Global Love Day, held annually each May 1st since 2004, is the universal recognition of our innate oneness through love. It is our vision to unite one and all in a celebration of love and compassion. We honor each May 1st as a symbolic day of unconditional love and call upon all people and all nations to gather together in the wisdom of peace and love. Join people around the world in celebrating and expanding LOVE.
The tenets of Global Love Day best summarize our vision:
We are one humanity on this planet.
All life is interconnected and interdependent.
All share in the Universal bond of love.
Love begins with self-acceptance and forgiveness.
With respect and compassion we embrace diversity.
Together we make a difference through love.
When we come from this limitless love, we naturally and easily embrace ourselves and our fellow humanity. Opening our heart, we allow unconditional love to be our guide and compassion to be our gift to life.
We invite you to celebrate with us by consciously focusing on love and what it means to you throughout this day. We hope that by practicing love in all areas of your life, you will find it easy to love unconditionally all year long. Our main theme explains it best…”Love Begins With Me”
Recap of the day and a gathering of hearts in the vision for #GlobalUnityNow
MindfulmediaMom Karen Palmer host of GlobalkindnessTV will interview the founder and hear the back story of how #LoveGlassesRevolution is spreading love and hope all over the world.
Join us as we learn and Stop and imagine for a moment, if we had global peace and abundant resources EVERYWHERE on this planet. Come find out how you can lend your energy to support this project…
Globally Good Show with host @MindfulMediaMom features guests and stories to focus on the good in our world. In this episode we talk about how to experience synchronized breathing and messages of hope and unity from Emily Harrison founder of The Akashic Academy.
Poetry Slam for Peace
Rev. Susana Bastarrica will be delivering a Prayer for Peace at 6pm. She is an evolutionary interactivist and the Founder/Organizer of The Vigil for Peace and Ecology. The Vigil was born from the ashes the 9/11 tragedy and inspired by The United Nations Resolutions 36/67 and 55/282 declaring an International Day of Peace and to have the entire World observe a full day of “global ceasefire and nonviolence. Rev. Bastarrica, has been instrumental in expanding the vision of the Central Park Bandshell Vigil for 15 years through cultural interaction and education to raise for Global Peace awareness. Ordained Interfaith Minister of the New Seminary. International multilingual consultant in English, Spanish, French, Rumanian and Italian. She is a teacher and lecturer in the USA, Australia, South America and Europe. Certified Feng Shui Practitioner by the Metropolitan Institute of Interior Design. Founding President of the “United Nations Staff Recreation Council” (UNSRC). SaluS Well-Being Network-and UNSRC-Former President of UNSRC Society of Enlightenment Transformation, Friendship Club, Former UNSRC Assistant Treasurer. Certified Bach Flower Remedy Counselor, Member of the “Flower Essences Society”. Crystal Healing Certification with Katrina Raphaell, Former bilingual volunteer and teacher at HealingWorks, NYC, Wellness center. Aromatherapy teacher and volunteer counselor for the American Red Cross, and the September 11 Recovery Program.
Celebrating the completion of 21 days of Peace with founder of Path to Ananadam on GlobalkindnessTV with host Karen Palmer.
Peace Summit everyone is invited to share an evening of peaceful connecting. If you would like to enjoy more peace in your heart, home, and community please join us and invite friends and family.
All are invited who would like to experience more peace in their heart, home, and community.
We are so honored to have been invited to co-produce PEACE IN THE PARK, a free event put on by the Brahma Kumaris in the Music Concourse (bandshell) on 9/23 from 11-6. The event is tied in with U.N. International Day of Peace (which is 9/21, with many events on the same Saturday as ours), and will also participate in the Earthdance Prayer for Peace. I am running the Talk Tent, am curating the speakers, and will emcee throughout the day, and – if I can save myself a time slot – will READ A PASSAGE from my upcoming book The Secret Power of LOVE! And if that weren’t enough, my NEW band S.O.U.L. Twin Messiah will be HEADLINING this event for our DEBUT gig!! We will be playing all new, original songs for YOU! Plus, we will lead a singalong to finish the day, and it will almost-for-sure be Imagine by John Lennon. Our timeslot is 5:30pm in the Bandshell. Wow! What a debut!!
I really hope that YOU can make it to this very special event,
Join others for 15 glorious minutes of Laughter Yoga on the phone as we celebrate 11 Days of Global Unity!
No previous experience, no special clothes or equipment required. CALL: +1-218-339-2460 CODE: 52844# (LAUGH#) We’ll start with SMILE-UPsSM and get the giggles with silly, playful LAUGHTER exercises that help unite us as we decrease stress, anxiety and depression, increase joy, connection, creativity, energy, focus and productivity. Connect to others through LAUGHTER! Different times each day so check the calendar carefully. Times given for Central Standard Time. More information about Sarah and her work on www.SeriousGiggles.com Come together to LAUGH for joy! “Laughter is the shortest distance between 2 people.” – Victor Borge
‘GRANDMOTHERS ON THE MOVE’ Podcast Episodes
Click HERE!
NO START TIME and NO END TIME – LISTEN to past and current podcasts!
Grandmothers To Grandmothers Campaign
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign exists to support the indomitable African grandmothers who are caring for the millions of children who have been orphaned by AIDS. Members of the Grandmothers Campaign share three goals. They work to:
- Raise funds to meet the needs of African grandmothers and the children in their care;
- Listen to African grandmothers, respect their expertise and amplify their voices, in order to promote authentic and substantive responses to the epidemic in Africa;
- Build solidarity among African and Canadian grandmothers in order to motivate and sustain the vital work of turning the tide of AIDS in Africa.
Canadian grandmothers groups are tremendously active in their communities. They put on concerts, organize card tournaments, and sell jewellery. They visit countless schools and community organizations. They bake, cook, sew, knit, paint, write, organize cycle tours, walks, and even ride motorcycles – all to raise funds and awareness for grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
To learn more about how you can get involved in the Campaign, write to Ilana here.
Articles About The Campaign
What started as a conversation around a kitchen table has grown to become a movement to empower women, especially grandmothers, in Africa.
The Grandmothers Campaign, an initiative of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, is known as Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers in Regina, which was among the very first places in Canada where women took on projects to support families in Africa.
‘We know the power of women’s organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.’– Ilana Landsberg-Lewis
As Ilana Landsberg-Lewis explains, the movement arose in response to the human crisis, observed by her father Stephen Lewis during his time as a special envoy for the United Nations, afflicting the African continent during the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Millions of children were orphaned by the deaths of their parents. Their grandmothers were left to raise them, with little or no support.
“Grandmothers were just in an agony of loss,” Landsberg-Lewis said. “Death was everywhere. They were left with no income and often isolated by the terrible stigma surrounding HIV-AIDS.”
Landsberg-Lewis recalled how requests seeking aid referred to the grandmothers as “caregivers” and when she asked why, she learned there was a strong bias in play.
“Nobody wants to fund them because they’re older women and nobody sees them as a meaningful investment,” she learned.
“We decided if Canadian grandmothers knew what was happening on the [African] continent then it would surely resonate with them and boy did it ever,” Landsberg-Lewis said.
“I wish I could say that I was prescient but it would be overstating it,” she said, talking about how the success of the organization, which quickly grew from a handful of activists brain-storming at a kitchen table (her own) to over 250 chapters across the country.
Since 2006 they have raised about $25 million.
“It was really extraordinary but I can’t say that I’m surprised,” she said. “Older women in our communities, we know the power of women organizing in Canada and older women have an extraordinary amount of vigour and energy.”
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The Campaign currently boasts more than 240 grandmothers groups across the country. Many of the groups have organized into regional and national networks in order to support each other’s efforts in solidarity with African grandmothers and the children in their care.
Resources from the Grandmothers Campaign go to grassroots organizations that support African grandmothers with food, health care, school fees and school uniforms for their grandchildren, income-generating programmes, counselling, social support, essential shelter, and other necessities. Throughout Africa, grassroots organizations run by and for grandmothers are sharing insights, deepening their expertise, collaborating with other local organizations, and building their capacity to turn the tide of AIDS at community level.
The Convergence
Archives Available on VoiceAmerica Empowerment Channel
In a world inevitably going global and multicultural, what becomes of religions and spirituality? What becomes of activism towards real global change? In THE CONVERGENCE, global Interspiritual pioneer and scientist Dr. Kurt Johnson joins interfaith leaders Ben Bowler of Australia and Doug King of America in engaging women and men who are inspiring leaders and change agents around our world. Spiritual and cultural leaders, sacred and secular activists, scientists, artists, writers, economists, politicians and even shamans join in this discussion of a world trying to wake up and grow up. What is at stake and what are the technologies and cosmologies creating a world that can work for everyone? If you are concerned for our world’s future and sincere about your commitments to bold and world-serving ideas, you’ll want to tune in to The Convergence on the VoiceAmerica Empowerment Channel.
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Episode Description
VoiceAmerica presents this Evergreen Special detailing major 2019 and 2020 global events upcoming from UNITY EARTH partners Standing for Peace Campaign, Road to 2020 Events, and Caravan of Unity across America. The five sections of the Special spotlight, now and for months to come: United Nations mandated global holiday events like the International Day of Yoga and the International Day of Peace, the vision and work of Light on Light Magazine and VoiceAmerica in covering all these events, UNITY EARTH and its partners month to month activities and initiatives 2019-2020, and the roles of partner groups like Transformation365, We, the World, URI, UNIFY, EcoPeace and The Evolutionary Leaders. Featured are global leaders from the UN, UNITY EARTH, Light on Light Magazine, Transformation365, We, and The Evolutionary Leaders. Lets share this Special, ongoing, as a resource and PR instrument pointing toward all of these global events and gathering a global constituency for their success!
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Socially Conscious Leadership from the Inside Out
Our guest this week has come to believe that “No matter how wonderful a program is, if it is done as a bestowing – a certain group of people making decisions for another group – that is never going to bridge the divide in our city.” Does your work fit within this paradigm of “bestowing,” and how do you plant seeds for a deeper mindset or consciousness shift to address underlying structural issues? Share Your Reflection »
Dallas-based therapist, activist, writer, community leader and speaker Michelle Kinder examines and teaches conscious leadership “from the inside out.” She offers practical, achievable steps for parents, teachers and others to support children’s social-emotional health, and for business and other leaders to drive transformation in their lives and organizations. While exploring the lack of mental health resources in southern Dallas, Kinder got to know the work of the Momentous Institute, a 99-year-old Dallas-based nonprofit organization that has been building and repairing social-emotional health through education and mental health programs. Momentous Institute serves vulnerable children through therapy services, curriculum and teacher training focused on See full.
Five Questions for Michelle
What Makes You Come Alive?
Thank you for asking. Learning makes me come alive. Learning combined with contribution has long been a winning formula for me feeling most alive. Over the years I developed the habit of checking in with myself every six months or so with the questions “Am I learning? Am I contributing?” There have been interesting seasons on how the two balance each other. There are times that striving to contribute crowded out the kind of white space by brain needs for deep learning and I have had to course correct. And there have been other times that I was learning a lot, but didn’t feel like I was being a good steward in terms of making a difference for other people or for causes I care about. I should also say that because I am currently in a season of more white space and more time for discernment, increasingly, simple pleasures are what make me come alive. Listening to birds, watching our dogs, yoga, running, sunshine, good coffee and the sound of my girls laughing together. Things like that.
Pivotal turning point in your life?
When I was in High School I left my family in Guatemala and came to the states to attend boarding school. It was a transformational experience. The wonderful faculty there saw qualities in me that they nurtured into leadership and I really learned who I was and what I was capable of during those four years. Interestingly, in my previous school, there were teachers who experienced the exact same qualities as problematic, annoying or something to control. Having that experience has made me very interested in how adults show up in the lives of children in a way that respects the enormous privilege and responsibility. I always say there are no neutral interactions when it comes to our relationships with children – all interactions are either positive, negative or missed opportunities.
An Act of Kindness You’ll Never Forget?
When I was in college, my 24-year-old sister died suddenly and it was an enormous challenge to go back to school while navigating the grief process. Several weeks into it, when people had stopped checking in, I found a card tucked into one of my books. It was from a classmate I knew somewhat, but not super well. It said something like, “I know time has passed but your hurt hasn’t.” I still tear up thinking about that act of kindness. It meant so much and it has shaped my desire to show up for others in similar ways.
One Thing On Your Bucket List?
Have the kind of flexibility to visit different places for a month at a time and work remotely while folding into the local scene.
One-line Message for the World?
Regardless of the situation, if you ever aren’t sure how to be most helpful, regulate your own nervous system.
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Awakin Circles: A hub for local meditation circles that started in the Silicon Valley and have now spread to 80+ cities around the globe. The circle start with an hour of silence, followed by a circle of sharing and dinner in silence. A newsletter with a passage selected from various wisdom traditions and an audio reading is sent out to 87,000 subscribers each week. See also Awakin Calls that hosts weekly conversations with wide-ranging thought leaders.
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ServiceSpace is an organization run entirely by volunteers. We leverage technology to encourage everyday people around the world to do small acts of service. Our aim is to ignite the fundamental generosity in ourselves and others, creating both inner and outer transformation.
ServiceSpace was conceived by volunteers, was built by volunteers, and is run by volunteers — all for the benefit of volunteers. Our projects range from a daily positive news service, to an acts-of-kindness portal, to a gift-economy restaurant. Regardless of the endeavor, we act in concert to create service opportunities for each other and to support each other’s service journeys.
In September of 2011, we formally changed our name from CharityFocus to ServiceSpace. Founded in 1999, ServiceSpace was originally started to help non-profits with technical services. Over the past dozen years, the organization has become an umbrella for many generosity-driven projects. Thus we have expanded our services from focusing just on helping charities, to encouraging everyday people to contribute in meaningful ways to the world around them. As the name suggests, our new expanded ServiceSpace platform allows people to stay connected with others interested in service, participate in service opportunities through any of our dozen projects, organize their own local service event using our tools, and stay connected to inspirational content. Above all, we believe in the inherent generosity of others and aim to ignite that spirit of service. Through our small, collective acts, we hope to transform ourselves and the world.
We hold these three principles steadfast within our organization:
Stay fully volunteer-run.
ServiceSpace was founded by volunteers and is run by volunteers. There is no paid staff, no office, and no central facilities. All ServiceSpace programs are conceived, designed, implemented, and administered by people who selflessly give their time so that others can benefit from those services.
Based on twelve years of our experience with a volunteer-run infrastructure, we’ve developed a streamlined process that structures projects in a distributed and decentralized manner. This allows more volunteers to give small chunks of time and still deliver high quality services to the end-receiver.
Being volunteer-run also allows us to organically self-organize. Instead of hierarchies and prefabricated business plans, our volunteer infrastructure is dynamic, low-cost and open to radical change. Everything is based on relationships and presence, and that creates a powerful context to BE the change.
We continue to be amazed at what inspired and dedicated individuals can do. Margaret Mead eloquently said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does.” We could not agree more.
Serve with whatever we have.
We have chosen a slightly different path than most organizations, and choose not to focus on fundraising, grants, or other sources of revenue – for example, none of our websites contain any advertisement. All services are distributed are gifted without any fees. Thus, we serve with whatever support and resources that come in organically when people are truly moved to give.
ServiceSpace projects are built within a gift-economy system, an economic system in which goods and services are given freely, rather than traded. In a traditional market economy, one’s wealth is increased by saving. In a gift economy, giving leads to increase: an increase in connections and relationship strength.
Our services are given freely, without asking for anything in return. Instead of scarcity and fear for an uncertain future, our second principle roots us in abundance and trust. We have realized that over time, if you serve with pure intentions, people’s cups of gratitude overflow. They don’t give to fulfill a need, they give as an expression of their own solidarity and joy. These genuine gifts, no matter how small or large, are what sustains us.
Focus on the small.
Our attempt is to do “small acts with great love”. As our tagline says, “Change Yourself, Change the World.” If we started out by having a goal to change the world, we might have been a little disappointed in our abilities; when we start with ourselves, we notice that the ripples around us continue to get bigger and bigger and as more people try to do small acts, we have every potential to change the world.
Just as every tiny bit of a hologram contains information of the whole, we feel that paying attention to the process, to the present moment, gives us plenty of information to become instruments of a larger, systemic change.
This is how ServiceSpace makes things happen. But essentially the engine that drives the organization is inspiration, pure and simple. We learn from each other, spur each other, help each other, and frequently amaze each other. Sure, we are stirred by the words and lives of great men and women like Gandhi and Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa; but the examples set by our ServiceSpace colleagues–everyday heroes–are the real sustaining forces behind our projects.
THINK KINDNESS, WE CHARITY, COUNT ME IN CHAMPION KINDNESS WORLD WIDE
There’s a growing crisis among young people today. One-in-five students report being bullied, cyberbullying is on the rise, and teen suicide is at a record high. As these problems continue to worsen, many adults may be left scratching their heads. How do we stop this crisis and help our youth?
There are a lot of possible answers, but there’s one that I’d like to pose today that I think is too often overlooked: kindness.
Yes, the simple act of kindness – not just witnessing it, but participating in it – has the ability to change people’s lives for the better. To make our world safer and happier for our children, we need to be teaching them how to be kind at home, at school, and in their communities.
This may seem overly simple, but science backs it up. According to research from places like Harvard and UC Berkeley, among others, acts of kindness release chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin and oxytocin, which reduce depression and anger and boost overall happiness.
Being kind isn’t something we should just mention to our kids in passing – it should be an integral part of their daily activities.
As the founder of Think Kindness, I am blessed to have an incredible job. I go into schools all across the country and help kids tap into their inner kindness potential. In my ten years here, I’ve seen some amazing results. For instance, after my very first speech, a student who struggled with suicidal thoughts wrote me to tell me how getting involved in helping others radically changed his life for the better.
Luckily, Think Kindness isn’t the only organization that makes kindness its mission.
There’s a group called Count Me In, founded and led by youth, which helps to connect young people with volunteer opportunities in their communities and around the world. To date, the organization has inspired over 100 million volunteer hours. In addition, Count Me In has an annual leadership summit which serves as a bootcamp training kids how to be volunteers and do good in the world. I am also blessed to sit on the advisory board for such a powerful and meaningful organization.
Similarly, there’s an organization in Canada called the WE Charity which does incredible work to connect kids to acts of kindness. For instance, WE offers volunteer trips to impoverished communities around the world, giving young people a powerful chance to make a real difference for people in need.
They also host what they call We Days, which draw hundreds of thousands of children into stadiums across the world to hear nspirational messages about doing good around the world.
Organizations like these and others are essential to turning the tide of anger, depression, and sadness among our youth today.
But they need backup, because according to one study, youth volunteering has gone down over the last fifteen years. All of us – parents, teachers, community leaders – need to promote kindness to young people.
We can do it in two ways: first and foremost, by showing kindness ourselves; second, by connecting our kids to groups which can give them the tools they need to be conduits of kindness everywhere they go.
Let’s get to it – it just might change the world.
With Kindness,
Brian Williams
President & Founder, Think Kindness
#BeKindTogether
ECOLISE
The European Network for Community-led Initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainability, is the initiator and main organiser of the European Day of Sustainable Communities. We have 46 member networks and organisations across Europe
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A celebration of local communities taking action for a zero-carbon, regenerative and inclusive Europe.
This is an ECOLISE flagship event. #EDSC19 #SustainableCommunity
Become a co-creator of the day! For details see https://www.sustainable-communities.net/
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ShaRon Rea
The Whole Family Coaching
480-420-9551
ShaRon@TheWholeFamilyCoaching.
The 8th Annual Children’s Global Wave Of Love
June 21 at 1:11 pm in your heart and time zone.
We collectively come together to cultivate and
send forth our mission
“Children Across the Planet in Love, Care, and Respect.”
Since everyday is children’s day, we create a year-long, free, activity platform for children, families, communities, schools, organizations and YOU to empower
heart space and help transform the world!
Our Mission Statement: Our mission is to provide complete and total support to all children with an entire month of activities that enhance all aspects of a child’s life.