I think it’s important to measure things. I want to know how good I’m doing. I want to know if I’m moving the needle. I want to know if my experiments are working.
I have spent a lot of time in the nonprofit and policy worlds, affected by a philanthropic drive to measure that too often focuses on measuring the wrong thing.
Read MoreI’m not shy about my politics. I definitely stand to the left of the average Democrat. I’m clear and passionate about what I believe it will take for humanity to make a just transition to an economy that is good for people and the planet. But even with all this passion and conviction I understand that the only way to make my vision a reality is to include those who don’t see the world as I do.
David Brooks just wrote a phenomenal column on “how to fix politics.” People on my side of the political argument often get appalled when I quote him. And that is precisely the problem.
Read MoreYour attention is your currency. This is both a spiritual fact and a political fact. We live in a distraction economy. The biggest corporations of our day live and die based on how much of YOUR attention they can get. Advertisement is the backbone of capitalism. Advertisement’s purpose is to capture your attention. Once your attention is captured it seeks a hold on your imagination and once it has your imagination it seeks to shape who and how you choose to be. It promises meaning and purpose, but it leaves you empty instead.
Read MoreThank you so much for coming together on this journey. Saturday marks our 40th day, the “last” day of our experiment. It will be Day 100 for me. Let’s celebrate together. Let’s meditate.
Read MoreOur experiment is almost over. Join us for ten more days of meditation!
Maybe you've been with us all along and you are now 30 days into your practice. Or maybe you signed up full of desire and commitment to get into meditation for the first time, or to finally come back to it - but maybe you couldn’t quite do it, you couldn’t quite get those five minutes in every day. Perhaps you didn't sign up for our experiment, but you really thought about it, maybe something struck your curiosity about this practice.
Read MoreVincent Van Gogh is a huge inspiration for my work - ever since I read “Lust for Life.” And Seth Godin is an important model for approaching it. I appreciated his post today, in “When will you get to Ramsgate?” Seth takes the arch of Van Gogh’s work to illustrate one of his core mantras “drip, drip, drip,” or, you get there step-by-step. He shows Van Gogh’s evocative yet somber painting of Ramsgate. It took skill to get there, it took step after step after step. And Van Gogh was still nowhere near the Van Gogh that we are so moved by today.
Read MoreA “japa mala” is usually composed of 108 beads. It is a lot like a rosary and it is used to facilitate the repetition of the Divine name. It helps focus the mind during meditation and it helps return to center throughout the day. 108 is a sacred number in the yogic tradition. Today I celebrate 108 days without taking alcohol or pot, today is my sober mala.
Read MoreMarch 20 is a special day. It marks the halfway point in our 40-day effort to meditate daily. It is also the Spring Equinox. It is one of two days of the year in which day and night are in perfect balance, they are equal in length. It is also the time of the year after which our days start to get longer. Our ancestors paid a lot of attention to these celestial events. Let’s honor them. Let’s observe the Spring Equinox together.
Join me and our community in meditation this Sunday, March 20 at 7PM East/4PM West. It will be a 30 minute call.
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I spent "Super Tuesday" facilitating the third "Solidarity Summit," a series of convenings bringing together American - Arabs, Asians, South Asians, Latinos, Black folks and Muslims of a diversity of backgrounds. These leaders are organizers and activists, policy advocates and social media personalities, part of new and emergent movements as well as representatives from legacy organizations. To me they are already legendary. They are the people who give shape to history.
Be careful of the "grown ups." Seriously. They think they have figured it out. Be careful of anyone who claims to have figured it out.
Now think about it, when have you changed?
How have you changed?
What made you change?
It was either trauma or epiphany. It was either a broken heart or a flood of love and light. Our hearts change, then we change. We become more open or we become more afraid. And that's how we move ahead. We are either hopeful or hobbled by mistrust.
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