Peace and the City: January 10, 2013

Urban living can be little intense at times and there’s no place quite like New York City – from the street hustle and bustle to the demands of work, social life, and family. This city never sleeps: sirens blaring, cars honking, construction banging, traffic jamming, billboards flashing, hoards of people shouting, smoking, walking with their heads down texting (all at the same time) whileyou’re just trying to keep it all together. How on earth is one to find inner peace in all this activity?

This meetup will focus on how to be at peace with it all and how to recognize opportunities to create peace. Beyond the obvious demands of city life, how do you avoid drama and create harmony around yourself? How do you cultivate love towards the people around you even when they frustrate you? How do you establish an environment that’s conducive to you being the best that you can be?

By finding inner peace we can be agents for peace in the world at large. We hope you’ll join us for an exploration of practical peace.

To register, please click here.

True Religion

Religion promises to give us a relationship with the divine. Yet all too often this relationship is underscored by the shadow of separation. By virtue of one’s definition of the divine, one loses their relationship with the divinity that is inherent in life itself – that of each human being.

Every religion finds love at it’s heart. Love knows no labels. It has no brand. Love is that force which brings us together, allowing us to accept each other and find compassion for every situation.

With love we can begin to realize that every human being is part of our family. We are all mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters. We are all connected through our humanity.

You don’t need to be a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, or a Hindu to appreciate the value of love. You are human. It is inside you. You have the love of humanity in your heart.

What is Conscious Commerce?

Everyday we create the world we live in through our consumption. We may not realize it, but our daily purchasing decisions are some of the most important choices we make and have far reaching global impact. Commerce is the lifeblood of humanity. Since the dawn of civilization people have bartered with and bought goods from one another. Cultivating consciousness around consumption means developing awareness around our true impact on other people and this planet. By making an effort to be more conscious about how products are produced, sold and consumed, we can have far more enjoyable experiences and make the world a better place.

The things we consume have a life cycle that spans the global supply chain – from cotton plantations in the United States to electronics factories in China to banana farms in South America. Our consumption habits have significant downstream impact. It can be hard to see when we’re buying a t-shirt or a piece of jewelry, but the things we purchase either support a positive relationship with people and our planet or a negative one.

Consider the life cycle of food as it makes its way to the table. How was the food cultivated? Was it raised in a sustainable manner by farmers that really cared about you and the planet? How was it picked, processed and distributed? How were workers treated in the process? Finally, how was it prepared just before it came to your plate?

It’s a little easier to track the path of food from farm to table because food is so heavily regulated. With a little bit of effort we can choose to buy organic. But it’s harder to see the bigger picture. The fact is, a similar line of questioning can be applied to every product we purchase, from furniture to footwear.

The amount of effort it would take to track the entire supply chain is mind boggling and well beyond what even the most well-meaning person would ever want to do. It’s hard enough figuring out the source of the food on our table, much less all the clothes and electronics we buy.

One place to start is simple: reduce consumption. Stepping back from everything we own, we might realize that we don’t actually own anything – everything owns us. Every item we purchase, from our car to our shoes, is something we have to take care of and maintain.

Often we lose sight of all the things we own, and consumption becomes an opiate – the fleeting satisfaction of getting that shinny new thing. Inevitably, most of the things we buy end up as clutter in the closet or another reason to spend a hundred dollars a month for storage space. A person can’t avoid owning stuff – even a monk owns a mat. But we can become much more aware of what we bring into our lives.

Our culture prizes getting the best deal on everything we buy. Supply always meets demand and our appetite for consumption is met with a flood of low cost, low quality products. Getting that shinny new thing has become a staple of the modern economy – one that churns up global resources much faster than we can replace them. There’s a lot to be said for spending more on a high quality product that will actually last. Well designed products are more enjoyable and more durable. In the long run, that means greater cost savings as the product won’t need to be replaced as soon. Spending more on a product also promotes good quality craftsmanship which supports merchants that actually care about the products that they sell.

When it comes to local merchants, one can actually talk to the owner and rely on their expertise. It starts with asking the right questions and making an effort. In a perfect world every human being would profoundly care about how their actions affect other human beings. We might not be there yet, but we can support the people who are making the effort, particularly independent merchants who love what they do.

As human beings, we each have the power to be the change we want to see in the world. Each of us can make the choice to care about what we consume. Conscious commerce really means finding love for ourselves. When we love ourselves, we care about the things we put into and onto our body. When we love the planet, we think about how the things we purchase affect the planet and the people on it.

Compassion and service: December 6, 2012

Hurricane Sandy has confronted all New Yorkers with a certain degree of suffering. As we notice the devastation around us, we might ask ourselves how can we help? Compassion is the glue that brings us together to support each other. Service is the product of that support.

We don’t need a natural disaster to feel compassion for others. We can find simple ways to truly serve each other on a daily basis. Be it taking the time to listen to a friend, helping a mother up the stairs with her stroller, or just being completely honest when it might be inconvenient to do so.

What’s the difference between pleasing someone and serving them? How do we find compassion for others without letting people walk all over us? How do we find compassion for ourselves? In this meetup we’ll explore how to cultivate compassion and the true meaning of service.

To register, please click here.

Forgive and forget? November 14, 2012

Forgiveness is the first step in healing ourselves and each other. Yet sometimes, letting go of anger or resentment can feel next to impossible. We struggle with forgiving our friends, strangers, companies, cultures, and even whole countries. Sometimes, the hardest person to forgive is ourselves.

The weight of a grudge can be can bring down every aspect of our lives like a cancer eating us from within. How do we forgive? Do we forgive and forget or forgive and remember? Loving ourselves can mean learning to accept and forgive our own mistakes. Loving others means accepting that we’re all human.

This discussion will explore the meaning of forgiveness and how to cultivate it towards ourselves and each other to create a better world.

To register, please click here.

The Road to Self Mastery: October 18, 2012

Loving ourselves means valuing our time and what we do with it. How we apply our energy is one of the most important decisions we can make. Self mastery is the life long practice of learning how to be the best human being that one can be. It starts with reclaiming our mind and gradually shifting ourselves from being predominantly reactive to be being proactive. From having discipline to developing healthy habits, how can we cultivate the person we want to be on a daily basis?

This discussion will explore how to overcome self imposed limitations, rise above our fears, identify what we’re good at, and specific techniques to develop positive habits.

NOTE: These meetups are usually on Wednesdays at 630. This week it’s on Thursday at 7 pm. We’re mixing it up!

To register, please click here.

Explore what does love really mean: October 3, 2012

What does it mean to truly love yourself? When you love yourself, you have dignity. You aren’t willing to lie, cheat, steal, or take advantage of others for your benefit. You have deep self respect and through that you value the energy that you bring to every moment. That means you’re only willing to do things that are motivated by love.

Now imagine a world where every person felt this way. Peace starts with every human being finding deep love for themselves first, and then for each other and our planet. Is it possible for every human being on this planet to truly love themselves? It’s a practical question that allows for people to be hippies and billionaires and still co-exist in a peaceful society. Ultimately, maybe the question is, can the world be at peace until every person is aligned with their heart? And, if that’s the case, how can you start making a difference?

This meet up will explore the implications of loving yourself and how that translates to a practical way of making the world a better place.

To register, please click here.

The Heartbeat Philosophy

Every person is a monument to the human spirit.

I have always believed that if you pursue something whole heartedly everything will work out. Yet here I was in the middle of the desert overwhelmed by the weight of my credit card debt, reeling from a co-founder blow out, and feeling like I had put everything on the line and failed.

I was in Black Rock City having one of those moments that only Burning Man can provide – an absolute moment of truth. I was broke and living in my car on the streets of San Francisco. The start up which I had poured my heart into for the last three years was on thin ice and had one remaining employee – me. I had no idea what I was going to do when I got back to San Francisco.

The theme of Burning Man that year was Rites of Passage. In many ways 2011 had felt like a rite of passage. The year started with me feeling broken hearted from a break up, losing $40,000 through a unpaid loan to a friend, and moving into my car to save money. Here I was, eight months later, still hanging on to what life remained in Heartbeat by the edge of my fingertips.

In his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” Viktor Frankl posits that a person’s sense of purpose is more important than any quality of life they may or may not enjoy. The meaning that we feel in our lives is the true determinant of quality. I would go further to say that following one’s heart, that which is most important to us, is what gives our lives true meaning.

That year in the desert I was having a crisis of meaning when a profound epiphany crossed my mind. I envisioned a world where human beings lived in harmony with one another – with no war and no poverty. A world where we treasure each other and embrace our humanity. As I experienced this flash of insight into the future of our planet, I felt from the bottom of my heart that what I imagined was actually possible.

I had never given peace much thought before that moment, yet here I came to believe that world peace is absolutely possible and attainable within my lifetime. By the end of Burning Man, I had set my mind on moving to New York City and finding a way to work on making the world a more peaceful place.

Coming back to San Francisco, I had a very clear sense of purpose and absolutely no sense of direction. My credit cards were all getting maxed out, I had failed at raising money for Heartbeat, and I wasn’t sure if I could figure out a way to align my startup with my new found aspiration. I think most of my friends thought that I had fallen off the deep end at Burning Man.

I spent a lot of time contemplating the concept of peace. What would it take for humanity to co-exist peacefully on this planet? I felt certain this was something more basic than humanitarian work, economic policy, or government treaties.

The conclusion that came to me was simple yet felt the most true. World peace starts with people doing what they love. When we truly love ourselves, we value our energy, and our time becomes more valuable than money. When our time is more valuable than money we’re only willing to do things motivated by love. And when we’re motivated for the right reasons, all of a sudden the reasons for engaging in negative behaviors dissolve. If every person on the planet could feel this way, the world would be a much better place.

In a previous incarnation, Heartbeat had been focused on providing marketing services to fitness professionals. Having interviewed dozens of independent professionals over the previous year, I suddenly realized that they were all saying the same thing: making a living doing what you love can be really hard. The practical aspects of being a one person business can mean a person has to spend a lot of time struggling to do things that have nothing to do with their true passion. Wouldn’t it be amazing if a company took this idea to heart and focused on empowering people to be successful doing what they love?

Heartbeat is just getting started with a very small piece of the puzzle. We’ve built a strong team and managed to raise money from amazing investors. We’re working with independent merchants to help them connect with local customers and community. As consumers, when we do business with people that love what they do we support an economy based on a more conscious and sustainable way of life. The transaction takes on more meaning, and the experience becomes just as important as the product. All of a sudden we’re not just buying something, we’re supporting a human being.

Love is a deep concept with many interpretations. I’ve come to settle on the definition that love is whatever brings us closer to peace. It is my belief that when we do what we love, we are more likely to be at peace with ourselves. When we are at peace with ourselves, we can be agents for peace in the world at large. Together we can heal the world one human being at a time.

Thank you.