This is an archived blog from when I ran Conscious Public Relations Inc. from 2008-2018. Excuse the potential outdated-ness!
I often complain about lack of time to do everything on my to-do list, but this time I am grateful for all of the experiences I was able to fit in one weekend. Quality time with friends, family, and an event that aided my continual awakening. I found out about an amazing local organization, the Be the Change Earth Alliance, through the Executive Director, Maureen Jack-Lacroix, at a Climate Action event we both attended in the Spring. I signed up for their list and then in the Fall began receiving their news regularly. When I got word of a free Awaken & Change Symposium that was happening in my hood, I signed up right away.
The symposium was not at all what I expected, only because I had associated Be the Change with environmental sustainability from the event at which I’d met Maureen. It was a welcoming and structured four hours (though it did not feel that long!) in which we were introduced to Be the Change’s mandate (which is much more than just environment-related) and then went on a journey from learning about where the world is now to where it could go if we wanted to improve the Earth and our connection with the rest of humanity. Since I am a film buff, I really enjoyed the documentary produced by the Pachamama Alliance, Awakening the Dreamer Initiative, which was used as a tool for our learning.
I won’t give away too much else about the symposium, since it would be good to experience it for yourself. What I can say about it though, is that it is a great first step for those who want to start living a conscious lifestyle. Not just going green, but making conscious actions toward the kind of world you want to see. If reading the self-help books on my Resources page seems like a daunting task to you, or you are clueless about what some of the experts on the Oprah Winfrey Network are talking about when they appear on her shows, then this Symposium is for you.
Attendees ranged from teens to seniors, with all ethnic backgrounds, occupations, and experiences. Some of us were new, and some were attending the symposium again because they are in training to be able to run one on their own. No matter who you were, you were welcome. And we each received a beautiful gift of a bracelet made by Ecuadorian women to remind us that we are all connected in some way. I still haven’t taken it off, and I don’t plan to.
What I took away were two things that I wanted to action on in the next 24 hours:
1) Start shopping at Famous Foods: There are 2 supermarkets by my place. A large chain, and the locally-owned Famous Foods, which has more local products, albeit pricier than most places. Since learning about DOLE bananas earlier this year I had still been guiltily purchasing them at the big chain. Today I decided that while I may not be able to afford to do all of my grocery shopping at FF regularly yet, I bought organic fair- trade bananas from there and then went somewhere else to do the rest. So goal #1 completed.
2) Start an Action Circle: An “Action Circle” is Be the Change’s description of a group of people who meet regularly (every 2 weeks) to discuss something they would each like to action on in their lives. I had already been thinking of starting what I am calling a “Family Mastermind Group” since, in just a few months, I will be living under the same roof as my boyfriend, sister, and brother-in-law. I wanted us to be able to connect with each other every week or so to discuss something we all needed help with and how we could help each other. I have already told two of them about the idea, so it is just a matter of when it will get started.
The next Awaken & Change Symposium happens on Saturday January 19, 12:30-5pm at Hastings Community Centre, 3096 E. Hastings St. in Vancouver. I highly recommend it if anything in this blog post resonates with you. Register and learn more about Be the Change Earth Alliance.
Thank you to all of the facilitators who took the time to aid us in our awakening. This blog post is dedicated to you!
I hope you all have a great week and think about how you can be the change we all want to see take place in the world.
