As is being reported on blogs and social media, this weekend there was a protest of Google onstage at Wisdom 2.0 2014. During the Google panel on corporate mindfulness, protesters from Heart of the City Collective, bearing a banner reading “Eviction Free San Francisco,” stepped onstage. Three protesters unfurled the banner in front of the three Google panelists, while a fourth yelled through a megaphone about stopping the evictions and others passed out flyers to audience members.
When Wisdom 2.0 founder and host Soren Gordhamer heard the yelling from backstage, he came out not knowing what was happening. It was unclear what the protesters were doing and what they had planned and naturally, his first thought was for the safety of the panelists and audience. Contrary to rumors of burly security guards, the two gentleman who escorted the protesters from the stage were one of our conference volunteers, and a member of the hotel’s union A/V staff.
During the incident, our onsite livestream technician, acting on years of professional instinct, cut the feed when he saw that something unplanned was happening onstage. As the only videos available on our website right now are from the livestream archive, it is true that the video of the protest is currently missing. This is not because we're censoring it; it's because we’re working on extracting the footage from our files. We will have video of the session (including the protest) up on our site as soon as we can. [UPDATE: 2/24/14: You can now see our video of the protest, including the onstage response from Google, here.]
We very much understand the concern about rent prices and evictions in San Francisco -- we're sure many Wisdom 2.0 conference attendees share the sentiment. There are many issues facing our culture that we try to address at Wisdom 2.0, and we freely admit that we do not always successfully cover every important topic that is worthy of public discussion. We do invite feedback about the topics we cover, and we also provide many opportunities for conference participants to engage in conversations with each other about topics that matter to them.
In trying to communicate with the protesters after they left the stage, we were met with a great deal of aggression. The protesters chose to enter the conference using fabricated badges instead of reaching out to us to request that this conversation be included in conference programming. Rather than create more anger and division, we invite open dialogue in our community, and wish to support those who will engage with honesty and respect about the matters that are important to them.
That said: as part of Wisdom 2.0’s commitment to holding productive and inclusive conversations, we are currently designing a meetup that will focus on the creation and support of constructive dialogue around pressing social concerns like this one. If you are interested in participating, please email [email protected] to learn more.
In the end, the solutions to problems of this scale will come with collective work from all voices, perspectives, and opinions -- when we commit to speaking and listening, compassionately and authentically, together.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Congressman Tim Ryan on Building a Mindful Movement in America
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Congressman Tim Ryan has served 6 terms in Ohio’s 13th District, and is a staunch advocate for working families. He also serves on the House Appropriations Committee, the House Budget Committee, and is co-chairman of the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus. Ryan focuses on the economy, quality of life, jobs, college affordability, and improving the health and wellbeing of American families and children. Ryan is author of A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit.
Congressman Ryan stepped onto the Main Stage with a question for conference goers -- "What’s a congressman from Youngstown, Ohio doing at Wisdom 2.0?" After a good-natured chuckle resonated from the auditorium and settled back down again, he proceeded with his answer.
He said, “The reason why is that there are 22 vets every day in our country who will take their own life.” He explained that in the time between the previous talk at Wisdom 2.0 and his, statistically speaking, another American vet took his or her own life.
That’s staggering.
He spoke about how that suicide statistic ripples out through the families and alters whole communities.
But this wasn’t only about vets. He spoke about children, and how in many school districts, as much as 20% of kids will never graduate. And about health. At the rate we’re going, half of Americans have diabetes, or will become pre-diabetic. And about burnt-out health care workers, and teachers who struggle classrooms every day.
Congressman Ryan is concerned about humanity, and he believes we need a fundamental change. He explained that what he sees here at Wisdom 2.0 are teachings that could heal the wounds that Americans deal with every day.
The people who could benefit from this wisdom “may never buy yoga pants or shop at Whole Foods,” he said. But it could help create a positive change in every zip code and every congressional district not just in his native Ohio, but across the country.
It can transform communities.
He mentioned one of his first conferences in New York, and how it was as surprising for him to attend then as it might seem now. Two women, sisters, mused about a congressman who practices mindfulness. One sister explained that he’d just written a book on the subject. The other sister replied, “Will he still be a congressman after the book comes out?”
Attendees at the conference erupted in laughter at this anecdote.
He explained a bit about his background. He grew up in a northeast Ohio town where people had an appreciation for quiet time. Even in his Catholic high school, he said, a coach and athletic director would be seen entering the chapel midday, every day, for a quiet respite from the hectic pace.
Until about 2008, Ryan lived the same way. Time for quiet meditation was part of his life. But during the campaign season, he only “flirted with it.” He meditated and found quiet time as he could, but never with any regularity. The results became obvious, and he sometimes wondered whether he would burn out by the time he turned 40.
But on those days when he did meditate, he felt noticeably better, and said he was “a much nicer guy.”
When the election was over, depleted, he attended a retreat hosted by John Kabat-Zinn. This retreat featured “increasing levels of silence every day.” There was no technology; only a working toward meditative silence. Through 5 days, he said, there was a slow decompression, which culminated in a 36-hour period of silence.
Thirty-six minutes of silence is hard to imagine most days; thirty-six hours must have been incredible.
At one point in this retreat, Ryan was walking by a brook when he realized that his body and his mind were in the same place at the same time.
“That lasted about a second and a half,” he mused, and the audience again laughed in commiseration.
But during that second and a half, he realized that he was experiencing “the zone.” He hadn’t been there many times playing sports, but he could recognize it as familiar. This made him wonder why no one had taught him about it before, and it also prompted him to approach John with an idea -- this should be researched and taught in our schools!
That’s when John explained that there was already a movement well underway; he’d just been too busy with life to know it.
Michael Gervais once asked Ryan, “What do you see is possible for you?” And now he believes that is a question we should ask ourselves about America.
“What do you see is possible for us as a country?”
Ryan has worked with vets, visiting and practicing meditation. And the remarkable changes he’s seen come through in how the vets say their lives are changing.
“I’m talking to my ex-wife now for the first time in 20 years.”
“I’m not so angry.”
“I’m talking to my kids.”
“I sleep better.”
The list of results goes on, and it’s all based on the central idea of meditation. It doesn’t have to stop with vets.
“We can begin to shift the way kids learn,” he said. And if we give our kids the skills they need, they can tap into their creativity, be more aware, listen better, and work better in teams.
He mentioned Google, and how if that company teaches it in the workplace, “Why wouldn’t we teach these things in our schools?”
And that is a very good question.
Ryan believes this is how we begin to heal our country. This is how we erase inequality. It’s how we elevate kids from the poverty they were born into.
And although a congressman is carrying this mission, it has nothing to do with party lines. He explained, “We don’t need to go to the left, and we don’t need to go to the right -- we need to go deeper.”
He circled back to how this is not just something to benefit people who buy yoga pants and shop at Whole Foods. This is for steel workers, and firemen, and teachers, and marines, and vets, and children, hotel housekeeping staff, and it’s also for entire communities.
In his words, “Who could stop an agenda supported by all of these groups of people?” When all of these smaller groups come together, a movement begins.
He obtained the initial grant for a program known as A Mindful Nation. Part of this program includes a 5-day training session for teachers, and he visited a test school on day 4. He was nervous about getting feedback.
What he learned was that the teachers involved were not just pleased, they were becoming transformed. One said, “I’ve been waiting 30 years for someone to bring this into the field of education.” Another said, “I am already treating my own children at home differently because of what I’m learning.” Another said he noticed one day that he was actually present, fully present, at his child’s soccer game.
These people were just sitting for 5 to 10 minutes in meditation every morning; nothing more than that.
As a congressman, Tim Ryan believes that now is the time for legislation. Now is the time for all groups to come together for the greater good of the children, and ultimately the neighborhoods.
Near closing, he offered the rapt Wisdom 2.0 audience a 1968 quote from Robert Kennedy:
“Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.
It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.
It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.” - Robert F Kennedy, Address, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968
He left the Wisdom 2.0 Main Stage with these words: This is about taking our politics from a transactional politics to a transformational politics.
If Congressman Tim Ryan has anything to do with it, a transformation could be well on its way.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: How the Seattle Seahawks Won the Super Bowl with Mindfulness
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Dr. Michael Gervais is a sports psychologist and mindfulness coach who helped guide the Seattle Seahawks to a national championship at Super Bowl XLVIII. In a dialogue with conference founder Soren Gordhamer, Michael started by explaining how far professional sports have come in accepting the concept of mindfulness. When he first started working with a professional hockey team fifteen years ago, the coach introduced him to the players by announcing, "All right, if you're f'ed up in the head, you can see this guy."
Fast forward to his first meeting with Seahawks coach Pete Carroll over dinner, when he felt like they were already in sync. Carroll ended the dinner by asking him, "What do you say we build a masterpiece together?" "I was able to lean into it and say, 'Okay, let's see what's here.' And that's how our relationship began."
Soren asked Michael to elaborate on what Carroll meant by a "masterpiece," and Michael used another of Carroll's analogies. "A masterpiece in sports is like having 'one heartbeat.' Bringing all the players and coaches together to have them in sync." Mindfulness, Michael explained, is key to getting there.
"What is possible?"
Then he talked about how he works with athletes in a group, or an individual basis. "We start with 'What is possible?'" He emphasized this question is difficult for many athletes, since they don't want to underreach or overreach. "We have that conversation, then we try to calibrate on, 'Great, so that's what's possible. From there, what are the strategies we can create -- physical, mental, nutritional -- for you to achieve that?'"
Another question he asks is, what is it like to be your best? "Let's articulate what it feels like," he tells athletes, "when you're at your best." They figure out ways of getting to that moment of peak performance, even in difficult situations. "We don't talk about winning, or being in the zone: those are aftereffects. We ask, 'What's getting in the way of you being in an ideal mindset?' And we figure out strategies to work through that."
"Fear is really central to what we do"
Much of Michael's work is helping athletes cope with incredible physical and mental pressure. He pointed out that athletes are frequently afraid of getting physically or emotionally hurt, and talked about the importance of this discomfort and fear. "There's nothing better than an uncomfortable moment," he said, "because in that moment we're incredibly aware of ourselves. Then we can ask, 'What can we do with this?'"
Once fear is part of your experience, Michael explains, there is a predictable "fight or flight" physical response. He emphasizes that we need the tools in order to be able to manage that fear in moments of stress. "We need to get a platform in place that allows fear to be part of it, to be comfortable with it, even to have fun with it, and that allows us to master it. Then we get some tools, like breathing or self-talk. That's how to thrive in situations we're not proficient in. Fear is really central to what we do."
In those moments, he ultimately wants his athletes to have a high level of mindfulness. When that happens, and their technical skills are precise, they can be in a moment that most people would define as intense, and they can dissolve that intensity. "There is no pressure," he says. "It's the moment. And being lost in the moment is so rewarding and so engaging, people become so interested in that moment, that we don't have to challenge them. They become naturally interested. Asking, 'What is it like to be your best?' gets them there."
"Every moment has equal value"
To reinforce the importance of mindfulness, the Seahawks treat every game as if it were a "championship opportunity." Game 1 of the preseason, Michael explains, is typically not a very important game, but they tell players to treat it like a championship opportunity. Game 4 is a championship opportunity, Game 10 is a championship opportunity, and so on, all the way to the Super Bowl, which is also a championship opportunity.
Not only does this help reduce the pressure from "big games," but by learning that each game has equal value, athletes can also learn that each moment has equal value. There's not a defining moment, because every moment defines us.
"Competition is an important word to honor"
When Soren asked what lessons we can learn for the workplace or other non-athletic environments, Michael said the main questions he asks his athletes apply to all of us. Can you create a sense of confidence in any situation? Can you refocus better in this moment than you ever have before?
Michael also talked about working with coaches, and how to manage their frustrations with players. "Do you think the game can be played perfectly? No. Will mistakes happen? Yes. So the issue becomes, how quickly can you recover from mistakes?" He talked about the importance of "failing fast," so coaches can help the team learn and quickly recalibrate.
"Competition is an important word to honor," Michael said. "The modern idea of the word is that we're trying to dominate, but the way we understand it is akin to the origin of the word: to strive together. To strive together with people across the line, and with our own team, to be what we are called to be."
In other words, to live our full potential. It worked for the Seahawks, and it can work for all of us.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Rachel Macy Stafford’s Big Lesson Came in a Small Package
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Certified Special Education Teacher, Rachel Macy Stafford, holds a master’s degree in education and has worked with parents and children for 10 years. In 2010 she created the Hands Free Mama blog to share her journey of letting go of distractions and grasping “what really matters.” Rachel has been featured at The Huffington Post, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, and many other online and print publications. Her first book, Hands Free Mama is available now.
Sometimes, life’s most important lessons, and the teachers who enlighten us, emerge from unlikely situations.
Rachel took the Main Stage Sunday morning to talk about the most important lesson in her life, and the unlikely person who became her teacher.
In the not-too-distant past, Rachel’s life was filled with two words on replay: Hurry up!
No matter how she tried to manage her time, there was never enough. Her life was driven by agendas, and ruled by ring tones, she explained. “I wanted to be on time for everything in my overcommitted schedule. But I wasn’t.”
Rachel worked and struggled to keep up her hectic pace, but in her life there was one little factor that often prompted those two words. You see, hectic, “hurry up” Rachel had been “blessed with a surprising gift -- an inquisitive, laid-back child.”
Rachel’s life with her daughter was one of a lot of conflict. When she needed to be out the door, her easygoing child took her sweet time. When she needed to be somewhere 5 minutes ago, her daughter took the time to buckle her stuffed frog into the safety seat.
Whenever Rachel needed to hurry up, her daughter stopped to smell the roses.
The stress of this sort of daily life got the better of Rachel. She explained that those two words started too many sentences, and ended them too. “Hurry up, we’re going to be late!” and “We could get there on time if you would only hurry up!”
Of course those words had very little effect on hurrying up the child whom Rachel believed was just too slow.
But then a simple, everyday situation allowed her to see herself through new eyes. There was nothing spectacular about that day when she picked up her older daughter at school. But it became a teaching moment, unlike any other.
Rachel explained that her younger daughter was taking her time, as she was inclined to do, when her older daughter burst out with, “You are so slow!”
In that moment, Rachel saw herself, and had a revelation: “I was a bully who pushed and pressured a small child who simply wanted to enjoy life!”
This teaching moment affected Rachel deeply. Not only had she been damaging her blithe, carefree daughter, but her older daughter, as well. And that doesn’t touch on the damage she’d done to herself from those years of hurry, hurry, hurry.
Rachel realized that her child was a “noticer.” She noticed sights, sounds, smells, and people, and was attuned to the world around her in a deep way.
Those things are difficult to see when your world is ruled by “hurry up.”
It was only by making conscious choices to slow herself down that she found the ability to appreciate this little girl for the special, wonder-filled child that she is. By allowing her daughter the gift of freedom to stop and smell the roses, Rachel gained an even greater gift. She learned that “things are sweeter when we aren’t rushing through life.”
And Rachel ought to know. After all, she says, “I was educated by a world’s leading expert.”
Experts come in all shapes and sizes, and some of the smallest have the best lessons to teach, if only we can slow down enough to learn them.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Meng Tan and Shinzen Young on the Science of Enlightenment
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Meng Tan (Google's Jolly Good Fellow) and American meditation teacher Shinzen Young took the stage at Wisdom 2.0 for a conversation on "The Science of Enlightenment."
What is Stream Entry?
Meng began by asking Shinzen to define "stream entry." Shinzen explained that stream entry, also called "enlightenment," is where a person realizes there has never been a thing inside them called a self. It is sometimes called "insight into no-self."
This is not a peak experience, but a paradigm shift. "Once you know a lunar eclipse is the earth's shadow on the moon," he explained by analogy, "you will never believe a monster is eating the moon. You can still see it poetically, but you will no longer believe it ... there's no going back. Stream entry is an insight that latches. From that time on, you know there is no thing called a self."
Though it's typically described as a sudden realization, he said that more often stream entry "gradually grows on a person." Most people, with competent guidance, can attain this state, but it does take a while to integrate it, to grow into it.
He also pointed out that stream entry, as described in Buddhism, maps onto similar experiences in other traditions. St. Teresa of Avila, the 16th century Catholic contemplative, explains in "The Interior Castle" how she went inward through various stages, with the seventh stage closely matching what Buddhists call "stream entry." In all traditions, something fundamental happens with your sense of identity.
Shinzen was careful to explain that the enlightenment we're talking about is "enlightenment with a little e." He separates this from "Enlightenment with a Big E," which he describes as a fantasy where you achieve perfection and nothing can ever bother you again. The good news is, "enlightenment with a little e," or stream entry, is attainable for all of us.
What are the neural correlates of enlightenment?
When Meng asked this question "that could only be answered by a Buddhist geek," Shinzen first defined "neural correlates" as "what happens to the physiology of your brain during enlightenment." His response was that no one knows the answer to this question, but he has three "outrageous, shoot-from-the-hip conjectures":
1) "The neurophysiology of enlightenment has something to do with the nervous system directly tasting its own free energy principle." (See the definition of the free energy principle here, and a fascinating article in "Nature" here.)
2) "There is something in the information processing system that is analogous to a parameter in a system of differential equations. For example, there's a fluidity that comes in one's thought and action as a result of enlightenment. We know that in natural systems, when they're modeled by math equations, there will be parameters that determine the flow of that equation. So it could be a scalar or tensor value parameter that changes, when people get enlightened. Someday perhaps there will be a way to measure that, and possibly boost it with technology."
3) "Enlightenment has something to do with the efficiency of the timing loops in the nervous system." He pointed to research by Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin, and you can read Shinzen's further thoughts on this here.
Meng explained all this in a more user-friendly way: "Buddha compared the enlightened mind to a mirror. Things reflect on the mirror instead of changing the mirror. There is zero stickiness on a mirror." He likened attaining enlightemnent to "increasing the resolution of perception." As that resolution increases, it's like "moving from solid to fluid," and then as it increases even further, it's like "moving from fluid to gaseous."
Can there be a science for enlightenment?
If we can develop a science of enlightenment, Shinzen said, out of this science could come a technology to help people become enlightened. He calls these "techno boosts." Explaining further, he says, "Our current way of bringing people to enlightenment, is to give people a conceptual model, then a practice or technique, then you have experiences that radically improve your life. I'm looking for add-ons to this, things that accelerate the process and make it more reliable." Instead of working hard and going to a monastery, his vision is that you can take a class at a community college, get some techno-boosts, and in one year there is an 80% chance you will be an integrated stream enterer.
However, he warns about the many companies and products claiming to accelerate enlightenment: "Nothing short of democratizing enlightenment will do it." In other words, any technology must be consistent, reliable, and freely available to help people achieve stream entry. "Any techno boost that brings that about would impress me."
Although Shinzen couldn't speculate on what this science/technology would look like, he speculated on who might eventually develop this technology. "If I had to guess," he said, "it would be a team. They would have 3 characteristics: they would be stream enterers, they would be good scientists (maybe neuroscientists), and they would be creative, out-of-the-box thinkers." Developing this technology, he said, could make enlightenment so widespread that it could easily fulfill the prophetic archetype of a sudden enlightenment on earth.
"The democratization of enlightenment," Meng summarized. "Enlightenment of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this Earth."
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Eckhart Tolle Reveals the Best Text Message Ever
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Bestselling author Eckhart Tolle engaged in an on-stage conversation with Google's Karen May, in which she asked him what kind of technology he uses. Karen confessed that when she first met Eckhart, she turned off all her digital devices, because she wouldn't want to offend someone who teaches about "the power of presence." So she was surprised -- and relieved -- when Eckhart pulled out an iPhone to show her pictures of his dog. "It made me realize you're human," she said.
"I do have a smartphone," Eckhart replied, "and a first-generation iPad. I also have an iPad Mini. I get email. I use texting from time to time, which I quite enjoy." Eckhart then shared his favorite text message to send people: "open bracket, followed by several spaces, followed by a close bracket." It looks like this:
[ ]
"When the person sess it," he explains, "they look at it, and they go, 'Ahhhh.' It's a message without content."
It is a text message of awareness. And it's an easy way to send your friends and loved ones a reminder to be in the moment.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Eckhart Tolle Explains Who You Really Are
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Eckhart Tolle, bestselling author of The Power of Now and A New Earth, gave a "meditative lecture" at Wisdom 2.0, leading us on a journey inward that enabled us to experience who we really are.
In step 1, you become more aware of your surroundings. He encouraged us to simply look around, and pay attention to what's around us: the room, other people, ourselves. When we are paying attention to our surroundings, our constant habit of thinking begins to quiet.
Most of our attention is on the endless stream of thoughts, he explained. "And most of it useless!" We are caught in "the grip of compulsive thinking," which is only amplified by our modern digital devices. "Somebody just posted something on Facebook!" he mocked. "It must be important! And of course it's a photo of someone having dinner. And you have to reply, 'Cool!' And this absorbs all our attention."
He likened these digital distractions as just "more stuff in your mind. And you're drowning in mental stuff. One thought after another, one text message after another, one unpleasant thought after another, one complaint after another. And you are missing the present moment. After twenty, thirty, or forty years of living that way, what does it do to our habitual state of consciousness? No wonder we are anxious, agitated, and continuously dissatisfied!"
Bringing us back to Step 1, being aware of our surroundings, he then led us into Step 2, which is acknowledging something you hadn't noticed before. It could be the sky, the trees, or the lights. At this point, we are still focusing on our sense perception -- what we see, hear, or touch -- but we are going more deeply into it, allowing our thoughts to recede further.
As your thinking begins to subside, he told us, alertness remains, an alertness you can feel in your entire body. He encouraged us to try to feel the sense of being alive, a feeling that you can sense in your arms, legs, and feet. A question he often asks is, "Close your eyes and ask yourself, how can I know without opening my eyes that my hands are still there? [By doing this], you're experiencing the aliveness within your hands."
Then he led us to Step 3, which is asking what else is there besides what appears in sense perception? In other words, what is it that appears in the now?
This is a state that you can only know by experiencing it, he says. You cannot "conceptualize" it. But it is an attainable state: "Everybody here can experience the difference between being identified with the voice in your head, and being in a state of alert awareness." It is a state of "standing back from" the chattering mind, the voice in the head. "I never use the word mindfulness, except when I explain why I don't use it," he quipped. "My preference is to call it the word 'presence.'"
There is a thing in you between one thought and another. You become aware of this space. That feels extraordinarily good and powerful. You come to yourself. Not the self that has a story, but something that transcends what arises in your sense perception.
What is it that enables you to be aware of your sense perceptions? To have a thought? To be a mind? There's something there that's not a thing. We would call that your presence, or the space of awareness, or consciousness itself.
The most wonderful thing in meditation is your discovery of yourself, realizing that which makes your sense perception and thought possible is the light of presence in you.
Eckhart stressed the importance of seeing this all-encompassing "presence" as the essence of who we really are, not the "personal history" or life story that our mind has constructed.
What does it feel like to be you? What is the essence of who you are? Can you sense the very presence that is the essence of who you are? This can free you from the sense that your personal history is who you are.
Can you be aware of the fact that you are aware? Can you be conscious of the fact that you are conscious?
You can only be aware of consciousness as yourself, as the object of consciousness. That essence of you is the essence of the present moment. When you go to the essence of the present moment, what do you discover?
You.
The essence of you is inseparable from the essence of the present moment.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: An Intimate Conversation with Alanis Morissette
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Alanis Morissette has a voice for more than music. This award-winning singer and songwriter is known for her significant contributions to causes such as climate change and other environmental issues, human rights, and tolerance. She’s been awarded the Global Tolerance Award from the Friends of the United Nations, and the EMA Missions in Music Award for speaking out about Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling, protecting national parks, and encouraging fans to do the same. Alanis has given her voice to environmental documentaries, and works with Reverb, a nonprofit group that helps performers reduce the carbon footprint effect that traveling creates.
Immediately after her conversation at the Main Stage with Dan Siegel, Alanis Morissette quickly made her way down to Inspiration Village for an intimate Q&A session. Conference goers gathered round in chairs, on benches, and even on floor cushions to ask questions of the songstress, and hear what she had to say.
The mic was passed from one person to another, and Alanis gave her answers on everything from mindfulness as a touring artist to being a hands-on parent. Here is a slice of that session:
Question: Given her schedule, how does she build mindfulness into her life?
Answer: Alanis says she cuts herself some slack in terms of structure. There’s jet lag and other factors to consider. But movement helps.
She explained, “I am a jock, bona fide. The more I sweat, the better my general wellbeing every day.” She says she also gets in the sun, has tea, enjoys a spa, and other things that help bring her back to mindfulness. She also likes to share and receive art of any kind, and separate all of these things into a “life pie.”
In response to a question about what is cathartic and healing, she had this to say:
“Healing is decidedly relational. I thought I could get away with running away, sequestering myself, and it would be done. But no matter how many times I sang, each time I saw one of the people I wrote about, I would freak out. I would take the courage that it took to write the song, and apply it to life.
She believes she was perhaps a coward by writing about the things that caused her pain. An avid attachment parenting practitioner and supporter, she explains that when you apply the attachment parenting theory to adult relationships, there is no way around dealing with other humans.
Question: What was happening in her life when she wrote the 2002 album, Under Rug Swept?
Answer: “I think I was sold a popular bill of goods. That I would be popular, Johnny Depp and I were going to be best friends...” and that there would be camping, and back patting, and many other things that just didn’t happen. And so there was anxiety. She called it Post Fame Stress Disorder. She became “the watched.
She wound up being “very lonely.” Didn’t even laugh for two years.
At this point, a moment of silent contemplation was proposed. But after about 10 seconds, Alanis said, “Can I interrupt the silence?”
Laughter ensued, and she continued with what was clearly a moving, if sad, experience between India and the US:
“In India, when I landed in Calcutta, it was disconcerting because everyone locked eyes and they wouldn’t move.” She thought perhaps she was going to be raped, or chased, but she eventually realized that in India, everyone looks at each other.
When she came back to the US, the spell was broken. Eyes met, and then looked away. And her heart broke.
The moment of silence did happen, eventually.
Question: With the commercialism of the entertainment industry as a business, there are also clearly a lot of entertainers who do seek enlightenment. Is there anything going on that the public doesn’t know about that should give us hope or a reason to be optimistic about the industry?
Answer: Alanis acknowledged a lot of different types of performers and entertainers. She said there are different reasons to seek fame, but that many are traumatized. What’s difficult is when performers rely on an audience to define self worth.
Question: On mindfulness and mothering, this final question asked how she integrates one into the other.
Answer: Alanis is known as an attachment parenting advocate. She explains in her reply that she wants to make herself available to what her child wants and needs, when he wants and needs it. She uses the word, “servant,” but is quick to add that it’s not meant as a debasing label. She means to address each stage of development and help the child grow as well as possible at each stage.
Throughout her question and answer session at Inspiration Village, she was revealed as a real, approachable, human being who just happens to also be an enormously famous entertainer.
Whether she is on the road as a rock star, or being a wife and mom at home, conscious awareness -- the pursuit of mindfulness -- seems to be part of the fabric of Alanis Morissette’s life.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: How Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is Delivering Happiness to Las Vegas
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is on a mission to revitalize downtown Las Vegas, pouring $500 million into moving his company there and completely transforming the city into a hub of high-tech connectedness [read the excellent Wired magazine profile here]. Though Zappos is known for its commitment to "clothing, customer service, culture," Tony explained that company culture is the most important of the three C's -- if they get that right, everything else will follow.
As they searched for a location, Tony found a part of Las Vegas called Fremont East, which was "almost the opposite of Las Vegas that most people knew." Though it was the "most community-focused place I've ever lived," it was also in a state of disrepair and neglect. Taking a gamble, they moved the Zappos headquarters into the old Las Vegas City Hall, pouring $500 million into a massive city renovation project. And along the way, they added a fourth C to Zappos' "Delivering Happiness' philosophy: "clothing, customer service, company culture, and community."
A New Definition of Community
Tony explained they set out to redefine community in three important ways (not surprisingly, with another list of C-words):
Collisions: Tony repeatedly expressed the importance of "collision," or serendipitous meetings. "When people are out and about in the neighborhood, there's an opportunity for someone to collide with someone." They even have a mathematical formula that calculates the number of collisions that each resident brings to Downtown Project.
Co-learning: When people in the community help each other, the whole town benefits. To encourage this, they're building a large number of "co-working" spaces that allow people from different disciplines to connect, teach, and learn. (They even bought the former Gold Spike Casino and turned it into a co-working space.)
Connectedness: Tony measures this by "the number and depth of relationships in the community," and it is clearly a major driver of Downtown Project. For example, the annual Life is Beautiful festival brings music, arts, celebrity chefs, and world-class speakers to the town, which in turn benefits all the local businesses, publicizes the project, and encourages more people to move there. [Watch the video here.]
Redefining community in this way, Tony explains, leads to more happiness, luck, innovation, and productivity. But it's not just theory: they're translating it into numbers. Instead of focusing on the short term Return on Investment, the town has created two new metrics: Return on Collisions (which calculates how many serendipitous collisions each resident brings to the town), and Return on Luck, an idea borrowed from Jim Collins' Great By Choice [read more here].
Tony Hseih's Downtown Project Today
The team set aside $50 million to invest in local businesses, such as restaurants, dog walking services, and a giant mall made out of shipping containers. The team put another $50 million into tech startups, which leads to increasing returns, as entrepreneurs now want to move to downtown Las Vegas to enjoy the sense of community, the talent pool, and the sense of "the city as a startup." They also spent $50 million on education, arts, and culture, such as an early childhood center that teaches kids the values of entrepreneurship, and a partnership with the annual Burning Man festival.
"A great brand," Tony proclaimed, "is a story that never stops unfolding. I think the same is true for a city, and I think the same is true for a community."
The story of Downtown Project is still unfolding as well, and the coolest part is, you can be a part of it. Learn more here.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Alanis Morissette and Dan Siegel Have a Mindful Conversation about Mindful Conversations
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Alanis Morissette, singer, songwriter, and environmental activist; and Dan Seigel, clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, founding co-director of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, and Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute, came together at the Main Stage to have a discussion about conscious communication in the digital age.
The dynamic of this portion of the Wisdom 2.0 2014 conference was casual, with Siegel offering his insights from the perspective of a man with his psychiatry qualifications. Morissette gave her views, not as a celebrity, but as a human living in the world, scarce different from any other human, working toward betterment of self.
Communication Isn't Always Real or Mindful
Siegel asked, about the notion of conscious communication, “What does it mean?” When we think about the word, “conscious,” there is a scientific connotation. Morissette showed a bit of nervousness before answering, and he jokingly asked whether she’d been on stage before.
There was laughter, which underscored the fact that even a celebrity can be nervous onstage.
She explained that when she first came to the US from Canada, she found herself watching, listening, taking in everything. She was used to conversation as a mutual exchange of information. But in the US, conversation was different; it was two monologues, both taking place at the same time.
Siegel replied, “So monologue to monologue is the American way.” He went on to say that instead of bringing two people together, this way of communicating without communicating is actually isolating. There is a differentiation instead of a connection.
Morissette picked up at this point, saying that she thinks communication “comes from a vulnerable place.”
Music as a Cathartic Device
Siegel delved into the topic of her music, explaining his perception that her music had affected many people very deeply. Alanis replied that many -- not just her -- are traumatized, and have similar experiences and fears.
But writing music is not a healing process for her. Neither is performing. They don’t heal the wounds that created the songs. She does think that writing and performing could be a step in the healing process, but they don’t address the one thing that could start the healing -- conversation with the person who inspired a song.
This also explains some of her nervousness onstage today. In this Wisdom 2.0 arena, she is having a conversation -- an exchange of information, not a monologue. This is being onstage in a very different way from singing a song to an audience.
Technology as a Conscious Conversation Tool
With technology, communication is more frequent, but can offer less of a connection. Alanis theorized that digital communication could be perceived as less dangerous. But Siegel followed that by saying, “It’s also more dangerous because of the anonymity” and because it’s easier to express anger, fear, and other emotions.
Technology and digital communication have the ability to keep people together, but it can also help keep them separate with the illusion of connectedness. Siegel says that it’s possible “to live a life far from your own body.”
Mindfulness is the focus of this conference, and Morissette believes that it is important. But she also believes it’s important to be forgiving of yourself if you aren’t mindful all day, every day. “It’s more exciting to be mindful if I am not shaming myself when I’m not.”
Siegel concurred when he said, “Free not to be mindful is ok. Someone can be perfectly mindful and just have a bad day.”
Toward the end, their conversation turned to a different understanding of “self.” Siegel said that there is a wiser way of living where the self is both me, and we. Morissette added, “There’s you, there’s me, and then there’s the third entity that’s the connection.”
Communication is one step in mindfulness and empathy. In closing, Siegel offered, “There could be empathy on such a level that joy is experienced when someone else does well.” But it was Morissette who had the final word when she added, “That could be the end-game to chaos.”
For communication to be mindful, it has to be real communication, not a set of monologues taking place at the same time. Dan Siegel and Alanis Morissette both seem to believe that digital tools can help make that happen.
The key is using technology to foster deeper integration, not to avoid it.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: How Arianna Huffington's Breakdown Helped Her Redefine Success
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of Huffington Post Media Group, started out by saying how happy she was to be back at her "favorite conference." At last year's Wisdom 2.0 conference, she talked about a "critical mass" that was coming. This year, Arianna says, "The critical mass has arrived. It has crystallized. It has exploded. Bottom line, it is here."
As evidence, she explained that 2013 was the year that CEOs "came out," not as being gay, but as being meditators. She pointed to examples like Bridgewater Associates' Ray Dalio and Salesforce.com's Marc Benioff, both of whom credit their success to regular meditation practice. "Thirty-five percent of medium and large sized corporations are bringing in some form of mindfulness or meditation training," she said. "Mindfulness and meditation are no longer vaguely New Agey, vaguely flaky, they're now mainstream. What can we do to accelerate the shift?"
The Four Pillar Model
1) Well being. She pointed to the rise of women in corporate America, but said, "We don't want women to just be on the top of these places, we want to change these places." She said the first women's revolution gave us the vote, the second gave us access to every job, but we're entering a third women's revolution, which will be to actively change this world in which we're participating. "Men," she said, "you're going to be so grateful when that happens."
2) Wisdom. She urged us to bring the wisdom we learn at this conference into our everyday life, and into corporate America. "If we're just operating from our IQ and intelligence, we're missing the best part of our lives."
3) Wonder. She told the story of her mother, who "was really present, really filled with the joy of being part of this mystery of life." With our current obsession with technology, "we are constantly missing the moment." She encouraged us to put the technology down, and allow that wonder to enter back in.
4) Giving. "Not just big acts of giving," she said, "but daily instances of kindness and generosity. Being able to connect with people in a way that's no longer impersonal."
"Practice Death Everyday"
When we integrate the moment into our daily life, it transforms our everyday life. To paraphrase Socrates, "Practice death everyday." Life doesn't make sense unless we remember that we're all going to die.
Arianna told us about attending the funeral of a friend, noting that eulogies never mention what made us successful in worldly terms. "You'd never hear a eulogy like, 'Mary made SVP at 35. She never ate lunch away from her desk. She had amazing PowerPoint skills.'" As the audience laughed, she asked us, "What are we giving our eulogizers to work with?"
Sharing the story of her daughter, who overdosed on cocaine a year and a half ago, she said, "I couldn't have gotten through [that experience] if I didn't view it as her entry point into this journey." She likened it to her own moment of crisis, where she collapsed in exhaustion after two years of trying to launch Huffington Post, cutting her eye on the corner of her desk on the way down to the floor. She had been named to several lists of "Most Successful" people, but as she was lying in her own blood, she realized this was not success. "That was the entry point of my own journey."
"Whatever your entry point is, embrace it," she urged us. "The world will continue making consistent demands of you. The world will yank you by the hand every day, and say 'This is important. And this is important. And you must worry about this.' And you must yank your hand back, and put it on your heart, and say, 'No. This is what's important.'"
"Wisdom 3.0"
Arianna joked that she had almost convinced conference founder Soren Gordhamer to rename the conference "Wisdom 3.0." Returning to her theme of taking this message into the world, she said, "Wisdom 3.0 is about applying everything we now know."
To cheers from the audience, she closed with three words: "Upward, Onward, and Inward!"
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Peter Deng on 3 Ways to Insert Mindfulness Into Your Busy Life
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Peter Deng, Director of Product at Instagram, kicked off his session on "Applied Mindfulness" by explaining that he had a personal "aha moment" when his wife told him, "You don't always need to be doing things. You don't always need to be checking things off a list."
Mindful Planning
Peter explained how easy it is to be mindful when you're on vacation, but not in the stress of everyday life. His solution is mindful planning. Each morning, he does a calendar scan ("like a body scan, but for your calendar," he said to audience laughter), reviewing his upcoming schedule for the day, and asking:
For each appointment: What's the context? What are the goals of this meeting? Is there anything I need to do to prepare?
For the day: Am I missing anything? Should I postpone anything?
He says this practice takes less than ten minutes per day, but allows him to be more present in the moment, because he's not always thinking of what needs to be done for his next meeting.
Intentional Language
Each time we speak, it's an opportunity to be thoughtful. Peter suggests that we regularly identify opportunities to speak thoughtfully, then:
Pause
Ask yourself: What is my intention? What am I trying to accomplish by saying this?
Pick the right words
Speak
Showing there are also small ways to use language thoughtfully, Peter told a funny story about changing the name of a conference room at Facebook from UMADBRO? to "this moment." As he spends much of his day in meetings, this now gives him a reminder to just be "in this moment," because he literally is. When a coworker instant messages that he is waiting for Peter in "this moment," Peter will say, "Great! Just stay there!"
Humans of New York
Asking "How do we practice more compassion every day?", Peter told the story of his friend Brandon Stanton, who left a career as a bond trader to become a photographer on the streets of New York. Brandon shoots photos of interesting people, interviewing them and providing brief, compassionate glimpses into their lives. With over 6,000 photos posted, and a staggering 3 million Facebook likes, Humans of New York has become a kind of "collective compassion" project.
"Compassion is easy with our spouses, or friends," Peter explained. "But how about that guy on the street? When I'm out in the world, I try to view everyone around me with the same compassion as Humans of New York."
Mindful planning, mindful speaking, mindful interactions with others: three techniques we can all use to bring mindfulness into our daily life, no matter how busy we are.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Google Handles Protesters with Mindfulness and Compassion
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Google's Corporate Mindfulness program, titled "Search Inside Yourself," is a course in focusing the attention and creating useful mental habits. It was started by Meng Tan (Google employee #107), and has since trained over 1,000 Google employees, with a waitlist, a bestselling book, and articles in Forbes and Wired.
Meng, along with Karen May (VP of People Development at Google) and Bill Duane (Sr. Manager, Well Being and Sustainable High Performance Development Programs) came to the stage for their session on "3 Steps to Build Corporate Mindfulness the Google Way." They had not been on stage more than a few moments when uninvited protesters took the stage with a megaphone, unrolling a large banner and blocking view of the speakers.
At first, the audience was confused (was this some kind of new Google performance art?), but it soon became clear that this was an unplanned interruption, as the video screens went black, and conference organizers led the protesters off stage.
Karen, complimenting Bill publicly for his leadership in that moment, explained the importance of maintaining "a posture of respect" within organizations, embracing the diverse opinions and points of view of others, while also being comfortable with the complexity that such diversity brings. She pointed to the moment we had just witnessed as an example that spoke more loudly than anything she could say.
Meng spoke on the theme of combining wisdom with skillfulness: "skillfulness in the beginning, skillfulness in the middle, and skillfulness in the end." He explained further that skillfulness "in the beginning" means that you must start with your own practice, so you are calm, kind and compassionate. Skillfulness "in the middle" is extending these benefits from the self to others: figuring out how to address the needs of individuals and teams within an organization. By skillfulness "in the end," he looks to complete transformation of the organization. "The Holy Grail is, everybody in the organization is wise and compassionate, creating support for broadening and deepening the practice." He noted with a smile, "We're still figuring this out at Google."
Karen closed with a story about her executive team at Google, who had Bill and Meng come in to coach the team on how to begin their meetings more mindfully. The team adopted a two-minute silent meditation before each meeting, quickly noticing the benefits on both their meetings and their state of mind. After a few months, the senior executive asked if they wanted to continue the meditation, and even the employee who was initially most skeptical said, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm a better person for those two minutes. So I'm all for it."
The team now experiments with different forms of meditation for those two minutes: T'ai chi, gratefulness exercises, and simple silence. But rather than requiring the rest of the organization to follow suit, Bill and Meng created 15 two-minute videos, which they have made available to all Google employees to start their meetings: another example of extending the benefits of mindfulness from the self to others.
In summary, the group from Google demonstrated (not just talked) about how important it is to develop your own practice, then bring that sense of wisdom and compassion out into the world.
"If you are planning a protest," conference founder Soren Gordhamer joked afterward, "we'd appreciate it if you'd let us know beforehand, so we can plan for it."
A NOTE FROM WISDOM 2.0: The video of this session and the protest is currently unavailable on the Wisdom 2.0 website only because the onsite livestream technician, acting on years of professional instinct, cut the feed when he saw that something unplanned was happening. We have no intention of keeping the video from public view; we're just working on pulling the footage from the livestream feed and getting it up into our archives. It will be available soon!
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Roshi Joan Halifax on the Benefits of Taking an e-Fast
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and author, Roshi Joan Halifax is founder, Abbot, and head teacher at Upaya Zen Center in New Mexico. She has studied with Zen teacher Seung Sahn, and taught in the Kwan Um Zen School. Founding teacher of the Sen Peacemaker Order, Nhat Hang, she has worked and practiced on engaged Buddhism for more than 30 years and has frequent dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Stopping in the Digital World
Roshi Joan Halifax started off her Saturday morning session in Breakout Room #2 with a warm and welcome invitation for anyone to come closer and sit nearby. She explained that it gave her pleasure to explore Temporal Intelligence.
And then she posed the question, “What does that mean?”
Being Present in the Moment
Instead of explaining what she believes, she asked the audience what their perceptions of Temporal Intelligence were. Some of the replies she received, and then expanded on, were:
Context sensitivity
Intuitiveness
Responsiveness
Discernment of the preciousness of time
She wonders what is happening with these “brain prostheses” which are technology. With technology reliance, what is going to happen in relation to the body? It’s such a radical shift, and “we don’t yet know what the neural effects are going to be on the body.” She explained that “we are facing a very interesting mystery.”
Throughout the presentation, she reminded the audience that she, herself, loves technology. But there is a need to unplug. To pause, and reflect, and to become much deeper people.
She proposed the idea of an e-fast wherein technology is set down for a period of time. She manages this freedom from technology on her journeys to the Himalayas.
With an e-fast, she believes we can slow down and work toward a goal of Immersive Attention.
Rohsi Joan Halifax finished her presentation with a slideshow of images taken on her Himalayan journeys. She explained that they're “not romantic, and not beautiful -- it just is.”
They were beautiful, however, because they were brilliantly real images of a people who were unplugged. They were living in their moment, fully participating in their own lives, surroundings, and the lives of those around them.
Finally, she left the group with a sentiment, almost a wish -- Do not squander your life.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Jon Kabat-Zinn on Why This is the Best Moment of Your Life
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Scientist, writer, and meditation teacher, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., teaches mindfulness to society and within the field of medicine. He is professor of Medicine Emeritus, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and founding executive director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society.
He is the author of numerous scientific papers and books, including the bestsellers Wherever You Go, There You Are: Meditation in Everyday Life and Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness.
Jon encouraged us to question the sense of "I," to look deeply into who the "I" really is. "Maybe there's a whole universe in there," he said. "Start to inquire." When we say "I am breathing," Jon encourages us to ask, "Who's the I?" "If it were up to you to keep breathing," he points out, "you would have died long ago." As the audience laughed, he went on, "The powers that be don't let you anywhere near your brain stem!"
"Who you think you are and who you are, are infenstimally close and yet enormously far away from each other," explaining this is the cause of much suffering.
Jon also discussed the common desire of "needing to get somewhere" in meditation. If this is your attitude, he emphasized, "you're already dead." While there is development in mindfulness and meditation, there is no "arrival," because we're already there. "This is difficult for us to understand. You're already here, you're already whole, there's nothing to attain. What you are looking for is who's looking."
Finally, Jon discussed a powerful motivation for living our lives with mindfulness. "Mindfulness is not for your brain, or for aging gracefully. The motivation for doing this is to not miss your life." To cheers from the audience, he went on: "When push comes to shove, you only have this moment. Look into your spouse's eyes, or your children's eyes. This is the best moment of your life."
"This conference is a perfect place," he summarized, "a perfect laboratory, for living in that spirit of mindfulness, moment by moment."
If your mind is not clouded by unnecessary things
this is the best season of your life.
- Zen master Wumen Huikai
Wisdom 2.0 2014: The President of Rwanda Has a Vision
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, has led a powerfully inspirational life. Known for peace and reconciliation, leadership, human rights, women’s empowerment, and education, he speaks to audiences around the world. He has lived as a refugee in Uganda, worked toward freedom and independence, led struggles against a genocidal government, and continually promotes peace and reconciliation.
President Kagame was appointed Vice President and Minister of Defense in the Government of National Unity in 1994, and was elected Chairman of the RPF in 1998. In 2000, he became President of Rwanda by election of the Transitional National Assembly. In 2003, President Kagame won the first democratic election held in Rwanda, and was re-elected in 2010.
Soren highlighted two remarkable accomplishments of his government. The first was to mandate that women make up at least 30% of government seats: no small feat, considering that women made up just 8% of Parliament in 1990. Today, women hold an astonishing 64% of Rwanda's Parliament, the highest percentage of any country in the world. Given the history of women's rights in Rwanda, the Guardian has called this turnaround "a revolution in rights for women."
The second achievement is the mandatory nationwide community service day, held on the last Saturday of each month. Started 10 years ago, the day is intended to foster a sense of community in rebuilding Rwanda. Kagame explained, "The whole idea was bring people who are not together ... to bring them together as a community." He outlined the many benefits of Rwandans working together: "Schools are built, roads are repaired. We're trying to raise this sense that, there are things we can do that enhance our communities. The spirit of working together, the pride of who we are."
Kagame's primary focus has been investing in the people of Rwanda: building education, skills, and technology. "We must embrace that we can do many things," he emphasized, underscoring his theme of personal empowerment. "It is possible for us to do so many things to get ourselves out of poverty, out of conflict, out of disease. Having said that, we can't do it all ourselves. So there is a need for strong partnerships, including with the United States."
He hopes the example of Rwanda will be an inspiration for other African nations. "Seeing how things worked for us, maybe other African nations can make it work for them."
Soren asked if these programs have helped build a sense of compassion in Rwanda, which perhaps helped the country heal from the genocide. "Absolutely," Kagame responded. "When people want to make a difference for themselves, show that they can leave this behind, they can work through it ... then people can come out more energized, more thoughtful, more mindful about what they want to do, and who they want to be."
Kagame's session underscored the strength of Rwandans, as well as the human community. It was an honor to have him join us at Wisdom 2.0.
Wisdom 2.0 2014: Vivienne Harr's Totally Sweet Business
Wisdom 2.0 2014 was liveblogged by our friends at MediaShower.
Vivienne Harr’s accomplishments would be impressive for any adult; but she’s only ten years old. Vivienne was startled to learn that that children her age were being bought and sold in other parts of the world. Determined that “Compassion is not compassion without action,” she did the only thing she knew how -- she sold lemonade. Her initial goal was to raise $100,000 through local lemonade sales, which she accomplished within a year.
News of her initiative spread throughout the media -- including articles in Huffington Post and the New York Times -- and soon her story was carried around the world. With her dad's help, she founded her company, Make a Stand, one of the first Certified B Corporations in America. Vivienne has been honored with the George H.W. Bush Point of Light Award, and was named one of America’s 50 most influential philanthropists of 2012.
Soren explained that one of Vivienne's first major public appearances was on last year's Wisdom 2.0 stage, introducing her lemonade business and her goal to put an end to child slavery. This led to customers contacting her via Twitter, asking how they could buy her lemonade. She started by charging a set price for her organic, Fair Trade lemonade, but quickly decided to ask people to "pay what's in your heart."
"Some people paid a dollar, some paid a hundred dollars," said Vivienne.
Her business grew so rapidly that she was asked to ring the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange in 2013. Twitter was launching its IPO and they reached out to several personalities who had made interesting use of Twitter, including "Star Trek" actor Patrick Stewart, who rang the bell alongside Vivienne.
She recounted chilling global statistics, with 18 million kids and 9 million adults in slavery. When asked why this issue touched her so deeply, she said, "I have a little brother. I thought of him and me, and it made me really want to help."
"You need to help, not just donate," Vivienne told us. "Commit some time. Go help and you'll be very glad you did. It doesn't matter if you're just one person. Because one person's enough."
When Soren asked what got her excited, she responded, "I'm excited for child slavery to end. I think that people like you and like me can do that."
To date, Vivienne's business has sold $1,000,000 worth of lemonade. Here's to Vivienne and her totally sweet business idea.
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