will commence within one year of the start of Model S production and the loan must be repaid by 2022.

"There are incentives for early repayment," he said, without elaborating, "and I suspect we will have repaid the loan well before 2022."

There's still no word on where the factories will be located, but Musk said they most likely will be in California. An announcement could come as early as next month, he said. As for the Model S, Musk said it could share components with Mercedes sedans now that Daimler has a stake in Tesla.

"There's a possibility the car will use a Mercedes-derived suspension and other components such as safety systems, crash structures, interior fit and finish," he said. "There are a number of areas where Daimler can be quite helpful."

Musk said Daimler's investment in Tesla coupled with the federal loan and revenue from the Roadster leaves the company "in pretty good shape" financially. Tesla has gotten the cost of goods for the Roadster  the materials and labor cost to build the car  down to about $80,000 and the company expects to be profitable in July, he said. The company has delivered more than 500 Roadsters and received more than 1,200 refundable deposits  at $5,000 apiece  for the Model S.

Copyright 2009 Wired.com.


GM Partners With Segway

It became clear this spring that General Motors was going to have to get smaller to survive, but this was ridiculous. A week after President Obama gave the company a 60 day deadline to avoid bankruptcy, GM took time out from its turnaround efforts to unveil the PUMA, a two-seat vehicle being developed with Segway that looked more like a rickshaw than a car.

The vehicle, capable of going only 35 mph and traveling 35 miles between charges, got lots of attention, but did little to change popular opinion about the company that had ridden large SUVs to the cusp of failure. On June 1, GM filed for bankruptcy.

Hello Lovely People,

It's Jessica.

It's my pleasure to offer you all an invitation to our Café Counter conversations in the Lounge. We've been posting topics to spur discussion and debate about ourselves and the world around us. We believe these kinds of conversations help us understand what it means to be alive on Earth today and how to make the world a better place. This week we're talking about modernity and simplicity. Here's our question:


Come read more and share your view with us in the Lounge!

I’m fresh from the the high desert (Joshua Tree) where 40 of us plunged deeper into the Work through the Level 4 Healer Training Class with my mentor and friend David Elliott.  It was my 3rd time participating in this class, and what an enormous gift to my life!  Every time I repeat one of the trainings, my Awareness around the work and mySelf takes a quantum leap deeper.  Two of the main areas I’ve been honing in on and studying closely are Boundaries and Insecurity and just how crucial awareness around them is to Freedom and Self Love, and ultimately everything in life.  Boundaries and Insecurity are deeply related....wherever you and I are insecure, our boundaries are likely to be shaky at best.  Wherever we’re insecure, we leak our personal energy, our life-force.  And in it’s infinite sense of humor, the Universe will keep bringing in people and situations to challenge these boundaries and insecurities to help shine the Light of Awareness on them so that we can have CHOICE.  With Choice comes Freedom!  

I will be focusing deeply into these two areas in all of the Work this week in San Francisco, and making sure to find the humor, share it, and have a lot of Fun along the way!  I figure that the lessons are going to come in, and I might as well have fun along the way!

From our Team bloggy

1) Do you believe in angels?
Sometimes. I hope there are angels out there watching over us.

2) What is your favorite magical creature? (unicorn, phoenix, gnomes, pegasus)
I like gnomes and phoenixes. Gnomes because they are little and homey like me and phoenixes because I am always aspiring to renew.

3) Did you believe in the tooth fairy, Santa or the Easter Bunny as a child?
I loved the idea of them, but I never really bought it.

4) Do you believe in fairies? (clap your hands ;)
Yes! (clap, clap, clap!)

5) Do you like fairy tales or fantasy stories?
I Iove them. I like the imagination, beauty and mythology.

Helloooo Lovely People!

It's Jessica :)

I hope you're having a beautiful week of wonder. I've been thinking about magical beings lately and fantastical creatures. I don't know about you, but I love the idea of a sparkling world of the unexpected and beautiful. So this week is about magic and the unseen wonder of life.

Please share the magic with us...

1) Do you believe in angels?
2) What is your favorite magical creature? (unicorn, phoenix, gnomes, pegasus)
3) Did you believe in the tooth fairy, Santa or the Easter Bunny as a child?
4) Do you believe in fairies? (clap your hands ;)
5) Do you like fairy tales or fantasy stories?

As for me...

It just keeps
pouring out.
Is there no end
to this
litany of LOVE?
This is
a wild
and merry
band
of Creation
spilling over the rim
of more teacups
than potters
can bake,
Creation
cooking us
each and every
One
into more of
what already
and
always
Is.
The floodgates are
Open.
The waters are
Rising.
The writers have
heard
His trumpet
Sound,
Letting these words
fall through the hands
into valleys of
the imagination...
Rip-roaring through
aeons,
waking the sleeping
into this...
This ecstatic dance
of the
Divine.

Scott Patrick Schwenk 6/17/09

With a Heart
Full of Grace
How can I
go wrong?

Where can I turn
and not feel Your
heat?

Drunk on your fragrance,
I stagger up and down the
stairs looking for that
one sacred flower
that will end
all delusion...

Oh that precious
and divine
savior,
budding only
on leap-year
or maybe it's
the last hour of
Solstice,
or could it be?
Could it be that
maybe it's just
those perfect hours
so early in the morning
when the world is still
free from the sometimes
happy buzz
of caffeinated contentment...
Oh yes!
Maybe it is those
sacred moments...

But where?
Where do I
find the formula
the special mantra
to unlock the gold
in these few coveted moments?

There must be
an incantation to
open the locks
on the wrought iron
doors to the Infinite...

Scurrying
Pining
Pushing
Pleading
Yearning...
Until the inevitable
forfeiture..
Giving in to the
seductive slumber of
anesthetized awareness.

"It's so simple,
with simplicity."

"The doorway to
My Heart
is nowhere
your eyes can look
your ears can hear
your tongue can savor
your mind can conceive."

"My Dear One,
as you giggle
and shake into
the most unholy
laughter,
sweating and
rolling on the floor
practically
and maybe actually
drooling on yourself
as the howling
hilariousness of
this game of
cat and mouse
comes crashing through your
Heart
and shows you My face
in the dust bunnies
under the couch."

"Will you let go now?
Or do I have to drag you
kicking and screaming
all the way to my
Joy, the only
home
you never left?"

Scott Patrick Schwenk    6/17/09

Do I? This was, I'm realizing, a presumptuous question. I'm not sure I find meaning; sometimes I feel more as though I create it, and some days, I feel, I'm better at doing this than others.

And this, I'm realizing, is a presumptuous answer. Create meaning! It's true, though--I weave it from the warp of the world and the woof of experience using the shuttle of language and words, just as you do, and just as human beings have always done.

Of course, though, my own little patch of fabric is worthless on its own. What I love is sometimes stepping back to see how it fits in the tapestry of the whole. Where do I find meaning...

... here, I suppose.

Carol Skylark of Light Torch Productions and Cynthia Sue Larson

"Artists are magical helpers. Evoking symbols and motifs that connect us to our deeper selves, they can help us along the heroic journey of our own lives."
- Joseph Campbell

Have you ever noticed how much more empowering it feels when you are aiming for goals that are not too big a stretch from where you currently are, compared to having a feeling that you are biting off more than you can chew? There is something very satisfying in seeing gradual improvement, especially when gaining confidence at mastering something we can see ourselves succeeding at doing. I love to consider the question "How good can it get?" to consciously become aware of what kind of future we can believe might be a possible future for ourselves in order to set goals and move forward to a future we believe is within reach. I feel most prosperous on days when I start the day with a meditation to envision just how beautifully well this day might go. This meditation allows me to move from feeling the energy of a 'just OK' day into a more positively energized day. In this way, each day becomes an incremental step onward and upward... a tiny positive adjustment.

Watercolor painting by Cynthia Sue Larson of hands around the Earth

This incremental approach is one which sometimes leads people to feel they're making slow progress, yet slow progress can sometimes be more effective than attempts to make giant leaps, as recent research on the topic of why positive messages hurt people with low self-esteem now indicates. While some people strive to state the highest possible intentions for themselves, they seldom consider the jarring effect that can occur when a person's stated intentions are terribly different from their statement of reality. Joanne Wood from the University of Waterloo found that people with low self-esteem who repeated "I'm a lovable person" to themselves felt worse than people who did neither. These researchers found that statements that contradict what people believe about their self-image are more likely to be met with resistance than acceptance, leaving people feeling even more unlovable than ever. While this finding might seem disappointing for Law of Attraction students everywhere, I find it tremendously informative and helpful.

Pendant by Carol Skylark

Keeping the concept of incremental improvements in mind, we can bring about improvement in our lives through positive affirmations by listening to our gut feelings, our hearts, and our heads... and communicating back and forth from the highest ideals to where we truly feel ourselves to be right here, right now. We can note what we truly consider to be a believable outcome for our given situation. Sometimes, we may find what we feel inspired to do from our pure gut feelings makes no immediate sense... but following our gut feelings and heart connections can provide us with wonderful rewards far surpassing anything we might even imagine for ourselves.

Carol Skylark and Cynthia Sue Larson with healing hands around the Earth

At a Sacramento holistic expo last month, I was delighted to notice that I was situated next to a woman I wanted to meet, Kathleen Robertson from southern California. What a marvelous synchronicity to find myself adjacent to the very woman whose photo had felt so appealing to me! Emerging from a happy state of reverent reverie, I began my morning by painting a watercolor image of two hands holding the Earth. This was the first time I had felt inspired to paint my hands, holding the planet, and I wondered why this might be. I left that thought for later as I became busy with people who came to see me seeking intuitive readings and life coaching. At the end of the day, I was delighted to talk with the woman in the booth to my left, aura portrait artist, Carol Skylark. I was stunned to see her wearing a necklace which was made of a stone framed by two colorful hands -- somewhat similar to what I had painted at the beginning of the day. Carol's name instantly seemed quite familiar to me, and as I leafed through the pages of my book, Aura Advantage, I slowed down when I reached the section of Aura Advantage where Carol Skylark is one of the two aura portrait artists I mention by name! I also showed Carol the watercolor I'd painted that morning of my hands holding the Earth, and she was stunned... telling me that she had recently painted a similar portrait back home in Colorado for one of her aura portrait clients, who had been holding a crystal orb in her hands and envisioning healing the Earth. Carol and I gazed at each other in awe as we recognized a connection far more amazing than either of us imagined experiencing with someone we just met.

Meditation: Knowing now that you can make incremental improvements in your life, allow your mind to wander and contemplate something wonderfully enjoyable you can imagine in your life that does not seem all that far from reach. Close your eyes and picture yourself feeling a bit happier, healthier, and more prosperous with this incremental improvement. Relax and enjoy this daydream, knowing it very well may soon come true!

Wishing you may discover just how good your life can be and has been,

Cynthia Sue Larson

__________________________________________

You can read more articles by Cynthia Sue Larson and subscribe to her free ezine, RealityShifters News, at

http://realityshifters.com

You can view the entire ezine this message was part of at:

http://realityshifters.com/pages/archives/jun09.ht ml

So, I just finished my second week of the Strength for Life Transformational Training Camp.  I started a week later than intended.  All seems to be going well.  I missed one FIT session, so need to buckle down on making sure that I go over my program each morning so that doesn't happen again. 

I'm feeling a lot of Love for Life right now.  There's a lot of uncertainty in my future, at this moment.  Yet, the stress that this may normally cause me is giving way to acceptance, bliss, and beautiful release.  Every moment is a reminder that I have control over nothing but my own actions.  I can choose to respond to life's obstacles with Love and Embrace and Healthful healing, or with fear and avoidance and shadowy denial.

If you are reading this, I thank you.  Really.  I have so much gratitude for your existence.  I know my life's purpose is to serve you.  It serves me when I serve you.  I'm considering getting my personal trainer's certification, so that I can share my own success and love for life and accomplishing personal goals with the world. 

But along with that, I want to hold space for you.  I want to honor where you are right now and the beauty in the fact that you want to achieve something more.  This is what I do for myself, and it brings me such great Joy on a daily basis.

My plan is to give free personal training sessions to as many people as possible while I work on my certification.  If you're interested let me know, and I'll let you know once I get started on my certification program.  My hours would be after work hours, obviously.  Hopefully, that would work for you :)

Hmmm... what else?  I'm sitting at Barnes and Noble right now with a Bill Bryson book on my lap.  Have you read any of his stuff?  This one is In a Sunburned Country.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to honor your beautiful existence, today. 

Isn't Life just an absolutely breathtaking experience??  I think so!