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Like most people, I have been mesmerized by the spectacle of the current global financial crisis which has powerfully demonstrated the central influence of money in our lives.

The crisis revealed how money has developed from a simple medium of exchange into abstract and dangerous cybermoney, manipulated by central bankers, hedge fund managers and politicians, who are like the Wizzard of Oz operating a virtual global casino.

A recent trip to the northern part of Argentina took me back to the origins of money. In my travels I followed the general route of the Inca trail, along the Andes from the colonial city of Salta to Jujuy, and up to the Bolivian border.

This backwater of local economy, in contrast to the impersonal nature of global markets, reminded me that money was invented to replace barter, to facilitate exchange and to make a broader range of transactions conveniently possible.

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I was impressed by the diversity of products found in local bazzar-like markets, the locally produced garments (no Walmart labels), the many varieties of potatoes, spices, and the prevalence of the ancient quinua, the amino acid-rich miracle food of the Inca. While the conquistadores forbade quinua cultivation, it has made a come back due to it’s re-discovery in recent times. The Incas called this ancient ‘grain’ chisaya mama, or mother of all grains.

Another closely related word, Pachamama, translates into Mother Earth. The term is deeply embedded in the minds of the native people who have an intimate relationship with the land and relate to it with reverence. To my surprise I encountered their vision of Pachamama everywhere, in murals and collages made entirely of seeds and grains, in the names of restaurants and in write-ups on menues, in music, songs, ballett, poetry and books.

In spite of globalization, which characterizes much of contemporary society, I saw little evidence of imported goods, but when I saw Quechua women with bowler hats, colourful multi-layered dresses, with babies carried in a blanket on their backs, pulling out cell phones, I knew that communication has gone global and reached even to the most  remote places.

 

While the economic benefits and effects of globalization differ from country to country, modern communication seems to have a more equitable and empowering impact on individuals.

Among indigenous people of the Andes globalization is resisted because it symbolizes a homogeneous world where corporate profits take priority over social concerns. They have taken a stand and formed the Pachamama Alliance, which is focused on the protection of the Amazon Rain Forest. The movement has been strengthened by the FourYears.Go awareness campaign designed to harness favorable public opinion via social media. It reminds us that we all live in an interdependent world. I hope you will take a look at this site.

 

These efforts are also aided by constitutional developments. In Ecuador the government successfully argued that the constitution, which had been handed down from colonial times, did not reflect indigenous culture or views. The new constitution made Ecuador the first nation in the world to enshrine the ‘constitutional right of nature and the environment’.

I returned to Canada with the impression that these developments are like beacons, signaling a promising new fundamental direction for the world. It certainly makes sense to me to recognize and protect the natural assets of the world, because ultimately we, and our economy, are completely dependent on them. Without Pachamama (Mother Earth) there is no future for us.

Some historical events become enshrined in our memories. Most of us, who were around at the time, remember the acceptance speech of President Kennedy, the eloquent “I had a dream” speech of Martin Luther King, the  assassinations of both and the day ‘we’ landed on the moon.

We celebrate other anniversaries and holidays for their social, cultural, religious or historical importance. For example, April 22, 1970 was the world’s first Earth Day and April 22 this year will be the 40th anniversary.

This particular anniversary reminds me of my encounter with the environmental activist, Rachel Carson. After crossing the Atlantic by boat from Germany, more than 40 years ago, I arrived in Montreal with only $12 in my pocket but still resolved to see the world. Eventually, I crossed the Pacific on a Japanese freighter, explored Japan by bicycle and continued via Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon and Singapore to Colombo, Sri Lanka. I travelled on  trains and buses and hitchhiked through India, eventually arriving at Srinagar, in the lush Kashmir Valley.

There I shared a five bedroom houseboat on beautiful Dahl Lake with other globetrotters. We were surrounded by floating flower and vegetable gardens and had a Mogul castle as a backdrop.

The beautiful Shangri-La-like setting, calls to prayer from minarets and Indian music wafting over from the near-by bazaar put me in ‘the zone’. It was here that I had my encounter with Rachel Carson, author of “The Sea around Us” and “Silent Spring”. No, it was not in person, but the impact of her passionate descriptions of the ecological damage caused by the indiscriminate use of herbicides and pesticides, left an indelible impression.

Fresh out of the 1960’s the beginnings of Earth day were simple and often spontaneous, with ‘sit-ins’, ‘teach-ins’ and ‘be-ins’. Earth Day 1970 was all about public awareness and education. Small and large groups of people of all ages gathered in towns and cities, in class rooms, parks and community halls, and often learned for the first time about threats to the environment.

Last week The Green Party of Canada issued a somewhat encouraging statement, pointing out that many of the concerns of forty years ago have been successfully addressed. LIFE magazine’s April 1970 headline proclaimed "Lake Erie is dead." In fact, it is alive once again. Phosphates in detergents that were causing serious eutrophication in the Great Lakes were banned, as was DDT. Lead in gas was outlawed. Ozone-depleting substances have been controlled and acid rain has been greatly reduced by government actions in Canada and the US to cut sulfur dioxide emissions by 50%. American Bald Eagle population and Swordfish stocks have been re-established, and wolves are thriving.

However, while there is some good news, the ground has shifted. Following sixty years of dramatic post war growth in population, resource use and standards of living, humanity has to deal with financial, spiritual, social and ecological issues which have all reached crisis levels. There has never been a greater need for world wide public awareness, education and mobilization.

We are just emerging, numbed from the latest financial disaster, groping about for new guidelines. Without serious reform, new rules and new thinking to guide the players and watchdogs of the financial system, enfeebled economies will surely be hit by another calamity but will have fewer resources to weather the storm.

Change will not come from the bankers, the oil and coal industries or others with a vested interest in the current system. Politicians don’t lead, they follow! When enough of the public become engaged and insist on change, politicians will all rush to the front. More isn’t necessarily better! I recently read that people today have only half as many friends as they had fifty years ago. We are all rushing about, working more and being distracted by the latest technology. Meaningful change has to come from the way we relate to money and “stuff” and by correcting defects inherent in our economic thinking. Perhaps we should think about “sufficiency”?

I will be attending The Global Sufficiency Summit in Boston next month, with the hope that it might be a catalyst for the kind of attitude changes that we experienced after 1970. However there will have to be at least one major difference. We don’t have forty years to make the change! In 2010 the aim is to re-focus awareness and commitment with a time line of only four years.

Arnold is a local community contact for Toronto, Canada. For pictures of the  trip check out my picture album

I asked Thomas, my beloved colleague, how he was doing one snowy day as we mingled after our La Crosse Wisconsin Mayor’s Anti-Racism Task Force.  He said, “I’m good but it turns out that I need a kidney.”  Without barely a breath I blurted out “I’ll give you a kidney!” Then I thought to myself  “WHAT did I just say?”

Four years later Thomas surprised me at my Igniting Passion, Power and Possibility keynote presentation for Viterbo University.  He had run out of close friends and family members as potential donors.  With only minor trepidation I said “Let’s get me tested!”

An exciting and intense journey ensued.  Peeing in cups and drinking colonoscopy prep was intermixed with intense soul searching and handling the disparate reactions from family and friends.  While my body was being evaluated to determine if my kidney would work for Thomas and if giving the kidney would work for me, my spirit was seeking answers to the question “Is this mine to do?”

The deciding point came when I asked myself if my brother or sister needed a kidney – would I hesitate for a moment before saying yes.  Knowing that of course I would not hesitate I knew that this WAS mine to do.  My experience in the world is that we are truly one global family, so Thomas in a spiritual sense is as much my brother as my biological brother.  

My experience of the sufficiency of my body to thrive on one kidney was another answer to my question.  I am blessed with excellent health, shy of some minor physical annoyances like a noisy sinus condition and a need to eat a dairy, gluten, sugar and Candida free diet.   What a joy to be able to share something as precious and wonderful as an organ that will save the life of a wonderful man.  What a gift to be able to share my good health with a man who was really making a difference in the world.

I knew from my work as an activist that the benefits of being white and middle class were significant contributing factors as to why I was in a position to give a kidney and that part of the reasons Thomas was in the position to need a kidney was because of his African American and working class heritage.  The effects of racism and classism have profound implications for health and well-being.  It was my honor to do what I could personally do to make a difference in this injustice. It was poetic justice that Thomas was attending The White Privilege Conference surrounded by the youth he works with in his job as the Assistant Director of Multicultural Student Services the day he got the news that Mayo Clinic approved me to be his kidney donor. 

An experience of sufficiency or what I would call the enoughness of life was palpable throughout the whole process.  There was enough time, enough support, enough money, enough love and enough kidneys to make this miraculous event happen.  My partner Cyndi created a website to raise funds for the expenses not covered by insurance and family and friends dear to Thomas and I quickly gave enough money to cover all of the expenses (www.kidney4thomas.com).   There was enough medical expertise to pull off such an amazing feat as an organ transplant.  Thomas and I both had enough support during recovery and we both have enough health and vitality to keep fulfilling on our commitment to humanity.

Two years after the surgery, I saw Thomas at a Christmas Cookie Decorating party and he was simply glowing with vitality.  He asked how I was and I said “So great I wish I could grow more kidneys so I could donate one every few years.”  Then he had a very interesting question for me “Marilyn, do you really like sweets?  Ever since the transplant I have been crazy for sweets and that was never the case before the surgery?”  I burst out laughing as I had been such a sugar fiend all my life that I had to switch to a completely sugar free diet to maintain my health and sanity.  To give you a clue, as a 45 year old, my favorite breakfast was pumpkin pancakes covered with milk chocolate chips and topped with oodles of blueberry syrup.  All of my 5 year old friends got it – but the adults in my life said that would put them in a sugar coma.

In a culture where an experience of never having enough and never being enough is so prevalent, a kidney transplant between colleagues who may come from different worlds just simply makes sense. With immense gratitude and a deep sense of honor, you share – you share whatever you have extra so that you may live in a world of enough for all.

 

The Art of Appreciation and Acknowledgment

Strengthening your skills in the art of appreciation and acknowledgement

is one of the most powerful tools that exist for social transformation. 

We will almost always have more success when we praise, acknowledge, encourage and inspire people into their greatness

rather than criticizing or admonishing them for their shortcomings. 

So appreciate yourself and others frequently in multiple ways. 

Build people up towards what you know they can become and praise them every step of the way. 

 

Here are a variety of ways in which you can exchange appreciations

with others – in pairs, small groups and large groups.

 

Listening Pairs: 

One of my favorite ways to appreciate is through a listening partnership.

It works when one person in the pair is the listener and the other is the talker. 

The listener only listens and the talker spends the entire time appreciating,

acknowledging and building up the listener.  Then they switch roles. 

Since, each person gets the same amount of time; it can be handy to use a timer. 

Try doing this at least once a week in all of the relationships in your life that you want to go well

– family, friends, co-workers – anyone really. 

 

Appreciation Mingle:

This works for groups of people. Have them mingle around with the purpose of giving every other person in the group one verbal appreciation (and a hug if appropriate).

 

Appreciation Bags:

People create paper bags decorated with markers etc. (with their name on the front) and display them in a common area. 

Then everyone fills the bags with written notes of acknowledgement and appreciation.

 

Appreciation Sheets:

Have each person put his or her name on the top of a piece of paper and decorate the border. 

Then have everyone in the group write an admirable trait or quality on each person’s sheet to express what they like/admire about them.

Then have everyone sit in a circle and read off his or her own sheets by starting with “I am” and then reading each quality out loud.

 

Pleased and Proud Appreciations: 

Have people stand in a circle with one person in the middle of the circle.  The person in the middle says

“I am pleased and proud that I” and says a self appreciation out loud.  

Then, they say “I am also pleased and proud that the group” and says an appreciation for the group. 

If the other members in the circle agree with that group appreciation, they need to change places in the group

while the person who started in the middle gets a spot in the circle and

leaves a new person to give their appreciations. 

 

Appreciation Panel: 

Have people stand in the shape of a big U. 

Have people who are well appreciated in their lives been at one extreme in the U

and people who are not well appreciated in their life be at the other extreme in the U. 

Then have the half of the people that experience more

appreciation in their lives shower the other half of the people with a

standing ovation of applause, yipping and hooting and whistling. 

If the group is too sedate, encourage them to pretend that their favorite

sport team just won the biggest thing ever. 

Then ask the receiving half how that felt.

Then have the receiving half switch and now give the raucous applause back to the other half of the group. 

Mention how powerful it would be if we used the same amount of passion and energy

and resources we use to support the sports teams and celebrities we love, to cheer on and support

each other in our efforts to make the world a better place. 

This can be done silently by sending loving energy as an alternative (with hugs if appropriate).

 

Appreciation Jar:

Have a group of people write affirmation/appreciations on small pieces of paper. 

Write enough of them for one per day for the length of time you want them have the affirmations

- the next week, next month, and next year. 

Put these in a beautiful jar or container. 

Give this to the person as a gift and a remembrance of your caring. 

To make it look good, put the affirmations on different colors of paper and fold them into fun shapes. 

Thanks to Linda Seidel.

 

A Circle of Kindness:

Form a double circle with all group members, with one partner facing the center of the circle,

and their partner behind them (also facing the center, with their hands on the shoulders of the inner circle person).

The inner circle is asked to close their eyes, and only reply, “thank you” or keep silent.

The outer circle is asked to quietly talk into the ear of the inner circle participants, mentioning something important

that they learned from them or appreciated about them during the project, or a pleasant memory, or any other positive comment.

The outer circle then moves one person to the right and continues.

When the outer group has completed the circle, they are asked to become the center group,

and the process begins for a second round.  Source www.teamworkandteamplay.com

 

Taking Turns:

Designate one person per hour or day or week or meeting time and have everyone shower them with appreciations

in all forms (verbal. email, cards, singing telegrams, you name it).

You can also begin or end all gatherings or meetings with verbal appreciations.

 

Secret Supporter or Secret Guardian Angel:

Assign all participants to be someone’s supporter or angel with the goal of

thinking of creative and secret ways to appreciate, encourage, support and empower their designated person. 

Make this a secret until it is revealed at the end, or you may choose to not reveal the supporter or angel.  T

his works best over a period of days (i.e. a multi day conference or camp).

Touch Someone Activity:

This is my favorite way to do group appreciations. Use it with JOY. 

The activity offers an opportunity for people to anonymously appreciate others and

can lead to an increased sense of connection and respect in many groups. 

Visit www.marilynlevin.com for a detailed description of how to facilitate the activity.

Scroll down and see Acknowledgment Activity link on the left panel.

We received this email from Linda Robinson about the Holiday Report. She has some very enlightening comments.

 

She writes:

"This report is JUST what people need during this stressful fast paced time. Every year, things just seem to get faster and faster and it becomes a mad race to make it to and through the holidays and maintain one's sense of calm and the spirit of the season. It's as if someone turns the speed up on life and we are the sad recipients; with more things to do last minute, added obligations and responsibilities, last minute gifts to go out and buy and on and on and on.

 

All of this and we're supposed to be "in the spirit" of the season extending love and light to mankind.

THANK-YOU SO MUCH for this GENEROUS report on what people really need in order to take care of ourselves, this planet and each other during this crazy high stress season.

 

I SO APPRECIATE THIS REPORT.

 

I am more stressed in December than any other time of year...and every year dream of traveling to get away from it all. Reading this report gave me a new context and a new inspiration on where to come from and what really matters most.

 

THANK-YOU THANK-YOU THANK-YOU for bringing context, actual things I can do, and a place to stand during this holiday season. The place to stand and the context coupled with things I can simply add is everything I needed.

 

In gratitude,

 

Linda Robinson

Toronto, Canada

 

You can download the report here: GSN-Holiday2009-Special-Report.pdf

1) Transform your conversations – choose to notice when you are

thinking and speaking from a mindset of scarcity. Then give that up and

recreate your thinking and speaking from sufficiency. Get someone or a

group of people to commit to doing this with you.

 

- Join a Sufficiency Call Group,
- Be Trained to be a Sufficiency Circle Leader
- Participate in our Events and Free Sufficiency Calls
- Use these Products
- Use these Resources

 

2) Spread the word about Global Sufficiency Network and what we are up to.

 

Use social networking tools:
- Join our Facebook Group,
- Follow Us on Twitter,
- post about us and link to us.

 

- Hand out GSN business cards
- Write about us in your blog.
- Forward Global Sufficiency Network emails and newsletters to others

 

3) Contribute to the body of knowledge and resources for Global Sufficiency Network

 

Send us - blogs, articles, resources (print, audio, video).

 

4) Share what you are doing to spread the message and practice of

sufficiency and INSPIRE OTHERS.

 

We encourage our members and website visitors to take action to generate

sufficiency in their lives, families and communities.

 

The actions are as unlimited as your creativity and ingenuity –
- host a sufficiency swap,
- a book group,
- a play fest,
- a circle of sufficiency,
- a family gratitude ritual and on and on.

 

5) Connect us with other people, groups, organizations or businesses that

we should partner with.

 

We are actively seeking your suggestions for a broad base of strategic

partnering alliances.

 

Two organizations we are already powerfully connected with are below.

 

Check out their great “take action” lists

- The Soul of Money Institute
- The Pachamama Alliance. 

6) Offer your time, talent and treasure to Global Sufficiency Network.

 

We are seeking people who are willing to be local community contacts for

GSN in their area.

 

We are looking for help with the design and printing of promotional materials

 

We could use frequent flier miles and of course members/founders.

 

For all of these actions: Contact Marilyn@globalsufficiency.org