In my post last week, “2012: Ushering in the 100th Monkey,” I identified 10 values essential for aligning one’s consciousness with the principles of transformation. In that these values do not constitute an exhaustive list, I invited readers to include others and I’ve even thought of a few more of my own.

In the next few weeks, I’d like to examine each of these more closely so that as we navigate this year of 2012 we are orienting our consciousness and behavior in the direction of the paradigm shift that is the promise and the possibility of this time.

Keeping in mind an essential principle that governs human behavior — consciousness aligns with itself — there needs to be a critical mass, or a convergence of energy, thought and consciousness coalescing around a single idea or possibility in order for any kind of collective shift to occur.

Consider the Arab Spring or the Occupy movements that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Suddenly there were masses of people in the streets protesting, and their numbers mushroomed overnight. Suddenly an entire movement was born that swept the earth. In a heartbeat, it shaped and shifted the collective conversation about humanity’s response to the crises, economic and political, that had choked off the freedoms we consider essential for living.

How did this movement take birth so quickly? Well, love it or hate it, we live in the Information Age, where through the use of social media, ideas are spread around the world in an instant. And because consciousness aligns with itself, when a critical mass of consciousness is aligned in any direction — in this case, in the direction of going to the streets — behavior follows.

Based on this principle, the job now is to create a critical mass of consciousness aligned with the principles of awakening and transformation in order to achieve such a shift. I believe the stage is now set for this to happen, though it will not have happened overnight. The stage has been under construction for over four decades, at least at the conscious level, and for millennia prior to that.

The stage is set, the costumes are ready, the props are in place, the cast has assembled, the audience is seated, the lights are down, cell phones are silenced, the orchestra is ready. The curtain is about to rise. What unfolds from here is the drama that together, we are about to co-create.

And so we come to the first principle of transformation to support the process:

Accepting personal responsibility

So much has already been written about this subject. Yet I continue to be amazed at how many people still think that responsibility = blame. This is exactly the cultural definition of the concept that we want to transform.

One might even be tempted to wonder if maligning responsibility this way is not another tactic to make people think that being responsible is a bad thing and to be avoided at all costs, thus perpetuating the victim consciousness that keeps people powerless. Well, let’s blow up that idea right now.

A transformed definition of responsibility

Responsibility refers to a structure of interpretation by which I choose to stand 100 percent as the cause of what happens in my life — no exceptions — including my thoughts, feelings, actions, interpretations and resulting events.

Responsibility means authorship. It is to be aware of creating one’s self, one’s destiny, life predicaments and outcomes and, if such be the case, one’s own suffering.

Responsibility is not the truth, like a fact. It is a context from which one chooses to live. It starts with the willingness to come from a point of view that you are the cause of your own actions, no one can make you do anything. You are the cause of what you have and what you are.

But you might wonder: Whychoose to be 100 percent responsible? What’s the point? Why take on such a burden? Isn’t that heaping a lot of weight on one’s shoulders? Isn’t it a set up for failure?

In a transformed understanding of responsibility we learn that it is not burden, fault, praise, blame, credit, shame or guilt. In responsibility, there is no evaluation of good or bad, right or wrong. There is simply what happens and the willingness to hold yourself accountable for how you respond.

Accepting personal responsibility is to claim yourself as the uncontested author of your life. Even though much of what happens in life is beyond our ability to control, what we do have is the ability to choose how we’ll respond to what happens. So if you want to have a say about who you are and what your life is for, responsibility is a requirement. It is the foundational principle of transformation. Without it, all the rest are null and void.

Why choose to be 100 percent responsible? Because it is the key to accessing your personal power, freedom, creativity, aliveness and passion, for starters.

You can’t be kind of, or somewhat responsible. You either are or you’re not. No one else can make you be responsible, nor can you impose it on another. Responsibility is a gift you can only give to yourself, like a blessing.

All of us have had things happen to us in ways that had us feel, either for a moment or perhaps for a lifetime, that we were a victim in that circumstance. Life isn’t always fair. Victim events happen. Airplanes crash, earthquakes happen, people rob, steal, cheat and take advantage. No one gets through life without many moments of feeling like what just happened shouldn’t have happened. Feeling like what just happened wasn’t your fault, you didn’t deserve it, you weren’t to blame.

We all have stories and battle scars from the victim wars we’ve waged, and we’ve gathered a lot of evidence to be right about our stories. We enlist our friends in giving sympathy or extra attention because of what happened to us. We use our victim stories as excuses for (fill in the blank… not getting on with life, not taking risks, not being in a relationship, not trusting, not loving ourselves, etc.

At the factual level, all that may be true. But in between what happens to us and the stories we tell ourselves about it there is a tiny gap. Maybe it’s only a millisecond. In that gap lies the possibility that we can consciously choose our response. And in that choice lies all the power and freedom human beings could possibly want.

Just ask Nelson Mandela or Viktor Frankl, both of whom suffered years of imprisonment and physical and psychological abuse at the hands of cruel regimes. Frankl was in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII, Mandela imprisoned for 26 years during the apartheid regime of South Africa. Yet upon release, each spoke about how the power of choice helped them not only survive what had happened, but emerge from their experience, not angry and embittered or victimized, but empowered to make a difference by helping others to see within themselves the source of their own true power.

The responsibility to create a world that embodies the principles of transformation is ours. If we accept that responsibility as a gift and a blessing instead of a burden, we can be empowered to move freely in the direction of the promise of this time. It is choice we make for ourselves to live in this way, or not. The mantle is there to be picked up. The choice to do so or not lies within each of us.

The time of the 100th monkey is upon us, if we say so. I invite you to declare for yourself what this year is for you and for the world. For if the Great Awakening is to occur, it will be a team sport. And it begins with taking responsibility for inviting yourself to be on the team. Are you in?

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It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was a time for reaching out and a time for letting go. It was a time of beauty and a time of horror. It was a time of hope and a time of despair. It was a time of war and a time of peace.

It was a time when in the face of great change, on the surface, everything seemed the same. Jobs were still scarce and people were still losing their homes. Money was still the currency of politics, corporate executives and Wall St. bankers still were paid yearly salaries most people would work a lifetime for and never achieve. The rich had it beyond good and the poor had long ago fallen through the cracks.

And some who sought the highest office of the land would declare that government has no role in helping those who falter. They would proclaim that those who work hard and succeed have no duty or responsibility to extend a hand to those less equipped than they. He who has, deserves. He who has not, deserves not. Let those who fall be consumed by the forces of nature, like the animals in the jungle, they declared. And lest their carcasses litter the landscape, let them also figure out for themselves how to deal with sickness, old age and death.

It appeared there was no love in the land and fear seemed to rule the day. Fear breeds mistrust, and in their fear, the people turned on each other. They were no longer each other’s neighbors and fellow countrymen. They became each other’s enemies. Their hearts and minds were poisoned with lies masquerading as truths. No one knew who to trust or what to believe anymore. Thus, they were rendered easily controllable by those in power.

On the surface, it didn’t look good for them. It looked like the good guys were losing, yet again. That is, unless you’d developed an eye for looking between the cracks and reading between the lines. Unless you were attuned for seeing what is not obvious and hearing beyond words, you were likely to miss it. Yet there, growing ever so imperceptibly in the dark, a tiny ray of hope emerged. It was shy at first. Its tiny ray barely cast any light upon the earth.

But there were those who felt it before anyone saw it. Having stood vigil for millennia, in their hearts, they sheltered the spark that would ignite the flame that would illuminate the world again.

And then, when the world was at its darkest, one of them shook off her slumber, opened her eyes and declared herself awake. As she stood up, the darkness surrounding her was flooded with light and there was warmth and love in her midst. She turned to those around her and saw they were asleep. Gently, she tapped them on the shoulder and encouraged them to awaken. As the others awakened, they stood up and there was more light and love in their midst. They looked around and saw still more who were asleep and so it went. Those who’d been sleeping awakened and saw what there was to do.

In the end, after so long in darkness, it took but a moment for the light to return. It only takes one spark to ignite a forest fire, and in the end that’s how it went. Human hearts awakening, the fires of unity spreading in an instant, and the last human being awakened.

This brings us to the myth of the “Hundredth Monkey” — a new age allegory that refers to the time when a critical mass is achieved and collective behavior shifts. Storytellers, philosophers, astrologers and indigenous people have pointed to this time, 2012, as the time of the “Great Awakening.”

Peter Russell, author of Waking Up in Time, calls it time wave zero, the time when time ends as we know it. A time beyond time, beyond measurable time anyway. The prophecies surrounding this age are filled with conflicting predictions. Time will end, the world will end, apocalypse now vs. complete paradigm shift, humanity evolves to the next level and harmony will reign upon the earth.

No one knows what the future holds. We don’t even know what the next breath will bring us. But I wonder what would happen if enough people held a vision around a “Great Awakening” to begin at an appointed hour? What would happen if a critical mass of human beings opened themselves to the possibility that a collective event, like a massive paradigm shift, could happen?

Whatever these times may be, Mayan prophesy aside, we are the ones occupying planet Earth in 2012. We are the ones whose choices set the stage for all that follows. We are the ones who, in our daily lives, either allow our inner light to shine in the world, expressing love and reflecting the highest good for all of mankind, or out of a mistaken belief that there is a limited supply, or that who we are is not enough, shield our inner light from view. Whether or not there is a collective event that involves a “Great Awakening” for mankind depends upon our collective willingness to have it be so.

Clearly there is work to be done. Can we do it? The eternal optimist in me says absofrickinlutely we can! Will it happen in our lifetimes? Who knows? That part is not my concern. My only concern is that I live my own life aligned with the values I believe are essential for this event to occur and that I encourage others to encourage others do the same.

What are those essential values to live by? Here’s my list. I don’t claim for it to be the last word on the subject. I’d love to hear yours.

10 Essential Values for Living a Transformed Life (And Ushering in the 100th Monkey)

1) Accept personal responsibility — 100 percent of the time. No exceptions. Responsibility is not blame. It is a choice, a place to stand, from which freedom, aliveness and creativity is possible.

2) Honesty — 100 percent of the time. Tell the truth as you know it, especially when it’s uncomfortable. No exceptions.

3) Integrity — Honor and live as your word.

4) Authenticity — Be and live as who you are. You’re the only you, everyone else is taken.

5) Generosity — Live from an open, giving heart. What goes around comes around.

6) Contribution — Make a difference in the lives of others. Life has meaning and purpose when we live for something larger than fulfilling our own personal needs.

7) Oneness — Love my neighbor as myself. We are one and the same. Outwardly different, inwardly the same. All is one.

Love — Give it, be it, express it, be open to receive it. Love is all there really is. Everything else is the absence of love.

9) Abundance — We live in an abundant universe. There is enough of everything, despite appearances. Live from the overflow. The source of love is infinite.

10) Vision — Create a vision for your life that is large enough to hold your dreams. Live from your vision, not from circumstances. Vision trumps circumstances every time.

This is just a beginning. Spend some time with this and you’ll come up with many more. Please do share them here as well as your thoughts about the 100th Monkey and the new year.

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Solstice = Standing-Still-Sun

Dec. 21st, we enter the belly of the night.

Winter Solstice: We come to the portal that separates darkness from light. Standing in this arch of time where Earth takes a breath before facing us back towards the sun, we too, take a breath, turn inward, pause in this moment of fullness and let darkness reveal its gifts.

Winter Solstice: A time to look back at the year gone by, gather its lessons and put them in the stew of your life. Time to let the heat of your presence cook the stew. Render the lessons into the sweet nectar of wisdom. Then drink of it. One-small-sip-at-a-time.

Winter Solstice: A time to let the longest night of the year seduce you into stillness. Time to silence inner voices, listen to the beating of your own heart. Time to breathe slowly, become the breath. Linger here. The night is long.

Winter Solstice: Time to savor the sweetness of the dark. Nothing to fear. It’s only you. And millions of years of Earth’s turning; away and then back, away and then back towards the light. It’s all you. The dark, the light, the fire, the night: it’s all you. You’re all it. Sweet oneness, savored in the dark.

Winter Solstice: A sacred link, where Earth’s veil thins, the unseen, seen. Images of ancestors and ancient roots threading back beyond time. Back to first humans, their fires still burning to call back the light. We are the ones who hold them sacred. We honor their struggles, their triumphs. We’re here due to them. They gave us our blood.

Winter Solstice: A time to reflect on your life in this moment. Like never before, or ever again, reflect on this sweet, fragile moment.

Winter Solstice: A time to let go of what burdens. Empty out stones sitting heavy in the heart. Let bygones be bygones. Acknowledge. Forgive. Begin again.

Winter Solstice: A fertile time, a time to ready the womb; a time for pregnant possibility. A time to sow seeds of imagination that germinate in the darkness. A time to tend the inner hearth; be warmed by the coals of creativity.

Winter Solstice: The union of opposites. Fullness: emptying. Emptiness: filling. 
The shortest day meets the longest night. Celebrate the dark. Greet the light. We’ve journeyed long; we’ve journeyed far. In summer, we rejoiced in the sun, now absent. In winter, we settle into the night, now present. We draw inward, tuck in our wings to keep warm. All flights are canceled.

Winter Solstice: A time to check inner weather and road conditions. Are you cold? Are you hot? Are you merely lukewarm? Is it stormy? Is it balmy? Are there blue skies inside? Does the road rise to meet you? Are you on shaky ground? Is it smooth? Is it rocky? Can you see where you are?

Winter Solstice: Can you be with it all, just as it is? No fighting, no trying, no pushing the river. It flows by itself, so you watch it. You notice. You see twigs and branches submerged in the stream of your life. Without effort, the water flows over, under and around it all. Nothing can stop it; it goes on forever. Like you do. Like I do. Like we do.

May you go on forever, like this most pregnant night of the year.

A brief ritual to include in your observance of Winter Solstice:

1) Set aside at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, but whatever works for you is fine.


2) Include friends, family members, or celebrate alone if you prefer.


3) Turn off all the lights. Settle in to the darkness.


4) Spend time with your eyes closed, breathing slowly, watching the breath.


5) Let your awareness settle down in your belly. Feel it fill and empty. See your 
life coming and going on each inhale and exhale. Feel the strength and fragility of each 
breath.


6) There’s nothing to do but let go into the dark, allow it to hold you. Feel its safety. Thoughts arise and fall. Just watch them come and go. Return to the breath.


7) Remain in silence for several minutes after you’ve finished. Savor the moment.

The Blessing of the newborn Sun God:


“Out of Darkness Light is Re-born. Carry the hope of this moment like a torch in your heart through the coming year. Let it sustain you in your times of darkness, and be a symbol of blessing in your times of joy. Let Peace be with you.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Solstice! May you find peace in the night.

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Have you seen it yet this year? For what would the Christmas season be without the yearly airing of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol?

Channel surfing last week, I came across one of my favorite productions of this age-old story, with George C. Scott in the role of Scrooge. And although I’ve watched the film many times, each time I see it, I am once again transported back to Victorian England and experience with almost childlike wonder, this archetypal story of redemption and transformation.

Written in 1843, the story still stands up today, nearly170 years later. In fact, it could have been written today, what with all the shenanigans going on at the highest levels of politics, government and business in America and abroad.

Dickens originally wrote this tale to call attention to the social injustices suffered by the many who were driven into poverty during the Industrial Revolution while those who prospered thought their only social responsibilities were limited to paying taxes. He wanted to highlight the moral obligation of society to provide for the poor, with the character of Scrooge embodying the selfishness and indifference of the upper class of that era. Sound strangely familiar?

Today we have the 99%, the Occupy Movement, in the role of the downtrodden, played by Bob Cratchett and family, and the 1% in the role of the rich and indifferent, played by Ebeneezer Scrooge.

It wouldn’t be difficult to attach contemporary names and faces to the characters in this story, there are plenty of candidates. How about Elizabeth Warren as Marley’s ghost and Donald Trump as Scrooge? Or Michael Moore as Tiny Tim and Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker as Scrooge? Or how about Senator Bernie Sanders as the ghost of Christmas future and Congressman Paul Ryan as Scrooge? Oh, the choices are endless; pick your favorites.

Some things never change, or so it seems. Here we are almost 170 years down the road from Dickens’ tale and we’re still facing similar conditions, albeit with a few new bells and whistles, i.e. social safety nets, thrown in. But it’s the erosion of those safety nets that is at issue here.

As in Dickens’ time, for the most part, today’s 1% fail to see a need to be concerned about the plight of the 99%. There is an almost total disconnect between these two very different factions of our society. Almost, but not completely, for there are a few among the 1% who readily admit their willingness to be taxed at a higher rate for they see that when the world’s economy is unstable, their own plight is also threatened.

Ironically, no matter how much or how little money one has, we all share the same fate. We all call Earth our home. What happens to our planet happens to all of us. Earthquakes and tsunamis don’t discriminate.

Today’s Christmas Carol story indeed, is being playing out on a global scale. The whole world is going through a painful contraction, largely at the hands of the global Scrooges who got greedy and played the system to ruins. It’s going to take a long time to rebuild a new system, and the $64,000 question is: what kind of system will we build, given what’s already happened? Will it be more of the same or will we make a turn in the road and choose to travel a different path?

All over the world, Tiny Tim is standing up and speaking up and saying, “No more!” That outcry has given birth the Arab Spring, the revolutions in Egypt and Libya, and the voter revolt and recall elections in Wisconsin and Ohio. All of which has set the stage for the global Occupy movement we see on the rise today.

However you feel about this movement, whether you agree or disagree with their politics or their tactics, there is no question that this is a grassroots movement, organized from within, and it is growing. The Occupy movement has become the voice of the 99% and is demanding that a new kind of system be created. And they demand to have a voice in its creation. They want a system that reflects their values. They want a system that is based on justice and equality, as guaranteed by the constitution.

And that’s the point. The story of A Christmas Carol is about what greed can do to the human soul and prices we all pay as a result. The greed that motivated Dickens’ tale almost 170 years ago still permeates the collective consciousness today.

So are we forever doomed to continue down this path? Is there any hope for mankind to see the light and make a shift? What does the evidence suggest? Looking to the three ghosts from Dickens tale, let’s examine them from the point of view of our modern society:

The Ghost of Christmas Past

What does the ghost of Christmas Past have to teach us about who we’ve become?

That since the beginning of recorded history, humanity has been driven by fear, and that fearful people forget how to love?

That a fearful people will erect walls and build weapons with which to defend themselves from a world of perceived threats?

That a nation’s priorities become distorted and it loses its soul when money and power are used to keep people separate and alienated from each other and the world?

The Ghost of Christmas Present

What does the ghost of Christmas Present have to teach us?

That the hour is late?

That humanity’s misguided choices of the past have brought us to the threshold of the sixth mass extinction and that today we’re faced with a choice about what kind of planet we wish to pass on to those who follow?

That living in fear has produced the darkness in which we find ourselves today and that the only way out is to wake up and choose another way now, before it’s too late?

The Ghost of Christmas Future

What about the ghost of Christmas Future? What does it have to teach us?

That if we don’t consider the difficult questions and make the difficult choices today, our great grandchildren will be living out the consequences of our collective cowardice?

What if each of us, in our own way, is playing out the qualities of Scrooge? Think of how that might be true for you. How are you miserly with the love and attention you give to yourself and to others? It’s not that difficult to see how our collective fear produces the conditions of indifference that generate the kind of disparities we see in the world today.

What does our indifference cost us, today and in the future?

The truth is, we’re all of it. We’re Tiny Tim and we’re Scrooge. We’re past, present and future, all happening now. We need to wake up. Now. We need to be the ones who insure that our ancestors seven generations from now inherit a clean and just world. And that on our watch, we didn’t shrink from the responsibilities we were called to fulfill.

Lest you think my portrayal of the world is overly dark and without hope, let me assure you that I believe just the opposite. I have never had more hope for humanity than I do today. Why? Because the young generation who calls themselves Generation We also known as the “Millennials”, born between the mid– 70’s and the early 2000’s, have already woken up. They are the future. If you want to hear about what they believe, check out this fabulous video. It will give you hope.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Let the three ghosts of Christmas past, present and future be a warning and an invitation to wake up, grow up, and buck up. There is a ray of light in the darkness. Let us all be stewards of that light for we’ve got work to do! We’ve got Love to do.

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When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. Isn’t that what we’ve always been taught? Isn’t that the American way?

That’s what we were instructed to do back in 2001, as a response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Remember? Shopping became our patriotic duty. It was our way of shaking off the shock of loss and getting beyond our national grief, not to mention righting the ship and keeping the engines of commerce going.

And so, patriots that we were, we went shopping, because, well, what else was there to do? We weren’t asked to make any kinds of sacrifices or to think or feel too much about what was really going on at the time. Wanna be a patriot? Go into the military or go shopping. Take your pick. Most of us chose the latter.

Shopping, the ultimate distraction! There is nothing quite like it to tamp down those pesky, unwanted feelings we’d rather not feel. What can be better than a new pair of shoes or a new electronic toy to drive away, at least for the moment, that inner choir of the “You’re not worthy, you’re too fat, too old, not good looking enough, not smart enough, who do you think you are, why bother — you’ll only fail, what will everyone think” blues?

I’m not suggesting that all shopping is a way to avoid or that it’s negative or even wrong. Shopping can be a way to honor and celebrate those we love, including ourselves. There’s nothing like finding a sale on the very thing for which you were willing to pay full retail, or celebrating a milestone or a special moment or achievement by giving a thoughtful gift. But let’s keep it in perspective.

As bad as the world appears to be right now, Virginia, in all this mess, there is a silver lining. Something is happening out here in consumer land. We are beginning to wake up.

We’re beginning to wake up, not only as consumers, but also as human beings realizing that something more is required of us than performing our patriotic duty by filling up shopping carts this holiday season and beyond. Our collective awakening might not be readily apparent however, since this year we broke all spending records on Black Friday and millions of people came away with shopping carts overflowing with goodies. Money was saved and money was spent and the economy got a boost. Yay!

But we also got pepper sprayed by crazed consumers seeking to protect their loot and at least one person lost his life in a tragic way while attempting to shop on that weekend. To borrow a phrase from the AA community, could we just say we’ve “reached bottom”? We have bottomed out. Could we call a “time out” and regroup?

Something much more important than shopping and gifts is attempting to make itself known to us through these tragedies. For the family of the man who had a heart attack at a Target store, was completely ignored and then trampled upon and subsequently died, whatever gifts he might have brought home that night will never measure up to the price he paid for them. This might sound like an extreme example, but it isn’t the first time someone has paid the ultimate price for a Black Friday deal.

When the gift becomes more important than the giver, it carries a price that is usually not advertised. Something essential has been lost. For “things” cannot fill the hole left by the loss of a loved one or substitute for a love that wasn’t otherwise expressed. Life is brief and it ends sometimes all too quickly. If the only gifts that matter never were given, what’s left in the wake are regrets.

Having worked in palliative care for years, author Bonnie Ware, in her book “The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying,” lists the following responses from people facing the last few days of their life when queried about what they regret the most:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

No Black Friday gift lists here! No electronic gadgets. No baubles, bangles or beads. Just the recognition of the real costs of a life unlived. But we, among the living, still have a choice. And we can exercise that choice through the awareness we bring to each moment.

Snag a new TV set at Best Buy on sale, $200. Living in alignment with what really matters — priceless! What matters is more about presence and less about presents. It’s more about what kind of person is doing the giving.

Who’s the giver you want to be? Who’s the giver you already are? What ineffable qualities do you bring to the giving? This is truly the gift you have to give.

The only thing that matters is that you give this gift, whatever it is. For in giving it to others, you automatically give it to yourself. And visa versa. What we give to ourselves fills up the cup from which we give to others. It’s a circular thing. The old adage: “What goes around comes around” happens to be true!

At the end of your life, what will you treasure the most? The expensive gift someone gave you, or the quality of the time you spent with one who gave it?

This holiday season and throughout the coming year, let what you give be an affirmation of the values you hold most dear. Give of the things that are the deepest and the highest expression of who you are. What is that for you?

For me, it’s about being real and sharing the “juice” of life, the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly. It’s about losses grieved, tears shed and hands held. It’s about telling the truth, forgiving and asking for forgiveness. It’s about sharing the journey, lending an arm or asking for one to lean on when the feet or legs get wobbly. It’s about long walks, cups of tea and telephone chats across the miles.

For me, the gift that matters most is about being in the presence of “Being” and honoring the sacred. It’s about being a heart that listens. It’s about recognizing the beauty of simplicity, appreciating boldness and having the courage to be honest.

It’s about the love of family, the bond that is shared and the acknowledgment that this bond transcends everything. It’s about expressing love through words and actions that has my beloveds know they are loved beyond measure.

There are no Black Friday deals on the gifts that matter most. They are in abundant supply 24/7, 365 days a year.

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This is an update to an article I posted last year during my third consecutive year as a recovering holiday shopper. You can read the original article here.

Having celebrated “Buy Nothing Day” on Black Friday last week instead of braving potential assaults of pepper spray at Wal-Mart or even worse, I now am faced with the prospect that this year, I must once again enter the belly of the dreaded shopping beast.

My non-Christmas shopping days are over. Like a recovering alcoholic at a New Year’s Eve party, this year I’m challenged to return to the scene of the crime and learn to exhibit self-restraint.

With the addition of two new son-in-laws to the family, the family dynamic has shifted. No longer does the women’s “no gift” policy rule. The men want tradition! Wrapped presents under a tree and nothing less.

Last year, the men suffered through our family tradition of no gifts, but not without frustration. They wanted to give their new wife and bride-to-be something special at Christmas. This was understandable. So when they put their collective feet down this year and declared there will be gifts at Christmas, the girls and I knew it was time to relax our boycott on gift giving and thus, the issue of holiday shopping returns to the forefront.

Having avoided the whole holiday shopping scene for the past three years, the prospect of re-entry does not seem appealing. News of a man’s death at a Target in Virginia on Black Friday and of crowds stepping over his body to get to the bargains does not exactly evoke the holiday spirit.

However, just prior to Thanksgiving, while working in New York, I decided to give myself a test run at Macy’s, just to get warmed up. Or so I hoped.

Nothing like taking on the Olympics of shopping! This is Macy’s flagship store, touted as “The largest department store in the world,” with over 1 million square feet of shopping, covering four square blocks of prime real estate in mid-town Manhattan, and sitting nine stories high. I felt like I should cross myself and genuflect at the revolving doors before entering. And I’m not even Catholic!

Taking a deep breath, I cautiously entered through the men’s department on 7th Avenue and was immediately overwhelmed by merchandise, music and of course, the press of the crowd. This is the part I dislike the most about holiday shopping. I literally become disoriented and dizzy in a large store, like the life is being sucked right out of me. Can anyone relate to this phenomenon?

Pressing on, I was determined not to succumb to these first few moments of pure reflex conditioning. As my reward, I was immediately faced with an even bigger challenge. The perfume department! Perfume, cologne or any kind of scented product is my kryptonite. I’ve spent years trying to avoid people who wear perfume and even have a “thank you for not wearing fragrance” policy for my home. Walking through a perfume department, with salespeople holding bottles of the latest celebrity fragrance and asking to spray some in my direction, has always been anathema to me. My sinuses get activated and the violent sneezing begins, lasting sometimes for an entire day. I kid you not!

Holding my breath, I dashed through the perfumes, managing to successfully avoid the disgusting scented cards being waved in my direction and entered the main sanctuary: Macy’s ground floor!

I was unprepared for what I saw next. Mind you, I’m not from the boonies with one local dry goods store attempting to be a one size fits all department store. I’m from the San Francisco Bay area, with Neiman’s, Sak’s, Gump’s and high-end designer shops just for starters. I know good merchandise when I see it. And I know bad merchandise as well. But I had never quite seen the likes of what greeted me on Macy’s main floor. Sorry, Macy’s. But I gotta tell it like it is. No soft peddling here.

It felt like I’d entered a warehouse filled to the rafters with cheap goods from China. As if a boat from China had docked out in front and literally dumped its containers at Macy’s front door. It was shocking, actually! Everywhere I looked, there were stacks and racks of “stuff.” My normal nausea turned to disgust as I beheld what assaulted me from every angle. Cheap, plastic-feeling purses masquerading as leather, poorly made scarves and shawls, cheap plastic jewelry and other accessories were in abundance. I realize I’m over-using the words “cheap” and “plastic,” but seriously, I can find no other words to describe my experience.

My head reeling, I decided to venture to the 2nd floor, women’s apparel. Surely there would be something available for purchase that didn’t come from China! Wrong again. Without even reading the labels, the goods greeting me in women’s apparel screamed “made in China.” It reminded me of being in Russia during the breakup of the old Soviet Union when the only imported goods available were cheaply-made items from Turkey.

The good news? I wasn’t even remotely tempted to buy anything. I’d had enough. I quickly made my way back to the down escalator and out the door on 7th Avenue. Clearly, if Macy’s is a dumping ground for Chinese goods, what must the discount stores like Target and Wal-Mart be? We already know the answer to that question, don’t we? Which brings me to a moral dilemma.

Why are people literally risking life and limb to buy these goods on Black Friday or otherwise, when it only enriches the coffers of the Chinese manufacturers and the savings aren’t actually all that great? And besides, the quality is poor! I don’t get it. There are no jobs being created in this country, except for the retailers who peddle this stuff. The American consumer is being bamboozled.

Did you see the ads on TV for the Black Friday deals? No wonder people were whipped into such a frenzy — shoppers came armed with pepper spray to ensure they got the purchases they wanted. This is sick!

Which brings me back to my perennial issue of how to maintain the Christmas spirit, honor the choice of my family this year to put wrapped gifts under the tree, while not getting pepper sprayed or trampled in the process or falling into my old patterns of overbuying.

OK, I know what you’re going to suggest. Get creative and make all the gifts! That’s likely not going to happen. Not this year, probably not ever. We are not a craft-oriented family nor am I a crafty-type person. But that doesn’t mean we can’t access the resources of others who are.

Enter the Internet! Thank goodness for online shopping. Amazon is becoming my new best friend. I’m inviting the people on my gift list to put up a Wish List on Amazon. I’m sure there are many other resources for accomplishing the same objective. In fact, if you know of any, please, please let me know.

Happy Holiday shopping ninja shoppers!

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First they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you
Then they fight you.
Then you win.
– Mahatma Gandhi

It’s time. One might even say it’s past time. One might even say it’s long overdue past time. But actually, the time is perfect. The time is ripe. The time is now.

Something’s happening and it’s happening everywhere at the same time. The people of Planet Earth are rising up. They’re rising up in over 1,500 cities in 82 countries so far. And the rising up has just begun. Something is definitely afoot.

People who are attuned to such things have known this was coming. The ancient Mayan calendar predicted a Great Shift, beginning on Dec. 21, 2012. We are barely a year away. People are hearing the call and the shifting has begun.

Humanity is rising up and throwing off the shackles of oppression, worn for millennia, across the ages, across the continents, across all cultures, races and religions. As in the words of Howard Beale, the enigmatic television anchorman portrayed by Peter Finch in the 1976 movie, Network, “we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!”

Peter Finch won a posthumous Academy Award for his role in the movie, which garnered a total of four Oscars in 1977. Here is an excerpt from one of the most famous scenes in the movie. It could have been written about what’s happening in the world today. Speaking is Finch’s character, Howard Beale:

“I don’t have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel’s worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there’s nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there’s no end to it.
We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV’s while some local newscaster tells us that today we had 15 homicides and 63 violent crimes, as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be. We know things are bad — worse than bad. They’re crazy. It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.’

Well, I’m not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don’t want you to protest. I don’t want you to riot — I don’t want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you’ve got to get mad.

You’ve got to say, ‘I’m a HUMAN BEING, Goddamn it! My life has VALUE!’ So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, ‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’ I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell, ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Things have got to change. But first, you’ve gotta get mad!… You’ve got to say, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: ‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’”

Humanity is mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!

We are witnessing the birth of a new paradigm for mankind, one that is a game-changer for the entire planet. What is unfolding before our very eyes, ears, hearts and minds, is the awakening of our collective consciousness. We are becoming aware, at a level as never before, of the one truth that connects us all.

Will this movement succeed when so many others that have come before it have failed? Only time will tell. But there has never been the kind of global participation in a single movement like what we’re seeing today. With 99 percent of humanity united in a single cause, can change be far behind?

The key word here is unity, for unity is the name of the game. This change is not about further dividing us between rich and poor, have and have nots. The change that is afoot is one that acknowledges a larger truth than the one under which we’ve lived throughout history. We are awakening to the truth of who we are as humans. The time is ripe for this awakening.

We are not separate. We recognize our true nature as that of oneness. We will no longer allow a system that divides and conquers. We will no longer support those systems which keep us in bondage, either physically or spiritually. Greed, corporate or otherwise, is not acceptable. Pillaging the planet is not acceptable. Bigotry, racism, sex trafficking, genital mutilation and other forms of inhumane treatment are not acceptable. Hunger and lack of clean drinking water are not acceptable.

We are all in this together and we know it. Through technology that connects us in real time all the time, the world has grown small enough for us to see one another in real time. When we saw the Egyptians throw off the oppressive Mubarak regime in Tarir Square last spring it was a win for humanity. That win ignited the hearts and minds of oppressed people throughout the Middle East, sending people to the streets throughout the Arab world, and the Arab Spring was born.

There are those who criticize the Occupy movement for not having a clearly stated agenda with specific outcomes, or any kind of visible leadership. But those who took to the streets of Berlin on the evening of Nov. 9, 1989, and began tearing down the Berlin Wall had no clear leadership either. There came a moment in time when a critical mass of people were all aligned in the same consciousness and the actions that unfolded in Berlin gave courage to thousands across Eastern Europe, who began tearing down the walls of tyranny within their own countries.

This movement is not about “them.” It’s about “us.” For “we” are all “them.” None of us wins unless all of us wins. It’s that simple. It’s that complex. There are those who already know this and they’re the ones in the streets.

But we can’t stop here. The 99 percent is incomplete. We must win the hearts and minds of the 1 percent who don’t yet get the message so 100 percent of humanity crosses the line together.

It will happen. Of this you can be sure. It’s only a matter of time.

What is arising in you in response to the Occupy Wall Street movement? Have you taken to the streets? What is your experience?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic. Please feel free to leave a comment in the space below or drop me a line at judith@judithrich.com.

Blessings on the path.

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Steve Jobs left this earthly plane today. He leaves behind a cavernous gap that only his creative genius could fill. Thank you, Steve, for following your heart and never giving up on your dream.

Godspeed, dear Steve. I know for sure of one angel who’s waiting for you. My father, Clifford Bundy, died 18 years ago today. And if I know my dad, he’s already got the golf clubs and golf cart ready for you when you arrive.

Rest in peace.

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Mark your calendars for Nov. 11, 2011 — 11.11.11. Something amazing is going to happen on that day, and you can be a part of it.

Imagine you could get a glimpse of humanity, everywhere on the planet, all at the same time. Imagine you could look across the landscape of the globe and see a little chunk of life going on in every country, all on a single day. Imagine that you could know the story of the world, as it is, right now.

That’s what a group of creative filmmakers, students and inspired citizens set out to do last October. Their vision was to document the human story, with all of its diversity and drama, on a single day. They chose Oct. 10, 2010 (10/10/10). The group, One Day On Earth, has created a DVD from that initial project, now available online.

What’s Coming Next

You can become part of their next One Day On Earth production, to be filmed this year on 11/11/11. On the site and you’ll find an archive of footage from the various countries participating and a map of the globe showing who’s represented.

Here’s a brief but compelling trailer of last year’s production. Check this out and catch a glimpse of this amazing world we share with almost 7 billion other human beings:

Click here to view the embedded video.

There is so much more going on here on planet Earth in the way of good news, but we never hear about it. It’s easy to lose sight of the magnitude of goodness in this journey we share when the media focus is almost exclusively on bad news.

It’s easy to lose faith in ourselves and in mankind as a whole, when most of what we hear about is war, death, destruction and loss. And heaven knows there’s plenty of bad news to go around. We’re marinated in it on a daily basis. And to make matters worse, the news we mostly hear is not only not good, it doesn’t sound like it’s about to get better any time soon.

I’m curious as anyone about what’s going on in the world. But despite what the folks over at Fox News claim, media coverage is anything but “fair and balanced.” The mainstream media’s bias toward covering stories of conflict, or focusing on the ideological struggle within a larger story, makes it difficult to find news that uplifts and inspires. “Good news is boring and doesn’t photograph well”, says Andrew R. Cline, Ph.D., fassociate professor of journalism at Missouri State University.

Yes, we are awash in bad news. And because of this it’s challenging to keep a positive perspective. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting we bury our heads in the sand and pretend the world’s injustices aren’t happening.

But the reality is, bad news is not all there is. There is more going on right in front of us than meets the eye, and because good news isn’t considered sexy or newsworthy, it doesn’t get much coverage and therefore flies under the radar, and we never hear about most of it.

We need to become adept in sleuthing out the good that is happening amidst all the bad. It’s there, but we need to have the eyes and the ears for it. Having one’s antennae tuned to the “Good News Channel” helps one become aware of projects like One Day on Earth. Just viewing the movie trailer is enough to restore one’s faith in the goodness of mankind.

Your Own One Day on Earth Project

Put yourself in the shoes of a participant in this project. You really could be, you know. Imagine that you were filming a segment of your life, your world, unfolding on a single day: 11/11/11. If you could show the world who you are and how your life occurs on any given day, what would we see?

Would we see someone slogging through their day, counting the hours until it’s over? Would we see someone who’s bored, resigned, cynical or angry? Would we see a human being who wakes up and who’s first conscious thought is gratitude?

How you show up every day is entirely within your control. No matter what’s going on “out there,” each of us has the power to shape our own reality through the choices we make every day, the thoughts we think and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s going on.

What would the world be like if each person absolutely knew they were an essential part of this team called “human being,” and that their participation was instrumental to the outcome of the game called life? What if everyone saw clearly how the way they show up has an impact on everyone and everything around them? What if we knew without question that everything depends on everything else? Wouldn’t that be good news?

Everything Depends Upon Everything

One day I was driving across the Bay Bridge on my way into San Francisco, a trip I make at least once or twice a week. On this particular day, while traveling across the mid-section of the bridge containing a huge “S”-shaped curve, I became aware of the “dance” of traffic and how it was all perfectly choreographed to ensure everyone slowed down in unison and made it safely around the curve and across the bridge.

I became aware of the driver in each car, even though I couldn’t see them all, as a member of this little “team” of driver and cars, collaborating creatively on this stretch of road. And then I imagined each driver moving on to his/her destination, still being cognizant of the “dance,” still interacting collaboratively with everyone they met.

What would be possible if humanity behaved as if its very existence depended upon collaboration? I believe that it does. Even though we don’t appear to have gotten this message, and even though we appear to be much more about competition, winning and losing, there is another way for us to go. This is good news!

We are never going to solve the problems mankind faces unless we get that we’re all in this together. If the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink becomes unfit for human consumption, everyone loses. It won’t matter how much money one has if the planet can no longer sustain human life. There won’t be any winners.

Add Good News to Your Daily Diet

Endeavors like the One Day On Earth project are so important because they demonstrate what’s possible. And if you’re interested in learning about more good news, I recommend the site DailyGood. There, you’ll find a multitude of stories to uplift, inspire and restore your faith in mankind. This is my “go to” source for good news on a regular basis. And right now, who couldn’t use a daily dose of goodness?

What does it do for you to know there are people all over the planet preparing for this One Day On Earth — 11/11/11, a day of “creative collaboration”? Are you inspired? I am! It doesn’t get any better for me than knowing that on this day, there will be a collective intention to collaborate toward the consciousness of unity. That’s the whole ballgame as far as I’m concerned. And this is very good news!

What could be possible if we started putting together a few of these days back to back? A day where the whole world is peaceful. A week of kindness. A month of compassion. A year of joy. Can you imagine? That’s what John Lennon invited us to do more than 30 years ago. That dream lives on.

Where will you be on 11/11/11? Even though, at the time of this writing, this event takes place moe than a month from now, plan now to be part of this collective collaboration. Don’t be surprised if you see some people with video cameras filming life as it occurs and if that footage includes you. Or, why not be the one holding the camera? Everyone’s contribution counts, including yours. And that is very, very, very good news!

Got any good news to share? Pile it on! What’s going on in your world, the sharing of which can uplift and inspire others? Come on. Dig a little deeper. It’s all there. We’re listening.

You can become part of their next One Day On Earth production, to be filmed this year on 11/11/11, either by making a donation to help cover production costs and/or volunteer to contribute footage of your own videos taken on 11/11/11.

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