zaadz
October 2008 
Welcome to Gaia!
Posted on Jan 17th, 2008
by 
Gaia Team
Gaia Team
Or should that read, "Please welcome Gaia"? :)
Really, though. Welcome. Welcome welcome welcome, and thank you so, so much.
It's Siona. (Surprise. ;) Oh my goodness. I hardly know where to start. Thank you so much. Thank you for not just witnessing this whole transformation, but for participating and supporting and encouraging and being the change.
I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been anxious about this whole leap (you can read the earlier post here about what led to the change and our decisions about the Zaadz-to-Gaia shift). But this anxiety was outweighed so, so strongly by a deep sense of love and trust and faith in our intentions, and in our vision, and in the sweet and wonderful uniqueness of this whole community.
Because if there's any group in the world capable of making this transition, it's this one. What are we here for, if not to transform, and not to practice transformation? What are we here for, if not to practice what it means to meet changes with love instead of fear? What are we here for, if not to support each other in coming from a place of respect and compassion and care?
Anyway. You're all AMAZING. I'm humbled and grateful and so happy to see what our new site looks like. It's a little like the beginning of Zaadz, except with a team of 150,000 instead of 10.
(Next time it'll be 7 billion, right? The creation of this virtual Gaia Community is just practice for all of us becoming conscious of Gaia in the 'real world.' ;)
Really, though. Welcome. We'll send out a note soon—I'd love to invite everyone to share their blessings and wishes and intentions for what it means to be Gaia, and to offer this as an opportunity to look within and listen, again, to what your own heart and your own spirit feels about sharing this space and this dream—but for now, on behalf of a happy (and a little bit exhausted) team, welcome.
I'm so glad you're here.
Posted by: Siona
PS. Oh. And myGaia just launched. We'll make a big announcement about this, too, but if you're reading this right now, feel free go check it out. :) (And the themes will be up next week.)
Really, though. Welcome. Welcome welcome welcome, and thank you so, so much.
It's Siona. (Surprise. ;) Oh my goodness. I hardly know where to start. Thank you so much. Thank you for not just witnessing this whole transformation, but for participating and supporting and encouraging and being the change.
I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been anxious about this whole leap (you can read the earlier post here about what led to the change and our decisions about the Zaadz-to-Gaia shift). But this anxiety was outweighed so, so strongly by a deep sense of love and trust and faith in our intentions, and in our vision, and in the sweet and wonderful uniqueness of this whole community.
Because if there's any group in the world capable of making this transition, it's this one. What are we here for, if not to transform, and not to practice transformation? What are we here for, if not to practice what it means to meet changes with love instead of fear? What are we here for, if not to support each other in coming from a place of respect and compassion and care?
Anyway. You're all AMAZING. I'm humbled and grateful and so happy to see what our new site looks like. It's a little like the beginning of Zaadz, except with a team of 150,000 instead of 10.
(Next time it'll be 7 billion, right? The creation of this virtual Gaia Community is just practice for all of us becoming conscious of Gaia in the 'real world.' ;)
Really, though. Welcome. We'll send out a note soon—I'd love to invite everyone to share their blessings and wishes and intentions for what it means to be Gaia, and to offer this as an opportunity to look within and listen, again, to what your own heart and your own spirit feels about sharing this space and this dream—but for now, on behalf of a happy (and a little bit exhausted) team, welcome.
I'm so glad you're here.
Posted by: Siona
PS. Oh. And myGaia just launched. We'll make a big announcement about this, too, but if you're reading this right now, feel free go check it out. :) (And the themes will be up next week.)
Access: Public
Sweet! That MyGaia page is sooooo fun :) Using the “Recent News Feed” widget, I was able to add Slashdot and my favorite nanotech news feed! Looking forward to the “how-to” on this kick-butt new page ;)
Excellent work, developers!!!
Thanks ~M :) Hope it's useful! We'll be adding more and more, we've only just begun to widget :)
oooh goodie! i can now port over my favorite rabbit holes :)
Dev guys, you all rock!
~C
I was on the phone with Mum last night, and we had a quick chat about the shift from Zaadz to Gaia. Her comments on the change were 'Well, I always liked the name Gaia' which I thought was innocent and sweet of her. She reminded me in saying that to be trusting and that perceptions, from the most superficial level can change what is revealed as we look deeper into things. While it may be naive to look at the world with a perception like that, more naive is it to forget that if the very first step taken, or the first look out on the world not done with trust, then no hope is there of eventually finding the support we're looking to find. ~B
thank you from abraod???? :-))
well with gaia we are a change in the world .. congrats to al of you and your welldoing inspires me .. thanks
ALL hail to ALL those that were zaadz … that have now blossumed to BECOME GAIA …
GAIA in the potentially galactica.net sense, of course, NOT just planetary or galactic Gaia.
Congratulations on the “relatively smooth” changeover and GOD's speed for the future.
Right on, Siona! Let's grab Gaia by the horns, slap-choke the carburetor, and crank full-throttle, to blast off into the unknown to discover what is waiting for us in our future. I got my purple goin' on, with a zip splash of orange and I am ready for the haters, critics, and the sappy metaphysics of this world. C'mon, drop me some fuel so I can get my Gadz on. Laughs. Really though, thank you Team and Team Members for your attention–the good and the not-so-good. Smiles.
exciting times!
good work team!
Okay, I love MyGaia. I've had the opportunity to use similar 'my' webpages in the past with the option to configure them. MyGaia is the -first- one I actually want to use. Thank you!
I'm so loving the look of Gaia. Purple is my favorite color! And when I looked at the options you had to pick from THIS was the one I loved. :-)
Well done on this easy & effortless transition. Many thanks to the Gaia Team for all of their efforts and I look forward to the continued evolution of my favorite site on the planet!
Thanks everyone that was so supportive through this transformation. Gaia is glowing with all our wonderful, radiant beings.
Mygaia is my anti drug. ;)
Welcome to Gaia and welcome to Global Nation One. I'm so happy to have grown with Zaadz over the past months. Indeed I think the most challenging obstacle of my entire life so far was overcome only recently, and Zaadz helped to do it.
But then, I never really had thought of Zaadz as Zaadz. Very early on I recognized it for what it was, and it helped me choose the name for my own on-line efforts: Global Nation One, [GN1].
I've learned a remarkable amount from Siona. I'll never forget my roots and perhaps the most dissenting voice on Gaia, ShawnMichel. Talk about polar opposites aiming for the same things (in different languages, even if they do both speak english). Without heroes, and I mean HEROES, like Siona and ShawnMichel, there's no way I would have stayed. It's all an illusion, to me, except for the personal and real relationships I've found here. Real people, real change. Sure there's a lot of fluff but c'mon… no one can tell me we aren't used to foraging for diamonds in the rough.
So onward we go. I think that 'The Global Nation One Embassy on Gaia' sounds way cool, and I hope that as I grow, and it grows, and we grow, we'll actually get something accomplished other than hours and hours of typing.
Actually, I'm certain of it, because I've already seen the action implicit in this community, first hand. So whatever your opinion of things, lets get our feet wet and our hands dirty – whether our eyes are closed or not!
Hi Guys! Many, many thanks for changing Join Now! to Join Us!
I cannot find where I requested this again yesterday so I am saying thank you here, where you all are anyway!
:-)
Right on Ian! :) What else do you guys like? ;)
I echo the applause!
* standing ovation *
:)
-bri
This is been an amazing transformation to witness in many regards. Change is such a wondrous barometer. But most of all I am appreciating the forward vision of our community, and I feel like this can be summed up by Siona's statement to the effect of:
“Anyway. You're all AMAZING. I'm humbled and grateful and so happy to see what our new site looks like. It's a little like the beginning of Zaadz, except with a team of 150,000 instead of 10.
(Next time it'll be 7 billion, right? The creation of this virtual Gaia Community is just practice for all of us becoming conscious of Gaia in the 'real world.' ;)”
After all, practise makes perfect, right?
I am really hoping that you will connect all the Gaia communities like lime and here for example. I really enjoy the meditation room at lime (check it out if you haven't) but I would like to attach that to my profile here instead of having 2 we are after all 1 community! :) I love the myGaia page and can't wait to see what other new things you have in store for us! XOXOX =)
Hi folks!
I just wanted to say I noticed, and love and appreciate the new wording on the myGaia ad, “myGaia- your customizable startpage. Make myGaia your home!” -it's friendly, positive, welcoming, and inviting. This is great! Thank you, Gaia Team! Infinite blessings!
O my Gaia,
I know you'all are excited but slap-choke and kick-butt are
energy-terms that scare me. Because I know that gung-ho
thrust means the shadow is not far behind.
I'm glad Siona has the first word,
makes me feel safe about coming back.