Today we bought a bike for our daughter Zoe, who just turned 15.  My first stop was Craigslist, where I found a gem of a find - a Raleigh Sprite 5 speed Cruiser.  Turns out it was an ad posted by Re-Cycle, the Minneapolis based second hand bike shop.  (www.re-cycle.com).

This works out very well for us because for openers we don't have to spend so much cash on a bike.  And since we bought from a shop we can trust we know that it has been tuned up and is ready to ride.  Turns out this was sold on consignment, and it's nice to know that we won't have to invest anything more into the bike for awhile. 

On a deeper level, we get to reuse a perfectly good bike rather than use our resources on having  a new one built from scratch (while saving the landfill a big hunk of metal and rubber).  I think it's important that we make smarter choices on what we do with our resources and I try to contribute to that any way I can.  And plus I am frugal by nature and always enjoy a deal!

In any case, for those in Minneapolis, check out Re-Cycle at 2327 Hennepin Ave in Uptown.  In addition there are shops all over the U.S. as well.  The owner and employees are extremely helpful and it's a nice, open, clean shop.

Interesting article on

The Decade of Global Transformation and the New American Evolution
March 13, 2009

by Curtis Lang

To view this online go to:

http://www.satyacenter.com/decade-of-global-transformation

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Money, it's a hit.
Dont give me that do goody good bullshit. Pink Floyd

I am fascinated with money.  I have been for some time.  I am curious about our monetary system and am always striving to learn more.  I'm not talking about what they teach in Economics 101, rather some deeper questions.

Through my exploration I've learned a few basic things about our monetary structure.  One that really stands out is that in order for our economy to grow, it is inherent that we go into further debt.  There's no way around it, it's the way the system is set up.  Think about it - every time new money is introduced into the market it does so with a price, called interest.  In other words, whoever is in "control" of money, automatically collects this commission, whether it is 2%, 5%, 10% or 20%.  And there is no good or service that is exchanged as part of this transaction, rather it is just a cost. 

What happens, over the course of time, is that this "interest" starts to add up.  So while there are always individual winners and losers in the marketplace, on the whole the market loses. It has to if it grows.  There's no way around it.  The more the economy grows, the higher the debt gets.  The better we do, the more we owe.  Strange, isn't it?

Until at some point this interest (which always leads to debt since there is no good or service exchanged) reaches a tipping point, and an "adjustment" is necessary.  An adjustment is when those who hold the purse strings decide to collect this debt and reel in their interest (thus taking the money out of the marketplace and bringing the economic commerce to a slow down or halt).  They can then count it, bless it, thank us for all of our hard work, and, if we're lucky, sell it back to us, with interest of course, pat us on our heads and send us off to make more debt.  

It's a cycle that continues and continues.  So we can go out and meditate on money (ala ‘The Secret') all we want.  And maybe we'll accumulate lots and lots of it.  But while we accumulate, someone else will be filing for bankruptcy.  It has to be that way, the way we are set up.  There has to losers.  Someone, after all, has to pay the interest. 

The farther along I follow the truth about our monetary system, the stronger the stench becomes.  I don't know who is at the top of this pyramid (and isn't this really the ultimate pyramid scheme?), and I don't know how many are really in the know to this manipulation.  My guess is the higher you are in the pyramid, while you may, too, smell the rat, you may be less inclined to ask questions.

On the surface, we in the West are perceived winners in this game.  After all, just take a look at our gifts.  Most have a roof over their heads, food on the table, a cell phone, a car or two, cable tv, etc.  But it is not the economy that brought us these gifts.  It's not capitalism.  It is hard work, ingenuity, and evolution that got us where we are today. 

Every generation we have new innovations, we are more efficient, we are smarter and we are healthier.  And every generation we acquire more debt. 

Used to be one working adult in the average family could provide contemporary needs, now we need two.  And that's a stretch.  How can this be?

Our marketplace is holding us back.  Our marketplace is sucking our energy.

But we are scared.  Scared to ask tough questions.  Scared to rock the boat.  Because an overhaul of the economic system will create uncertainty.  We do have a lot to lose.  There would be a lot of unknowns.  This is all true. 

So instead we go along with the program. 

More information:

http://www.freewebs.com/whosemoney/whatismoneyreform.htm

http://www.michaelsharp.org/ebooks/rocketguide.pdf

Bryan Bertsch is a Meditation Coach and Energy Healer in Minneapolis, MN.  Visit him online at http://www.bryanbertsch.com/.

 

I just read a headline on MSN.com that said the U.S. "War on Terror" is coming to a quick end under President Obama.  Is this for real? 

(see:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28807952/)

I have been a huge fan of Obama since waking up from a lifetime of political slumber, oh, about 6 months ago when Obama really started making headlines.  And this guy just keeps getting better and better.

The War on Terror had no chance.  Just like the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs and the War on Cancer; it was doomed to fail.  Wars tend to focus on the problem, instead of solutions.  Obama, so far, is about thinking forward.

What a shock from the Bush Administration!  (I lament that exactly 1/3 of my life has been lived under the "Bush Administration," whether it was Sr. or Jr.)  Where we once were led by fear and we are now led by hope.  When I used to watch Bush speak I could literally feel the energy being sucked from me, I am now filled with inspiration watching Obama.  Where there was darkness there is now light.

And it's bright.

Obama's inaugural speech was brilliant.  He was honest, forthright, inspiring and intelligent.  Being American actually means something to me now.  I take a look at my community and ask, "What can I do to serve?"  I feel a sense of cooperation and "we're all in this together," instead of "every man for himself." 

Obama has opened a space for us to call out injustice, to speak the truth, to challenge what we feel is wrong.  He is taking a hard stand for what he believes.  I do not sense any BS about him, either.  He is showing us grace and humility - and he is strong. 

Is this really our American leader? 

I am excited and feel renewed.  But it also means I have work to do.  No more excuses.  No more feelings of, ‘what will it matter anyway?'

It's time to get busy.  And I am thrilled to get started!!

As we were putting out treats for Santa Claus this year, with my wife Davianne, and sons Aaron (7) and Forest (5) we decided to leave a note of thanks as well.  Later, Aaron came out with his Panda Bear, a favorite stuffed animal of his, requesting we also leave this for Santa Claus.  I thought that was a sweet gesture, but I had mixed feelings as Panda was one of my childhhood friends that I had passed down to Aaron.  He has seen me through many emotional moments growing up.

As I was tucking Aaron and Forest in for bed, Aaron clarified that Panda was not for Santa, but for Santa to pass along to another child during his nightly travels across the planet.  So as hard as it was for me to let go of Panda, I decided this was a very sweet gesture indeed.  When we woke we found a note from Santa thanking us for the treats and thanking Aaron for giving up Panda - he knew "just the child for him."

We will be dropping Panda off at a local thrift store - not the one we frequent, just in case.  And I know that Panda will offer some lucky child a tremendous gift and I, like Aaron am happy and honored to share that this season.

 

Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina is a book that I enjoy and recommend to friends and clients.  There are many useful tools; some new, some already tried, that can help anyone move through self barriers and succeed in creating the life they want to live.

From a broad perspective, the books seems like a model Mr. Pavlina created from his vast amounts of information and articles on his website, http://www.stevepavlina.com/;  an outline both for himself and his audience.  My wife first stumbled upon his work on various internet searches and has shared with me some of his articles.  Before reading the book, however, I was for the most part not very familiar with his work. 

The foundation of the book is the three pillars Steve labels TRUTH, LOVE and POWER.  These three virtues create INTELLIGENCE.  I am so moved by this model that I have a created a triangle in my office with Truth, Love and Power written at the three angles and Intelligence in the center.  It is a great reminder throughout my day to be true, to love and to harness my power. 

He then weaves the concepts of Oneness, Authority and Courage with this foundation and applies these qualities to habits, career, money, health, relationships and spirituality.

I really enjoy working with these concepts in my everyday life - it has especially helped me in relations to my career (and challenges me to take my next step as a healer/teacher/storyteller) and my relationship with money.  One of his early exercises has the reader rank their career in different ways and it is quite an eye opener when Steve shows you what your rankings really mean.  I won't spoil it, but it is quite enlightening!

In the chapter on Money, it gives me yet another concept of money and its function and I think Steve hits the nail on the head.  It has taken me years to unravel old beliefs and feelings surrounding money, and Steve offers a great perspective that helps me connect with money in a simple, non-judgmental, healthy way that I will continue to practice.  I also really appreciate the difference he lays out between "personal value" and "social value" and how this relates to earning potential.  But most importantly he helps me align with ways to earn more money while staying focused on what I am contributing to the World.  This is very important to me and what I have been working on both individually and instilling in my family.  "What gifts do I have to share," and "How can I contribute?" are questions I encourage us to ask frequently.  Steve's book gives great tools and ideas of how to bring these answers into reality.

I also enjoyed the section on Health, another area that I am very focused on.  Steve and I agree that health starts at the cellular level moving through the individual level which contributes to community and finally onward to universal health.   Too many self help leaders forget about the importance of health - in diet, exercise, emotions, beliefs and spirit.  It all relates and is all essential to individual and societal evolution.

What the book lacked, for me, was that strong heartfelt "Aha;" that whole body buzz I get when I really connect to a spiritual truth.  The book felt "heady" at times, and Steve definitely focuses contribution in the form of external action.  This obviously fits his personality as someone who over-achieved academically and often succeeded in some outrageous action-oriented goals - many of which he shares and some which are not only inspirational but help move me out of old, comfortable patterns and encourages taking on a new challenge - and others that border on insane.  (I say that in the kindest way; one of my teachers points out that the line between enlightenment and insanity can be very thin at times.) Steve is big on the "30 day challenge" as a way of finding out your personal truth about a habit or action plan.  A great approach in my opinion.

There is a section that applies his principles to Spirituality, which is exactly the missed point.  Spirituality breathes through all the other principles - and could be applied as such.  Heart, Love and Presence are all talked about, but it most often takes the back seat to raw action.  This works for some, I am sure, and that "action" piece is definitely something I could implement more of personally.  But action in and of itself is not necessarily the barometer for contribution. 

All in all, I enjoyed Personal Development for Smart People and will continue to recommend the work.  Thank you, Steve, for putting your work out there.  We will all benefit from it!

Bryan Bertsch is a Meditation Coach and Energy Healer.  Visit him online at http://www.bryanbertsch.com/.  Bryan practices TRUTH, LOVE and POWER in all that he does.

Over the last eight months my wife and I decided to be more laissez-faire when it came to our three children's (ages 14, 7 and 5) television and computer screen time.  While we still were very selective in what they were watching/playing, we let them choose, for the most part, when and how long they could participate.  Our hope was that given the free range to choose their activities, they would find their own balance.  After nine months of this experiment, we decided it wasn't going the way we hoped. 

We found that watching show and noodling around on the internet trumped most activities, especially any that involved creative expression.  The kids just rarely got flat-out bored, which we have found can be a necessary precursor to a creative breakthrough.  It was always just easier to go be entertained.

Last week we pulled the plug on the computer and idiot box.  Besides some very weak protests (almost just like they were going through the motions) the kids have responded better than I ever imagined.  In addition to strict guidelines for the kids, my wife and I have also agreed to limit our laptop surfing adventures.  Our goal is to create more harmonious experiences as a family, and become ‘creators' rather than ‘consumers', ‘doers' rather than ‘watchers.'

Over the weekend the boys joined me in meal preparation on a couple of occasions and it was a great experience; one that never would have happened if they could go veg in front of the computer if given the choice.  On Saturday evening the whole family was in the kitchen creating dinner, and not only was it great fun, but the kids ate (and enjoyed) some food that they would normally complain about!  It's amazing that when they help with the prep how much more they're likely to want to try it and even enjoy it.

Last night the whole family gathered in front of the fire and had a blast creating picture cut-out collage puppets.  This was my wife's idea.  We gathered a stack of old magazines, several scissors, some cardboard, popsicle sticks and glue.  We cut out fun pictures, glued them to the cardboard and pasted a stick on them. It was a great way to spend time together and the creations were incredible!  The boys lost interest first, but enjoyed the fire nonetheless.  And it's a project that we'll continue, perhaps creating some plays to go with our new props. 

My heart is open thinking about this - such a wonderful alternative to me and my wife surfing the internet for an hour after dinner while the kids watched a show or played computer before bedtime story.  And this was just one evening.  I can't wait to find what other activities we come up with moving forward.  I envision a lot of stories, more art projects and lots of games.

I took the day off from work today.  It is a cool, rainy day, which isn't so bad since I have a bike commute of over 16 miles round trip to and from work.  I have masterfully chosen these wet days to miss work since I began biking in June.

One of the blessings of this day is just plainly taking myself out of my normal routine.  It offers a fresh perspective and insights that I normally  miss.

We began home schooling our children (ages 14, 7 and 5) last January so this fall was our first transition from "summer break."  (Our version of home schooling is very unstructured so the difference between pre and post Labor Day is minute.)  In any case, we have all felt the shift in energy from Summer to Autumn. 

I was so grateful this morning to spend time with my kids, leisurly doing some arithmetic with my boys in the morning and cooking some homemade hashbrowns and eggs for lunch.  My wife Davianne and daughter Zoe joined in on the feast - a quiet, relaxing meal that we never would have been able to share had the kids been in school.  It was magical!

The boys go to a great "after school" program at Linden Hills Park where they hang out with about 15 other kids from Kindergarten to 8th grade, playing games, doing art, cooking etc, leaving me with a wonderful afternoon to enjoy with my wife.

I have many things to be grateful for this Autumn...great food to eat, a warm home and plenty of firewood to enjoy over the next few months.  I have a healthy family, a job that supports us and a great healing and teaching practice. 

It's nice to feel this and use it during times of stress or disconnection.  A great day off indeed!

 

Last night my wife and I celebrated my birthday by going to see the Balkan Beat Box at The Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis (http://www.thecedar.org/).  What a fantastic evening!

Balkan Beat Box is led by two Israeli born New Yorkers who bring a Mediterranean base to a very eclectic sound, with hints of reggae, disco, rap and rock.  The music (and dancing) is as intoxicating as it is healing.  I have not had so much fun or been moved by music since my days following Phish.

http://www.balkanbeatbox.com/

The band brings the whole audience together in movement and sound and the experience was magical to say the least.  Balkan Beat Box consciously moves to heal the separation between the world and the Middle East and preaches to end our following of our leaders and to choose "not to play the game"(of war.)  And woven through those messages is an invitation to move and party and let it all hang out.

My experience was very deep.  The hypnotizing rhythms and tribal drum beats easily put me into an altered state of healing and release.  The shamans were present as the crowd danced the night away.  I felt a major release and a rebirth as I was present with my 36^th anniversary of my travels to this planet.

In my Interfaith Ministry Healing Ordination Program we are currently studying sound and movement as a form of healing, which really helped me open up to the larger essence of the sacred space that Balkan Beat Box creates.  I am inspired to use this in my healing practice and create more ways for group healings using music and dance. 

The seed was planted last night.  I look forward to seeing where it leads.

 

My two boys (age 6 and 5) are both blessed with my wife's skin - tans easily and rarely burns.  We have not used any sun block on them the last two years, and they are in the sun a lot.  For one, we are not afraid of the sun, as many have you believe.  But we also question whether putting pharmaceutical chemicals on the skin does more harm than good (or any good at all) - especially over the long haul. 

An interesting thing happened this summer.  Our youngest son, Forest, often goes without a shirt while playing outside.  But lately, he'll put on a long sleeve shirt or even choose to swim with a shirt on.  The more I thought about this it occurred to me that he is intuitively taking care of himself.  Because we do not make every decision for him he is taking that responsibility on his own.  He holds no judgment or belief (the sun is bad/always protect yourself), he just senses, on his own, that he may need protection.

This is a good thing to keep in mind in raising my children; holding a space for them to self regulate.  There are so many fears we pass onto our children, beliefs we have been sold at one time or another.  If I make every decision for my children's protection, how will they ever learn to tune into what their bodies really need?