Nuggets From Awakin Call -- Rick Brooks Posted by Preeta Bansal, Mar 18 2018 I had the pleasure of hosting this weekend's Awakin call with Rick Brooks, who was in conversation with expert moderator Aryae! Rick Brooks is a dedicated community builder who has initiated numerous community-based projects and experiments, including co-founding the Little Free Library project, a movement that has spawned 60,000 registered Little Free Libraries in all U.S. states and over 80 countries around the world over the last six years or so. He has also been involved in time-banking efforts in the US, among many other community-based projects. A few nuggets from our call: • Rick shared how he met Todd Bol, who had a little box of free books in his yard, and immediately foresaw (with Todd) the power of this simple action to spark neighborliness, generosity and sharing. Rick and Todd went on to establish Free Little Libraries, a movement that has spawned more than 60,000 officially registered free little libraries ... Read Full Story

Angels Of Hope Amongst Us Posted by Poonam Singh, Mar 16 2018 This is part 2 of my story meeting Joshua as I wrote about in Revolutionary Amongst at Kindness in the Park . We see our brother Joshua again at Kindness in the Park the following week! What a joy to see him! As we stand chatting, we stare at my youngest daughter playing freely by the tree. She is looking up at the sky. She is making funny expressions and practicing difference stances and walks. We were both looking at her while we were talking and catching up and laughing. I was telling him a bit about my family and he was telling me about his. As we Indians and Africans both do, it was important for us to talk about our family history. It is important, he says, to tell me about the meaning of his name and all the names of his children and parents. They all have meaning. He said ... Read Full Story

Ripples Of DailyGood Reach London Posted by Trishna Shah, Mar 16 2018 It's so lovely to see when a seed planted through virtual sharing of inspiration ripples out and plants another seed locally. So often, we see a beautiful dance between offline and online inspiration in the ServiceSpace community and today I was reminded of one such example. In London, we've been preparing for a one-day retreat this Sunday where we plan to collectively explore the theme "From Me to We." In our WhatsApp planning group for the retreat :), someone suggested to Vicky that it would be nice for her to share a bit about the event she and Rosa have planned for the upcoming International Day of Happiness. They both are part of the founding team of their labour of love project The Museum of Happiness here in London, where she and Rosa have started hosting Awakin Circles as well this year. Here was a message from Vicky and Rosa, in ... Read Full Story

Rick Brooks: Building Community With Free Little Posted by Preeta Bansal, Mar 14 2018 This week's Awakin Call guest: 'Rick Brooks: Building Community With Free Little LibrariesReflection questions: Our guest this week started a global movement to create simple gift-based book exchanges in localities throughout the world, on the view that community is built when we share with others that what gives us meaning and a sense of belonging, and that what matters to us. Have you ever had the experience of building relationship with a stranger based on common reading material or shared objects of meaning?

Laddership: Spring 2018 Posted by Parag Shah, Mar 14 2018 Laddership: Spring 2018 "When the well-being of all; effortlessly, becomes the center of all our work, and when we serve selflessly from an absolute persistence to tune more towards internal transformation along with external service then a collective strength emerges. Which then results in an inner and outer transformation simultaneously." The year of 2017 was a year of rich explorations, many new ideas, failure clubs, moonshots and an eagerness to dive into the depths of so many questions, edges, paradoxes and narratives collectively. With a year full of learnings; it has been a wonderful journey of ‘work in progress’ as we continue to unfold our ‘slow stories’. Over the last few years, many Laddership Circles in India and even around the world have explored various themes, stories, and edges around the nuances of inner transformation; that have held a lot of value for change makers and community organizers. Now, as we dive into the ... Read Full Story

Pay-It-Forward Examples? Posted by Nikita Krivoshey, Mar 13 2018 Hi, I have been disconnected from ServiceSpace since I moved out of the Bay Area, but I have never forgotten and would like to reconnect and I ask for your collective knowledge for my project. I have started working on a video project about how the idea of paying-it-forward has worked historically and what makes people Pay-It-Forward ideologically as well as practically on an individual level as well as on a systemic social level. I am looking for examples of organizations which have successfully run Pay-it-forward operations. Some of the examples I am aware of are: Churches, maker spaces, Karma Kitchen, and Vipassana retreats. I would appreciate if you could add to this list some other examples which I will use for referencing in my project. Thank you!

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: We Are All Posted by Ameeta Martin, Mar 13 2018 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: We Are All One. What if you are part of everyone and everyone is part of you? Sages from all religions have said for millennia that we are all interconnected beings. Now quantum physics tells us we are all made up of the same subatomic particles which are in constant flux and that we all exchange particles with each other constantly. If we knew that everyone was just a part of us, would we be kinder? - Ameeta

Laddership News: Laddership News: Revolution Posted by Jane Murray, Mar 12 2018 This month's 'Laddership Newsletter' was just posted online. A revolutionary is someone involved in or causing a complete or dramatic change. We tend to associate revolutionaries with large political movements and grand themes, but this month's stories reflect the quiet revolutions that are seeding change.

Dubai's Stitch A Heart Circle :) Posted by Sehr Karim, Mar 09 2018 [Originally shared on Feb 12, 2018] A couple of days ago, I made two hearts out of the male Emirati national dress. Without all the heart whizards of Sughad, the first one looked like a sad kidney. :) But the second one was better, and then I improved the prototype with better safety pins. See photo. :) This week, we are now starting a "Stitch a Heart" circle, where we'll all get together, share stories, stitch, make mistakes, laugh, and plot more (like an upcoming Karma Kitchen -- more on that soon!). I'm really looking forward to spreading the heart-making fever amongst family, friends and community ... for example, we can teach it to the ladies in the labor camp (who are the janitors in Dubai) and they can randomly gift it to strangers at the mall? Maybe the mall CSR could purchase those hearts and give the ladies a little extra pocket money. I don't know but for now, will finish protyping and plotting with others and see where universe takes organically ... P.S. News about Karma Kitchen Dubai is coming soon too! :) One of the most famous social-media celebrities in Dubai wants to join us to volunteer. :)

21 Day Pilgrimage Reflections (continued) Posted by Zilong Wang, Mar 08 2018 (Continued from earlier post.) ----- Day 19: See Value Everywhere 一切是考验， 看尔怎么办？ 觌面若不识， 须再从头炼！ Everything is a test to see what you will do. If you don’t recognize what’s before you, you’ll have to start anew. -- Master Hua I used to think that "reality" is objective, material, and impersonal. But during the pilgrimage, I am slowly opening up to the view that "reality" is a big parable, a manifestation. It is a teaching tool and a testing ground. To put it another way, it is not really important whether or not something is "real"; the key is what we are learnings from it. The focus shifts from outer observation to inner response. With such an orientation, a sick dog on the street is not an eye sore; it is an invitation to practice compassion and metta. The visa bureaucracies are not a nightmare to endure, but an opportunity to cultivate patience and skillfulness. A delicious meal at the home ... Read Full Story

Bear Wisdom With Rev. Heng Sure! Posted by Rahul Brown, Mar 08 2018 It was a great honor to have the "world premiere" of Bear Wisdom at last weekend's Awakin Kids circle! Here it is for the adults too ... The backstory here is that Shagun's work on Sesame Street India lead to this great question around what it would look like if kids had access to the wisdom of spiritual teacher through the medium of puppet interviews. She was over at my place when she shared the idea, I loved it, rounded up Sachi and Tejas and went off the the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery when Rev Heng Sure agreed to be interviewed. At the end of the totally unscripted shoot, the auspicious serendipity behind the effort grew when Rev. Heng Sure gifted us with one of his puppets!! We learned a lot in this world premiere at Awakin Kids. Biggest lesson is that kids love this and watch with rapt attention if they've just ... Read Full Story

Doing Things Together Is Beautiful :) Posted by Vidhi Desai, Mar 07 2018 Some evenings are beautiful when family comes together for one of the most rare things. Because doing things together is a joy. One Sunday afternoon I was just cutting some sheets which apparently weren’t happening properly, my dad happened to pass, and offered his help saying Can I help you with this? I was happy and I said yeah let’s do this together. In the evening all of us were home , and my mom asked me can I help you write on these cards. She said her handwriting and drawing is not at all good, but she still wants to offer. I have always learnt that the space of inviting people is significant, however they want to do it, its their wish What stuck me was I just said whatever you are moved to do, please do it. With every card she would show me is this okay? Does this color ... Read Full Story

Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu: From Mindfulness To Posted by Rahul Brown, Mar 07 2018 This week's Awakin Call guest: 'Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu: From Mindfulness To Heartfulness Reflection questions: How have mindfulness practices helped you not only to become aware of your own being, but also to extend that awareness outward in a compassionate way toward others? What practices have helped you cultivate and extend compassion outward?

KindSpring Weekly: Spotlight On Kindness: Kindness Posted by Ameeta Martin, Mar 06 2018 Latest issue of 'KindSpring Weekly' newsletter is themed Spotlight On Kindness: Kindness Through Images. What are the effects on our health when we are exposed to positive news, see acts of kindness and learn of human goodness? This was the question that Dr. David Fryburg asked himself after experiencing what he calls a "sort of news-induced depression". He found that "our visual diet matters - we are what we see". Learn more about his founding of Envision Kindness in our featured story. - Ameeta

Two Months After My Father Passed Away Posted by Harshida Mehta, Mar 06 2018 [Below is what I shared at our last Awakin Circle, following Wisdom of Grieving reading and John's opening.] Being in this circle, today, I think a mystery of my life might've solved itself. This was a long time back. I was 19 or so, when I lost my Dad. He was just 47 and there were no signs that we would lose him. One fine day, we just lost him. I was very close to him, so this was a particularly difficult time for me. Culturally, in India, the grieving process is not very private, because everybody in the immediate and extended family, friends, neighbors and even those who don't know you all that well, would all want to be with you. That's actually quite helpful, particularly with the denial stage of the grieving process -- because the community support really helps you accept things as they are. We were six sisters, and I ... Read Full Story

First Awakin Gathering In Istanbul's European ... Posted by Luis Salamanca, Mar 04 2018 First Awakin gathering in Istanbul's European side Last Friday we were seven enthusiastic gatherers at Besiktas, istanbul. Organized hand in hand with our friends from the Asian side (Uskudar), we felt the gathering was a great opportunity to bring simple loving kindness and stillness in our hearts. :)

HeArt Circle On Impermanence Posted by Trupti Pandya, Mar 03 2018 We just completed another HeArt circle. In such a circle, after an hour of silence, we share a theme and people reflect on the theme through various forms of art. Then we close with a short circle of sharing. This month's theme was "Impermanence". It was an opportunity for all of us to take a pause and reflect on what would be our design principle if we know that we are doing to die. In spite of knowing that each one of us has come on this earth with a temporary visa, we tend to keep things for tomorrow, next month and even next year be it saying thank, asking for an apology or paying our pending bills. To dive deeper into this conversation, we read a passage and spent our next hour expressing our relationship to impermanence. The circle was filled with many profound shares. In the sharing circle, one of the ... Read Full Story

Attitude Of Gratitude For L'll Angels...... Posted by Amrita bhsjanka, Mar 03 2018 The attitude of Gratitude “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy: they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” - Marcel Proust Gratitude is about focusing on the good and being thankful for the blessings we have in our life. Hence raising thankful kids results in more positive and joyful kids. With this strong belief, I organised ‘gratitude circles’ for kids where they learned the value of thankfulness in an interactive and fun way. We started with an ice-breaking activity “What makes you smile?” Children came up with innocent and honest replies from getting a fidget spinner as a gift to winning a competition in the school. To delve deeper for the exploration of the term, a popsicle game was played to state their thankfulness for a person, place, thing or lol moment. We delightfully discovered - “ME + GRATITUDE = HAPPINESS” The inquisitive and enthusiastic audience learnt the ... Read Full Story

Lijo Chacko: Play For Mortal Stakes Posted by Nisha Srinivasan, Mar 02 2018 [All through the Gandhi 3.0 retreat, Lijo Chacko was serving us invisibly. How many of you would believe, if you met him on the road and he told you that he climbed Mount Everest, that too, on the north face? One out of 10 people who climb Mt Everest choose to attempt the North face. And he did it without much preparation, just like that. He's a humble spirit, but he also has an adventurous spirit. He's been a commander in the Indian Navy serving in submarines. Talk about transition and transformation. Below is a transcript of Lijo sharing that story in his own words.] In my late teens I got selected into the Indian Navy. I joined the Naval Academy, then moved onto the Naval College of Engineering to do my graduation, got commissioned and then specialized in Marine Engineering a few years later. In the Indian Navy, there ... Read Full Story

Our Children Are Our Awakeners Posted by Arathi Ravichandran, Mar 02 2018 Our conscious mamas circle has gotten off to a great start in 2018! In January, a few of us got together to discuss Shefali Tsabary's book, The Awakened Family. We focused our discussion on the following passage: "Our children may be small and powerless in terms of living independent lives, but they are mighty in their potential to be our awakeners. [The term awakeners] speaks directly to our children's potential to enlighten us and raise our consciousness to new heights. When I began to notice how my daughter accomplished this, I was in awe. The really surprising aspect of this is that the insights our children offer us aren't so much epiphanies as they are lessons stumbled upon in the plainest of moments and the most humbling of situations. Actually, more often than not it's in times of conflict that we get to see the full range of our unconscious theatrics. This ... Read Full Story