Recent Blogs

Raphael and I are teaming up again, and adding Cheri Torres - a local, successful Organizational Development consultant, for our next business venture.

As many of you know, Raphael has been involved in improv theater - The Asheville Playback Theatre, since 1995. My favorite theatre form, Playback theatre involves audience members telling a story from their life, which then gets played back - improv! The results are heartwarming, often inspiring and humorous, and always community-building and great entertainment.

Also in 1995, Raphael and I started publishing Spirit in the Smokies: Magazine of New Paradigm Living which, by the time we ended printing it in mid 2007, was distributed to cities in six states. In addition to book reviews, interviews of well-known authors and some articles, it too featured people's stories. Specifically, it focused on first-person accounts of personal transformation - and inspired many.

A Surprising Culmination . . .

Can you believe we are well into the second decade of the 21st century? Wasn't Y2K just a couple of years ago?

It's been well over two years since I published the last issue of Spirit in the Smokies, Magazine of New Paradigm Living and I'm finally figuring out what is next for me. Now that I know, it seems so obvious.

Living collaboratively is so important to me - ever since I was 9 years old and noticed that my mother wasn't the only mother who felt stuck at home with kids and depressed.

Seeds of Community, Age 9
That day, it occurred to me that perhaps she wasn't the only such mother and so I went around the neighborhood and into my friend’s homes, this time to notice their mothers. To my amazement, they all looked duty-bound and bored, if not depressed.

Lots going on at Lotus Lodge, the community of 10 where I live and publish this website – and from where Spirit in the Smokies magazine was published. This website is an extension or evolution of that magazine.

As most of you know, Raphael Peter and I published Spirit in the Smokies for 12 years, from mid 1995 to mid 2007, during which time we also sponsored and hosted many events, including monthly Community Network Gatherings for like-minded people. In 2005 we founded Lotus Lodge, each purchasing a section of the 2.5 acres.

In late February, Raphael married his wonderful new partner, Patricia and moved to their new home in Alexandria, NC, thus leaving Lotus Lodge. At about the same time, a wonderful new communitarian – Julia McCarthy - joined the community and within a very short time began negotiating with Raphael to purchase his portion. That exchange soon happened!

What I work a lot with is the notion that when someone does something that affects me, it is beneficial to me too - that it has to be, within a paradigm of oneness. Sometimes it can be a stretch to really live, however.

For example, I live in a rental community, which I love. I can rent up to 6 people (i.e., 6 private rooms plus there are two other apartments that someone else owns) and my preference is to have residents that really love being here and who get along well, and to have very little turnover.

In the past, when a person gave notice of leaving, I’d take it personally, as a personal rejection. I also might have been afraid there'd be a loss of income. Sometimes I would begrudge the effort it meant to find, screen and rent to a new resident.

Doing 'The Work'

What’s the single, most important thing we can do to improve our relationships? I believe the answer to that question is the opposite of what many may think. I believe it is to be sure we are happy and fulfilled in life. In fact, the biggest gift we can give to any one – to the world, is our own happiness. Think about it.

When I am feeling really good about my life, and myself I have graciousness for others. Things they do that might have annoyed me before are barely noticed. Instead, I’m patient, compassionate and supportive. In other words, my love for them is much more unconditional.

Recalling the Call
Can you think of some times when this was true for you? Which instances were more powerful or sustaining? What were you up to, that you allowed such peace and fulfillment? Did you feel you were “on purpose” in your life?

Change is in the air. Potent change. Certainly some of it has to do with the election of Barack Obama, 1st black American as president of the United States. Celebration is happening around the world. More than ever, we have a global sense of ourselves. We have become global citizens and within us, a desire to help make a better world has been ignited.

It used to be easy to be a cynic – active or passive, letting others engage in the acts of change that we deemed too difficult, while we did other things. Now something else is emerging and it’s more than people shifting gears to pitch in. Perhaps for the first time in recorded history, we are united globally around hope and what’s possible.

I just made some changes to the political blog article, so I hope you read it again, if you have already (click on Read More and then All Blogs). This is a potent article that took me days to compose, and as you'll see, it's written with a lot of love.

There have been times when I ignored the news (I still ignore much of mainstream media). Thus, I understand that response. In this article, however, you will find tools to make reading the news OK and hopefully to empower you to activism from the heart. And after you read it, please comment!

Enjoy, Gayatri

PS I think the Asheville gas shortage is bogus. I've talked with people around the country and they don't have a shortage. Could it be we are being called upon as a city of light? Here's a website that might help you find gas. I'd call them first:
http://www.northcarolinagasprices.com/Asheville/index.aspx

Seasonal change is highlighted this fall with the United States presidential election, the outcome of which affects our global stage. Interestingly, women and women’s issues have been highlighted in a way that is different from ever before, starting with Hillary Clinton running for president and receiving 18 million votes. Although, she didn’t win the nomination, her popularity for this high office certainly made it clear that women and women voters are a powerful force in today’s politics.

The Democratic Convention was launched by an amazing speech given by a woman—Michelle Obama, attorney, mother of two and wife of the Democratic presidential nominee. While Barack Obama didn’t pick Hillary Clinton to be his running mate, he did select a man who, like himself, has supported women’s issues politically and who does so personally by being committed to his family.