Posts filed under ‘Politics’
It is Your Gift
As we celebrate our Country and our freedom at a time of such political unrest with our two-party system, I wanted to share a statement I heard recently from Derrick N. Ashong, aka DNA, that to me speaks to a growing need. A need for change.
He said:
“Making a change, making the world a better place is not only your responsibility, it is your joy, it is your blessing, it is your gift. It’s your opportunity to make your life mean something…so take it!
Who is Marianne Williamson?
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Have you read this before? It was written by Marianne Williamson more than twenty years ago.
Many know her as a best-selling author. Some as a phenomenal spiritual teacher. Others, like myself, as one of the thought-leaders for a new conversation in politics. Take 3 minutes to watch why Marianne is running for Congress. See why millions love her and why she is inspiring a movement for political change.
Congressman, Alan Grayson says, “Marianne Williamson has taught us that ‘playing small doesn’t serve the world.’ Every Member of Congress needs to hear those words. We all need to ‘play big,’ and create a world where each one of us is free to – in Marianne Williamson’s words – ‘let our own light shine.’ In a nation where Marianne Williamson helps to make the laws, our differences will no longer divide us; they will be cultivated and nurtured and cherished, so that every one of us can be all that he or she can be.”
Vote June 3rd for Marianne. Or tell your District 33 friends to vote. Let’s be the next generation that rises up to say enough and restores to America her creed — a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
iCivics.org
I had the privilege of listening to the first woman to ever sit on the Supreme Court bench speak yesterday — the Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor. At 84 she is still serving the people. She reminded us that an informed and engaged citizenship is vital for success. That’s why she created iCivics.org…to encourage us to keep growing and learning no matter what our age. Quoting Henry Ford she said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”
Teaching government, civics and history is becoming a more pressing need than before. With school cutbacks, the Internet distracting students, and the disappearance of traditional newspapers and TV news shows that objectively report information, youngsters have become increasingly disengaged from civic and political life. Justice O’Connor created a solution with iCivics.org. You won’t just learn civics, you’ll play civics! You can run for president, pass new laws, even argue real cases. If you’re a teacher, you’ll find curriculum, lesson plans, and all kinds of resources like teacher guides with pre- and post-discussion questions, and activities for your students.
O’Connor remarked that 8,000 Americans turn 65 years old each day, making the over 50 demographic the fastest growing segment in our population today. “It’s a matter of the wisdom that you accumulate and then contribute,” she said, as she challenged us all to pass on our knowledge to our own communities during our older years.
How to Start the Conversations That Lead To Change
Making real change is a process. Starting that process with a simple conversation can lead to connection and understanding. Sally Kohn searches for common ground with her political foes by focusing on the compassion and humanity in everyone. Watch how she does it.
Marianne For Congress!
In 1997, internationally acclaimed author, lecturer and thought leader, Marianne Williamson published Healing the Soul of America, calling for a holistic perspective on America’s political system. The book is an insightful examination of our history and politics, offering personal and political solutions for the renewal of our democracy. On Sunday, October 20, 2013, Marianne announced her candidacy for the House of Representatives, District 33, and I had the privilege to hear her announcement live!
Marianne says, “The American government has lost its ethical center and its deep commitment to democracy, drifting ever more consistently in a corporatist direction. And no one specific legislative initiative can fix that. I believe that a wave of independent candidates, all committed to a huge course-correction, is necessary to turn our ship around. I feel my campaign, and most importantly my win, can help inspire such a movement.” Marianne is running as an Independent.
This is bigger than one woman running for Congress. This is about the emergence of the heart, a politics of consciousness, a political force that says it is not economic principles and values that should order our civilization, but humanitarian ones. This is about we the people of the United States saying to both political parties through a wave of Independent candidacies that we’ll, “take it from here.”
There is no reason to expect that the system is going to welcome a buck to it’s status quo, but it is time to take a new approach and bring about balance. This can be a collective expression of our most enlightened selves. If you believe like I do in the beauty of democracy as it was originally intended, then please consider running for office, encouraging a woman you know to run, helping with their campaign, investing in their leadership. We are the people we have been waiting for.
Marianne said it best, “Politics should not be the least heartfelt thing we do, it should be the most heartfelt thing we do.” She needs every part of us that is not weak, every part that is not a victim, and every part that knows “I’m a grown up,” to be a steward for democracy. Politics is dirty. Politics is brutal, and the issues are ugly. Although Marianne says cynicism and anger have no place in what we are seeking to do here, and that we will speak the truth of our hearts in this campaign over and over and over again.
I align with Marianne on this journey towards a higher sensibility, one that looks at politics from a holistic view. Visit her website today, and see why so many of us are excited to be creating a new template for political change.
Fracking Is Everyone’s Issue
Our friends at MoveOn.org have been busy lately encouraging us to stop Fracking in California. As a working parent of two young girls, there are things I haven’t had time to look into, this is one of them. However, after watching Sandra Steingraber’s interview with Bill Moyers, I realize now that this issue impacts my role as a parent, and it’s time to make time.
Fracking – which involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to crack rocks – has revolutionized oil and natural gas production in the United States. But it has not yet taken off in California, even though the state holds what could be the nation’s largest oil-bearing shale formation. Many California environmentalists want to make sure the state never experiences the kind of fracking boom that has transformed swaths of North Dakota and Pennsylvania, turning farmland into oil fields. Fracking has been blamed for tainting water supplies and worsening air pollution, although the industry insists that those fears are overblown.
It appears our politicians, including our President, are deaf to the numerous petitions from the scientific and health communities, and to it’s own citizens. This is alarming. However, I am so moved by Sandra’s commitment to providing good science, to taking a non-violent stand, and to making our water, air, and food safe for future generations, that I am encouraging each of us to:
(1) Watch this episode of Bill Moyers http://billmoyers.com/episode/the-toxic-assault-on-our-children/
Get educated and inspired by Sandra Steingraber — biologist, mother, cancer survior, and activist.
(2) Sign and share this petition with friends.
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ban-fracking-in-califoria
(3) Call Fran Pavley’s office at (916) 651-4027.
Fran is a Democratic politician who currently represents California’s 27th State Senate district, including portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties in the California State Senate. She has drafted legislation for fracking. “There is an emerging national consensus on the basic assurances the public needs around fracking operations,” said Senator Pavley. “From chemical disclosure, to notification, to water quality monitoring and an independent health study, this legislation brings the transparency and accountability needed in order to protect our air and water supply.” – See more at: http://sd27.senate.ca.gov/news/2013-03-11-senator-pavley-amends-fracking-legislation-better-protect-health-and-safety-californ#sthash.dW4mW0ZX.dpuf)
(4) Call Jerry Brown’s office to ask him to issue a moratorium at (916) 445-2841.
Governor Brown is currently on the fence about this issue, since according to a federal government estimate, the Monterey Shale, which stretches beneath the southern San Joaquin Valley and parts of the Central Coast, holds 15.4 billion barrels of oil.
(5) Watch the movies Gasland and Gasland 2.
Gasland is a documentary written and directed by Josh Fox and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2011. This film the film focuses on communities in the United States impacted by natural gas drilling and, specifically, a method of horizontal drilling into shale formations known as slickwater fracking.. It’s sequel, Gasland 2, which is currently running on HBO and at house parties across the country, shares more horrible stories. Watch the trailer. From the beginning though, Gasland has been more than just a movement to protect our environment and health. It is a movement about protecting our democracy and right to decide the future of our country. Check out their website for more information and to see how you can get involved. http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/
Let’s all make some time to research this issue and make our voices heard. We need to work together now to prevent destruction to our environment for this and future generations.
Speaking of Elevating the Planet
My inspiration — spiritual teacher, author and lecturer, Marianne Williamson — has said, “Transforming our own hearts is a prerequisite for transforming the world. We will not achieve any higher-minded political goals until we transform the political process, and we cannot transform the political process without transforming ourselves. We need less to get the message out than to get the message in.” In her book Healing the Soul of America, she goes on to say that there is a yearning among us to make right the world.
Do you feel that yearning? I certainly do. When I asked the heavy question, “Spirit, how do I heal the world?” The answer I heard back was “…apply love…” And so began my journey to investigate how love can save the planet.
It has been said that love is our greatest guide. That love heals because it casts out fear and melts away the darkness revealing clarity and light. That it is only through love and compassion that we experience any kind of meaningful growth. Author Resa Steindel Brown says, “Love and compassion should be the lens through which we view all life. Its range of influence should extend past our narrow definition of family and friends to all interactions and experiences everywhere. For the sake of generations to come, we must focus our attention on love…It is our greatest understanding, our finest teacher. Love is what remains when all else fades away.”
Albert Einstein proved that as we break matter down into smaller and smaller components, we move beyond the material realm and into the place where everything is simply energy. This is the Law of Vibration. In the natural Law of Vibration, the lower the vibration, the slower something moves; the higher the vibration, the faster it moves. The same is true for emotions and thoughts. Fear, grief, and despair vibrate at a very low frequency, while love, joy, and gratitude vibrate at a much higher one. Positive thoughts vibrate much more quickly than dark negative thoughts. When the mind is thinking positive thoughts and the heart is producing high level emotions like love and joy, they create an energy together that is transmitted into the universe. Here we reach higher consciousness and the closer to Spirit or Source we become.
New York Times best-selling author, health & wellness expert, and spiritual teacher Deborah King says, “When you are steeped in unconditional love—the highest emotional vibration—all your atoms are singing the song of life at its highest. You are no longer part of the problem; you are part of the solution to the problems of the planet. If you react to what is happening around you with anger or bitterness or fear, you are lowering your own vibration and sending out a low thought/emotion wave.”
When two frequencies meet, the lower one always rises to the higher one. That’s cool! It means that each of us has the power to elevate the planet simply by “applying love” to all situations and donning a more positive outlook on life. In fact, this way of being is so infectious and can do so much good for humanity, that my new hero, Angela Carr Patterson, has started a movement called Take the Vow to Love. Click here to take your vow today and consciously embrace love as a lifestyle.
There are three kinds of love: Eros, a romantic love; Philia, a love among friends; and Agape, the capacity to love even those whom we do not like…unconditional love…a love that has the power to restore the world to it’s innocence and grace.
There is a critical shift occurring my friends — a collaborative raising of our energetic vibrations and a unification of our minds and hearts. Loving ourselves and each other is the only way we are going to heal our broken families, stop the cradle to prison pipeline, and end violence among our youth. Embracing love as a lifestyle is the only way we are going to fix political injustices, stamp out poverty and make right the world. We start solving the world’s problems by loving each other and ourselves on a personal level, and on a spiritual level, then we start to align with the natural flow of the divine.
So come on peeps, get happy! Apply love as often as you can, practice agape, and take your vow to love today.
Merge Conference For Women
MERGE!
A 2 day Conference for creative women who want to merge their true passion with their profession.
Sat & Sun, March 2nd & 3rd. in Culver City!
Who is this conference for?
This conference is for women who consider themselves cultural creatives / social artists and are thinking of or in the process of changing into a more fulfilling career! Whether you are creators, designers, artists, storytellers, caregivers, big picture thinkers, career switchers and or corporate executives looking for a change – this conference is for you!
Early Bird Price: $215 (Regular $449)
Use the code: partners
Find out more at: http://www.TheMergeConference.com
Women and Politics: A New Conversation
I attended an event with Marianne Williamson this weekend called Sister Giant, and my life will never be the same. I learned so much. I learned that the US incarcerates more of its people than any other nation in the world, or any nation in history. Think about that for a moment. I learned that our military budget is almost twice that of all other nations of the world combined. Let that resonate in your soul for a minute. I learned that we have 300 million people in this country, 46 million of which live in poverty and 16.1 million of them are children of these United States of America. Let that sink into your heart. Further, I also learned that 17,000 children on earth die of starvation every single day, we are the only species systematically destroying its own habitat, and two billion people – almost a third of the world’s population – live on less than 2 dollars a day. And there’s so much more to talk about.
Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” So brilliant! We need more than a new politics; we need a new worldview. We need to shift from an economic to a humanitarian organizing principle for human civilization. And women, en masse, should be saying so.
For those of us who have spent the last 10, 15, 20 years or more pursuing self-growth, personal growth, spiritual or transformational work…our time has come. Our time has come to take all that we have learned, all that we have accomplished and bring it forth into the world. Into a time a great healing. It is time to start a new conversation of possibility, a shift in perspective that we have yet to see, but we the American people are ready for. To merge love and healing with politics. Politics are the possibility for peace on the planet. They are the means to the end, but only if we come from our hearts, use our voices, and speak our truths. Do I have all the answers today? No. Will I in 2024 when I run for Congress? Probably not. But I’ll be aligned with what feels authentically right to me, and I will be working to put human beings before profits, and by God, as Marianne Williamson says, “Our babies will be fed!”
I am thankful to be in this place, at this time, thinking these thoughts, in this body, with such wondrous emotions! I am grateful for it all.
After sharing my experience and my commitment with my best friend Elizabeth, she said, “We are united sisters standing tall, seeing and speaking the truth with compassion and conviction. And as we stand tall we free ourselves from all suppression and oppression igniting a new paradigm that is for the goodness and well being of all concerned. And so it is!”
And so it is!
queen of connection | Shelby L. Phillips 