Hello Gaia!

So there's a new little button up at the top for those of you with Gaia+ accounts. Your usual 'internal' messages can still be found by clicking on the little icon (the speech bubbles) next to your name (which links to your profile) in the upper right, but for those subscribers with @gaia.com email addresses, we've made it easier to check your mail. (Chris has also added a few updates to the Resonance Engine, so make sure—if you've got that box on your profile—to check it out. :)

Jessica's been working on a plan to revitalize the Ambassadors program; this month we'll be launching a new Group for Gaia Ambassadors, with a new invitation to join and a snazzy new packet of guidelines and ideas for those of you who're passionate about the general energy and mission of connection and positivity and contribution and heart behind this space, and who want to do more to enhance it here and in the world 'outside.' Hopefully it'll be a fun cause to rally around, and we're excited about doing more to empower those of you who love the idea of this community and what it means.  But more on this next week!

There've been some lovely reports from the Gaia Gatherings that happened for Conversation Week 2008... but if you missed the opportunity to host one of those get-togethers, all is not lost. It's still perfectly possible to pop a note to a member or two in your area and invite them for conversation—and to explore a bit the hearts and concerns of those others around you. (Exploring, I think, is a good word for this... it's a little like going out into the world in hopes of discovering something new, but instead you're exploring a shared inner landscape. And it would be one thing if this sort of activity remained contained between the two of you, but I've found very real projects can arise as a result—and if nothing else, that practice of understanding can make such a difference in the world.)

Also, though many of you are likely familiar with James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis (that is, the scientific theory that posits the Earth as a living thing), you might not have seen Peter Russell's articulation of Gaia and the role of human beings in the ongoing evolution of the planet. There's a short video of his thoughts here. I already posted a personal blog entry about it, but the movie touched me deeply and it feels wonderfully relevant to the community as a whole. If you have a minute, do go have a look. To my mind it makes the critical importance of the connections found here so, so clear.

Hugs until the next time,
Siona

I think this is my favorite holiday. :)

Alhough the inspiration for Earth Day is at the very core of why we're here, we're not going to offer a list of recommendations for how you should spend your week, or what you should do (if you are interested in finding an event in your area, the Earth Day Network has literally thousands of options, as well as recommendations for taking action). Instead, we'd love to ask a smaller favor—a favor in the spirit of Gaia.

This is a holiday! It's a time of celebration and observance and reverence and wonder.

It's a time to go outside and wriggle your bare feet in the grass and to stand beneath the open sky and throw your arms wide and to lean against the wind.

It's a time to watch the sun set and to think of the comforting steadyness of this incredible planet as it cycles quietly through space, and the beauty of how we can trust those perfect circles.

It's a time to pause on the sidewalk and watch as those little pieces of grass and spring come pushing through the cracks in the cement, and to be spellbound by the force of new life.

It's a time to appreciate your own animalness and the way the cycles of your own body (from the dailiness of waking and sleeping to the minutes of breathing and heartbeats to the seasonal changes of aging) are so deeply in tune with the planet that holds us.

It's a time to celebrate all these crazy earthly miracles that we so easily take for granted.

So wherever you are, whether it's bright and springlike or raining and grey, whether morning or evening or late in the day, please please please remember to celebrate the sheer wondrousness of the world. Take a lesson from the city pigeons and the prickly pears and the golden dandelions and the ants and anteaters and antelopes, and just BE for a while. Be in life, and in celebration, and in love, and allow, for a time, the whole world love you back. :)

Happy Earth Day, again and again and again.

Hugs and love and so much appreciation,
Siona
& the rest of the Gaia Team

PS. If you've posted a blog entry about the day, or want to recommend a Group or discussion or photo or book, please just leave a note in the comments...