LeadingPossibilities-Spring 12: The Entrepreneurial Issue

leadingpossibilities the art & science of extraordinary

Spring 2012

The Entrepreneurial Issue

Tina Anderson: Life in the Groove

Poet Master James Benton

by Lori Anderson

Habits of Mind

by Tracy Saville

Resistance

by Eric Miller

by Jackie Dotson

Equanimity

by Michael Wilson

by Rich Pirrotta

Jackie Barretta: Conscious Business, The Conversation

Adam Reeder’s Sculpting Hands & Brilliant Mind Point of Connection

Be a High Performance Entrepreneur

by Kathryn Mattingly

Zanzibar

by Susan Bainbridge

Green Electrons Without Borders

by Tracy Saville

Billy Blackburn: Nothing is EZ

by Christopher Karne Frost

Permission To Be • Naima Mora’s Model Behavior • Kay’s Success Story • Green Electrons • Courage to Change by Pat Gyman • Eat Your Vegetables – A New I-Pod App for Kids • The Great Golf Metaphor • Kari Shipman • Fitness Columnist Brandon Daniel • A Poem by Tennison Long • Galaxy of Tar • Meet Dark Waters, The Series • The Stein Collection by Kathryn Mattingly • Kevin Kemper’s Conscious Tenacity

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Permission to be We have to give ourselves permission to be…well, anything. Guilt and regret are the birthplaces of the worst pain we can feel; guilty because we’re doing one thing, but we cling to the story we ought to be doing something else. Or when we feel regret for not doing something, for not taking the chances or the risks we should have when had the chance.

“If only” is a terrible whisper to carry on our lips at the end of the day, which is why in this our Entrepreneurial Issue of LeadingPossibilities the Spring Edition 2012, we ask readers to imagine a life where guilt is never experienced, because every bold choice and action is intentional; regret is off the table because no choice or action is denied; and the only thing on our lips at the end of our days is the sweet sting of permission we give ourselves to be every damn thing we had in our DNA and dreams to imagine. So goes the inner life of an entrepreneur.

Billy Blackburn—inventor, entrepreneur, and Grammy-quality singersongwriter makes for a very interesting and appropriate brick to build this issue around—a man who quite likely will change the world with his technology and music. Longtime friend of feature writer Christopher Karne Frost, who does a classic job of keeping his subjectivity in objective check with Nothing is EZ, Billy also helps us see the possibility for hunger relief. Frost doesn’t stop with his feature; he also gives us enlightenment fuel for thought in The Great Golf Metaphor and shares with us his visit with Rick Gott, filmmaker and visionary of the new web-series Dark Waters.

Lori Anderson graces us with a brilliant interview with media personality and fitness guru Tina Anderson (no relation), who by all accounts should be in everyone’s podcast round-up and life.

Then Lori talks to Jackie Barretta, a fortune 500 top corporate consultant 2

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who has literally written the book on consciousness and profit. Lori also shares with us two entrepreneurs – Eric Miller and Kevin Kemper in Point of Connection and Conscious Tenacity.

Lest we forget to talk Habits of Mind, which I do inside to remind us that there is a process to becoming good at being a conscious powerhouse—you can do it, too—and new regular contributor psychotherapist Jackie Dotson gives us the other side of that coin—Resistance.

And speaking of new—meet Rich Pirrotta—a seriously conscious and innovative mind who this issue helps us explore 3 key steps to becoming a high performance entrepreneur—and you won’t find these in an average run-of-themill how-to top 3 lists.

Brian Silverthorn tees up a nugget in Markers for you entrepreneurs –the ones where you crash and burn and the ones that remind you to do it right, while Senior Editor and our resident literary guru Kathryn Mattingly shares her short-fiction—the beautiful The Stein Collection—and also gives us a great peak into the poetic and innovative scribing souls of poet James Benton and author Chris Pederson (she’s made an app for kids to love that encourages eating their vegetables!). If that’s not enough I dish up the stunningly unique music of Galaxy of Tar, a new LAbased band who is fronted by none other than former America’s Next Top Model Winner (Season 4) Naima Mora.

Mora is about to be an author sen-

sation with her new book Naima Model Behavior™ due out in May of 2012, and who will be gracing our cover pages in June for our Special Artist Innovators Issue. Joining her interview and feature in the up-coming Renewal Issue—artist, media guru Ron Kendall.

Then we also give you Susan Bainbridge’s extraordinary trip to Zanzibar - look for us to showcase her fiction work in coming issues. We begin our green energy series, seeking answers to why more isn’t being generated. And finally, meet Brandon Daniels, our new fitness contributor, who helps us shape up in our entrepreneurial lives while Dr. Patricia Gyman – an inspiring new friend – who shares her personal story of courage. We also re-share Kay’s Story of Courage—a personal tale of hanging in there when it gets hard to do so and philosophy and consciousness path traveller Michael C. S. Wilson, who gives us high-altitude thinking about Equanimity.

Last but not least, we give you entrepreneur Tennision Long, who shares his inner poet, and I tell the tale of sculptor Adam Reeder—who knows what you’re thinking, feeling, and want to see, and then cuts it into stone with his hands and uncanny mind, showing us what it looks like to be one step ahead of everyone else.

Remember: permission to be is intentional, and you can’t be an entrepreneur or innovative unless you choose it, own, it, authorize it, and go for it with everything you’ve got. Thank God it’s spring. Permission to play… spring ‘12

editorialhonchorinos Tracy Saville: Publisher & Editor In Chief Tracy holds an MFA in Creative Writing, a BA in Business Management, and a Certificate in Negotiations from Harvard Law School. She is a serial entrepreneur who prefers to change the world when she builds a business, and once was an English adjunct professor, has a few start-ups in her past, and twenty-five years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience. She knows the inner-workings of a fuel cell, her son’s heart, a grand bottle of wine, and a perfectly crafted New Yorker story. Words are her thing. Waking people up is her mission.

Christopher Karne Frost: Senior Writer Features & Art and Music/Enlightenment/Extreme Experiences Ever seeking, ever gleaning what he can from those he careens into day-to-day, Chris Frost is recognized as he who will banter endlessly with you over a beer, and we like that about him. But what we really value is his razor’s edge mind and eye and ear for a grand story. Originally from Ohio, and Sacramento raised, he is a seeker of life and truth in all its soupy, complex consternation. May you enjoy his ride.

Lori Anderson: Senior Editor Family & Spirit/In-depth Interviews/ Community Platform, Advertising Director Lori has been marketing businesses in the high-tech, medical device, media, and non-profit sectors for fifteen years when we found her. As community manager for The Sacramento Bee’s niche online communities, Lori developed a passion for social media and online community development and went on to become a marketing and social media collaborator for multiple local entrepreneurial ventures and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Lori enjoys sharing these ventures with the community and acting as their ‘voice’. She is our special voice, and we love and respect the heck out of her for it.

Kathryn Mattingly: Senior Editor Book & Films/Fiction & Poetry Reviews, The Book Division Kathryn, our editor’s editor, and book publishing partner, is an accomplished and awardwinning fiction writer, editor, and creative artist, with a Master’s in Fine Arts and an educational leadership background. You can find her fiction work and her complete writer’s bio in this issue in her story The Stein Collection.

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editorialhonchorinos Stephanie Strong: Publishing & Producing Operations Guru

The things we know our clients and readers will appreciate about Stephanie?

She has natural perseverance, a dedication to her daughter as a single mom that is above all else, and she possesses natural energy, ambition, and competitive drive, always bringing to the table her beliefs in versatility, sustainability, new knowledge, adaptability, and social responsibility. Her life goal is to authentically engage in invaluable experiences and to travel the best paths possible in both her personal and professional life.

Susan Bainbridge: Eastern Hemisphere, Global Contributor

Author, blogger, and leader educator for 40 years, Susan has met the challenge of change in her own culture and in different cultures in which she has lived and worked, currently residing in the United Emirates. Her ideas and philosophy of transformational leadership go far beyond the rhetoric of simply a ‘vision’ and she can articulate the process in such a way that other potential leaders can understand the specifics and map out their personal journey to create and sustain positive change.

Because of her current locale, Susan makes a perfect traveling correspondent, and someone who can give readers a bird’s eye view of Eastern perspectives.

The Urban Hive Christmas Party, 2012: Hive members are writers, innovators, technologists, entrepreneurs, designers, creative artists, start-up junkies, fashionistas, marketers, and damn fine human beings. These are the people - this is the tribe we get to hang out with day in and day out...

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inside

features: the entrepreneurial issue

Nothing is EZ

by Christopher Karne Frost

On the Cover: Entrepreneur, CEO, Music Artist Billy Blackburn

photo by Nicholas Wray, BIG Party 2011 spring ‘12

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inside

features: the entrepreneurial issue

leading possibilities™...

“the art & science of extraordinary” PUBLISHER Possibility Publishing & Entertainment dba EDITOR IN CHIEF Tracy Saville

Editor’s Letter: Permission to Be

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On the Cover: Billy Blackburn Nothing is Ez

Feature and Department Editors Lori Anderson, Platform Partner, Online Community CoEditor In Chief, Advertising Director Christopher Karne Frost, Platform Partner & Senior Editorial Director Kathryn Mattingly, Book Division Partner, Senior Editorat-Large Art Direction Collaborators Ladd Woodland, Book Division Partner & Brand Genius

by Christopher Karne Frost

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Digital Design and Platform/Distribution Timothy O’hagain and Cathy O’hagain @ Artsream, Bryan Clapper @ Squire Marketing, Jennifer de la Fuente @ Rosebud Designs.

Design by Squire Marketing and News Services

Life in the Groove: A Conversation with Tina Anderson by Lori Anderson

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Regular Contributors/Columnists Shawn Murphy, Brian Silverthorn, Michael C. S. Wilson, Susan Bainbridge, Kathryn Mattingly, W. Bradley Swift, Stephanie Strong, Tim Saville, Brandon Daniel, Rich Pirrotta, Lori Anderson, Tracy Saville, Jackie Dotson Social Marketing Steven Bloom Go Time Marketing

The Stein Collection

by Kathryn Mattingly

Page 18

Habits of Mind

by Tracy Saville

Page 22

Operations Consultant (Director of All Things Details) Stephanie Strong Subscriptions Subscribe free to this magazine online at www. possibilityplace.net. For questions about advertising programs online: info@t2ps.com, or write to us at: 1931 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95811. LP is published quarterly (and with weekly editions for personal and professional slants) by Possibility Publishing & Entertainment dba, a division of T2 Performance Solutions, Inc., located in Sacramento, California., and found online at www.t2ps.com and www.t2ps.com/ publishing.

Submissions Those submitting manuscripts, photographs, artwork, or other materials to leading possibilities for consideration should not send originals unless requested to do so and MUST make initial inquiries via email to: info@ t2ps.com. We refer you also to the Content Licensing Agreement link found at the bottom of our site (www. possibilityplace.net) and to the “editorial” link off our main navigation there for current editorial details and dates or topics. We are growing and always looking for new, regular, senior contributors who in their expert writing share their unique and valuable perspectives with readers who see that very thing. Guest posters are also invited to drop by!

Unsolicited manuscripts and other materials submitted will not be returned. Corrections should be emailed to: admin@t2ps.com.

Please recycle this magazine if you print it. Please do not print if it is at all possible. We may not be able to save the planet, but perhaps we can save a tree or two.

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moreinside Leadership & Career

departments

Resistance by Jackie Dotson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Becoming a High Performance Entrepreneur by Rich Pirrotta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Marker by Brian Silverthorn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Conscious Business, A Conversation with Jackie Barretta by Lori Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

The Birth of An Entrepreneurial Enterprise by W. Bradley Swift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

24 Jackie Dotson Psychotherapist

Books & Film

A Peek: Naima Model Behavior™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

A Review: Poet Master James Benton by Kathryn Mattingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

A Meeting: Dark Waters, The Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

James Benton Poet

35

Arts & Music

Adam Reeder’s Sculpting Hands & Brilliant Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Galaxy of Tar: Naima Mora’s Great New Musical Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Tennison Long, An Unexpected Poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Rick Gott Filmaker

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Body

The Healthy Column: Staying Fit In An Entrepreneurial Lifestyle by Brandon Daniel . . . . . . . 44

Point of Connection by Eric Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Kay’s Success Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Brandon Daniels Fitness Expert

Spirit & Enlightenment

Equanimity by Michael Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

The Great Golf Metaphor by Christopher Karne Frost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Michael Wilson Enlightenment Traveller

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Purpose

Chris Pedersen’s Amazing New iPod App for Kids by Kathryn Mattingly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Conscious Tenacity, Kevin Kemper & Lori Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Courage to Change by Dr. Pat Gyman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Chris Pederson Writer

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Investigative Reports

Green Electrons - Our Series on Green Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Life & Style

Yes, I Did Visit Zanzibar by Susan Bainbridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Juniper James: First Main Street, Then the World: Meet Kari Shipman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

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Peter Swearingen Writer & Clean Energy Investment Expert

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Publisher’s Note: Rarely would a person who has actually experienced the scythe of risk’s promise in pursuit of their artistic or entrepreneurial dreams ever say that the process they had to go through to get to where they went was easy or painless. If they are honest with themselves, and others, they will use words like Hell, and dirty, and disappointing, sometimes even heartbreaking. Those who dare to tread where few go understand there is no free lunch, which is why we give you the tale of Billy Blackburn, a man who understands that no true dreams come easy.

Everything has a process to be understood, honored, and respected. The price of consciousness and high performance living is in the end, whatever you’re willing to pay in order to give yourself permission to be.

This is the mark of a warrior entrepreneur, the secret weapon of anyone who will make it not just through the worst economy we can imagine, but prevail and be living their soul-born purpose in the end game. I have met Billy Blackburn and

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solo, just a man and his guitar, rattling the walls of The Raven, to a recent show at Harlow’s in Sacramento with band mates Jay Trammell, Rod Simpkins, and Justin Barnes laying it down hard for everyone there, Billy embodies an ancient kind of soul, a hero I imagine, like Roland of Gilead, The Last Gunslinger, famed Hero of Stephen King’s vaunted Dark Tower series. Both had a destiny, a quest, much the same as King Arthur had in seeking the Holy Grail.

Roland’s quest was to reach the Dark Tower and save the treasured Rose. But there was a catch, as there always is, for quests such as these—the metaphorical Holy Grail of each of our lives and destinies—are not clearly laid

be satisfied, and respected. Everything, Billy would learn, works this way.

The Process has caused many an artist or entrepreneur to turn away from their path, their own tower, their own Holy Grail – but not Billy Blackburn. He who is the carrier of dual destinies, as an artist and a highly successful entrepreneurial businessman strides on; he marches forward, remaining true to his word and steadfast in his beliefs. How he got there and why it seems to be working is precisely why we chose him as our featured entrepreneur, as we honor our own expanded destiny as a publication with our eyes on the seemingly ginormous global mission of waking up the world to what’s possible for them.

“The ultimate destination lies within the discovery of one’s passion.” - Billy Blackburn I fell under his spell. The world has, too. So, we hope, will you.

Taking a turn into a difficult challenge, a man who has known Billy Blackburn for many years wrote the following story. Objectivity is not always easy under these circumstances.

Frost gets it right again. There is a piece we added after finishing this feature that deepens his story, taking it from local to global, in hyper speed. **** here are many in the Northern California area who have witnessed the evolution of his music and talent over the years, yours truly included. Billy Blackburn is a new kind of human being, and artist, and business success story, a man spawned by the realities of the world he lived and lives in, the opportunities and gifts he’s grafted from those who made, raised, or collided into him, and he is, most certainly, a force of nature that is both impossible to explain, but imperative to attempt.

From his days of striding forward

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paths of golden bricks terrorized by mere flying monkeys or Wicked Witches with an extreme water allergy. No, the greatest among us choose paths laced with the most treacherous of obstacles and wiliest of tricks human experience can concoct: it is all the dreaded and iron-clad process; it is all part of the game, and part of the deal when you commit to a life lived with serious intention.

Many a life, especially those of entrepreneurs or creative visionaries and innovators such as Billy Blackburn, do not navigate their chosen paths and find soft grins, open arms, or patient dispositions. The Blackburn-esque paths of relevant power are littered with crooked smiles, contracts to bind the soul, and the ever vile, ever daunting, always present - “Process.” A thing trivial in sound, even mundane if broken down, yet a factor every great leader understands. But gargantuan and most fearsome in its entirety as the entity that must be appeased, Process must also

Billy Blackburn is what is possible in each of us. And this is a piece of his continuing saga.

In truth Billy neither wields an Excalibur, or carries twin revolvers at his hips as Roland of Gilead did; nor are there the standard trappings of a rock star or brilliant business innovator.

No, this man named after his father William Blackburn—his irons, his tools of the trade, are an entirely authentic heart and soul, and a guitar and a pencil – one to strike his tune, the other to pen his vibe. It is in the juxtaposition of these two weapons where a developed sense of confidence in the logic of his rationale, intelligence, and instincts were either born or found. As a writer who has known Billy longer than my inner self, my instincts tell me it is both.

Yet seeing these qualities also expressed in between every movement, thought, and decision Billy executes (as he lasers through life with the precision of a high-powered 21st century missile)—I also know that everything he

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all photos by Mika Surf

possesses, he possesses because he has the will to trust what is inside; trusting both that which comes naturally and that which he has purposefully, sometimes painfully developed or acquired.

Being a natural songwriter Billy understands cadence and melody, and how to apply it to the written word, and further, how to add a riff and a beat, sometimes working from the words to the sound, but more so from the melody. He is a kind of inverted genius and works in music from the inside out.

In my naiveté I thought artists came by their songs first penning a rhyme and then setting a stomp and a beat - how very wrong I was, how enlightened now. Nature is definitely at work here, but so is something else.

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illy’s path has taken him many places, much as the Beams and mysterious doorways of a netherworld took Roland. From here in our big small city of Sacramento and then on to college followed by the Air Force; he was stationed at Lowry AFB for a year where his roommate Matt taught him his first 7 chords, then he finished out his four-year stint at Hurlburt Field in Florida, surrounded by sandy beaches and sunny skies. Billy then traveled to the snow-dusted cornfields of Omaha, Nebraska where he first found the time and place he needed to begin truly developing his sound.

His aunt and uncle Doug and Joanne Walters gave him a place to stay as he got on his feet being fresh out of the military, and more importantly – they gave him full range freedom to shout 10

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it out and play it loud in their basement.

Billy’s first rhythms were a concoction of country and rock-n-roll, played on the Fender his mother acquired for him while he was in college. His earliest musical identity, greatly influenced by his father’s coveted country tunes—Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr. and luckily, something a little less outlaw in Elvis to balance his repertoire—this was not a bad start for a boy’s ears or soul. And as the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; the great outlaw music legends were the affecting and molding experiences of his earliest musical adventures.

Billy was becoming a mighty oak as far as trees and music metaphors go. It wasn’t long before Billy experienced one of the first challenges of the music industry, where Process first showed him its voracious jaws. On the eve of our last interview, as Billy sat across from me, kicked back in an over-stuffed, high-back chair, he had drifted off for a moment, a little lost in the eyes he seemed. But I knew he was there, back in his first music class in college, musing the time spent, the frustrations and angst he had lived.

And he began to share the growing up stories. The great process lesson of his youth, the one that caused him to drop a music class and take on teaching himself to play (no easy task) was having to play, as his first lesson, over and over again -“Twinkle-TwinkleLittle-Star.”

“Jesus Frost, I hope I never hear that song again.”

I suggested maybe it wasn’t so terrible after all. Nah, he threw back. He hated it.

And so, Billy set to teaching himself (with earnest determination and an ironclad commitment to never strum another note of drivel again) to sing and play acoustically. He plodded methodically. The structure and discipline first

ground into his bones by his father, William Blackburn, and then further so by the Air Force playing strong roles in his conviction and strength. It would all hold true.

e talked about what we carried in our iTunes now, compared to days past, and were very much on the same page with AC/ DC, Metallica, Tool and Rage Against the Machine. Ironically, nothing of country mentioned at all. He spoke of Tool’s lead singer Maynard, who Billy classified as a “lyrical genius” and the interest he has in the ever-colorful biblical references used in Tools songs.

But the one artist who really sank his teeth into Billy was none other than Gene Simmons of KISS with his animalistic theatrics. The blood, sweat and screams set a fire in Billy that is far from being quenched. The rigorous discipline and respect for hard work Gene Simmons had helped inspire in Billy another interest, and would be a an entrepreneurial propellant that gave Billy freedom most artists do not enjoy – this entrepreneurial spark gave Billy money and time.

Time to work at a local hardware and equipment supplier of hydroponic growers, it would turn out, and time standing behind the counter of that store for over a year, listening to customers problems with cloning plants. The shop experience gave him access to pieces and parts and know-how, while interestingly, Billy’s mom, though he would not remember until years later, used to clone plants in the window sill in a glass of water, a process that was painfully slow, but one she endured because she loved the flowers in her garden so much. Perhaps unconsciously all of this helped fuse a question in his mind: How could one reduce the time required to bring forth greenery?

And this is when he first created a hydroponic system that could be used to not only expedite the growing process, but also clone your favorite, healthiest, most beautiful plants; roses, poinsettias, daffodils, tomatoes….

It was a system he had made in his garage about a year earlier through an intrigue with growing and lots of trial and error and experimentation.

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he hidden botanist in him emerged and subsumed everything else. Soon enough, friends of friends and their friends too, all wanted a “copy of his system.” And here again the light bulb burned brighter and he and his roommate/best friend and still business partner today, Brad Mickelsen, saw the potential – they got a patent and put it to market. In 2001, the EZ-Clone System was established,

Billy w/Mark S. Allen

and has flourished ever since.

UC Davis, the largest and most prestigious agricultural university in California utilizes the Ez-Clone system in their agricultural department as well as many medical marijuana facilities nationwide. Even the upcoming movie “Batman: Dark Knight Rising” has jumped on the bandwagon featuring the system in the movie. These systems are used everywhere in the aeroponic process. Say what you will about the use of marijuana, and at the end of this article we do, but this technology of Billy’s is also quite literally poised to save millions. He was recently contacted by officials of Ghana, West Africa where the shortage of nutrient rich land and immense populations have nurtured increasing interest in the system as it meets their demands specifically for how to feed many with limited resources and little time. There it was again: a beneficiary of following a process. Who knew the clipping of a few roses or buds might set such an idealistic mind to create what could feed and save the lives of thousands, even millions of people?

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Mickelsen and Jason Krueger (also Co-Owner), Billy and his team have not been idle. No, his profits go one of two places: back into the development and maintenance of the company, investing in the development of much bigger ideas, and toward his music - his undying true love.

Billy teamed up with another pal of his, Jay “Lego Man” Trammell, who had opened his own recording studio “Fat Cat Recording.” They quickly forged a lasting friendship, spending hours discussing melodies and click tracks. And it wasn’t long before Billy knew he had found another soul who understood what he was about, not always a simple task.

Billy laughed easily in our interview as he spoke of Jay and how certain he was that Jay must be an extraterrestrial space vampire vacationing here on earth with us lower life forms. He spoke of Jay’s life-long love of Lego’s and how he often refers to them when making comparisons with the building blocks of music and life - hence the nickname.

Time passed only a short distance as the aeroponics business took off when Billy recognized he needed to branch out musically, too, and so set to preparing hundreds of promo packs in his venture to become known and make his mark. Honoring the Process, he tirelessly sought out all the right people in Nashville, gathering phone numbers, addresses and emails to launch his attack – “Operation Blackburn.” His plan was to send out hundreds of media kits followed by personal emails and phone calls and set face to face meetings over a week’s time. Little did he know outsiders aren’t so welcome in Nashville, especially spikey haired kids from California. You add a hydroponic whiz kid on top of that and well…you get the picture.

fter three solid months of preparation, Billy flew to Nashville, prepared to work hard. He hit the streets where many famed country musicians have made their beginnings.

His temerity and persistence paid off and he set several meetings with the likes of Capitol, Sony, BMG and Mercury Records, to name just a few.

Billy laughed as we discussed his initial venture to Nashville. He further mused what a pain in the ass they must think him to be, and they hadn’t even met him yet. More likely, they understood there was something different in Billy, perhaps something special, thus granting this outsider their valuable time.

His first meeting was with Capitol Records, and proved to lay a common

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theme for each of the following meetings over the course of the week. Billy would stroll in, putting on his best smile, remembering mother’s teachings of chivalry and grace, and his father’s insistence of a firm handshake. His host, for whichever label it was, equally smiled and politely inquired of his interests and goals before drawing forth Billy’s CD, while assuring “I haven’t even listened to this yet.” Then they would turn away, putting their back to Billy as they inserted his CD for its “virgin run.” Their heads would bop a bit, maybe even a shoulder shake here and there, but alas they would each turn and with a smile state “you aren’t country.”

Billy recalled how when he was first told just how “country he wasn’t,” the office he was in had walls covered in platinum albums and photographs for many of the big country stars. He gleefully pointed to a picture of Keith Urban and quipped - “And he is?”

Billy and the unnamed agent shared a laugh over his amusing observation and moved forward. There it was again, evidence of The Process’ power, only this time boldly staring him in the face.

As the way of the world would have it, Billy was now unknowingly in the teeth of his most daunting adversary—“The Process” had taken over and it stood between his dreams and reality.

Each and every agent and representative for the labels he visited asked if he had gone through IT – The Process. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what the damn thing was, but he was confident of a few things. He hadn’t stepped in it, got it pregnant or smoked it, so the answer must be no. Billy began to get agitated as this Process business was coming up over and over again, and apparently it was not to be circumnavigated. For all his research and hard leadingpossibilities 11

work, here was an obstacle that must be met and dealt with head on.

The Dark Tower and the Holy Grail path keepers both have rules and qualifications that must be met before either may be appeased, and so too did Nashville, Billy learned. Process isn’t as straightforward as a checklist of ingredients to be measured out for a pie to be baked, any more than it is for plastic pieces to be cut, angled, sealed and glued for an aeroponics system. No, the steps involved first getting representation, as in an agent, and next becoming a member of ASCAP, which is a tracking system for paying royalties to songwriters when their music is played.

It is also a membership one must have

to advance forward past Step 2. The fact Billy had gained admittance to so many meetings without an agent or membership already was a surprise to many, his keen mind and savvy ways affording him the ability to skip Step 1.

But, it seemed, even a winged horse or inter-dimensional doorway couldn’t get him past ASCAP.

As luck would have it, there was an orientation coming up the following week for which Billy could attend if willing to fly back out. And of course he did, as he was making progress, and earning a few frequent flier miles as well. Being quite the socialite and purveyor of good times, he took full advantage of his return trip and tipped a few back with the locals the night before his orientation, as he was certain this would be a day of hardly stifled yawns and information to be promptly filed away under “who gives a shit.” Oh how wrong he was.

s he strolled down the hallways of ASCAP the following morning, taking in the gold, platinum and memorabilia surrounding him, Billy

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couldn’t help but think he should have grabbed a bigger cup of coffee. And as he sat and began to splay back into the only comfortable position one can obtain in a four-legged brass meeting hall chair, a lone man approached. Through coffee swimming eyes, Billy eyed-balled back the stranger up and down, extended a hand and got the greeting “you must be Billy Blackburn.”

“Uh, yeah that’s me alright.”

And Billy remembered—oh yeah—it was the young woman filling in at the reception desk of Mercury, she said something about passing his information on to her boss. Well holy crap, she actually did it.

Off they went to a plush office where once again, the CD was pulled free, another back was promptly turned, and more head bopping as Billy’s song “Take a Chance With Me” invaded the air, bouncing off the walls of yet another agent’s office. Billy looked about, noticing several guitar-picks on the desk, which he helped himself to. Why not, at least get a souvenir.

But as he pocketed the picks Billy also saw his host’s business cards and pulled one for his collection. Upon glancing at it, just before pocketing the contact treasure, he saw something rather interesting, for this wasn’t “just Mr. Big” after all, but the Mr. Big, a head honcho of the first order of ASCAP himself.

Billy told me, “I was sitting with the man, in his office, just him and me. This was all of a sudden a very big fucking deal.” I knew he used expletives to good ends, and always and only for appropriate effect, so when he uses them, I know he’s super-charged. And as he recounted his tale, the electric charge of his experience increased in intensity, and he told me about the moment when he had finally come face to face with someone who finally knew all about The Process.

And it would buy him Billy’s truth.

It turned out Mr. Big really enjoyed Billy’s music, but he too agreed, “It wasn’t country.” More importantly, however, was the fact he recognized what an excellent songwriter Billy was and told him so. Mr. Big went on to explain to Billy that his ability to internally rhyme is quite impressive, and the fact Billy does it naturally, makes it even more interesting.

Unbeknownst to Billy, putting a rhyme to a rhyme within a line is something most people need be taught and not just something that comes naturally. He and Billy discussed where songs derive from, and agreed it’s the heart and whatever greatest dysfunction one has, for therein will you find endless subject matter. Mr. Big went so far as to comment on Billy’s

hair and ensemble, and though he dug the look, it was definitely “not country, and no way Nashville.”

What he did next surprised Billy when he picked up the phone and called Bob Doyle, Garth Brooks’ Manager, and left a message stating he had a great prospect in front of him and would like to share some thoughts about him. Then Mr. Big cut loose with the truth.

“People don’t just show up in Nashville the way you did.”

But Billy had, and there he sat, with a Big Gun, realizing this moment, this very meeting, is just the thing he needed.

Maybe this guy could tell him what he needed to know, get him through The Process, into Nashville and tell him whether or not he was even where he should be. And Mr. Big did.

“Billy, I advise you stay true to your roots, stay true to what you are, because I assure you, if you come here, they’ll change you.” And that was the moment Billy needed, the truth laid out bare. Going along was going to cost him something dear. It was going to cost him – himself.

“What was I going to do Frost?” Billy asked me this as he leaned back and took on that lost look again. And I’m pretty sure he was fantasizing where he might be at this very moment had he taken the offer, taken the bait and swam headfirst into the teeth of the beast. Billboards?

MTV? Likely I think.

Roland of Gilead faced temptation a plenty, with pathways to take him away from his true calling, but luckily he had a few friends to help him stay true - his Ka-tet. A Ka-tet being a family of those brought together from many. Roland had Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Oy and Jake Chambers to assist him along his way, help him stay strong, remain true.

So too does Billy have his Ka-tet, with his best friends, Jay Trammell and Brad Mickelsen, and his girlfriend Rachel, who all seem to understand what may seem like the ramblings of a madman to many, are in truth the unfinished ponderings of a genius, scribbling and recording maniacally as he listens from inside his own mind.

As you may have guessed, Billy didn’t stay in Nashville to pursue anything more to do with The Process. He did however take Mr. Big up on an offer to attend a very prestigious song writing course that would be near impossible to be invited to without Mr. Big’s intervention. Billy told me that what he learned in the classes was invaluable, and he will always be thankful to Mr. Big for his honesty, sound advice and help in clarifying what was Billy’s right path. spring ‘12

Billy has since worked harder than ever improving his skills with the guitar and piano, writing new songs and staying ahead of the game in the world of EZ-Clone, now that competition and knock-offs nip at their heels, though they don’t gain ground. Having learned the lessons of chivalry, generosity, honesty and persistence, coupled with good old fashioned hard work, it is his own process that has forged in him a sound soul encased in a charismatic shell ever fine-tuning itself for the inevitable leap to the big stage, which is sure to come.

And so, there we sat, coming up on midnight of a Tuesday night, at The Sheraton on J Street, a few empty glasses between us. Our interview was drawing to a close.

“Frost,” Billy mused, with the grin that is his signature, looking into my eyes as if he could see my soul, “I don’t care if I’m singing on stage in front of thousands or out front on the sidewalk for a few, I’m always going to sing, I’m always gonna play – it’s what I love, it’s who I am. Cheers man.”

Yes indeed, Mr. Blackburn. Yes, indeed.

The bias in the “stories” we tell ourselves…a last note from the publisher about aeroponic cloning: One of the reasons why Billy Blackburn was selected for this issue was the boldness with which he’s taken on the notion that his technology is a possible, future way to solve food supply and hunger challenges globally, and he’s ready and willing to stand up in the world and do just that. The origins of how he came to invent and ultimately patent his EZ Clone technology came from working odd jobs in equipment companies who served hydroponic growers and because of his experience in small use cannabis cultivation—a fact he does not shirk from, but nonetheless still has to defend because many judge what they don’t understand. When we met to discuss this follow-on piece to his article, we talked about how important it was to get the facts right – that his invention for this system did come from primarily hydroponic cannabis in small grow applications, but it has grown into a technology where he is now looking at much bigger, mainstream applications as well, and can today be used by anyone growing anything— from rose growers to large scaled, human food supply cultivators. You don’t throw the baby out with the bath water and perspective is, as we know around here, everything.

When you consider the potential for this technology and other aeroponic cloning systems for large-scale use by sustenance farmers who survive on what they can or cannot grow; then if you look at the scientific benefits (hardly nary a negative) and no environmental harm characteristics of the process, we felt it was important to state his case because it is a classic example of how inaccurate and misinterpreted perspective and information can blind some people spring ‘12

For a deeper exploration of apoximis (NOT aeroponics) go to:

http://www.science20.com/ news_articles/cloning_plant_ seeds-76665

http://www.thehindu.com/scitech/science/article1468836.ece

http://geatimberventures.com/ technology.html

http://www.seedtechnology.net/ genetic_wrk/Plant_Genetic_Engineering_Web.pdf

To hear the musical genius of Bill Blackburn, go to http://www.billyblackburn.com. Find him on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/billyblackburnmusic. lp from getting past a frankly wrongminded position. And when we make up our minds about things that aren’t real, those stories can keep us Bigger. More robust. Faster from progrowing times. Close-up of gressing and solving lettuce and wheat grown in an problems. aeroponic apparatus, NASAP, As a 1998. publisher I wanted to be clear that our values and my personal values stand behind the advancement of solution technology that is non-damaging to the environment and globally important to helping starving people get fed. A rose is not just a rose by any other name.

It isn’t about the drugs, it’s about the starving farmers and people of the world who are literally dying for solutions to growing more food, and sometimes any food at all. That Billy uses his success today, which came from humble chronic beginnings to solve global problems and his creative dreams, is what conscious living is all about.

A few facts: Aeroponics is a process of growing plants in

a mist or air space, not using soil or any kind of aggregate medium (also called geoponics). The word “aeroponic” is derived from the Greek meanings of aero- (air) and ponos (labour).

Aeroponic culture differs from both conventional hydroponics and in-vitro (plant tissue culture) growing. Unlike hydroponics, which uses water as a growing medium and essential minerals to sustain plant growth, aeroponics is conducted without a growing medium. Because water is used in aeroponics to transmit nutrients, it is sometimes considered a type of hydroponics.

(Stoner, R.J. and J.M. Clawson, 1997-1998).

A High Performance, Gravity Insensitive, Enclosed Aeroponic System for Food Production in Space. Principal Investigator, NASA SBIR NAS10-98030.)

The historical, potentially global-changing significance for the advancement of aeroponics technology is expressed where it has significant implications for under developed and sustenance farming countries and regions, where it lowers costs of operations and increases yields, and with significantly less water. For example, in Viet Nam, the Ag University of Hanoi Vietnam has been working on research and demonstration projects and shows how a nation has specifically called out for aeroponics to further an agricultural sector, stimulate farm economic goals, meet increased demands, improve food quality and increase production.

Aeroponics is not apoximis, which is genetic manipulation, and so it warrants serious explorers to educate themselves about the difference.

Wiki actually (though it is an editorial no-no – but we researched their sources and feel pretty good about it) had an excellent tutorial on aeroponics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Aeroponics#cite_note-stoner-clawson1-0. leadingpossibilities 13

in the A Conversation with Fitness Guru Tina Anderson

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groove

LIFE

by Lori Anderson

M

edia personality and fitness guru Tina Anderson has spent her life focused on healthy living and finding her groove. Battleground Fitness and Get Fit! Stay Healthy! podcasts are Tina’s own unique brand of motivation that’s helping her clients “Get Into the Groove,” too! Tina is dynamic and inspiring, doing passionate work that has evolved over years of honing seemingly disparate talents – all have melded together into a crystal clear, sparkling vision for her business and future. We were inspired and know our readers will be, too. I interviewed Tina a few months ago, where we talked about the genesis of her businesses, her passions, the aha moments along the way, and finding connected balance in our lives.

Lori – How has your own sense of self and personal power played into the development of your business?

Tina – In a huge way! I have an inner and real physical and emotional strength that has developed over the years, starting when I was barely a teenager surviving my parent’s divorce.

I started waitressing that same year and didn’t stop working full-time until my first child at 35.

I was lucky to be heavily involved in our Episcopal church as a youth and my faith probably helped save me from a path gone-wrong. It definitely strengthened me and gave me complete faith in my journey, no matter how difficult and 14

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heavy.

I started lifting weights and running in college and also played women’s flag football. That’s when I became aware of my natural physical strength and how comfortable I felt pushing myself in that capacity. Between the two, coupled with a very strong father, I was more equipped for what was ahead than I knew.

Bottom line and being completely honest, painful circumstances around the divorce and the resulting coping and survival skills were the most significant factor in my early overall success. In fitness and media, it was (and still is) developing and maintaining long-lasting relationships.

Most recently, my work with a spiritual director helped me to fully understand my decision-making process, how to best use my “warrior” side and how I’m wired as a human being. That better understanding lifted a small cloud and cleaned out some shadows that were preventing me from true success.

Lori - Was there a major “aha” story for you - about life and your purpose and what precipitated it?

Tina - My first (aha experience) happened after I was announcing a spring ‘12

jazz concert at a local venue. The lights were off except for the spotlight on me.

I couldn’t see anyone, but I could feel the energy and the people in the audience. I was nervous in a good way. I had been doing public appearances for the radio station I worked for, but this one was highly electric. I realized that a stage of some sort and a live audience or group that I could interact with and motivate was completely natural. I knew it because time stood still. I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be and that I wanted to get there again, but I wasn’t sure how to incorporate it into other areas of my life.

The second is similar and as I see it now, it was the next natural progression in helping me to get to where I am today. It happened after teaching a spin class. I had my group somewhat mesmerized, digging deep and out of breath, invigorated and touched in a way that would permeate outwards onto others the rest of the day and beyond. I had often heard my classes described that way but for some reason, that particular class created an “aha” moment. “If I can replicate my coaching, motivation, inspiration and positive interaction on a bigger scale, I would be vibrating high in the Universe and using my gifts.”

Fast forward to last summer when I experienced my most profound epiphany. This one was precipitated by a very long day in the gym, training clients.

Fitness has always been part of my life, but never full-time, until last year. I had just finished with a “bad-attitude” client and some paperwork. It occurred to me that I was basically miserable at that moment. I felt like I was wasting my talents and my time. I wanted to tell her to “shut the you-know-what” up and just finish her set. Not a good sign for a happy, positive, people-lover like me.

I had left my purpose behind to make a solid paycheck but it was feeling so wrong.

Several weeks later a very important person in my life simply said, “what are you doing,” and that was enough. She reminded me that I had always felt like I belonged on a bigger platform where I could reach hundreds or more at one time. One-on-one training all day? What was I doing? I

decided to give notice soon after. The “what are you doing” question was the pivotal point because my answer was “not what I’m supposed to be.” I knew I needed to (and could) combine my passion and talents in radio and media with my equally passionate and solid conviction for living fit, strong, healthy and just as importantly - in your groove (or on purpose).

For the first time in my life (I turned 50 in Feb. 2012), I’m living and working “on purpose” and in the “groove zone.” First time. Even with previous high profile radio jobs, a wildly successful public relations career, and as a former national cycling trainer with a top fitness company among a nice list of many other cool jobs. First time.

Lori - What is the most trending thing that people you serve seem to really be looking for? Is this also what they truly need?

Tina - I mainly work with ages 3550, 60% female. They generally want a common sense approach with tools

to it, many are not willing to do the hard work – or to do it long enough to see change. I spend a lot of time on motivation and if I can find the right buttons, it can happen for anyone - but I still deal with apathy and lip service.

Lori - Describe the top 5 most important or extraordinary things about your life that you would never trade or give up?

Tina - Of course, family has to be number one. Being married to an incredible husband since 1988 and having two boys (and three dogs), brings a feeling of “completeness.” Second, my Peruvian heritage and three trips to South America – and another trip planned next year. Those trips and understanding my ancestry made a lasting impression and gave me confidence to be comfortable with aspects of my “being” that are hard to explain. Third, being raised by my (Peruvian) father when my parents divorced. My mom was still in the picture and part of my life, but I lived with my father and all the good, the bad, the crazy and amazing stuff I lived through shaped me. It gave me the fortitude and endurance to get through very rough waters.

Fourth, growing up in a small town in South Dakota. Again, it molded me and I believe protected me in a way that allowed me to be a free spirit and experiment with life without getting into deep “caca” that could have happened had I grown up in a big city. Riding horses, competing in rodeos, walking beans and sneaking out to keg parties at the lake – need I say more? And finally, my four years at South Dakota State University and my journalism degree.

I can’t begin to describe how incredible my college experience was - how it helped me jump into several careers with a solid foundation to eventually work in show biz and fitness.

Lori - What is your back-story?

How did Battleground Fitness emerge?

Tina – Battleground Fitness emerged as the beginning of my media, coaching and training focus. I have never wanted to be a high profile personal trainer. For Pete’s sake, I like to indulge and I don’t get off on reading about training protocols and new equipment all day. But I’m excellent at creating programs that work based on someone’s lifestyle and I’m equally

“I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be and that I wanted to get there again.”

spring ‘12

and resources that are practical yet effective, and not necessarily quick (thank goodness). About 95% want a flatter stomach and they don’t want to hear that it’s not always possible to have what they envision - a “flat” tummy.

A smaller tummy, less fat, less jiggle, much stronger, however, is achievable.

The trades and magazines, the advertisements and the hype have created so many misconceptions. My biggest issue is explaining that a strong core will create a tighter tummy with less flab, and that doesn’t happen with tons of crunches. What they need and what they want are often two different things. Overall, the more “mature” clients are also wiser and more accepting of their bodies and I see that trend continuing, albeit not any faster, despite all the social media and online sources of information.

On the flip side, in regard to living in their groove, as I like to say – actions still speak louder than words.

I hear from many that they want to change their lives (getting healthy being part of that), but when it comes down

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LIFE

“…don’t kid yourself if you exist on an unhealthy level – physically and/or mentally…” good at motivating and inspiring. I also knew that I was better at providing information and resources, functioning more as a conduit. That felt right to me. Battleground Fitness is not your typical fitness website because I want it to be fun and inviting, not a hard-core training website. When you visit, you’ll see a playful dog cartoon and a deck of motivation cards - not all geared around health and fitness because I believe in balanced, whole-body health.

Since developing the site, I’ve had another “aha” moment, and as 16

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a result, I have morphed again. Up until now, I was working two separate websites, one for acting, voiceover and radio, and Battleground Fitness. Crazy, because I’m more of a package deal! I realize now that the best way to live on purpose is to brand my name and combine all my talents under one website.

I’m in the final stages of developing http://tina-anderson.com, where I’ll feature educational material, information, resources, products, videos, my blog and more. I am branding it as a “Get In Your Groove” kind of site. So,

as much as I love my “battleground” theme and being warriors on the field, battling obstacles, etc., it’s only part of what I want to provide as an educator, coach, trainer and leader in meaningful, strong living.

Lori - Do you have advice to share - about optimizing life through self-care or living on purpose?

Tina - First, don’t kid yourself if you exist on an unhealthy level – physically and/or mentally. If you choose bad foods, choose not to move your body consistently, choose to sleep less hours than you need, choose to fill your head with negative self-talk, choose to surround yourself with toxic individuals or anything else that makes you feel and operate “less than,” you are cheating yourself out of a fulfilling life. We are meant to live strong, fit and healthy and I don’t mean at an Olympic-caliber level. Daily walks, some resistance work or a yoga class and basic good nutrition will do it.

Figure out how to move every day and invest time in reading labels and understanding the difference between nutrient dense foods and empty calories. Your brain will function better, you will feel better, and you will probably be a lot easier on the eyes, not to mention a longer life expectancy.

Living on purpose. Wow. If more of us could do that, we would have a more productive, positive and happy universe. If you must pursue your “purpose-filled” job only part-time or as a hobby, so be it. Your inherent talents and those you’ve fine-tuned through experience, education and training are desperately needed in the world.

I believe that we have a natural balance of gifts in this world but many of us are discouraged to pursue our true love due to the realities of life and the people around us that are not supportive. Listen, I understand. I waitressed and taught fitness classes to make a career change in media. I went from a substantial income to about seven dollars an hour to make it happen. I know what it’s like to have an epiphany and try to bring it to fruition.

And, how does one know what their purpose is? Many can’t answer spring ‘12

V

in the GROOVE “I hear from many that they want to change their lives (getting healthy being part of that), but when it comes down to it, many are not willing to do the hard work – or to do it long enough to see change.” that question. Get a life coach; ask friends, co-workers and family members to identify what they believe are your natural strengths. Find a way to use those strengths. I met a guy

spring ‘12

who lost his big corporate job for an IT company and decided to finally go after his dream job. At that time he was making about 75-percent of his original income, but he was 200-percent happier and more fulfilled. The sacrifice was worth it for him. What did he trade his corporate car and corner office for?

He’s a dog trainer. Now, that’s a career change! lp Tina’s company Battleground Fitness and her media company can be found at www.battlegroundfitness.com and www.ta7productions.com.

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the

Stein collection Short Fiction by Kathryn Mattingly

A

s part of offering quality short fiction that moves readers, we present The Stein Collection, which received a first place award in the Carpe Diem Publishers annual short story contest. It was also recognized for excellence and published by Tyrannosaurus Press.

About the character: Kell is perhaps not what we would define as an entrepreneur so much as an opportunist. Nonetheless she laboriously sweats over finely crafted steins, 18

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which, not by coincidence have much to do with the drinking and dancing establishment she owns and operates.

The author would share that there really is a Kell’s Restaurant and Pub with live music near the waterfront in Portland, OR. A lot of history surrounds the old brick establishment that sees gray rainy days more than sunny ones and still serves cold beer with tall tales on stormy nights. ***

Sam stood in the rain listening to live band music and the clinking of glassware from Kell’s bar. Through the heavy paned window, she glimpsed elbow-to-elbow people on metal stools at a highly polished counter. Shelves jammed with bottles of liquor in every shape and size hung on the wall behind the bar. It was a cozy picture of a patron-filled pub on a Saturday night.

She peered in the adjacent window and saw the restaurant side of Kell’s, with its cloth-covered tables carefully april ‘12

arranged. Dreamy piano music escaped from the walls and lingered in the rainsoaked air with bass guitar sounds from the bar. Diners smiled politely at one another, unlike the crowd on the other side where laughs were hearty and tunes lively.

Between the restaurant and bar side of Kell’s stood a door. Sam looked through the window and saw a steep stairway. It appeared ominous in this dismal weather. Why couldn’t her fiancé Jake have met here as planned?

Sam was doubly annoyed with him as she stood there in the rain, hesitating to go in. Did they really want their wedding reception in an old dance hall with a shaded past? Kell’s Bar was, however, enticingly trendy and rich with history. As the story went, Kell did away with a few too many customers before being forced to close in 1953. Sam pictured a huge Irishman, intimidating troublesome clients.

Closing her umbrella she unlocked the door with an old key Jake had stuck in an envelope and started up the stairs. Lightning struck and ensuing thunder shook the building as Sam climbed the narrow steps. Storms were not very common in Portland, and this was a particularly rowdy one. It made her edgy, but she had to check out the room, or Jake might think she’d been too afraid. She already heard him laughing at her. Proud of himself for planting a seed of fear with his maudlin tales about the second floor dance hall.

Rain drummed on the roof as she paused to catch her breath on the last step. Straight ahead there was a dimly lit room filled with tables and a bar set against the wall. The wooden floor was worn and dull. A woman was perched on a barstool sipping beer from a heavy stein. She looked lost in thought.

Was this room available for employees on their break from the restaurant downstairs?

On a shelf behind the bar was an uusual set of heavy beer steins, similar to the one the woman drank from.

There were at least a dozen of them, each different and unique, but blending impressively as a collection. The array of shapes and sizes made quite an effect lined up on the shelf. Yellowshaded lamps gave them an eerie glow.

The room was just the right size for a small reception, and Sam liked the atmosphere despite the storm’s surreal affect. The strange woman continued to sip on her beer and gaze into space. spring ‘12

Sam gathered her nerve and sat at the bar a few chairs down.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but Jake didn’t tell me there’d be anybody here,” Sam admitted.

The woman turned her head and looked clear through Sam, who couldn’t help but notice the woman’s striking features. She was a voluptuous blonde and wore a black calf-length skirt that hinted of long toned legs. A white silk-blouse cut impressively low finished the classic look.

“You’re no bother. Want a beer?” she asked, with a slight upward turn of her blood-red lips. The crimson shade complimented her creamy complexion perfectly.

“Sure,” Sam answered. She watched the woman gracefully slide behind the bar.

“I’m thinking of renting this room for my wedding reception,” Sam offered up, hoping to break the icy air between them. “It’s just the right size.”

Sam glanced around again. “I’m sure it would hold a hundred people. The billiard room over there would be great for setting up food.”

The strange but striking woman plucked one of the shimmery steins off the shelf. She filled it with frothy beer from a tap that flowed generously as she pushed the white pearl handle firmly. Her blonde hair fell to her shoulders, turning under at the ends in a classy sort of way. She set the beer in front of Sam, and their eyes locked in a mutual stare. This time the woman didn’t look past Sam, but focused on her through long sweeping lashes. Her eyes were a soft shade of blue and hinted of sad tales. Looking into them was like trying to find something in a fog. The woman didn’t have a young face, but it was far from old. It was seemingly ageless.

“What a beautiful stein,” Sam commented, feeling very brunette-like and with no special attributes to distinguish her wholesome good looks.

The woman smiled. “It’s from my private collection. You like them?”

“Yes, very much. My name is Samantha Roberts, by the way.”

The woman hesitated and then shook her hand. “I’m Kelly Malone, better known as Kell. This whole place used to be mine. The bar, the restaurant, and this here dance hall.” Kell slid back onto her stool. She pointed to the far corner of the bar. “That’s where the band set up. Best fiddlers you ever heard. They’d start slow and easy about

nine p.m. and by eleven there’d be a dancing frenzy going on.”

Sam wondered how she could be the original Kell. It would certainly take a crafty woman to make belligerent drunks disappear forever. “When did this quit being a dance hall?” Sam inquired.

“Long time ago.” Kell sighed gloomily.

“When did you decide to rent it out for wedding receptions?” Sam further inquired, but Kell didn’t hear the question.

“Businessmen used to flock here when they were in town,” she commented.” We had a reputation all over Portland.”

“I know Kell’s bar is sure popular with the college crowd nowadays,” Sam mentioned.

Kell didn’t acknowledge Sam’s comment. “Most of the men who came here only had a few beers. They’d dance for a little while and then return to their motel rooms or homes if they lived nearby,” she said as if in a trance.

“Was there a live band every night?” Sam asked, deciding to go along with Kell’s nostalgic mood.

“Wednesday through Sunday. We closed Monday’s and Tuesday’s.” Kell grinned wickedly. “I paid half a dozen girls every night to dance with the men.

That was my secret, feisty girls that kicked up their heels. It brought men in like bees to honey.”

“Really? Girls danced here?” Sam liked the romantic idea of that.

“You bet. Of course, sometimes the men drank too much and tried to woo my little dancers out the door and to their rooms.”

Sam took a long swig of her beer.

“What if the girl wanted to go with him?”

“Not an option.” Kell slammed down her stein. “I paid them to dance.

Not to find a boyfriend or make a little extra money on the side.”

“I see.” Sam raised an eyebrow as that sunk in. She watched Kell refill their steins from the pearl handled tap, confused about who this Kell really was, and when this dance hall last operated.

“Sometimes,” Kell said while staring Sam right in the eye from across the counter, “I had to take matters into my own hands. Not often mind you, but sometimes.” Her dreamy blue eyes drifted out the window where the wind howled, slamming rain into the glass. leadingpossibilities 19

Old beams creaked above their heads.

A shiver ran down Sam’s back. It was creepy to be here alone with Kell, who was scarier than the storm.

“How did you do that, exactly?

I mean, take matters into your own hands?”

Kell ran slender fingers up and down the beer stein as if caressing it. “I invited them to my apartment.” She nodded her head toward the back of the dance hall. “Down the back stairs, beside the furnace. The caretaker used to live there. You know, the guy who shoveled the coal and stoked the furnace. ” Her eyes glowed, as if on fire with past memories.

Sam looked at her curiously.

“You’d invite rowdy drunks to your apartment?”

“Oh, I would calm them down first.” Kell tossed her blonde hair. “I’d give them a drink on the house. And it always had a sedative in it.” She grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Sam tried to imagine Kell shoving a drugged beer into a drunk’s hand, and luring him to her private quarters before he crashed in the middle of the dancehall.

“You drugged him? And then what?”

“And then I would let him sleep it off on my sofa.”

“How clever of you.” Sam wondered if she might be that gutsy one-day. She realized running a dance hall must have been difficult. Just like everything is when wine and women are involved, or men and beer… and dancing. Rowdy knee stomping swing around the floor heated up and liquored down dancing. It must have been a dizzy delight to see on a hot Saturday night.

Kell slid onto her shiny metal stool and ran a blood red fingernail around the rim of her stein. The nail polish matched her lipstick perfectly.

“This building takes up a whole city block. Did you know that?” Kell tipped her head and a lock of hair fell across one well-formed cheekbone.

“It’s an old brick monstrosity, for sure.” Sam agreed.

“I remember when they kept that coal-eating furnace behind my kitchen revved up so hot I’d cook dinner in just my panties and a bra.” Kell laughed, and her trance-like state evaporated.

Color ran through her cheeks as she continued. “I like a good hot fire 20

leadingpossibilities

though, don’t get me wrong. Pottery is my hobby. Nothing like a good hot fire for that.”

Sam was amazed. “You make pottery?”

“Sure do,” Kell admitted.

Taking a long sip of her icy beer Sam examined the stein it was served in. There was a solid gold edge around the rim, and when she held it up to the light little metal flecks sparkled and winked at her. “Did you make this ceramic stein?” Sam asked, knowing it was an incredible thought.

Kell drank the last of her beer just as lightning struck outside the window.

Thunder rambled right through Sam’s chest as the yellow-shaded lamps went out. The dancehall became dark. Only a steady downpour on the roof could be heard.

“Kell? Are you there?” The hair on the back of Sam’s neck stood on end as she stumbled off the barstool, the stein held tightly against her chest, as if to protect her from the pitch black. She made her way slowly to the front stairs.

“I surely did.” There was pride in her eyes. Waving a hand across the neat row of elaborately designed ceramic ware, she indicated the stein collection was created by her own hands.

Sam was amazed to learn Kell had a passion for ceramics. Her long slender fingers and blood red nails didn’t indicate abuse. It boggled her mind as she observed the steins. Each one shimmered and caught the light, as if little shooting stars were melded into the glaze. “What makes the shiny metal specks?” she asked curiously.

“I melted down old jewelry to get that effect. I once had a steady source of it.”

The stein Sam drank from was the only one with a gold rim. “This edge must have taken a lot of melted jewelry,” Sam commented.

“A pocket watch.” Kell laughed.

“Keep it… the stein. It’s yours. Consider it a little souvenir from our chance meeting on this godforsaken night.”

“Kell? I’m leaving now!” She shouted above the rain blowing sideways into the window, as if it were a hungry wolf trying to enter and devour her. “It was nice meeting you! Thanks for this beautiful stein!” There was no response.

Somehow Sam knew there wouldn’t be.

Shaking from a damp chill in the air, or maybe from fear, Sam stumbled clumsily down the stairs and looked out the door. Water was backed up from the storm drains, and rushed along the street gutters. But the gods had quieted. All she heard was live music and cheery voices coming from next door.

Wandering into Kell’s bar Sam felt dazed but delighted by the candles lit everywhere and the friendly laughter.

They too were without electricity.

Drinks were on the house. The storm seemed to have bonded customers.

“Do you always bring your own beer stein?” The bartended asked, grinning. spring ‘12

Sam looked down at the stout mug held tightly to her chest. “No. This was a gift.” She looked right into the bartenders green eyes. “From the blonde woman upstairs. Do you know who she is?”

“I have no idea who’s up there.

What can I get you to drink?”

Sam set her stein down on the bar.

“Nothing, thanks. What do you know about the original Kell? Was he a big Irishman?” She longed for the answer to be yes, a huge Irishman with curly red hair and his mama’s gift for song.

“Irishman? Nah, Kell was a beautiful blonde woman. History has it she was ferocious about watching out for her dance hall girls.” He shrugged while mixing drinks and added, “Supposedly, she had a way of getting rid of troublesome drunks permanent-like.”

“So I’ve heard.” Sam began chewing on a fingernail, thinking of Kell.

Hers had been painted blood red, long and pointy, like little weapons.

“Well, I don’t know how true the tale is, but they say she drugged unruly clients and escorted them out the door – never to be seen or heard from again. Finally one too many drunks disappeared and the cops closed it for good.” The bartender glanced her way and winked. Was he making it all up?

Or did the idea of a beautiful blonde serial killer amuse him?

The lights went back on and everyone cheered. The bartender continued his story. “When they cleaned out that big ole coal furnace to put in gas, a few suspicious looking bone fragments were mixed in the ashes. Sure enough, they were human.”

“Really?” Sam stared at her stein.

“Really. Now some say Kell was too delicate to heave a big man into the furnace, but others thought perhaps Lewis helped in exchange for some free bar food.” He leaned on the counter, close to Sam. “Lewis was a large black man who shoveled coal in exchange for a cot to sleep on.”

The bartender began mixing drinks again, his story flowing like Irish whiskey.

“Of course, some thought Lewis was the culprit cooking the bodies after he found them sleeping in the alley and robbed them blind. Burning up the evidence, you might say. And there was a pawn shop around the corner where some thought he exchanged wedding rings and watches and such, for cold hard cash.”

“So no one ever found anything to spring ‘12

convict Lewis or Kell with?” Sam asked.

“Nope. And one day she got her own just desserts. She disappeared herself. Some think Lewis did her in because the beautiful Kell was love struck by a gent one night and tried to break her own rules. She waltzed right out the door with a patron.”

Others at the bar were listening in by now, fascinated with the story.

Some smiled knowingly, as if they’d heard the preposterous tale before. The bartender was in his element. Spinning yarn with gusto while serving drinks cold and fast.

“Lewis was said to be furious, ‘cause he was smitten with Kell himself.

So out of jealously he did her in on a stormy night like no other. Except maybe for this one.”

Everybody at the bar stared into their beer. One little old man drummed his fingers on the counter. Nobody spoke, but several patrons nodded as if they’d been present when it all happened – if it happened.

Or was it Irish folklore, Portland style?

Sam caressed the gold-edged stein.

She thought about how Kell mentioned a steady source of jewelry. Was it from the pawnshop nearby? Or from robbing drugged men before she and Lewis tossed them into the fire? The furnace room was right there on the other side of her kitchen, after all. Sam could see Kell pushing with all her might to shove the limp body into the stove, wearing only her bra and panties, while Lewis helped steady and lift the dead weight.

Did they sit around her cozy kitchen afterwards, gobbling down leftovers from the bar?

“They say she haunts the place on stormy nights. Hovering and fretting over those steins like she did her dancehall girls.” The bartender laughed.

He’d obviously never run into Kell, or maybe she was just a setup, and he was in on it. If it was a joke, it was a damn good one. Kell was spookier than hell.

Sam grinned back, said thanks for the folklore, grabbed her stein and slid out the door onto the street. The rain had stopped and the air had a fresh scent.

She glanced up at the dance hall windows. It was dark on the second story.

Sam took the metal key from her pocket. Maybe the lights would turn on if she flipped the switch inside the door.

She had to see that stein collection one more time. Now that the storm had cleared, she felt braver. Sam had to know if she’d been duped by Jake and

whoever else was in on the fun. But the key wouldn’t open the door. That was odd. It opened easily the first time. Sam toyed with the lid on her stein. This one got away. In fact, unlike her dancehall girls, Kell had given it away. Glancing up at the second story window one last time, she thought she saw the blinds shift.

Sam stuck the stein protectively in her coat and headed for the car, thinking it might be fun to have her wedding reception in a haunted dancehall, giving her the last laugh. Unless of course, Jake had nothing to do with her unbelievable evening, in which case, unlike most brides, she would pray for rain.

Maybe she’d see Kell again, and thank her for the priceless wedding gift.

About Kathryn Kathryn Mattingly is a six-time Maui Writers attendee, and has studied under best-selling authors: Terry Brooks, Elizabeth George, Dorothy Allison, John Saul and Gail Tsukiyama. She has a BS from University of Oregon and an MFA in EducationTeaching from Pacific University.

Kathryn has received significant recognition for excellence, including four first place awards for short fiction pieces: “Cheating Paradise,” “Goodbye My Sweet,” “Light of the Moon,” and “The Stein Collection.”

She was a New Century Publications quarterly finalist with her second novel, “Benjamin” and for her short story collection, “Affairs of the Heart.” Her work is published in eight anthologies and in the magazine: “Dark Discoveries.” Her work appears in LeadingPossibilities on a regular basis.

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publisher’scorner

habitsof

By Tracy Saville

P

owerful lives and careers are built and sustained by those whose conscious habits of mind allow for extraordinary results.

Yet words like mindfulness, consciousness, or emotional intelligence make some of us squirm inside the safety of our unconscious armor, that protective coating that veils us from seeing what is, from being who we are, and from actualizing our dreams and ambitions. We are afraid of what we don’t understand, or understand, but refuse to accept.

The discipline of habits of mind can barely be grasped by those who cling to their un-skin, the layers upon layers of stories and contrivances built up over years of pretending that they are satisfied with the way things are,

though they know, deep down inside, that the way things are has to change.

The business of habits of mind fall into all four categories: biological science, behavioral psychology, philosophy, and spirituality. Who we are on a cellular level, what we do on an emotional and psychological level, what we come to believe about anything—these are the building blocks of a human being operating under well developed habits of mind.

Denying what we learn or know to be the truth; acting in ways that creates pain for ourselves or others; drawing lines in our lives around ideology that requires some to be wrong in order for us to be right: these are the characteristics of a stuck life, of a person digging in their heels against the dynamic nature of who they really are. And the kicker is: when human beings stay

stuck, bad things happen, like war, terrorism, genocide, racism, greed, crime, and illness.

Habits of mind practices then, are the thing we should focus on, and these habits are the very stuff from which sustainable change comes. This is true of human change, organizational change, systems change, cultural change, and societal change. Yet change is hard.

Change requires we give up something and replace it with it something else. Giving up anything requires us to let loose of our control over things we use externally to define ourselves.

Change asks us to risk the comfort of the groove we ride, until one day it kicks us out of the groove on it’s own destructive momentum because that is what our biological encoding as human beings is programmed to do: dynamic expansion whether we agree to it or not.

The business of habits of mind fall into four categories: biological science, behavioral psychology, philosophy, and spirituality.

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spring ‘12

There are those in our human history—Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, serial killers in the worst instances, or lesser evils, but damaging still, the Wall Street pension stealers, politicians who choose ideological power or playing politics over anything else, peddlers of things and ideas that kill or control other people—we know there are those who take on habits of mind that are seemingly impenetrable to the natural, dynamic nature of being if not good, at least not bad, in any way that hurts, denigrates, controls, usurps, or manipulates their fellow human beings.

We know some people even see that what they do is if not bad, then at least the opposite of good. But their habits of mind are so stained into their being that change comes only from some external force creating the change, through revolution, and sometimes, like in the case of people such as Bin Laden, or Hitler, through means which ends their ability to be a destructive force in the human experience.

As terrible a truth as that is, many of us, and more and more it seems, remain utterly hopeful that change can happen, bad can be eradicated from the human experience, because we were built to change, and equipped with the mechanisms and tools to do so in big, hairy, audacious ways.

mindful of specifically what we need to change, and finally are able to see the replacement behavior as something superior to our current circumstance.

We fall into black holes and hit the concrete one too many times, and we wake up; we are able to act to change, and find we suddenly have the discipline and courage to sustain the new behavior. How we do that are by our habits of mind, and we can teach ourselves new habits if we want to.

Psychology helps us understand how the mind and body works together to promote or inhibit change, and philosophy helps us understand the filters that drive our “knowing” and interpreting anything, a fundamental aspect of change. Finally, religion and mysticism offers us a basis to understand unconstructed awareness, how we can simply “know” what we know, because we know it, even though we can’t prove it, even if we wanted to.

It all boils to this: our only job in this human existence is to first wake up, to become conscious. We can’t begin to evolve or change as we were meant to if we are unable to see beyond our un-skin. We know what we know; we know what we don’t know, but we don’t know what we can’t see or have never experienced as possible. Active, intentional self-development and understanding through constant learning of new knowledge about human biology, psychology, philosophy without judgment or constraints, and spiritual exploration without dogmatic assertions of righteousness over any other way of belief is what waking up looks like. Mastery over habits of mind comes from waking up.

Because it bears repeating…Powerful lives and careers are built and sustained by those whose conscious habits of mind allow for extraordinary results.

For more about Habits of Mind, visit the Habits of Mind Institute.

Find the 16 habits of mind practices of highly successful people.

Change? What me?

Not changing, holding on to false ideas or stories about what is or isn’t; this is what gets us into trouble, because in the end, hammers will come in increasing intensity, size, and occurrence, until we wake up, until we are hit with such life-shaking force that we become spring ‘12

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leadership&career

Resistance

By Jackie Dotson

R

esistance is that thing that keeps us from doing what we really want to do in life. Resistance is what we feel when our hearts say yes, but our practical minds say no. When we are feeling negative about something, anxious or depressed: it usually means resistance is in full action. Resistance is experienced in countless ways, including writer’s block, procrastination, and feeling nervous.

It is very easy to overlook how resistance fuels our moods and colors our feelings. It’s easy to say “I feel bored, restless, anxious, edgy, depressed, sad, or tired” and not know where those feelings are coming from. Our consumer culture encourages us to take a pill or buy something to make the bad feelings go away. We also tend to label these kinds of unpleasant feelings as the root cause of problems instead of what they are: underlying symptoms.

Resistance is fueled by fear and also directly proportional to the size of the challenge you are taking on. The bigger the deal it is, the more scared/anxious/nervous you are likely going to feel about doing it. So what happens when you do this big thing? You’ll feel scared/ anxious and nervous and afterward, you’re most probably going to feel a surge of joy. Think of riding a roller coaster. You are probably clenching on for dear life as it climbs, but when the ride is over, you find yourself laughing and saying, “that was so much fun, let’s do it again!”

This is the feeling that comes when you conquer resistance.

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When you don’t tend or respond to those feelings by taking some action—resistance doesn’t retreat; resistance gets bigger. Then you’ll find yourself doing counterproductive things such as: drinking too much, over eating/shopping/ gambling, creating drama in your relationships, making yourself sick, excessive procrastinating. These are

signs you are trying to manage the intense, scary feelings that resistance is giving you.

If resistance is this big badass, can it be conquered? Absolutely! It’s one of those things, sort of like eating, that has to be done on a daily basis. It cannot be conquered and finished once and for all. When you get used to facing something on a

Jackie Dotson, Biz Therapist

“If resistance is this big badass, can it be conquered?” spring ‘12

Think of riding a roller coaster. You are probably clenching on for dear life as it climbs, but when the ride is over, you find yourself laughing and saying, “that was so much fun, let’s do it again!” This is the feeling that comes when you conquer resistance.

—Jackie Dotson

daily basis, you get better at beating it. To help conquer resistance, it pays (and is crucial) to have a lot of infrastructure.

By infrastructure, I mean, habits, rituals, thoughts and action that support your endeavors. In order to get past resistance, we have to let go of the mythical belief that things can only happen when we get inspired. Instead, you have to create structure to make the work happen. If we only worked out when we “felt like it,” not many workouts would get done. Infrastructure will vary for everyone.

But first and foremost it involves knowing that you will never be 100 percent “ready.” You just have to start somewhere and do something.

That’s the basis of your infrastructure. How you structure your rituals and habits is a matter of figuring out specifically what works for you, knowing that simply showing up is more than half the battle.

So think about something in your life that you know in your bones you want to do. How do you feel when you think about doing this, what I call the “big scary thing?” You probably feel excited, pumped up, and joyous when you simply think about it. But what do you feel when you start to take an action to actually do the thing? Feel scared, nervous, and jittery? That’s spring ‘12

abouttheauthor Psychotherapist. Writer. Triathlete. Born, raised and educated in New York City. Currently enjoying life in Sacramento, CA. Passions: traveling, wine, live music, dining out, watching sports, time with friends, technology, blogging, reading, podcasting, throwing ideas around and asking questions. I am a runner and triathlete because I don’t think sitting on your butt all day is good for you.

My biggest interest is in business and entrepreneurialism: specifically how to use business and capitalism to actually make the world better. My favorite entrepreneur is Richard Branson because he does just that.

I practice in Sacramento, as a business therapist where I help business owners work through disagreements, teach them how to adapt to changes so they can keep their businesses going and thriving in this new economy.

To talk to Jackie: www.jackiedotson.com” or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Jackie.Dotson.

LCSW.

your resistance, and it is not a sign you should NOT do the big scary

thing. When you feel this, you now know what you must do. lp leadingpossibilities 25

leadership&career

Becoming a HighPerformance Entrepreneur

By Rich Pirrotta

T

he intensity of the effort to bring a product or service to the market, or the demands of the first large customer are so great that you notice at times you can’t form rational thoughts. You are the definition of the multi-tasking, dawn to dusk, whatever it takes approach in being single focused, in delivering on the entrepreneurial dream. Those who care about you are concerned about whether you’ll end up the hospital, but your mind keeps racing with more great ideas and sleep is anything but routine.

Been there or are there now?

Congratulations – you are following in the footsteps of the risk takers and innovators that transform society.

It’s a noble calling when you have a passion to innovate in a unique way, but it’s not well understood. By the time your product or service is mainstream, normal people forget the level of sacrifice and effort.

We can’t live without the light bulb, but forget that Edison slept most nights on his lab bench in Menlo Park.

We are thankful to be living in the US, but forget that earlier generations boarded a ship for America with little knowledge of life across the ocean.

Their stories are known – what is your story going to be as a risk-taker, innovator, and entrepreneur?

I’d like to share a few thoughts that can direct your entrepreneurial experience into the high-performance mode, where success is more likely than failure. Rather than review the 26

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obvious concepts, based on being an contraction. What my friend offers deentrepreneur and in helping entreprelivers amazing results – but he is often neurs grow their organizations successdiscouraged because of the unanticipatfully, I’d like to share some second level ed complexity of his business and the ideas. There’s only three – because people, customer, and marketing chalwhen we can’t even find the car keys in lenges. Rather than just business issues, the intensity of life, we can’t remember more than three!

1. It takes a team. This may be counter-intuitive, as you chose the entrepreneurial path to push forward on your own, and you enjoy the freedom to make it happen as you see fit. Don’t change that drive.

But you will need people around you who can provide guidance in the moment of doubt and who can help you execute more efficiently. A term that best describes these individuals is Trusted Adviser. These people should not Rich Pirrotta, Transformational Change Strategist be your employees at times, I’ve become a sounding board or have a commercial relationship with you, and it’s probably best that they not for personal issues that he is wrestling with – and my role is to help him stay serve in a role with fiduciary responsifocused on the amazing vision he has. bility, as in a member of your Board of Directors.

Occasionally, I provide valuable advice

I’ve served in a Trusted Adviser in helping him discern what professionrole with a fitness industry entrepreal service providers (legal, financial, and neur for the last several years. He’s marketing) are worth investing in, and had quite a journey as his business has which ones should be avoided. Having gone through cycles of expansion and delivered these services throughout my spring ‘12

“You need a Trusted Adviser team to be high-performance. Unless you are omniscient, you won’t know everything as your organization grows.”

—Rich Pirrotta

career, I’m better positioned than my friend to identify who is really going to help, and who’s just planning to take advantage of the time-strapped entrepreneur.

You need a Trusted Adviser team to be high-performance. Unless you are omniscient, you won’t know everything as your organization grows.

Where can you find these people?

Chances are they are already part of your life – but perhaps you haven’t thought of them as Trusted Advisers.

When you choose them, choose based on their high integrity, and ability to be transparent and truthful. If they can’t have a heart-to-heart with you and share things you might not want to hear – they’re not the right choice.

If you don’t respect them or their point of view, they’re not the right choice.

If they are genuinely interested in your success in this venture – then they are the right choice. Do your homework, pick two or three, and be open with them with the greatest concerns you have.

The innovator who roughed out the concept of gravity as a natural law understood the Trusted Adviser concept. Isaac Newton offered that “If I have seen further than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

2. Get centered. This isn’t work/ life balance, being more efficient with time, or making sure you take your vacation. Getting centered is about maintaining your inner, spiritual life.

With the intensity of the journey as an entrepreneur, there will be times when you cannot carry the burden.

A strong spiritual life enables you to discern when to keep pushing forward, and when to back off and let situations unfold in their own manner. As much as you may want to bend the world to your will as you push an amazing prod-

uct or service – you do not and cannot control all the forces in play.

As an entrepreneur, I was the 5th person into a company that grew to 200 people in 18 months, and opened offices in five countries. It was a wild and intense ride! As we grew, different leaders responded in different ways to the intensity of the situation. Some sought to consolidate control as the organization grew beyond normal bounds.

Others rode the wave graciously, being open-handed in opportunity and moving forward through the many mistakes that were made. Unfortunately, one of the key leaders didn’t deal well with the rapid rate of change, developed a Jekyll

them – and you will be significantly healthier mentally and able to deliver on the tasks ahead.

3. Blueprint starts on Day One. The culture of the organization you are creating starts on the first day you hire someone as an employee or contractor. Up to then, it’s just you – but when another is involved, the cultural blueprint of your organization becomes publicly established.

You may have observed when working for others the nuances of the organization’s culture. These cue cards, often unwritten, govern the behaviors that people learn are acceptable or unacceptable in working for the organization. As the owner, leader, or entrepreneur, your perception of behaviors will dominate the initial blueprint of the organization. What blueprint are you intentionally setting?

- If you value an open culture, where diverse opinions are expressed, what happens when someone voices an opinion different than your own?

Do you take it as a challenge to your authority? Is your behavior different when these opinions arise publicly or in private?

- If you want to quickly learn when

“It’s not what you say about your culture – it’s what actually happens.”

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and Hyde personality, and ultimately cost the company significant value when we were sold.

What was the difference? The leaders that were centered had a much better grasp on what they could impact, and sought truth versus what made them look best, and were gracious in reacting to unexpected challenges.

These gifts of discernment, clarity, truth, and grace are hallmarks of the inner, spiritual life. Without it, cracks appear under intense pressure rather than the polishing of a rough diamond.

My spiritual center is my faith in Christ and remembering that God’s sovereign plan for my life is much better than my own. Your spiritual health and path are up to you – but it’s critical to your success as an entrepreneur.

There are forces at play that at much bigger than just ourselves. Respect

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a major mistake occurs within the organization, does your team perceive that you are genuinely interested in resolving the issue as quickly as possible, or will the messenger of bad news be shot?

- What will get a person in your organization fired? Is it poor performance, lying on an expense report, or simply too much conflict with the leaders of the organization? I recently worked with an entrepreneur who went to lengths to ensure employees that if performance problems existed, management would work to remedy, and no one would be terminated quickly.

Yet within a week of that statement, someone was terminated exactly in the manner they said would not happen!

What type of message does that send about the cultural blueprint?

It’s not what you say about your culture – it’s what actually happens. Be intentional about the blueprint you want to create, keep it simple, and reinforce the blueprint over time. The best organizations have a limited, visible set of rules

that are strictly enforced. Leaders that are able to not only share, but demonstrate the cultural values in how they work every day lead the best organizations.

So get your team, get centered, and pay attention to the blueprint! Your passion and drive will take care of the rest. Go forth with amazing ideas! And the car keys?

They’re under the dog collar in the hallway… lp

About Rich…

Rich Pirrotta serves as Managing Director of the Whitehall Group, with over 20 years of experience in manufacturing, technology, and restructuring. Rich is a senior operational leader, with a bias for action and a record of accomplishment in delivering outstanding business results. He has broad, cross-organizational experience in turnaround, strategy, management, finance, and operations, and has worked in over 35 countries.

Rich has served in President,

Vice-President, COO, and CFO roles as a line executive, as well as spending ten years with Deloitte, first with their Management Consulting practice in Detroit, and later, with their M&A practice in New York.

As a consultant and adviser, he has contributed significant value to companies such as General Motors, RJR Nabisco, United Technologies, Merck, and Chevron.

Rich has deep functional experience in transformational change and strategy development, and is a frequent speaker and seminar leader. He is a member of the National Speakers Association, and has taught in MBA programs at Wharton and the University of Michigan. Rich holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Penn State, and a MBA in Financial Management and Operations Management from Wharton.

To contact Rich: Pirrotta@whitehallgroupllc.com

Markers

By Brian Silverthorn

A

while back I reached one of those significant markers that we randomly encounter along our path through life. Some we know about ahead of time, so we can plan for them and work toward them. Things like our driver’s licenses and diplomas. Others we only dream about and hope for – the ideal job, or a never-ending supply of money, perhaps perfect health. Some of these appear. Some don’t. But, we usually never give up the dreams.

Then there are the really big markers that demand we take some time for introspection when they show up - marriage, kids, divorce, a mid-life crisis, a financial catastrophe, a serious injury or illness, the death of a loved one. Even though dealing with these

things begs for us to pay attention and engage in some self-examination, most of us don’t give them the consideration and reflection they deserve. We should.

Viewed correctly, these events offer great lessons to be learned.

The remaining category of markers includes those like the one I recently tripped over.

These are a stealthy group that reveal themselves when they’re needed. We search for them without really knowing what we’re looking for. We know they’re there. We just don’t know where to look. They pop up subtly, but we continue to miss them until we finally, hopefully, run right smack into them.

Once we recognize them they are obvious. We wonder why it took so

“Amateurs convince, professionals sort.”

-Anonymous

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long to make the discovery. And, the most amazing revelation is that these markers have been with us all along. spring ‘12

They are buried deep inside under the clutter we accumulate living our lives. These major makers only expose themselves when we’re ready. These markers may not explain “the meaning of life,” but they do contribute greatly to the purpose of our individual lives.

I’ve already encountered and worked through all the really big markers except the ones involving major illness or injury. I’d prefer to skip those anyway.

I thought I paid attention to each of them.

However, in retrospect, it was only half-hearted attention at best.

The marriage and kids part started well. Some potholes developed along the way that were never patched correctly, resulting in divorce.

Immediately prior to the divorce some monumental lapses in judgment and the wrong choice of an associate resulted in the loss of a very good business and the loss of just about all things material – not to mention a huge chunk of self-confidence.

The obvious next phase was the mid-life crisis. The highlights of which included many wrong decisions, bad habits, fear of being alone, and the misguided conviction that everything could be fixed quickly through the right opportunity.

While hopping from wrong opportunity to wrong opportunity some corrections began to occur. Health, fitness and nutrition became important.

The right woman magically appeared.

A couple of legitimate opportunities presented themselves.

Eventually I was off and running again. I had plenty of work and was making plenty of money. I was helping businesses succeed and I was helping people succeed. And then the economy took a hard left turn.

I got to experience the financial

catastrophe thing for the second time.

Not good, but still better than severe illness or injury.

This time I really paid attention. I listened to my own advice and finally recognized the marker that had been there all along. Do what you love.

Everything else will come along ads a result.

So, I took a deep breath and started on something I really love to do – build-

own.

Please – take advantage of the lessons I’ve learned and get started on your work. Work that for you is challenging (in a good way), meaningful, and makes you happy. It will be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.

About Brian: Brian believes that everyone should do work they love and fit that work comfortably into the lives they want to live.

Everything he does in business is focused on helping people achieve this goal.

He started and grew a couple of successful businesses in the Midwest. After that he spent 25 years as a behind the scenes guy for company presidents and CEOs helping them grow their businesses successfully. Currently Brian and two partners are starting two technology companies. And, he’s also producing a video series teaching everything you need to know to start and grow a successful business. The free series will be available soon on his video channel. lp

“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, to jump over

the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don’t have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you’ll stop at the first giant hurdle.” -George Lucas

spring ‘12

ing a business. I’ve been working on it for more than a year with a couple of very smart partners and I’ve been having a ball. I look forward to making it happen every day.

This may seem anticlimactic to those of you who are busy charging up the corporate ladder or getting to know the “right” people or working on your image. I don’t mean to be snide or to belittle honest ambition, but my wish for everyone is the ability to stop and discover the simplicity of life. All anyone has to do to be content and fulfilled and to have everything they want in life is to creatively express their unique talents and special abilities in a way that benefits others.

This isn’t my idea. It’s been part of the writings and teachings of philosophers, poets, intellectuals, theologians, and students of the human condition for thousands of years. Maybe the simplicity of the process is the reason we discount it. We may think it’s too good to be true. It’s not.

Hopefully this article will be a marker for some of you who read it.

It’s always best to learn from other people’s mistakes rather than having to take the time to make them all on your

If you’re curious and want to learn more about Brian and his new ventures, please visit http://smallbusinessuprising.com, http://connectorswerk. wordpress.com, and http://job2work. wordpress.com. leadingpossibilities 29

leadership&career

Conscious Business A conversation with Jackie Barretta

By Lori Anderson

I

magine yourself at work. Your team is on a deadline and everyone is a little edgy. You pause, take a few deep breaths, and bring yourself to a state of feeling very positive, present, coherent. As you encounter your team members, you focus on that positivity and presence, and as you breathe in and out, consciously, intentionally, sharing that positivity and presence through your breath, you notice a shift. The energy of your team lightens, the deadline is met with ease, and you end the day on a high note, feeling successful and proud.

Oversimplification aside, this is the kind of experience that Jackie Barretta provides her Fortune 500 clients to demonstrate the connection between conventional business and neurobiology and quantum physics.

This sounds complicated, but it isn’t.

Jackie has built her consciousness consulting business around theories that some might consider “woo woo” but are strongly backed by science and research. By weaving in her own transcendental experiences, Jackie makes these theories real and applicable to life and business, giving clients a unique and remarkable new approach to achieve success.

Tangible, quantifiable success through consciousness – read on to learn how to access some for yourself, your family, your business and maybe with a little extra presence and positivity, we can change the world in a not-so-tiny way.

Lori: What factor has your own consciousness played in the 30

leadingpossibilities

development of your business?

Jackie: By consciousness, I’ll assume you’re referring to my belief systems and what I refer to as “my state of being”, which include my awareness, thought patterns, and the way energy flows through my body. In that context, I use my state of being as a guide to lead me to the message I convey in my writing and the business practice I’m pursuing. In other words, the path I’m pursuing is unbeaten, so I’m forging it on my own and need a guide. I rely on my inner guidance through my consciousness. I can provide more details on how I test an alternative to see if it’s right for me, plus my method for calling forth the ideas, but you’ll get a feel for that in the following answers.

My belief system is at play because I believe our societal problems are due to our lack of knowledge about how we’re creating our experience. Once we understand more about our human creative potential, we’ll be able to solve them. My work is revealing our human creative potential.

Lori: Was there a major “aha” moment for you - about life and purpose - that brought you to where you are now?

Jackie: I’ve spent over 25 years leading information technology organizations, primarily as an executive

in Fortune 500 companies. To deal with the stress of my job, I began meditating about fifteen years ago. I found I could put myself into a state of presence and coherence that felt wonderful. I’ll call it “presence” because

when I’m in it, nothing else matters.

The past and future don’t exist, and all that matters is now. And I feel connected to everyone else.

At first, I kept this state of presence separate from my work life. It was where I went for twenty minutes every morning and evening, before and after work, in a quiet little room in my spring ‘12

“I was practiced at bringing myself to this state of presence, like flexing a muscle that had become strong, so I was able to enter it at work. When I did, I discovered some amazing abilities.”

—Jackie Barretta

house. However, after awhile, I realized the power of bringing that state into my work life.

I was practiced at bringing myself to this state of presence, like flexing a muscle that had become strong, so I was able to enter it at work. When I did, I discovered some amazing abilities.

My memory was sharper, and I had a greater ability to think creatively. It seemed that as long as I was in the state of presence, any answer I sought would simply arise in my mind. I then discovered some fascinating things about dealing with other people.

I first realized that when I was in a state of presence, people wanted to be around me. If I went to a meeting or made a presentation, people whom I’d never met would seek me out and want to become a member of my team. This rarely happened when I wasn’t in a state of presence.

Then I realized I could detect the energy of people and even groups of people while I was in a state of presence. I could project my awareness to them and determine how they were feeling, their emotions. Then I started paying attention to the correlation between how teams felt emotionally and the success they’d eventually experience. I realized that their emotional energy predicted their success. And finally, I realized I could change the emotional energy of a person or group by projecting positivity to them while in a state of presence.

After a few years of doing this, while not fully understanding what it was, I found that there was science that backed this up. I began avidly reading about the power of consciousness and emotions in the science of quantum spring ‘12

tofindjackie website: www.nuragroup.com www.nuragroup.com/resources/articles

physics and neurobiology. I’m an avid reader of anything that I believe is credible (e.g., based in research, etc.) that shows our experience of the outer world will conform to our inner state of being.

I now write about the connection between business and new science, while weaving my own transcendental experiences into the story. I hold that the answer to our business and societal

issues is to change our state of being.

I see my work as revealing our greater creative potential as humans. We have the ability to change our outer world by changing our inner being, at the individual level, as well as in business and society. The self-imposed limits that we’ve accepted for centuries are simply not valid, and it’s my goal to demonstrate that.

Lori: Please share your philosophy about improving an organization and its business through consciousness consulting.

Continued on next page…

leadingpossibilities 31

Conscious Business continued…

The Creative Human Potential Jackie: These three statements summarize my philosophy on our creative potential as human beings: 1. As individuals and groups, our emotional state of being precedes and determines our external state of experiencing. Our minds and emotions are linked with the matter in the world and shape the way objects appear and events unfold. When we are fearful, we will experience events that evoke fear.

2. Together we form an intertwined being. We influence each others’ emotions and access each others’ thoughts and memories, connecting even with people we have never met. As one being, what we do to others we do to ourselves. When we are generous, we promote abundance.

3. There is a collective state of all-knowing, existing beyond our individual beings. When we surrender our need to be separate, or better than, we gain access to this source of all answers and innovations.

I make this philosophy relevant to business thru five areas of practice. All of the practices are backed by science (neurobiology and quantum physics) and business research: 1. Master Group Energy - I first contend that the goal is to shape the emotional energy of the business organization. Emotional energy is the number one determinant of business success, and this fact is corroborated in conventional terms by EQ guru Daniel Goleman. In my words, the goal of an organization is to achieve positive and coherent emotional energy, where employees are in a state of presence.

When they do this, they will be in the ideal state to achieve success. Some 32

leadingpossibilities

practical applications of this are: • Learn to feel/monitor the emotional energy of a group • Learn to instantly change your own mood (what your are projecting) • Handle negativity and fear thru no denial, yet with optimism • Walk away from drama • Read the energy of an employee/ team to determine their needs (e.g., help in solving a problem, encouragement, appreciation, etc.)

• Choose a team with positive

emotional energy • Adopt an organizational structure that fosters positive emotional energy • Become cognizant of the energy around your business that comes thru your invisible borders • Instantly change the energy of a group • Understand how emotional energy impacts machines 2. Use the Energy of Intent – use the power of intentions, where the thought of intending for a particular result increases the chances that the result will manifest, especially when the intention is strongly felt by a large group of people.

Practical applications are: • Ensure that employees are

intending organizational success, not just personal success • Make organization goals a reflection of employees’ goals • Connect people to the whole by showing them where they fit • Minimize job titles – focus on strength of the whole rather than satisfying egos • Push decisions to lowest level • Engage in participative management, with fewer stand out leaders/heroes and more participative leading • Employ leadership traits, such as humility, to foster participation • Use social media to unite workers, especially when they are far flung • Minimize rules • Align skill sets with organizational mission, using co-creativity to assemble virtual organizations • Learn how to intend for a specific event 3.

Ground Energy Thru Belief Systems - belief systems directly affect which possibilities unfold into the events experienced, although most organizations aren’t consciously aware of their beliefs. Practical applications are: • Re-frame beliefs thru action, such as generosity in profit sharing, winwin negotiations, and eliminating entitlement and job protection • Bring awareness to unconscious beliefs; assess belief in abundance, stance towards competition, degree of fear • Understand and use the power of language, such as “I am” • Use emotional stories to set beliefs; get people to visualize and feel in the body spring ‘12

“… we mistakenly believe the answer to our problems is more information, greater analytical ability, and advanced technology.

So many structures in business reinforce this…”

—Jackie Barretta 4. Expand Energy Beyond Organizational Boundaries explains the impact of the energy that an organization emits into society and shows how what it gives out determines what it gets back. Practical applications are: • Raise energy thru action, such as charitable giving, environmental friendliness, altruistic missions, community service and pricing with integrity • Pay attention to how action feels to determine the quality of energy it’s generating 5. Tap into Greater Power presents new science substantiating that there’s a vast source of knowledge and insight, outside of our individual minds, to which we are all connected. It provides guidance to leaders on how to help an organization access this source.

• Guide organizations in reaching a state of presence • Operate from flow rather than willpower • Implement performance monitoring that enables employees to know when they’re performing well without having to worry about it Lori: What trends are you seeing in your clients’ business and needs?

Jackie: Leaders are experiencing more uncertainty about the future. As a result, they’re more open to alternative techniques and willing to look beyond conventional business practices for an edge. However, they’re most open to these techniques when combined with other more conventional practices. For example, these techniques are most readily accepted when combined with a broader leadership-coaching platform.

Lori: What do you see as your unique gifts or perspective that you offer clients?

Jackie: I connect business to the new sciences of neurobiology and quantum physics, weaving in my own transcendental abilities and experiences to make the concepts real and tangible.

I don’t know of any other thought spring ‘12

leader or consultant who does this. I have a unique background and skill set, including solid experience as a C-level executive in Fortune 500 business, I’m an avid studier of new science, and I have a willingness to embrace the realm that some people would call “woo woo”.

The writers that I see either stay on the conventional side with perhaps just a little delving into new territory, or they’re on the woo woo side with no attempt to base their platform in science or business research. The latter group may give an account of their own personal experience, but they rarely take it broader. I bridge these realms in a way that I haven’t seen from others.

Lori: Describe the 5 most important or extraordinary things about your life that you would never trade or give up?

Jackie: These are a combination of experiences and traits: 1. Extraordinary success in business. I have led award winning IT groups for over two decades 2. An analytical, non-conformist mind that puts pieces together across disciplines 3. Strong conviction and stubbornness to be a force for positive change in society 4. Strong personal, inner connection to a force that is beyond this lifetime 5. Boldness and guts to speak out about views that many people think are crazy Lori: Do you have advice to share about living on purpose or overcoming obstacles?

Jackie: I know so many people who bifurcate themselves into two different personalities: 1) based on who they really want to be and what they want do in the world, and 2) based on who they think they need to be and do to make enough money to survive. I also did this for many years. My advice is to look for ways to integrate yourself,

as satisfaction will only come when you do.

As far as overcoming obstacles, the best approach is to connect to your greater source of wisdom, which we all can access. (see my previous comments) Lori: What do you see as the trends/obstacles for consciousness work in traditional business models and within traditional business organizational structures?

Jackie: The consciousness work defies our very way of doing business.

In business today, we place all of our emphasis on using analytical minds and physical action, denying the validity of emotional energy.

Especially in the Information Age, we mistakenly believe the answer to our problems is more information, greater analytical ability, and advanced technology. So many structures in business reinforce this. I’ve led IT groups so I see the emphasis that business leaders place on data analytics and technology. I believe they have their place, but they’re not capable of leading us to the solutions of our most pressing issues. These are the obstacles.

I see some trends, at least outside of business, that people are beginning to wake up to our full creative potential as humans. There’s evidence of this in the popularity of the movie What the Bleep do We Know? and the wide variety of Law of Attraction books and movies. The change has to begin at the individual belief level, and we are seeing this happen. lp

leadingpossibilities 33

The Birth of an Entrepreneurial Enterprise

sidebar. Gathering my wits about me, I replied, “Yes, how may I serve you?”

That was over fifteen years ago.

Today Life On Purpose Institute is a flourishing, spiritually based enterprise.

Hundreds of people have clarified their

By Dr. W. Bradford Swift life purpose by working individually with

our Life On Purpose Certified Coaches, t Life On Purpose Institute we and thousands of others have done the believe everyone should follow same through our group programs. their purpose and passion in life We have had close to a hundred and that doing so will never lead you purposeful and passionate people astray even when you aren’t completely who have gone through our Coach clear where it will lead you. I call it Development Programs as far away “following the breadcrumbs of your as Germany and Australia. And while passion” and it’s actually how Life On our mission to deeply and profoundly Purpose Institute began. touch and contribute to at least 1% of I first got the idea of starting an the world’s population (around 60-70 entrepreneurial enterprise that was a million people) is far from complete, reflection of my own purpose of living we’re building momentum to have it a life of service, simplicity and spiritual accomplished during my life time. (I serenity from a pet writing project: turn 63 in a few months and intend to Project Purpose: To write live to at least 104, so we have some and publish articles about time to make this Impossible Mission people and institutions possible). whose lives and missions

This “meta purpose Perhaps Goethe said it best: are dedicated to a bold project” continues to and inspired purpose or “Whatever you can do, or dream you transform my life and that vision. can, begin it: boldness has genius, power of my wife, Ann, who is also After interviewing and Life On Purpose’s CFO and and magic in it.” spending time with dozens program registrar. Only in my of these purposeful people, wildest dreams did I ever think I began to recognize certain I could live such a satisfying Gahan Wilson.

A few days after the common elements they shared; and fulfilling life as I’m living now. magazine hit the newsstands, and my one of which was that almost all of But then again, isn’t that where such phone rang. “Hello, Brad Swift,” I them were expressing their own life realities begin—in our dreams? lp answer in my customary fashion. purpose through some organized “Is this Life On Purpose?” An structure -- a for-profit business, a For more on the above: non-profit, etc. I was in the midst of excited voice on the other end of the http://www.lifeonpurpose.com/forpondering what such an entrepreneurial line asked. individuals/articles/project-purpose/livingenterprise would look like for me when I paused, momentarily dazed simply-in-a-complex-world/ I received an assignment from Yoga and looked around my office. I had Journal to write a feature article on forgotten about listing my dream in the simple living in a complex world. They wanted, as part of the article, a sidebar listing resources about living simply. abouttheauthor Well, I thought, Life On Purpose W. Bradford Swift is one of the foremost experts on the Institute could be in that sidebar, except subject of personal life purpose, having co-founded Life On Purpose Institute in 1996 with his wife, Ann. He’s the author there wasn’t a Life On Purpose Institute of numerous books including Life On Purpose: Six Passages yet. At first I dismissed the idea as to an Inspired Life.Visit him at: www.lifeonpurpose.com & www.wbradfordswift.com. Dr. W. Bradford Swift, Founder being premature, but as I continued & Chief Visionary Officer, Life On Purpose Institute, Author, writing the article I couldn’t get the idea Life On Purpose: 6 Passages to an Inspired Life http://www. lifeonpurpose.com/books Living & Working On Purpose Blog – out of my mind. Finally, I ran it by my A rich archive of purposeful ponderings to inspire you to live coach who replied, “Why not include it your life on purpose. http://lifeonpurpose.com/blog If you’re curious and want to learn more about Brian and his and see what happens?” So, I did. new ventures, please visit http://smallbusinessuprising.com, I didn’t think much more about it http://connectorswerk.wordpress.com, and http://job2work.wordpress.com. until two to three months later when If you’re looking for your dream job or your looking for ideal employees and you’d like to be involved the article appeared as the cover story in the testing phase of a new method for making great matches between employees and employers, send your contact information to brian@smallbusinessuprising.com. Put LifeDream.net in the subject for the August, 1996 issue of Yoga line.

Journal with a cartoon illustration by

A

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spring ‘12

books&film

M

usician, recording artist, writer, and inspirer of others, Naima Mora knocks her first book out of park and herself off the catwalk and into a new literary and motivational career. With this book and her Model Behavior blog site (both coming May 2012 from Possibility Publishing & Entertainment!) to help fans and readers connect with positive, effective advice and support, she is well on her way to becoming a serious and inspiring force in the world.

Rare is the voice that speaks to the hearts and minds of a generation, who transcends the pop-stained culture she grew up in. Not a novice to the spotlight or the weight of other people’s expectations on

her shoulders, Naima gained early celebrity notoriety from the world of high-stakes modeling and entertainment, but knew from the very beginning that her life and purpose in the world was greater than an image on a page.

Multi-cultural, multi-talented, and sparkling with wisdom and energy, most know Naima Mora as season 4’s winner from America’s Top Model—and she is the first to say how much she appreciates the gifts modeling brought her--but in her soul-baring first book, she proves the old adage that who we are comes from the inside. Integrating all our gifts and abilities in healthy ways is where magic happens.

Simple, yet powerful in it’s

authentic truth, Model Behavior is stunningly beautiful and engaging to read. Part inspiration and part roadmap for anyone looking to take his or her life to a higher plane, this e-book edition (a soft cover and art collector’s edition coming soon!), shares hard won, but elegantly simple lessons about top performance and living a healthy, satisfying life. This book and subscription to her newsletters are all about inspiring and helping anyone find a better, happier, and healthier way of being.

We can’t wait to share her book, her extraordinary inspiration, and her new book blog with you! Watch her full feature profile in our June special feature issue of Artist Innovators. lp

A Review: Poet Master James Benton -Not all who wander are lost

By Kathryn Mattingly

J

ames Benton is a distinguished author of poetry, memoir and short fiction, among other things. His work has appeared in top online literary magazines such as Flatmancrooked, he’s written extraordinary reviews, and was just featured in Poetry Now (Sacramento Poetry Center).

He will soon have spring ‘12

his first book of poetry published if the gods are willing. What he says about himself explains his other lives best: “At various times I have worked as a sailor, electrician, nuclear engineer (really), a bill collector, retail clerk, bank executive, night janitor, and private investigator.

Tolkien was right: “not all those who wander are lost.”

I agree with Tolkien,

because Jim is anything but lost. The depth of his understanding about life is enriching, if not downright fascinating. I guess that’s one reason we read literature to begin with, so we can better understand ourselves by wandering through the thoughts and actions of others. If those characters we read about are lost, they are either found or at least profoundly pondered by the end of

James Benton leadingpossibilities 35

the literary piece.

I don’t use the word literary lightly. There is literally an endless supply of less-than-literary stuff out there, but you won’t find Jim’s work among the mundane. He recently moved from Sacramento, CA to La Grande, OR. I asked him why he moved and if it was it hard to leave sunny California for well, less sunny Oregon?

“I recently took a position as Instructor of English at Eastern Oregon University. My wife and I graduated from there in 2007 with degrees in English, and so loved it we swore to return if possible.

Through a series of serendipitous happenstances, that possibility presented itself last summer, and the decision to move from Sacramento was one of the easiest we’ve ever made.”

Presuming he returned to college for an English degree because the writing bug had bitten him, I asked why did he suddenly want to teach?

“It wasn’t until I returned to college late in life (at 50) that the idea of teaching English and Writing even entered my mind. I became a writing center tutor as a student at EOU, and the first time a student sat upright with that “a-ha!” moment, I was hooked like a fish. After that, my whole purpose has been to make teaching writing and literature the last profession I will ever have. I could do this until they plant me in the ground.”

On that note of being planted in the ground, here is a poem about one of his wife’s pioneer family members that was, sort of, your original entrepreneur – if we are going to define it as following a dream that takes hard work, discipline, and intense focus to pursue. Jim tells me “this man homesteaded 160 acres of hard, rocky Eastern Oregon and made a hard, rocky living running cattle there.” He adds: “In the scheme of things, this homesteader’s tenure was fairly brief. I’ve often wondered how he might feel about the condition of that land as it is today, and so this poem, “Two Houses,” is my attempt to get at that sense of permanence when it has been detoured.”

36

leadingpossibilities

two houses Within sight of the interstate, Rye Valley, a house lies down: white shiplap, peeled paint nine layers deep, nothing plumb, canted over under its own weight.

The homestead is closed, its keeper a late arriver and true believer in the code of men.

By James Benton

While the place stood, the old man lived at the top of narrow stairs, light spiked through loose hardware from beneath the plank door.

The window above the fire escape overlooked a bench swing, still as the dust-hung air, overlooked the terraced cattle tracks surrounding it all cut in from creek-bed to crest.

The old man left a braided whip coiled like shed skin around a box of shells.

Rows of dog-eared daydreams roast by a wedge of sun knifing through the window, the print and their crackled spines turning thin.

His hands rubbed to saddle leather and rope burns.

Salt, bacon, wheat cakes, cattle…

Pungency and pain too baked in to register in this vast, absorbent turf.

The wind is now the memory of brothers and cousins, and in-laws, and laughter in August looping off the porch, sticking in the low hanging willow.

In the beginning— a half-day’s walk up the draw— read by kerosene, sleep by starlight, dream by horsehide, a shimmer in the ear when knife meets bone, snake hostel, shotgun zone—its terraced hillside looks down on the old man rising now and then as a braided column of sand.

From the interstate, in summer, some might happen to see great hands reaching from the rocks where two houses fell, more apparition than ancestor, proud, defeated: bent heat leather gloves burnt Stetson spring ‘12

Jim Benton has written a reflective story about losing his son shortly after birth. It’s a very moving literary piece that elevates the experience to something all of us can find significant – in terms of picking ourselves up and moving on when life knocks us down. And it will. That’s when we need to sum it all up by the sum of our parts that mean the most. And he does this eloquently. I asked him about it.

“As you can imagine, that piece has a special significance for me. I tried to write about that experience for more than thirty years before finding the right tone, the right combination of elements, and the right kind of emotional distance. I have to thank Doug Rice at CSUS, and the amazing members of his memoir seminar for helping me find that balance. That seminar was populated with some brilliant and courageous writers, several of whom are now deservedly finding their own wider audiences.”

Flight of Bumblebees first appeared in Ragazine.cc. You can read it at: http://ragazine. cc/?s=James+Benton+Bumblebees

I asked Jim what his future writing plans are.

“I’m looking for a publisher to take my first volume of poetry, sailor. Essentially, it is my master’s thesis, but I’ve made a few adjustments since first approved. I’m also working on my second volume, the theme of which has to do with sympathetic magic. I have a bigger project, a novel called The Green Fog, which is a fictionalized telling of an elder abuse case I worked with another PI in the 90s. What makes that story important to me is not just

O

I asked Jim if he had any poems about motivating or inspiring us to achieve all that we are capable of.

“I have a poem that ran in Flatmancrooked’s Slim Volume of Contemporary Poetics called, “Oceanus Pacificus.” It addresses the idea of achievement and the spirit of wonder at the vastness of our endeavors.” the elder abuse, which is shocking enough, but the even more shocking ineptitude of the official response to it.”

Jim received his BA from Eastern Oregon University, and his MA in creative writing at Cal State Sacramento, where he received four Dominic J. Bazzanella Literary awards for his writing. Poetry, short fiction, memoir, and reviews have appeared in cold-drill, Oregon East (2007) and Calaveras Station (2009) -literature journals of Eastern Oregon University and CSU Sacramento, respectively. He also has work in: Convergence, Raintown Review, Word Riot, Ragazine.cc, Flatmancrooked, Poetry Now, Rattle and is forthcoming in New York Quarterly. He also serves as a senior editor for noir fiction at Mixer Publishing.

Some of his work can be found on these sites: http://ragazine.cc/?s=James+Benton+Bumblebees www.wordriot.org/archives/1525

Poetry: The Olive Tree; Karachi; Proof of Ghosts@ c o n v e r g e n c e: LINVILLE www.convergence-journal.com www.wordriot.org/archives/1525 lp spring ‘12

Oceanus Pacificus

By James Benton

and see how our long churn recedes beyond the eye to the goblet rim who can doubt its curvature the wavering chop the interzone of brine and breath luminescent even below the sun how broad the chasm of this pinched perspective we believe our power enough to preserve us to deny our nature to fall and all our effort to remain afloat impaled upon the grace of an indifferent sea our boiling tail the trace of our transit hisses until the last ear sinks below its unstill yawning gape hubris rides the slippery spine world without witness to discover for once if beyond here dwell dragons

leadingpossibilities 37

books&film

A Review: Dark Waters

Meet Rick Gott, creator, writer, and director of the web series TV show Dark Pool

By Christopher Karne Frost

“P

ray for the dead, but fight like hell for the living.” These words resonated through me as Rick and I discussed the origins and undercurrents of his Webisode filmventure Dark Pool. A journey Jim Krall (played by Jason Kuykendall) is unwittingly thrust into where the sane don’t always walk a straight line, and the nonsensical whispers of the stranger in the night may hold the answers to what you seek.

Rick’s conceptualization of the film has been marinating in the shadowed recesses of his mind for years, only rising to the surface in the past 6 months.

The genesis came from a fire and desire to breathe new life from someone now passed on, a former student who quickly became more, a friend. And though he referred to all his students as “his kids,” taking personal interest in each of their successes and losses - each and every one of them an extension of Rick’s hopes and dreams for them there was this one young man who always stood out.

His brightest student of all, who lived in the dark places of the world; and his life cut short in a mystery; his untimely death an unanswered pall that hangs over the world.

In the days he and Rick shared, there were many a conversation and 38

leadingpossibilities

philosophical debate of multidimensional space, evolution of mind over body, and the endless journey for truth and reason in a world where reality can be ever so daunting. A story began to unfold; a tale that required one’s life to be realized for another to be conceived.

Life from death.

With memories from the past of their relationship often including seeing each other from opposing compass points of the schools hallways, as two Knights of old, a challenge was usu-

ally born with words, in their eyes, and Rick’s student would ask, “so, what are you gonna do about it?” Rick finally came to understand and discern what indeed “he was going to do about it,” about the student’s life, and he began

Rick Gott, Filmmaker

penning Dark Pool, a place where reality and possibilities have been shaken, stirred and blended, where the thing tapping in the dark may no longer be the fiend in the night, but instead your savior….

As is often the case, Rick’s wife has been his most ardent fan and supporter; Karen’s supportive words of “It’s the healthiest mid-life crisis possible” echoing in his ears. Rick’s colleagues; Frank Casanova, the twins Mike and Rich Malmberg, Lynn Malmberg (Mike’s wife), the much maligned clown Rick Kleber (for whom you should never open the door should he come-a-knocking) and the sultry sounds of Juliana Zachariu, one Rick is certain will grace all our lives soon through her musical talents, are his creative forces of nature.

And so Rick and his ghostly friend write on, bringing to light what was birthed in death. In the doing, he creates a singularly unique and powerfully entertaining visual experience that is both truly terrifying and life changing, what a good story should, after all, do.

Find Rick and Dark Pool on Facebook and watch the series on YouTube. lp spring ‘12

art&music

A Meeting: Adam Reeder’s Sculpting Hands and Brilliant Mind

By Tracy Saville

A

dam Reeder is an American painter and sculptor, a teacher, a leader of California’s newest regional chapter for the California Art Club in Northern California. He is also a visionary, and one heck of a nice guy.

No really, as in born to be good and funny and charming the way you wish you could be, the way you admire in your best friend who you count your lucky stars that you have at all. Adam Reeder is also one of the most talented figure artists to emerge into the collected, commercial, and serious art scene. He is special, unique, and that is a lot to live up to, but Adam Reeder seems very much up to the task.

Along with Marilyn Rose, his co-chair of the California Art Club, they have struck out on a journey to help serious, good artists show their work, and they are organizing ways to bring them together so that they may work together at artist gatherings in locales that inspire. In between his own work sessions, he teaches workshops to help others develop what he himself has mastered.

“Teaching is helping people see the light,” Reeder says. He simply loves the look of discovery in his pupil’s eyes.

It isn’t a surprise to artists struggling to find audiences that even in a region hosting a plethora of galleries and artrelated festivals and events, galleries have certain styles they cater to, and preconceived ideas of what the market wants.

They typically stick to those recipes, which mean that moving outside the strict list of ingredients, like artists such as Adam, can be a recipe for finding no substantial way to show your work in places where they actually might find interested eyes, hearts and minds of consumers. It is also a struggle to remain respectful and spring ‘12

Self Portrait: Adam Reeder

true to the disciplined world of practiced artistry while also playing outside the lines of convention, where mastery is born.

Artists are so often a reflection of a region’s cultural and social values and expectations, and they need a powerful ally that works to create a strong road between creation and commerce. Adam Reeder is part of that road-building crew in Northern California, and if you are an artist, and become a member of the California Art Club, your newest best friend.

Response in growing membership for the new chapter has been good, Reeder reports, where he is helping to build an even stronger and already vibrant artist community. The Club brings them together in opportunities to exhibit, create, network, build fan bases, and find regional recognition. Members can apply to any of the shows they host, and membership is more than affordable, under $100 for premier standing.

At 35, Adam Reeder sculpts in many leadingpossibilities 39

mediums, but primarily bronze, and often figurines. He also draws commissioned portraits. His very first piece of sculpture was a mermaid, which he sold in six different editions of bronze. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drawing, he went on to graduate school to study sculpting, where a Professor Erick Blone who has done at least 50 public commissions in public spaces and was the director of the department, became an icon for what success in the art world meant to Adam.

Growing up Adam Reeder had the benefit of his mother as a major influence, a painter and art teacher now, who didn’t start teaching until Adam was in his 20’s. Admittedly, Reeder claimed his twin brother was always a better natural talent in painting than he was, though in the end it was Adam who picked it up with a life-long passion. His father was a mechanical engineer, something that Adam also respected. And looking back with all his influences, he reflected during his interview that his twin wanted him to have the art, the creative path between the two of them. It was a wistful, but loving reflection from a man who seems to have deep feelings of admiration and respect for all the gifts he possesses.

It is important to note at this point that Adam Reeder is among all other things, a risk taker, an artist who is courageously bold and takes himself to the edge and beyond of his abilities. His creations often live in the juxtaposition of how technology interacts with culture and society, or more precisely how culture and society is connected to technology as if symbiotic, and so his themes often reflect the dissonance of what that humantechno relationship creates, prompting critics and consumers to ask: where do I end and technology begins, or has it so overtaken my life that I have lost my own humanity and no longer see where I end and the machine begins?

Reeder remarked that “that technology has changed the way humans have interacted with our world – (there is an almost) ubiquitous nature of technology interface,” as if we have lost the seams of our own existence to wires and processors. One of his pieces is of Plato with an IPod, and a Greek figure reposed in tragic form, holding a gamer console unit in his weathered hand.

When Adam’s daughter was six years old he asked her what she wanted for her birthday – a puppy, a Barbie perhaps, as any little girl might? No, she said, she 40

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Greek Holding Gaming Controller

Adam’s Daughter

Plato w/iPod spring ‘12

wanted an IPod. What Adam creates often leans into what is called socio-technic evolution, an entire body of legitimate philosophy, calling attention to Adam’s uber-smartness and indelible spine of being an artist whose work will be a generational icon of his own age of digitalism and innovation.

He captures what we have built, and simultaneously regale and revile.

And it is this discipline, this mastery Adam has as an artist, where he has boldly decided that in finding no rules to govern that which he is or that which he creates as an artist, he will make up his own rules as he goes along. He respects the rules, but he also breaks them always to good ends, and for the betterment of others, that they might learn or see

tofindadam You can talk to Adam Reeder at adam@adamreeder.com or find his work at www.adamreeder. com. The California Art Club can be explored at either their blog at: www.californiaartclub.wordpress.com or their primary website at www. californiaartclub.org.

something of themselves through his eyes.

Adam Reeder bypasses all of our preconceived notions of what the rules are supposed to be, which makes him a narrative within a narrative, a meta-narrative staring back at us, begging us to be better than we are. His genuine and authentic power as an artist, and the truth and resonance of his humanity make him

both a likely and unlikely hero of the art world, for while he is up next developing ideas for pursuing ever deeper subjects such as genocide, Africa, and the truly horrific truths of what we continue to do to each other in the name of politics or power, he is also exploring the demise of the masculine paradigm and the rise of the feminine paradigm, or is it the other way around? He is quite literally carving out a deeper understanding of ourselves while being someone you can’t wait to hang out with at the next paint the river party.

Painful, joyful, raw, smooth, kind, serious—these are the juxtapositions that are Adam Reeder, American painter, sculptor, poet, father, husband, son and a really nice guy. lp

Galaxy of Tar: Naima Mora’s Great New Musical Adventure N

aima Mora’s musical life is very different than her former America’s Top Model world, and in the following words of the band themselves, a truly unique, creative, and frankly bold stroke of genius is what you’ll find in this new Afro-Punk project. To listen to free music by Galaxy of Tar, watch their live performances, and find out more, visit them on MySpace at: http://www. myspace.com/galaxyoftar

Your ancestors are being awoken by dark merchants.

They are crawling out from inside your chest because they have heard and cannot ignore the drum.

They are being pelted and baptized by a voice of metal rain.

They are being called out by the restless natives of a dark future.

They are being initiated into a Galaxy of Tar... .. spring ‘12

A reverberating bass line (Samuel Fernandez) shapes their new bloodlines.

It pushes through the dead skin, thumping a pulse out of dried veins. The guitar; torn aluminum (Nemanja Rebic) shocks their heart into new palpitations and scrapes the skin like sharp licks through a chaos. Properly and evenly scarred, the drum pushes their new palpitations into a new rhythm. Drums that are

“A wiser more assertive and musically rounded project than their previous group Chewing Pics.” simultaneously a driving force and a shield. Drums that cofounding member Elias Diaz has developed out of a fabric of influence from his Dominican Republic and musical rebirth in New York. The native voice, the tar poetic, the un-kneeling pneuma of co-founding member Naima Mora guides the reborn through this galaxy of metals,

Photo courtesy of Myspace Galaxy of Tar leadingpossibilities 41

industry, and rhythm..... ....Galaxy of Tar is the second initiative for the Diaz/Mora pair. A wiser more assertive and musically rounded project than their previous group; Chewing Pics.

Though aggressive and hard hitting the musical finesse is not lost. The voice and poetry of Mora is as strong and textured as Diaz’s soundscape, creating a balance of unrelenting energy and painful grace. This is a music that evokes the deadened spirit inside you that has been put to sleep by the beige and nice ways of pretending to get along. Music meant to rebirth that long held person within who prematurely went home before the fight was over. Brooklyn, NY is the backdrop for the collective voice of the unruly natives whose sound inherently matches the town’s character.....

The group is currently performing live throughout New York and touring the US. Spirits and images, shreds of music old and new, passion, pain, vulnerability and strength become the amalgamation that is Galaxy of Tar; something you won’t soon be able to ignore….to read more about them and Afro-Punk visit: http://www.afropunk.com/ profiles/blogs/galaxy-of-tar-a-bite-out-of Galaxy of Tar members: Christopher Longoria, Naima Mora, Elias Diaz, Nemanja Rebic, and Samuel Fernandez.

What is Afro-Punk?

According to Afropunk.com, The Movement of it was spawned out of the 2003 Afro-Punk cult-classic film that showcased Black Punks in America, remarking on the multi-cultural youth community who felt like outsiders. Since then pop culture press and communities in music and culture have recognized Afro-Punk as the powerful form of expression that it is. (afropunk.com/page/themovement)

Photos courtesy of Galaxy of Tar Myspace and Afropunk.com

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spring ‘12

A Very Unexpected Poem

by Tennison Long

Un

Unexpected

Strangers no more as we slip aboard this ship into a fusion and take in all of this here and now in slow time motion sent out to a wider probe for this wilder investigation and found the glitter in your eyes like broken glass …next I waited for the arrival of your river, then my sullen quiver and there was nothing left to compete with the silence we couldn’t hear on your summit overlooking the sea, when I see the equation in the calculus of your backside, when it is your smell that I will forever remember, when I want to dive nose first into your turquoise pool, when I am most comfortable here in the solitude of this place of exile …with this welcome disease, this longed-for affliction, when you are my siren, when you are my Cleopatra, when I want your panties to be hanging off of one heel, when I want to be tight in your inside that has no outside, when you entered my soul with your baby oil skin embrace, when I covered your heart from within and without, when in the dark we embraced the only way we know how to embrace, when your whispers are my breathlessness and your pulse my life support, when I honor your complexities and intricacies, and then: my gratitude for the restless mood is left in the before time of the calling to come in these hesitations, the walk without end that carries on with it the rumored curse that the path is clear and then there is no path, when you speak volumes in your embrace, when you make me forget for a moment how much I dislike waiting, when whatever it is it cannot be named, when your trade wind carries me and fills my sail to the equator of your manicured valley then to the blue sea, when your slow lick seals the fortitude and there is no stopping and restarting of the machines in the lubrication room, when you drop in carefree, unrelenting, setting off a fire of burning coals to stoke the familiar kind of flame… with this mouth (full of talk) I use to pick your sacred lock…

spring ‘12

Ron Kendall American painter, 2010 Ron Kendall, who will be featured on the cover next issue in June creates work that asks us to suspend belief and try on a new kind of imagination. We thought the pairing of Ron’s work and Tennison’s, shall we say “irreverent” poem made a good match.

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Body

Staying Fit in an Entrepreneurial Lifestyle

By Brandon Daniel

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eet Brandon Daniel, our new health and fitness columnist.

In this his first entry, Brandon gives us good, solid tools for us entrepreneurs on the go, and shows us once again, it’s about the discipline to the simple rules of process and follow through.

One of the most important things to consider about your fitness is consistency.

You will have your good days and your bad days, as well, but being consistent in the long run will lead to success. Being an entrepreneur you probably live a busy lifestyle, always on the go, not enough hours in the day; but don’t let that be an excuse for not starting an exercise program. Here are 5 tips to keeping up and remaining consistent.

1. Exercise in the morning Exercising in the morning before you start your day has many benefits. It will be tough at the beginning but once your body gets use to it, it will become much easier.

You will get your day off to a productive start; your body will release endorphins that will make you feel good throughout the day, and with doing this you will not feel that you are interrupting your day by having to squeeze a workout in.

2. Change up your routine Don’t get used to always doing the same routine. Your body will start to plateau roughly about 2 months into an exercise program, so changing your routine will allow you to try something new and have a little more fun by experiencing a change. You could do different types of cardio exercises such as swimming or jogging outside, along with adding some plyometric exercises to increase your muscular endurance.

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3. Make healthy eating choices There’s so much to know about nutrition, but making a few healthy choices here and there will help get you into better habits. Remember the more junk you put into your body, the worse you will feel, so eat more fruits and vegetables, drink more water and count your calories, so you stay on track to what your body needs day to day. One thing I always tell my clients is it’s so much easier to put 1000 calories into your body than to burn 1000 with exercise. So think of how hard you worked to burn it off and all of a sudden that food doesn’t look so appealing.

4. Get lots of sleep I know we hear it all the time but never underestimate a good night’s sleep. There are many benefits to a good night’s sleep. It reduces the risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease and different types of cancers. Your body also burns many calories during rest, which people sometimes tend to forget.

There are many studies that show people who get less than 6 hours of sleep a day have a much higher risk of obesity. A good amount of sleep will also allow you to not be so tired when you wake up for that early morning workout.

5. Take time to relax Yes, it is ok to reward yourself occasionally. You will be working hard on improving your lifestyle and that will take its effect on the body, so every few months take a trip out of town with the family and have fun. By doing this you will have something else to look forward to and you can enjoy that with the people you love the most. Just remember that when you do come home: you have got to get

Brandon Daniel, Fitness Expert

tofindbrandon To find out more, visit Brandon’s website at: www.allthewayfit.com, or talk to Brandon directly at: bcdaniel2525@yahoo.com.

back on track to your routine again. The one thing you do not want to do is use that trip as an excuse to not exercise.

Remember, this is a lifestyle change; it’s not a quick fix. You will have your good days and bad, but staying positive and remembering that the results you are looking for will take time to achieve will allow you to have a better mind set.

Think of your business. Was it successful over night? Probably not—I’m betting it took time to develop the skills to have success and sustain them. Exercise is the same way. Use these tips and that will get your exercise program off to a great start. spring ‘12

“The process of creating a great sales pitch often involves a gradual chiseling away of the great monument or concept into a more simplistic form.”

-Eric Miller

The Point of Connection

By Eric Miller

D

eveloping a new business, packed full of hopes and dreams, all bundled together and then working tirelessly to pitch that vision to the rest of the world is a large task. When the budget isn’t there for five-star sales and marketing teams, then it is up to the business owner to communicate the underlying message of the product in order to illustrate what makes it so valuable and worthwhile. The challenge is putting that bundle of ideas, feelings and passions into a simple, coherent message. This is where a good sales and marketing team can help.

Planning and building the Aikido & Healing Arts Center (Roseville, CA-Northern California) was a large undertaking by all those involved. The Martial Art of Aikido is not well known in the U.S. Trying to explain how a healing arts center fits in with a Martial Arts program made for some interesting conversations with new customers until we more accurately and succinctly conveyed what we were about. It was a gradual evolution for us to come up with an effective message to reach people and gain their interest and their trust.

Connecting in a way that not only stirs the heart, but also makes sense intellectually has been our mission. The lessons learned for us throughout the various marketing avenues we embarked upon, which spring ‘12

are unique to the art of Aikido, and to truly connect with people required a different approach.

Though the movements of the art are inspiring to watch, until it is experienced firsthand, the practice can appear ethereal and mysterious, or even out of reach.

At the core of Aikido is the principle of connecting with people and building community.

It is about the strengthening of the mind and body and assisting others to find a healing path for what ails them. Eventually we found that through direct personal conversation, demonstrations, and workshops, the message of it could truly be felt.

Fortunately, this type of advertising and promotion has been the least costly. With the endless array of marketing and networking services out there, it was easy for us to get lost in the sea of it. What we have experienced in the past year since we opened is that nothing is more powerful than making direct contact with people. For customers to hear and feel how passionate you are about what you do and why you do it goes a long way.

Recently, I read an article on how to construct a great pitch.

The process of creating a great

Eric Miller

“What we have experienced in the past year since we opened is that nothing is more powerful than making direct contact with people.” leadingpossibilities 45

sales pitch often involves a gradual chiseling away of the great monument or concept into a more simplistic form.

Being able to explain a product and capture a number of key elements into one sentence was more challenging than I realized. Aptly named the elevator pitch, I thought it was a brilliant method for revealing how well you truly understand what it is you’re selling. It taught me that if you can take a very involved subject and sum it up into one sentence then you have a clear grasp of what it is you

tofinderic I can be reached at: Eric Miller, Director Aikido & Healing Arts of Roseville rosevillehealingarts@gmail.com http://rosevilleaikidocenter.com

…”Aikido – to unify the whole and to find the central point that makes everything flow.”

are promoting.

Communicating a message that people can relate to and quickly grasp is a great approach when you only have a minute to do it and you want to put your

best foot forward to represent the company or the product. We had a lot of pieces on the table: Aikido, other Martial Arts, various mind, body and spirit workshops, offices for lease, networking programs, etc. After sorting out the pieces and searching for the common threads, we were able to find the central theme. When we were able to accurately capture the message it infused in us more confidence in what we were doing and drove forward the various programs we had created.

What we have learned thus far in the journey is that no matter the subject or the complexity of something, when it is presented in a way that stirs the heart, the mind and spirit together then you have succeeded in conveying the story of the product or service you are trying to sell. This is also the continual practice of Aikido – to unify the whole and to find the central point that makes everything flow. lp

Kay’s Success Story L ike too many of us, I have struggled with weight issues most of my life. While never obese as a child or teen, I was always a little plump. Schools back then didn’t offer organized sports for girls and PE was just a class to avoid. I was blessed, in a way, with a mom who was a great cook.

So diets became a part of my life.

But each time I lost weight I just gained it right back, and then some. As the pounds crept ever higher, I developed more health issues, not to mention low self-esteem. My blood pressure climbed to a dangerous point, requiring me to 46

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take medication. With a family history that includes my father, who passed away at the age of 53 from a heart attack, and my mother who had heart disease and diabetes, I knew something had to change. At the end of 2006 my weight had climbed to 240 lbs. and I was pre-diabetic. My doctor and I agreed I needed go to Weight Watchers, but he told me he would have to start seeing results, and fast.

I joined in Jan. 2007 and quickly learned that life doesn’t wait while you diet. The kitchen remodel still needed to be finished, a new and better job meant more and more work and, sadly,

I watched my Mom finally succumb to the health issues that her weight and other problems had caused. But even the saddest of events can have a tiny silver lining. I became determined to succeed and I did. That first year, I lost 40 pounds.

Encouraged by a friend from Weight Watchers to start exercising, I joined a gym in Jan. 2008. Having essentially no experience in exercising, I realized I would need a personal trainer to get me started. Twice each week he taught me how to exercise correctly and burn the most calories possible in an exercise session. That training, spring ‘12

combined with Weight Watchers, proved to be the key. That year I lost an astonishing 70 pounds. My weight was the lowest I could recall since a very young age and because of the resistance training I was fitting into sizes I didn’t even know existed before.

Once, in New York, I found myself waltzing into Prada, not to buy, but just to realize they would fit! I gained strength, confidence and a whole new outlook on life.

At the end of 2008 my job in the financial industry evaporated like so many others. Faced with trying to find another job in banking made me think about what I was truly passionate about. I decided to study and become a personal trainer myself. I passed my trainer certification exam in May of 2009 and started working for 24 Hour Fitness. I am now working in the same club where my own personal transformation took place.

Known as the “mature” trainer, age does have some benefits: I attract a clientele of mainly baby boomers needing to lose some weight and get in shape. Many have not exercised in years if at all and do not feel comfortable in the gym. Since I started from the same place I am able to relate and help to put them at ease.

My new life is so rewarding. I get to meet and work with people from all walks of life. I no longer cringe when asked to do anything that involves activity, and in fact, I hate to sit still!

My doctor is thrilled and I now look forward to a much longer life. I no longer take blood pressure medication and my blood sugar is normal.

Sometimes I look in the mirror and wonder who that thin person is who’s staring back? Whoever it is, I suspect they would tell you how much of a difference exercise and good nutrition can make.

As we all know, life keeps changing. In 2010 I knew that my marriage was over. This was a hard and painspring ‘12

I know I am a stronger person for all of the hard times. I once again have a whole new life and look forward to what comes

next.

Kay Wodetski

ful decision but I knew that I deserved more happiness in life than I had at the time. This would not only mean ending a 25-year marriage, but also going back to a job in banking in order to support myself.

I started a new job as commercial underwriter on November 1, 2010 but still continue to work part time as a personal trainer. And of course, I still am dedicated to fitness and eating healthy. I bought a house and moved out of the home I shared with my

tofindkay Find Kay Wodetski at: https://www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=1778003603

husband at the end of January 2011.

The last year has brought about so many changes and another totally new life. There have been challenges and lots of ups and downs in the past year but I know I am a stronger person for all of the hard times. I once again have a whole new life and look forward to what comes next.” lp leadingpossibilities 47

spirit&enlightenment

Equanimity:The Path of Enlightenment

plus a lot of other useful information for the traveller of self...

By Michael C.S. Wilson

E

quanimity is very important to our survival as a human race. It allows peacefulness and love into our experiences. The definition of equanimity is a feeling or state of being that is stable or composed with consistent calmness and equilibrium, especially under strain or tension (there are different levels of equanimity, depending on how far you let your self understand the depth of it; even though it never can be fully understood because it is infinite. It’s relative).

Equanimity is enlightenment. Everyone can achieve enlightenment through the discovery of learning or the practice of infinite compassion, or awareness.

Equanimity or enlightenment in Buddhist practice is equal to what you feel when you have a sensation of something energizing you fully in the now, where time doesn’t exist because your mind doesn’t exist in its usual state of judging and assuming; YOU are just totally being, and feeling an overwhelming sense of joy in that circumstance.

Where your awareness of everything and nothing exists at the same time: this is enlightenment. You can practice

oneness all the time while walking, while sleeping, while eating, and obviously while just being. Maybe you think you had the time of your life when you went streaking naked across the lawns last week at that frat party and the rush of insanity gave you something close to what I’m talking about. But short lived sensations, or surface exhilaration, aren’t truly what gets you closer to feeling who you really are.

The truth is BEING allows you to be who you are, of course while realizing infinite compassion and virtuous ethics and morals. And it’s fun to watch your self be a part of everything and nothing at the same time. I tell people to stop watching TV so much and see and feel yourself being, especially if you feel bad about who you are or aren’t. Material objects to cure emptiness won’t get you to equanimity; an infatuation and inclination to strive for things that aren’t you won’t get you there either.

There may be a side of you that is desperate, wanting, even needing.

Observing the fine lines of ethics and morals for what you want or like or think is good is important, and to choose right or wrong paths is part of the process.

abouttheauthor Michael Wilson is 20 years-old, a student of philosophy, spiritualism, martial arts, music, and life. He is often called to pen some extraordinarily powerful ideas that seem to come from another place. He is not always happy about it, as it takes a focus and discipline to go to the places he does. Currently, he is contemplating what every human being his age should: the future, what’s right, what’s real, and why.

photo by Nicholas Wray

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There is good and there is bad. There are words to describe meanings of the feelings of good and bad and all emotions for that matter. The more you listen to what you know is good, the closer to equanimity you get. If it weren’t for the feelings of guilt and shame, we wouldn’t have the words to find their meaning, and if it weren’t for the original awareness of cause and effect and that everything is nothing at the same time, we wouldn’t have good, and our minds couldn’t even grasp this to begin with.

You’re bigger than nothing, but humbled by the infinite vastness of the universe. Accept and adapt; find your point of equanimity. lp

spring ‘12

The Great Golf Metaphor

By Christopher Karne Frost

I

n his series on Enlightenment, Chris Frost turns in some unique tweaks to the ancient path to awakeness.

You know how some people use golf as a perfect metaphor for everything?

Well, Chris doesn’t do that, but he does pull some doozey metaphorical comparisons out of thin air, that we love and respect. Like this piece he did creative arts and their role they have in our awakenings…

Explorers, adventurers, seekers of truth and illumination; each of us has our own requirements, our own interests, our own truths to be sought out, and music is often an accompaniment to that diversity of options for how we find higher ground.

Music may be the singularly most inspiring, emotionally invoking, dream charging energy we play with day to day—this thought producing—and soul searching tool. And yet it is barely understood as a catalyst for opening up doors to deeper understanding in our selves.

The correlation of word and sound, entwined as one has moved mountains, shaken the foundations of society and set the world afire. How it happens is dependent on your artist of choice; be it Marilyn Manson’s Antichrist Superstar, the Beatles Yellow Submarine or the chromatic harmony of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – who I listen to now as I type. Wherein would you fit best? Who most would you relate to?

So too do we have the written word, by way of fiction for the sake of this road conversation, a road of the untruth that gives us a way into the truths that are hard to look at unvarnished. Many a tale have we lost ourselves in, wandering alien worlds, finding freedom in a perspring ‘12

“Enlightenment asks us if we have fully allowed the musical notes of our lives to play at their fullest crescendos and have we lived the pages of our lives so jam packed that and in truth that there is not a square inch of word space left unleveraged.”

photo by Chris Frost leadingpossibilities 49

sona not real, finding peace in an idea, a dream, bound with ink and glue. Within the pages of fantasies brought to light, laid bare for your perusal, you are asked only to open your mind, open your soul and walk in the footsteps of the characters so that you might find your own feet.

Many a book have I opened, finding empathy with the characters inside; the good and the bad alike, then pining over ever knowing them as I turned the pages, ever closer to the final page, often reading slower as the story picked up pace, for I alone knew the end was near.

Alas, there has never been regret in meeting the heroes and heroines, maligned murderers and lost souls of Clive Barker, R.A. Salvatore and Dean Koontz to name but a very few, for in each of them and their travels are stories not so different from yours

and mine, and therefore truths to be learned.

As our stories grow shorter every day, as our lives are impermanent—a truth about the path of enlightenment we all ultimately learn, one day someone may pick up a book entitled

“enter your name here.“ Will they be engrossed in your tale? Will they share the tale of you with a friend, so engaging is the read?

Have you lived a life to bring tears to the eyes of those who might be inspired by the fullness of your life, whose happiness of soul or enlightenment through your own truths shared and laid bare is made possible?

Or perhaps you wasted too much time, never doing the things you only dreamed and read of, listening to another’s music and never making your own.

What would the title of your book or musical opus be?

Tell Chris your story at info@t2ps. com and put “My Opus” in the subject header. lp

purpose

An Amazing Kid’s App for Eating Healthy Eat Your Vegetables or ELSE

By Kathryn Mattingly

C

hris Pedersen is a very unassuming slender woman with a quiet voice and big ideas. Although slight of frame she has substantial ambition for turning those ideas into reality. Not long ago, she had an idea about how to conquer cancer she was genetically predisposed to develop. By radically changing her diet, Chris was able to beat the odds and return to a state of healthfulness.

Now she wants to make others aware of healthful eating, especially at this time of alarming childhood obesity trends.

You see, Chris loves crafting stories for children. Most recently, she has developed an interactive iPad app called: The Prisoner of Carrot Castle, where children discover that eating vegetables is what real heroes do. That is, if they want to eat their way out of a wicked King’s clutches.

You can view the app, now for sale in the Apple Store for $3.99 on her website: http://purplecarrotbooks.com/ 50

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The Prisoner of Carrot Castle got its first review recently at The iPhone Mom: http://www.theiphonemom.com/theprisoner-of-carrot-castle Even more important than the thumbs-up review, Chris says she is proud to be among app developers from ‘Moms With Apps’ giving 1,120 free apps for the iPad 2 grants to autistic families. I say double thumbs-up for contributing to this wonderful cause!

Autism Speaks www.autismspeaks.org Autism Speaks is dedicated to increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders, to funding research into the causes, prevention and treatments for autism, and to advocating The health and nutrition advocating app has vivid colors and colorful music to makes its point. Wiggly fingers can discover other sound effects and make a mouse (or the hero himself) scamper through a hole. It’s even got a few characters from the book that children can dress (much like paper dolls) if they patiently focus on small motor skills.

This iPad app that reads to your child (who turns the pages by pulling a carrot across the screen) is obviously a wave of the future. I asked Chris some questions recently about her entrepreneurial undertaking of developing this interactive iPad game for young children. Of course, parents will no doubt learn a few things about embracing carrot castles as well, when a watchful eye peers over a child-sized shoulder and onto the colorful screen. If nothing else, the somewhat dramatic music will suck them in.

How did you come up with this idea?

My own journey includes conquering genetic cancer with a healthy diet. You can read how diet made a significant difference for me on my website: www. healthyjourneycafe.com My passion to write for children made it a natural for me to write a whimsical story that inspires kids to eat healthy. I originally pitched the manuscript for The Prisoner of Carrot Castle picture book to a publisher. The rejection I received spurred me to forge ahead with developing an iPad app for the story. spring ‘12

“This iPad app that reads to your child (who turns the pages by pulling a carrot across the screen) is obviously a wave of the future.”

Where did you acquire the necessary skills to develop an iPad app?

I have a degree in Electrical Engineering from Cal Poly and with two startups in my resume, it is not foreign for me to embark on a project that I’ve never done before. I had to write a storyboard from the manuscript, find and create sound effects, record the narration – all things I’d never done previously.

Where do you hope for this to lead - is it a series? Or do you have other ideas for apps or books on completely different subjects?

The sub-title for The Prisoner of Carrot Castle is The Veggie Chronicles. Yes, there will be more whimsical stories about Aiden’s imaginative adventures. I will also be translating my current work-in-progess, a chapter book/early reader, How I Survived Third Grade into an e-book.

My illustrator Kate Jeong has a creative concept we will be developing into an iPad app.

We expect our next project to happen in a much shorter time frame.

What obstacles have you faced with this project?

The main obstacle was that none of us had ever done an iPad app before. It was a new learning curve for us. My IOS developer, who happens to be my son, (also a Cal Poly graduate in Electrical Engineering) has a full-time job with a technology company. He worked endless hours in his “spare time” programming for the app. My son, my illustrator and myself all moved while working on this project, setting the time schedule back many weeks.

Chris’s published work includes: Work and Wag (about dog jobs) in Clubhouse Jr. Magazine and A Saving Transformation in THE DOG NEXT DOOR published by Revell. Besides perfecting her first iPad ���������������������� app, she is working on a chapter book entitled: How I Survived Third Grade. Since conquering cancer with diet, Chris also blogs about recipes and tips to achieve optimum wellness at Healthy Journey Café. Her writing journey is chronicled at Paws and Ponder. lp

What has been most rewarding about your success with it so far?

The biggest reward has been seeing the kids enjoy the app. I have five grandnephews ranging from 2 to 5-yearsold. They each played a key role in the development as they played the app at all stages of building. Of coarse, we hope to reap some monetary reward as The Prisoner of Carrot Castle sells in the App Store.

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purpose

Conscious Tenacity

A Conversation with Kevin Kemper

By Lori Anderson

I

f Kevin Kemper inspires you, he’ll be surprised, but I certainly won’t be. A self-proclaimed tenacious son-of-a-youknow-what, Kevin Kemper is man of vision – and a big vision at that – Kevin holds a vision for each of us to be part of a sustainable and consciously awakened world. Kevin practices consciousness and sustainability in every area of his life, but he won’t sing his own praises. He does, however, lead by example. Whether he’s empowering students to peacefully resolve conflict through Aikido, building eye-popping furniture out of dead trees, or building what could quite possibly be the most energy-efficient building in the country, Kevin is out there bringing his vision to fruition in his own kind, gentle, and tenacious way. Meet Kevin Kemper, green builder, Aikido Sensei, and earth advocate extraordinaire.

Lori: What factor has your own sense of self and personal power played in the development of your business?

Kevin: Growing up, I received so much love from my family that it created an innate openness. While this sensibility was a powerful gift, it made me an easy target for teasing in the typical schoolyard sense, which just felt so unexpected and cruel. Consequently, I spent a lot of time alone, playing in the woods in my free time. That time in the woods was really a kind of communing, although one doesn’t think of it that way as a child. My parents encouraged my creativity and working beside my dad as his “little helper” fostered confidence in my growing skills. My father was not afraid to jump into projects and trust he would figure them out, and I believe that courage rubbed off on me. It remains my foundation. So even as a child, I was part builder, part nature boy.

L: Did you have major “aha” - an 52

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Kevin at the dojo.

epiphany - about your life or your purpose?

K: One profound realization I’ve experienced is that the winding road of life has led me to my destiny; such as it is at the moment. At first I thought I was going to be a professional pilot, then I decided I was going to be a developer/ builder. I became an arborist and eventually got my chance to build. We can all find purpose in the things we do on the journey. The “aha” for me was realizing that there is immediate purpose and then there is ultimate purpose. For our lives to have great meaning we need to connect the two and integrate them into our lives.

My passions lie in diverse but not dissimilar areas including green building, tree care, organic furniture, and Aikido. What is the common denominator? Ultimately, it is all about helping my fellow man connect with their world, nature, community, and their creator.

L: In these most meaningful areas of

your world - green building, tree care, organic furniture, and Aikido - what trends are you noticing or hoping to effect?

K: On a global scale, there must be a tidal shift toward sustainability. With billions of people in emerging markets such as India, China, Pakistan, and many others wanting to adopt consumption habits modeled by the West, it is crucial for the global community to recognize that the western civilization model has proven unsustainable and certainly cannot work for the whole planet. The crux of this is resource consumption, where the great challenge is reversing the trend of designed obsolescence in engineering, or products made to fail after a short period of time. If we want to change the world, we have to start at home.

My tree care business is shifting in small, yet meaningful ways. I am continually making decisions about conducting business in ways that are kinder to the planet, like limiting the area I serve and spring ‘12

“On a global scale, there must be a tidal shift toward sustainability.” finding the highest and best use for all available resources. For example, the by-products of this industry are wood and wood/leaf chips. In the old model they were considered waste, so time, fuel and dump fees were spent on their disposal. I am trying to follow a model of vertical integration, or reducing the total embodied energy that goes into resources. I encourage clients to mulch, which builds good soil and reduces dependence on chemical fertilizers. I process and sell firewood as it can be a sustainable and CO2 neutral fuel source if burned in an efficient appliance. I also make furniture from suitable parts of trees that must be removed. And of course, I try to reduce the energy to transport all of the above. In a nutshell, “finding local solutions for local resources.”

As a “green” builder, I’m proud to have created a building to showcase how extremely energy efficient a structure can be. We designed and built the “Kemper Extreme Green” project to exceed Platinum LEED standards.

We focused our priorities on old and sage ideas including an energy efficient envelope and harvesting free energy passively, and the results have been amazing.

Our insulated concrete walls perform up to 4 times the efficiency of a standard wall assembly, solar tubes harvest light for nearly all of our lighting needs, and solar panels collect heat to be used in the radiant floors. I have the good fortune to work in and enjoy this beautiful building’s unique energy every day, while seizing every opportunity to share our discoveries with the green building community.

In the hope that the trend toward awakening consciousness will continue to become more prevalent, I’m excited that an Aikido community has started a school in our green building. Translated

as “The Art of Peace” Aikido is a martial art that teaches one to blend with aggression and redirect it, thus making possible to resolve conflict without causing harm.

There are no competitions in Aikido because it contends with nothing. When these principles are applied to different facets of our lives, we can find many more constructive solutions to our interpersonal relationships. I practice Aikido because it gives me a context to frame all other aspects of my life. It helps me focus on a life of service and is a reminder that life is more about the journey than it is the destination.

L: Describe the top 5 most important

tofindkevin To find out more about Kevin: Kevin Kemper, Founder of Treescapes kevinkemper@surewest.net http://rosevilletreescapes.com/ http://kemperextremegreen.com/ http://rosevilleaikidocenter.com

in 1981, prepared for a career as a builder/developer, there were very few jobs as we were in a deep recession.

Interest rates were over 20%. After bouncing from project to project for a year and a half, I took a job in sales.

Bored with an 8 to 5 job, I decided to start a tree care business to develop cash flow so I could start building. Little did I know this would become a 17-year detour before I would start my “building career.” So the back story is, from growing up in the woods to my career as an arborist I developed a sensitivity to nature, which colored my view of the global economy and resource management, and this has formed my approach to building and energy.

L: Do you have advice to share about overcoming obstacles?

K: Quite some time after college, my parents shared with me that I had dyslexia. They had never told me before, because they did not want to give me an excuse for poor performance in school. To compensate for the dyslexia, I developed a photographic memory and a lot of tenacity - both have served me well and I am at peace. My advice to readers: find your passion by cultivating a grateful heart. Examine your inner life. Notice the law of cause and effect and pay attention to history - when we don’t, it tends to repeat itself. lp

My advice to readers: find your passion by cultivating a grateful heart.

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extraordinary things about your life that you would never trade or give up?

K: 1. Faith in my purpose here – the realization that the highest service I can be for my creator is to help my fellow man.

2. Gratitude for all the love I have received.

3. The wonder I feel for the natural world.

4. Gratitude for all the experiences I have had.

5. The wonder of the journey, how it all (good and difficult) is a part of the forging process. It all integrates into who I am. My unique perspective.

L: What is your backstory - why and how did your business emerge?

K: This is one of the humbling and satisfying aspects of the maturation process. We gain perspective on how all the twists and turns of life have made us who we are today.

When I graduated from college

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purpose

Courage to Change

By Dr. Patricia Gayman

A

t a time in my life when I was struggling to understand the meaning of life and why it can seem so capricious, I began to have insights while sitting alone on a rock at Carmel Beach.

A major life changing realization occurred for me that day. What I learned while watching the sparkles of light bounce off the pristine blue water like diamonds, and the waves breaking gently against the shore is that life is always in motion and that it is constantly changing.

No matter how much we flail and struggle, change just keeps happening.

In fact, change is about the only thing we can count on with any certainty. We must learn to embrace it, or at the very least adapt to it. Accept the fact that change creates chaos and very often elicits mind numbing, unrelenting fear. This is true whether the change is something we choose, like a decision to step out and start that business we’ve been dreaming of, or it is a change that is driven by external circumstances, like a changing economy or even the loss of a loved one.

Moving through the emotions of change takes strong commitment, courage, clarity, passion and the determination to learn new habits.

Do you want some excitement?

Muster up your courage and decide to

open a business so you can pursue your own interests; have more control over how you spend your days and experience the satisfaction of creating a fabulous, fun, profitable entrepreneurial experience. The reality is that excitement will be followed by gut wrenching fear and the demons in your head will have a field day!

Fear can roar like a lion causing sweaty palms, racing heart, elevated blood pressure, muscle tightness or a knot in the pit of your stomach. It can also be a more elusive emotion that hides itself in procrastination, busyness and beliefs that come from old mental programming, such as, “I don’t know enough,” or “What makes me think I can do that?” or “I’m not good enough to experience the success I desire.” You may fear that you will fail, or you may actually fear success! There may be underlying thoughts that failure to achieve your desires may be more comfortable than the unknown world that success might bring.

Recognize that fear is a natural part of choosing to make a change. It will arise in some form or another, whether you want it to or not, but it’s always your choice whether you choose to let it immobilize you, or embolden you to forge ahead.

The National Science Foundation has estimated that the average thinking

abouttheauthor Pat Gayman, Life Skills & Business Coach at Capacity Coach, is passionate about empowering people to recognize the unlimited opportunities life presents. Pat’s rich and varied life experiences helped her to develop the courage to change and jump at any opportunity, even when there is no safety net. The wisdom Pat acquired allows her to empower others to live life full out.

Married to the love of her life for 43 years and the mother of seven children, Pat learned one very important skill – how to be patient. Following her lifelong dream of becoming a writer, Pat recently co-authored a book called “Power to Change” and is currently working on her own book; a book that will take people to greater heights of joy and achievement by acknowledging their own unique value. For more information about Pat, visit http:// capacitycoach.com/ or call her at 916-409-9227.

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adult processes approximately 50,000 thoughts every day. We are only aware of a tiny percentage of them unless we deliberately set out to take control of them. You can choose thoughts that are supportive rather than old sabotaging thoughts. Make up your mind to become more conscious and present in the moment. When you become aware of a thought that brings you down, change it.

Begin right now to choose the positive, supportive and kind words of change.

One of my favorite stories that I heard in a lecture once illustrates this point very well. A wise Native American elder was asked how he dealt with his own inner struggles. The elder replied, “It is as if I have two dogs inside of me. One of them is a really good, gentle and loving dog. The other is mean and evil and is always fighting with the good dog.” When asked which one wins he replied, “The one I feed the most.”

Choose which thought you want to feed. A change in your behavior will follow the choice you make and that will lead to new habits and heightened levels of awareness. No matter how big, onerous, exciting or challenging a change may be, you can use the tools of the mind to activate the power of the brain.

With the realization that life is in constant motion and never ending change is the norm, living a truly authentic life and choosing how you express your dreams and create your livelihood demands the willingness to embrace change and replace fear with courage. lp spring ‘12

investigativereports

Green Electrons Without Borders

By Tracy Saville

A

ccording to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director, Maria van der Hoeven, energy markets internationally and in the U.S. in 2012 “are marked by significant uncertainty.” She reports that “global macroeconomic concerns (could pull) attention away from energy policy… and (t)hat could have worrying impacts on policy progress, especially as recent months have ushered in record carbon dioxide emissions, worsening energy efficiency and sustained high oil prices.”

We’re in a bit of a fix.

Translated to your price at the pump, or your daughter’s asthma from high carbon pockets in urban cities, this means high fuel prices, more headlines to steal away the call for cleaner energy technologies and stepping away from carbon, less emphasis on cleaning up the air for health reasons, and a push toward energy security as the main reason to do anything in big policy strokes. The truth is the world of energy supply and policy, and by definition politics, is steeped in the

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same pressure cooker that all commodities are – Wall Street, and investors, and for the average person, making sense of it is almost impossible to do. All we know is our natural gas prices skyrocket in the winter and just when we thought the economic downturn would take a spike upwards, we’re paying $4.15 and higher per gallon at the pump again with threats of going ballistic by this summer.

I spent more than seven years in the thick of the energy world, inside the State Capitol during the California energy crisis and across the country working on renewable energy policy and conservation programs—so I know a thing or two about the energy story—we’re headed into election season in the U.S., and it seems apropos to dig into what could play a huge part in recovery of economies worldwide. And so we begin our investigative work on the topic of clean energy technologies and

the politics that impact their progress.

Enter Mr. Peter Swearingen, who pitched us a story about a technology company start-up mired in international legal conflict with China, and it makes for a good starting point in June. We have some digging and fact-checking to do, but we look forward to bringing you what we find. And it seems not a moment too soon as we consider what the big guns are saying.

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Van der Hoeven writes, “….Recent events such as the civil unrest in North Africa and the Middle East as well as the incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have further heightened concerns…Energy ministers from the 28 IEA member countries (in October 2011 in Paris), 7 partner countries (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and South Africa) and 2 accession countries (Chile and Estonia) gathered at that meeting to address today’s most pressing energy policy issues. Energy security topped their agenda.” Access to clean and stable supplies is a key, but when the world’s markets are volatile, terrorism is a major threat still, and climate impacts up-end global weather patterns, how countries and technology markets resolve their disputes becomes important.

If partners can’t play nice on the energy game field, LeadingPossibilities asks, how can we hope to clean up our act?

And when for “every $1 of investment in cleaner technology we don’t spend today, before 2020, an additional $4.30 would need to be spent for that same dollar after 2020 to compensate for the increased emissions, isn’t solving the impasse to clean technology tantamount to deficit reductions, and the sooner we get going, the better? (©OECD Yearbook 2012/ http://www. iea.org/index_info.asp?id=2393).

Stay tuned…for the great China super-conductor story and more coming in June. For more from the IEA: http:// www.iea.org/index_info.asp?id=2393. lp

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C

Cl ea n E ner gy Technologies at a glance Not exhaustive. (List Source: Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies).

• Biomass: A combustion technology that burns various fuels for energy production o Agricultural, Forest and Solid Waste Products o Landfill Gas -- Known as Anaerobic Gas o Sewage Gas – Known as Aerobic Gas • Geothermal Energy: Steam from the Earth’s core • Wind Power: Electric turbines spun with wind • Solar Power: o Solar Photovoltaics: Silicone-based materials that convert sunlight (photons) directly into electricity o Solar Thermal Electric/Concentrating Solar: Using sunlight to heat fluids that drive electric turbines o Solar Water Heating: Using the sun to heat water for commercial, industrial and residential needs • Fuel Cells and other Distributed Generation Technologies that use Non-Fossil Fuels, like Hydrogen, Anaerobic and Aerobic Gases • Small Hydroelectric Power Plants (Less than 30 Megawatts) spring ‘12

Life&stlye

Yes, I Did Visit Zanzibar T

By Susan Bainbridge his is an introduction to the island of Zanzibar by our Eastern Hemisphere contributor Susan Bainbridge. Her extensive story on Emerson Skeens and his amazing life in Africa will be featured in our June Renewal Issue. Susan is a tremendously talented storyteller, among many talents, and we are so fortunate to have her as an ongoing part of our growing publication team.

The island of Zanzibar does not disappoint. It is everything the name conjures up when it rolls off the tongue.

Zanzibar! I find myself murmuring the name repeatedly. It invokes images of Arab architects, Indian pearl traders and Indonesian teak dealers. I can hear the whispers of secret deals being made in dark, narrow alleys and the delicate scents that follow local spice dealers as they wait on the docks.

The history of Zanzibar and Tanzania is as old as the human story. People have occupied this area for over 2 million years. Long before European colonisation in the 14th Century onwards, Zanzibar was a trading centre, servicing Arabia, India and Southeast Asia. Swahili

Stone Town spring ‘12

was the common language, assisting traders from as far away as Indonesia to communicate with each other. As the centuries progressed, Oman became the most influential Arab nation on the island, and Indians from the Goa region populated the narrow streets of Stone Town in large numbers.

There is a darker side to the island’s story. As much as Americans are guilted into believing that they alone encouraged the slave trade, this is not the case. The slave trade originating in Africa was fostered by local tribal struggles and fuelled by customers from around the world.

Most slaves sent to the Americas came from Western Africa, but slaves captured or bought in East Africa made their way to the huge slave market on Zanzibar, providing slaves to various countries bordering the Indian Ocean as well as colonial islands scattered throughout the region. Today, the Cathedral Church of Christ sits on the site of the Stone Town leadingpossibilities 57

slave prison as a poignant reminder to visitors of the evil humans are capable of inflicting on one another.

I felt very privileged to walk the narrow street of Stone Town and breathe in the ambiance of a thousand years of human interaction. We are very fortunate to have such an ancient town still in tack and continuing to operate in Swahili, Arab and Indian buildings constructed over a millennium.

Stone Town is the centre of Zanzibar’s economic activities, but the island itself offers spectacular beauty in the spice plantations that still operate and the quaint villages scattered throughout the greenery of this place where ‘everything’ grows.

The scuba diving is fantastic. I spent a day with One Ocean Dive Centre exploring the coral reefs. If you are not a diver, you can still enjoy the ocean life by snorkelling. The waters are crystal clear and perfect for encountering a multitude of colourful reef dwellers.

I stayed in Stone Town because I went there to learn about the history and interview some of the most interesting residents of the island. There are also many coastal resorts where you can enjoy a more aquatic vacation and drive into Stone Town for a shopping excursion. The island is 60 miles long and 20 miles wide, so even a short visit enables one to see the entire island.

For more detailed information visit: http://zanzibar.net/ lp

Susan wandering the streets of Stone Town.

Local art and friendly faces of Stone Town.

A slave auction was held near this location in Zanzibar for many years. This is an image of a sculpture, Memory for the Slaves by Clara Sörnäs, concrete, 1998.

Photo below used through GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2/Wikipedia. Photo originally taken by Wikipedia user Broken Inaglory.

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spring ‘12

Juniper James: First Main Street - Next the World: Meet Kari Shipman

By Tracy Saville

T

here is great nepotism and favoritism in this piece, because she has recently become a good friend and strategic partner of ours, but Kari Shipman, a woman who is about to change the world with her visions for connecting local designing greatness with global customers, deserves the mention and you deserve to know Kari Shipman. I love her. I do, and everyone who knows her feels exactly the same way.

Founder and owner of Juniper James, a unique lifestyle and fashion blog community/local fashion designer supporter/catalyst for local economic development, is a ridiculously talented writer, has the business vision of a fifty year-old Fortune 500 CEO, and ought some day to run into Warren Buffett, because he will no doubt seek Kari Shipman out when it comes time to add her future empire to his own.

We can’t leak details or even say more about her future plans, but we can encourage you to subscribe to her blog site, make her your friend, follow her every step, and be very, very jealous.

We will be running fuller, extensive profiles on Kari in the future and reporting on her wild success. We know there will be much to report, so we’re leaving a lot of space and can’t wait for what comes next. www.juniperjames.com lp

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cominginjune&specialeditions June – The Renewal Issue

Ron Kendall, Your New Favorite Artist & Media Marvel Hitendra Whadwha, Columbia University’s Personal Leadership Warrior Emerson Skeen’s African Tale Saving the Farm Jackie’s Biz Therapy Corner Enlightenment Installments: Frost & Wilson Pattie Moreno, Radio Diva and One Smart Mama Green Electrons – Stealing Innovation Jackie Barretta’s New Book Naima Model Behavior – First Chapter The Fiction of Susan Bainbridge Rick Pirrotta’s Spiritualism Series Brandon Daniels on Renewing Your Fitness Commitments Dance Chicago!

Steve Bloom’s DoSomethingCool All Things Digital Content Expo The Leader Board Shawn Murphy & Frank Sonnenberg’s Leaderly Minds

Special Edition June - Artist Innovators Side A

Naima Mora: Inside the Mind of a Nee Economy Innovator Larisa Bryski’s Musical Talent and Her Emerging Musical Protégés Brooke Walker-Knoblich Photographer – All Things Rock and Roll

Special Edition June - Artist Innovators Side B

Chloe Brittain, Fashion and Branding’s New “It” Phenom Shasta Smith – Café Motorcycle Designer - Vintage Monkey The Perspective-Changing Art of Gail Rappaport-Weilend An Interview w/The Walking Dead’s Creator and Graphic Genius To Subscribe to LeadingPossibilities Magazine (quarterly and weekly) online go to www.possibilityplace.net.

It’s free, it’s evolving like you, and we promise you won’t find what you get here, any where else

Focus on The Indie Times Magazine

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