With the election season fast approaching, we’re already hearing the painful cries of what divides us. Religion, race, political party, ideology, money or lack there of. Anyone from the outside looking in on our politics would think that what divides us will split us apart.
Enter, India.
This photo is one of my favorite snapshots from my trip to India, not because the sign itself is aesthetically pleasing in any way. However, the principle it embodies is a thing of beauty. India is everything. If ever we wanted to see an incredible melting pot, India is it. Its multiple layers of diversity in every aspect of human life are overwhelming. If you are looking for your pack, it is somewhere here in India. You will have to root it out of the quagmire, but rest assured your efforts will be rewarded with like minds who invariably know other like minds. Seek and eventually you will find.
When I asked Jose how so much diversity can exist in relative peace, he was a bit confused by the question. “We don’t judge the opinions of others. We may not like them. We may not agree with them. But we recognize that they have a right to exist. I believe what I want to believe and so can others. All others.”
I’ve been a supporter of GOOD for several years. Fresh out of business school, I moved to New York in 2007 and became intensely interested in social entrepreneurship. Poking around online, I stumbled across a fairly new publication that described itself as “a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward. Since 2006 we’ve been making a magazine, videos, and events for people who give a damn.” That was GOOD enough for me. I’ve been on their mailing list ever since.
They are teaming up again with L’Oreal to present the Women of Worth Program to “celebrate women for their contributions to their communities.” In a time when our communities have so much need and so many people who want to make a difference, this program shines a light on those who serve as an inspiration for all of us.
This year, ten amazing women will be chosen from your nominations to win $10,000 for their nonprofit organization of choice. One national honoree will be selected from these ten to receive an additional $25,000 towards her cause. We all know amazing women – let’s give them our show of support for everything they do for all of us. Nominations close on May 31. Past nominees have been recognized for their work that includes everything from fostering underserved youth to finding cures for pediatric cancer. Learn more about their storiesĀ here and nominate a woman you know today.
Some of the community members of Hartley House who will benefit from the proceeds of the yoga class on June 7th
On June 7th, I’ll be partnering with Hartley House to bring more yoga to the Hell’s Kitchen community. I’ll be teaching an open level class – all ages and levels are welcome. I would love to have you join me. Here are the details:
Location: Hartley House Address: 413 West 46th Street, New York, NY 10036 Time: 6:30pm – 7:30pm Suggested donation: $1 – proceeds benefit the Hartley House After School and Summer Camp Programs
I hope to see you there!
About Hartley House:
Hartley House has served those who live and work in New York Cityās Hellās Kitchen since 1897. Its mission is to respond energetically and creatively to the ever-evolving needs of its neighbors regardless of their age, income, race, gender or sexual orientation. The programs include educational, creative, recreational, civic and social services. Their size enables us to be both flexible and personalized, and we are always alert to ways in which our programs and services can support or complement one another. Hartley House not only reaches out to neighbors of all backgrounds and ages, but also fosters ongoing connections with them as they pass from one phase of life into another. The well-being of each growing, changing person enriches the entire community. Every neighborhood is a complex web of connections among families, friends, neighbors, businesses and organizations. Strengthening these connections is their mission.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood, and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Over the last few days, I’ve been reflecting on how to rally a community around an idea that has not yet taken root in popular culture. I’ve been thinking about revolution, a revolution of consciousness.
It doesn’t get started with tactics, project plans, and the divvying up of roles and responsibilities. And it doesn’t get accomplished that way either. Each individual has to feel a personal sense responsibility for seeing that vision through to fruition. They have to want it from the very depths of their souls for their own reasons.
The New York Times ran a story over the weekend about Google’s efforts to increase mindfulness among its employees. The story, Ok, Google, Take a Deep Breath, featured Chade-Meng Tan (Meng), an engineer at Google and the creator of the Google team course, “Search Inside Yourself.” I clicked the link to watch a sample class on YouTube and I was both disappointed and annoyed.
Meng explains that he wanted to see a dramatic shift in world towards peace. Given the company’s policy to let all employees work on personal areas of research for a certain percentage of their work hours, Meng decided that the best investment of his time would come from figuring out how to generate world peace. It’s an insightful idea. What I hated about it was his conclusion that to get individuals and companies to care about world peace, we have to help them understand what’s in it for them. Meng went on to explain that no one is going to create peace just because it’s a good thing for society. They have to get something out of it on a personal level before they care about peace. We need to tap into people’s individual needs that make the objective of world peace an inevitable by-product.Ā
Gross.
I hate that conclusion. Is that what we’ve amounted to? A collection of 6 billion bodies who only care about themselves? I stewed on that as I ate my lunch, determined to prove that though Meng may be a very bright engineer, his conclusion on how to bring about peace was unfounded.
I couldn’t. I got more annoyed.
Thankfully, my post from yesterday on the value of having our personal philosophies unsettled was still top of mind. Why did Meng’s conclusion, one that I had a hard time refuting, bother me so much and what could I learn from it? Could I apply it to my own work? Was I already subconsciously already applying it to my own work?
A New York Times column that Thomas Friedman wrote for after 9/11. In it he explained that, “If you don’t visit a bad neighborhood, it will visit you. “ In other words, get out there and do something that’s good for you and good for others. The trick we have to benefit individually as much as we do collectively in order to get community efforts and acts of goodwill to be sustainable.
Environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility really took off when companies realized they could benefit financially and in terms of customer and employee loyalty. In these efforts, the win-win is what tipped the scales. We are beginning to see these same seeds planted in healthcare. Our current healthcare system is no longer sustainable, so we are beginning to see more emphasis on preventative health measures that give people a way to be well before they ever get sick. The same is true in education. We are beginning to see a proliferation of new channels for learning because entrepreneurs realized that they could profit from disrupting the traditional education system.
In all these examples, the answer to the question “what’s in it for me?” came into balance with the answer to the question “why is this good for society?” We need both side of the equation to really make an impact. Thanks, Meng, for stating the cold, hard facts, for not letting us let ourselves off the hook, and for showing us that we can make a positive impact on humanity by truly understanding humanity.
“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.” ~ Edmund Burke
We’ve got problems.
The environment, education, the economy, healthcare, world peace. These are big issues, and they only scratch the surface of all the needs of our community. It’s easy to trick ourselves into thinking we don’t have the power to generate change. It all seems so daunting and it is if we think of them as all or nothing challenges. But if we could do a bit, and perhaps inspire someone else to do another bit, that might be enough of a daisy chain to get us going in the right direction.
I won’t solve the healthcare system’s many ails, but Compass Yoga is helping people feel better in small ways on a day-to-day basis.
I won’t solve the public education complexities, but I’m working with the Joan Ganzy Cooney Center, the educational center of excellence for Sesame Street, as a pro-bono consultant on their STEM (Science, Technology, Education, and Math) video game challenge that encourages students and educators to create and use games as a means of understanding STEM concepts.
I won’t solve the economic conundrum, but I’m starting The Geronimo Project as a way to publicizing incredible work being done by entrepreneurs and people who take big leaps into careers they love.
These are little things but I care about them and the people that they affect, and that’s enough of a reason to keep going bit by bit. What little things are you up to that are making this world a better place? Keep doing them.
“1% of the U.S. population serves in the military; that 1% is protecting the other 99%.” ~ Ed Schloeman, Vietnam Marine Veteran; Co-chair Operation Warrior Wellness
I was invited by Kaitlyn Roberts at Social Radius to attend an event at Urban Zen in honor of Operation Warrior Wellness New York City. Operation Warrior Wellness has one, big, audacious – to teach 10,000 Transcendental Meditation (TM) as a means to treat PTSD. 550,000 troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, and it’s estimated that for every one of those vets 10 other people – family members and friends also feel the effects by watching their loved one struggle with this illness. 5,550,000 people – and those are only the ones who have been effected by our most recent wars. There are countless others from previous conflicts who have been suffering from untreated PTSD for decades.
Why our vets need our help
With 1:7 veterans returning from duty with PTSD, the VA is overrun with demands they can’t handle. Medications aren’t working. The suicide rates and divorce rates are through the roof. Drug and alcohol abuse is rampant among returning veterans. 40% of the homeless people in the U.S. are veterans. It is too expensive (approximately $6.2B biannually) and flat-out ineffective to treat veterans with PTSD through traditional Western methods. The VA needs help from another source; it needs a better way forward.
How TM may help
Since the 1950’s people have turned to TM as a form of treatment to reduce a variety of anxiety disorders. Some studies have suggested that TM has reduced symptoms from PTSD by 50%. Further research is needed to explore these initial findings, and The David Lynch Foundation is hoping to conduct larger scale research studies in the coming years. Practitioners have explained that TM provides a way for soldiers to relieve the recall. All these veterans want is an end to the endless noise that replays over and over in their minds. Russell Simmons, an avid supporter of TM and Operation Warrior Wellness, explains, “When the mind is still, the world surrenders. Our vets need meditation, not medication.” Ed Schloeman made a call to action by saying that, “We owe our soldiers their quiet time. They need to feel whole again.”
The David Lynch Foundation and The Urban Zen Foundation, the partners who collaborated to found Operation Warrior Wellness with the inspiration and passionate energy of Jerry Yellin, a World War II Army Fighter Pilot and Co-chair of Operation Warrior Wellness, have taken on an enormous task in beginning this movement.Ā In addition to helping veterans, The David Lynch Foundation also services schools, homeless shelters, American Indians, inmates, and at-risk children in violence ridden regions around the world. Their work is one of the efforts that is turning the tide to join Eastern and Western medicine together into a holistic healing system.
Learn more
For more information on how you can contribute to the cause of Operation Warrior Wellness, please visit http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/
Devastation in Tuscaloosa. http://www.stamfordadvocate.comLast week a horrifying set of tornadoes ripped through Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Arkansas. The pictures devastating, to say nothing of the stories behind those images. There were a lot of resources available for other recent natural disasters so that all of us not effected knew how and where to lend a helping hand and our dollars. I’ve seen surprisingly few for this latest disaster, and decided to share what I’ve been learning. Here’s how you can help:
– American Red Cross: The Red Cross is providing relief to people across the hardest-hit states, providing shelter and relief to survivors. To support these efforts, donations can be made to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Visit Red Cross’s website, www.redcross.org, or call 1-800-RED-CROSS to make a donation. Checks can be sent to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013.
– Convoy of Hope: Convoy of Hope disaster response team members, aided by volunteers who have contributed more than 3,000 hours, are operating a distribution in Birmingham, Alabama. Two additional points of distribution were activated Saturday, April 30, 2011 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, including a site at a Baptist church on the University of Alabama campus. Convoy of Hope distribution sites will provide food, water and supplies to those affected by the disaster. So far, over 1 million pounds of product have been provided or slated for delivery to the affected areas. To learn more about their work and how you can support their efforts, visit their website.
– Salvation Army: The Salvation Army has provided food, hydration and other services to more than 6,000 survivors and first responders in the southeastern United States since the April tornadoes. The Army will continue to do so in the hardest hit cities, including Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, AL; Cleveland and Chattanooga, TN; Kemper County, Webster County, and Oxford, MS and others. To support the challenges facing survivors, The Salvation Army’s Florida Division deployed 10 mobile canteens and a team of 30 volunteers and staff to assist in the relief efforts in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.
You can donate to the Salvation Army by going to their website, disaster.salvationarmyusa.org, or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY. Text “GIVE” to 80888 to make a $10 donation to assist the organization’s disaster response efforts. Or send a check to: The Salvation Army Disaster Relief, P.O. Box 100339, Atlanta, GA 30384-0339.
– World Vision: World Vision’s domestic relief team is preparing to deploy this Saturday morning from the Dallas area to Alabama and nearby states hardest-hit by last night’s storms. They plan to work with local churches and other organizations to identify families with limited means, families left destitute, or people who may have difficulty accessing other assistance. To support these efforts, visit www.worldvision.org to donate to call 888.56.CHILD (24453).
Alabama Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund: The Fund, part of the Alabama Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, provides additional recovery assistance to Alabama residents who have exhausted all other coverage provided by relief organizations, government programs and insurance. To donate, visit their online donation page.
Roll Tide Relief
My friend, Preston, sent me a link to this site that was sent out by the University Alabama and a link to donate to the UA Acts of Kindness fund that helps out students affected by the tornado.
From http://truereligiondebate.wordpress.comLast week I had the great good fortune to see the documentary Koran by Heart at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film tracks the lives of several young people who are contestants in “the world’s preeminent Koran recitation competition in Cairo, where Muslim children come from across the globe to perform in front of a panel of prominent judges. Contestants as young as 7 years old are ranked against kids more than twice their age for both their comprehensive memorization of the 600-page text as well as their improvised melodies.” It is a stunning feat to witness. There is one more screening today at the festival – details here.
The film got me thinking about how little I know about the Muslim world, despite my efforts to consume news until my brain can’t hold any more information. It’s so complex with so many layers. Even classifying it as “the Muslim World” is a disservice. The diversity among Muslims is so vast and spans across so many cultures, languages, nations, and factions. I was reminded of Dr. Lu’s saying that “you can’t understand the Eastern world with a Western mind.” The same is true of understanding Islam. It requires us to shrug off our biases and prejudices, and see the religion and its believers in their own light.
Why? Can’t we pretend that our heads of state will take care of this issue? Can’t we go on just living our U.S. focused lives without delving in to this other complicated part of the world that seems incomprehensible to us at first blush? Sure. You could absolutely pretend it’s not there. However, the world of Islam is increasingly becoming tied to our own national security, indeed our global security as a whole. There are as many as 7 million Muslims living in the U.S., and the number is growing – particularly in urban areas. 1.2 billion people around the world practice Islam. That’s a big, big number.
They are a voice in our society and that voice deserves recognition and understanding, just like yours and just like mine. Additionally, the religion at its core is a beautiful way of living. Too often we associate it with extremism and terrorism. It’s so unfortunate. At its heart, it prescribes a peaceful, harmonious existence and has much to teach us whether we follow its belief or not. Understanding the perspective of another always, always helps create a better world, and isn’t that what we’re all after?
But how? How does a well-intentioned, curious, Western mind begin to understand Islam and its place in the world? I wondered, too, and put this list of resources together in the hopes that it may begin to tear down the wall that for too long has existed between us. I hope you find these resources helpful.
4 Resources to Begin Learning About Islam 1.) Leap of Faith by Queen Noor of Jordan
“The moment we most often miss is this one.” ~ Robert Chodo Campbell, HHC
My heart is still singing from the Integrative Healthcare Symposium I attended on Friday. It felt so good, so nourishing to be in the company of so many people who think about health and wellness as a spiritual and a physical journey. I found confirmation in my beliefs that have largely been from my gut as medical doctors from the world-class medical facilities such as Beth Israel and top research universities presented their research and advocated for a more holistic approach to heathcare in the US.
We started Monday morning with a presentation by Robert Chodo Campbell and Koshin Pauley Ellison, two Buddhist Monks who co-founded and co-manage the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. We did some meditation exercises that have given me weeks worth of material for this blog and for ideas for my SXSW session that is coming up in Austin next week. They shared stories about their work as the co-directors of Contemplative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center, where I’m hoping to do some type of volunteer / intern work.
One of the lines that really hit me was Chodo’s quote above. We are constantly trying to get somewhere. This is not a new revelation. They actually joked about the idea that nothing they teach is revolutionary – it’s ancient wisdom. And still, as often as we hear it, we don’t always take the idea into our hearts. There is still so much opportunity to improve our awareness, to cultivate more gratitude.
They counseled us to take a breath, a full, conscious, beautiful breath several times throughout the day. When we finish a phone call, take a breath. When we complete a task we’ve been concentrating on, take a breath. And when our thoughts are racing by us, close the eyes and count 1. No complicated mantra needed. Just focus on counting to 1, over and over again until the racing mind, the monkey mind, calms down.
There’s a lot of beauty, a lot of blessing, right now in this moment. In every moment. Take it in; it’s yours.
I love the beauty and simplicity of the image above. It appears on the NY Zen Center’s website.
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Christa Avampato 