"Life Affirming Communities"
"It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth."
- Thich Nhat Hahn
Dear Friends,
 In preparation for this New Year’s Community Celebration I have been grappling with the question, "what constitutes a healthy community?" Webster defines community as "a unified body of individuals with common characteristics or interests." But, I am not interested in just any community. I want to discover the underlying principles of building and maintaining a community that incorporates the elements in Thich Nhat Hahn’s quote above. What are the attributes of what we could call a Life Affirming Community committed to the evolution of consciousness and the preservation of the planet?
Most communities distinguish themselves, not only as who they are, what they stand for and what they have in common, but also how they differ from other groups. This can intentionally or unintentionally give rise to separation, exclusion and alienation. Group members can become private and exclusive rather than open and inclusive. more... | Top
New Year’s Eve Community Celebration
 For the past 8 years we have celebrated our love, interconnection and joy while raising money for worthy causes. The proceeds from this year’s Community Celebration go to supporting the syndication and expansion of Conversations, a radio show dedicated to environmental restoration, social justice and spiritual fulfillment and to The Well of Light newsletter. We hope you will join us for this fun filled and inspirational evening. Admission includes a special Community Dance Wave CD.
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Upcoming Events
2008-09 New Year's Eve Community Dance
Also 3 hour Special New Year's Day Sweat Your Prayers
St. Joseph's Cultural Center
410 Church Street
Grass Valley, CA
Music provided by:
Bella Dreizler aka dj Delight and Michael Stone aka dj Divine
Pot Luck (Bring type of Dish by first letter of first name) Appetizers (A-F) Main Dish (G-M) Salads (N-S) Desserts (T-Z)
| NY Eve Dance |
NY Day Sweat Your Prayers |
Both
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| $35 adv / $40 dr |
$15 |
$45 adv. |
Tickets at Harmony Books and Briarpatch CO-OP and Garden of Enchantment in Old Town Sacramento online @ www.moving-meditation.com
Download Flyer send the flyer to your friends!
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New Year’s Party for Kids
Imagine a place where a mixed-age group of kids can bring in the New Year, helping each other prepare for a grand party, cooking up sumptuous meals, building play structures, exploring acres of meadows, jungles, and forests; then ending the day with a New Years bash around a camp circle and capping it with a overnight slumber party! Adventure Weekend is sponsoring a 24 hr New Years Extravaganza for kids 2 to 14 to coordinate with the Community Dance Celebration.
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Well of Light Seva Team
Seva is selfless service to a cause you believe will benefit others. It is the willingness to perform any task for a greater cause without prospect of recognition or reward.
Well of Light has many opportunities to serve our community...
If you would like to participate on the Well of Light Seva Team please call our volunteer coordinator, Torrie Mudd @ (530) 477-9447 or email torrie@arewelistening.net
"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
- Albert Schweitzer
 The Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium
January 31st from 1:00-5:00 pm
with Kathleen McIntire and Michael
Stone
Unity Church 180 Cambridge Court,
Grass Valley, CA
Join us for this new Pachamama Alliance Video Intensive version of the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium. The purpose of the symposium is, "Bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on this planet as the guiding principle of our time."
Hear from the experts like Julia Butterfly Hill, Brian Swimme, Lynn and Bill Twist, Van Jones, Thich Nhat Hanh, Desmond Tutu and many more about, where we are, how we got here and what we can do to change direction. For more information on this event AwakenTheDreamer.com
This event is sponsored by HUB.... Humanity Unites Brilliance, a for-profit and for-benefit organization that is committed to moving the world from survival to self empowerment and sustained abundance.
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Date: Feb 6-8
Hours Friday 7:45-10pm
Sat 11-6 Sunday 11-6
Cost $195 by Jan 4th $225 after that
Unstiffen your supple body.
Unchatter your quiet mind.
Unfreeze your fiery heart.
-Celeste West
Everything we’ve ever experienced or cared for lives in our cells. Even as you read these words, if you gently turn your attention to the heart of your body, you might feel the swell, the gentle outward pressure of your own unspoken stories, dreams, sorrows, passions and joys. They long to be known, they wait for you to come and get them.
more...
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 Valentines Day Dance at St. Joseph’s
7:30 to midnight
Saturday Feb 14
Bring snacks or flowers and or your lover!
Special Love Light show with Master Paul Castro
Come share the light of love...
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 New Podcasts
 Gabrielle Roth: Dancing with Chaos
Known as the "urban shaman", Gabrielle is a recording and performing artist, author, teacher, director and creator of the 5Rhythms school of moving meditation and ecstatic dance.
 Peter Russell
Physicist, psychologist, eco-philosopher, teacher, lecturer and author of numerous books and videos. His principal interest is the deeper, spiritual significance of the times we are passing through.
 Duane Elgin and Dhar Jamail: Taking Back the Media
Duane Elgin is an author, speaker, educator, consultant, and media activist.
Dhar Jamail is an American journalist who is best known as one of the few unembedded journalists to report extensively from Iraq during the 2003 Iraq War.
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Upcoming Shows on
Visit our Website!
Listen to Conversations 24/7 on Internet Radio here!
Listen live on www.kvmr.org
Alternate Tuesdays at 12:05pm PST
 CONVERSATIONS a radio show, hosted by Michael Stone, features leading edge thinkers in the areas of environmental restoration, social justice and spiritual fulfillment. Offering positive solutions to local and global issues, CONVERSATIONS touches, moves and inspires listeners to action. Weekly guests include community and world experts and concerned citizens working together to heal the wounds that separate, alienate and marginalize people.
Donate to Conversations
Dear Friends,
For the past 2 1/2 years I have been funding Conversations, The Well of Light, and other associated projects, out of my own pocket and organizing fund raising events. In order to keep this newsletter coming and keep moving towards syndicating Conversations we need your help. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution if you enjoy receiving our monthly newsletter or listening to Conversations.
It’s easy, just click here.
Thank you so much. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Blessings,
michael
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Upcoming Shows
December 23rd Matthew Stein:
When Technology Fails
Matthew Stein is an author, engineer, and specializing in hurricane resistant, energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes. He is the author of When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency.
more...
January 6th Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks: Conscious Loving
Kathlyn Hendricks, Ph.D., and Gay Hendricks have been pioneers in the field of loving relationships and body-mind integration for over thirty years. Kathlyn and Gay have worked with over thirty thousand individuals and three thousand couples in developing their method of body-centered relationships. more...
January 14th Jean Houston: Discovering the Mystery Within...
Special 1pm Wed. Show
Dr. Jean Houston, scholar, philosopher and researcher in human capacities, is one of the foremost visionary thinkers and doers of our time, one of the principal founders of the Human Potential Movement. more...
January 20th Fritjof Capra, Ph.D.: Ecoliteracy
Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., physicist and systems theorist, is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, which promotes ecology and systems thinking in primary and secondary education. He is on the faculty of Schumacher College, an international center for ecological studies in England, and frequently gives management seminars for top executives.
more...
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Poetry Corner
Silent Revolution
On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark.
But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening, underground...
An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are
being called to a higher light.
It is a silent revolution.
From the inside out. From the ground up.
This is a Global operation... A spiritual conspiracy.
There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet.
You won't see us on the T.V.
You won't read about us in the newspaper
You won't hear about us on the radio
We don't seek any glory
We don't wear any uniform
We come in all shapes and sizes
Colors and styles
Most of us work anonymously
We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world -- Cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands
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We Have Come to Be Danced
We have come to be danced
Not the pretty dance
Not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
But the claw our way back into the belly
Of the sacred, sensual animal dance
The unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
The holding the precious moment in the palms
Of our hands and feet dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
But the wring the sadness from our skin dance
The blow the chip off our shoulder dance.
The slap the apology from our posture dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the monkey see, monkey do dance
One two dance like you
One two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
Tearing scabs and scars open dance
The rub the rhythm raw against our soul dance.
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Moving Meditation and Ecstatic Dance Nevada City Schedule
South Yuba Club Nevada City, CA
Friday Class 5-7:15pm
Sunday Dance Church 9:45-noon
For more information click here
"Let the body speak and it will show you
realms of pure ecstasy
and light and even thought,
at its very source.
The mind of the cell
is the passageway between matter
and the unmanifest.
It holds the blueprint
of your Soul's intention into form.
Ask where you come from
and your body will spin you out
into the cosmos and into
your absolute essence."
(Excerpt from Chris Griscom's book, "Soul Bodies")
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A Call to Action!
If you think your local radio station would be interested in Conversations programming please contact them and let them know.
Support Conversations with your tax-deductable donation.
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