Looking around the world and at people’s lives today, there seems to be very little to celebrate, and even less, satisfaction.  At times, I even feel like “I can’t get no satisfaction” either.  Where our lives used to circle in communities that were local, today we seem to spiraling  out of control with the complexities of all things global. 

I want to do my share.  I aim to do my part.  I can’t help but thinking, “can it be that it was all so simple then”?  Simplicity has been replaced with a nonstop, endless parade of chaos and commotion. A world spinning out of balance in so many ways.   The basics have given way to the new ways of the world.  What are we supposed to do?

I have always been a hard worker, willing to roll up my sleeves and get down to business. I am the son of working class parents who worked two jobs each to provide for their children.  As a child, I could entertain myself easily. Day in and day out! I was a writer with a creative mind for making up and telling stories.  I was, and still am, a dreamer.  A believer who knows how to walk his own road.  I want great things for all people.  I expect the very best from myself. 

This year has reunited me with the joys of writing again.  The healing power of the moments spent alone throwing words onto a blank canvas.  The quietness. The simple ways words can touch lives.  The way words can weave a tapestry.  My 100 blog posts have been a journey that has taken me both back into my past and moved me towards my latest work.

On this Friday, October 1, 2010, I am launching a series of live sessions based on my blog series, “The Business of You”.  It is the point of my work to touch the heart, to provoke thought, and to stimulate conversation.  My work is only as important as the lives it affects. It is meant to be a starting point for interactivity.

My “BlogArt” project will be another point of view based upon my writing.  Artists, inspired by my words, will be creating amazing and beautiful backdrops for the posts I have written.  They will be choosing the post that speaks to them.  Their gallery sized canvases will give home to my work.  Knowing I have inspired them to create is awesome and humbling. 

These new projects are giving me reason to celebrate.  And cause for satisfaction. The simple joy of putting my words into action.

Imagine a convention where the participants were the planners.  The planners were the participants.  And the presenters were also the audience.  A convention that does not in any way represent anything conventional.   A convention that addresses our ever evolving human condition in a shape shifting world.  A place where we can come together to embrace the idea of creating effective change in our lives.   With a huge focus of fun and learning, the convention will be highly engaging and interactive. 

An Unconvention!

The Reinvention Convention will focus on the body, mind, and spirit! 

We will rejuvenate our bodies with activities like “forage and feast”, where we will explore the region for local and native crops, bringing them back to create our meals.  Our minds will be stimulated by events and games that challenge our fears and expand our skills.  Spirits will take flight as we get in touch with the ocean, stargazing, and tribal celebrations.

The convention will be organized by all those attending!  Each person bringing  a piece of the pie.  Field work will be required in advance to ensure that everyone arrives with a sense of where to begin their personal exploration.  A giant life skills swap meat will occur, where all of us will become  students and teachers to one another.  We will all mentor someone and, in turn, someone will mentor us. 

You can expect the unexpected as some activities will make your heart race.  Other sessions may find you needing a dry set of clothes… There will be music and dancing!  We will be reading and writing, together!  We will develop our personal style, learning how to incorporate it into everything we do.  We will discover how “everything new is old again”. 

Every moment of every day we are changing, bit by bit, little by little.  Sometimes life changes in the blink of an eye. 

The Reinvention Convention explores how those changes can be embraced. 

The Reinvention Convention celebrates change!

The Reinvention Convention breaks all convention rules…it is a game changer!!

Join me in Hawaii in February 2011……

Help me, help you!!

Just like infants learn to walk after a long period of crawling, so too, are we going to learn how to take baby steps in creating change in our adult lives.  The interesting thing about crawling is probably the unique perspective it provides…a view of the world from the ground up!   It is a time when we are literally grounded.  Not for long though, for each day we become one step closer to walking.

Although learning to walk comes with many exciting moments, there are times that will be challenging and discouraging.  For we will stumble.  We will trip.  And we will, of course, take some falls.  It is from the process itself that we will grow.  We will learn to stand on our own two feet. 

Creating change in our adult lives will come much like the way we took those first steps as a baby.  Amongst the breakthroughs, there will be set backs.  It takes practice.  And practice requires a time commitment.   Drawing upon all our resources, we need to focus on how to create real change.  Everyday provides us with the opportunity to begin anew.

Begin by setting time aside each day or week. This time will be used for exploring all the possibilities…looking at what is right there in our lives.  The things already present that we can potentially act on.  Looking at our lives from the ground up and from the outside in…inward at ourselves.  We will search!  Regularly!!

Remember, it is a process.  Before we  can walk the walk….

We must take “baby steps.”

(come back for part 2) “Who are You?”  tomorrow!