I gave her my small order.  As she wrote it up she smiled “this one’s on me.”  I protested -no, no, no, you can’t!  “Yes, it is my gift to you. Consider it like taking you to dinner. You have been a faithful client for years.  It would be my pleasure.” I left there with tears in my eyes. Tears of gratitude, bathed in the warmth of human kindness. This “ripple effect” of kindness is much stronger and sustaining than the negative news. Love overriding fear. Gratitude healing the doubt.

My husband Dave and I subscribe to www.abundantharvestorganics.com, a co-op service which provides fresh, local organic produce on a weekly basis delivered in Palmdale. The weekly newsletter is wonderful reading. This week’s edition contains a quote that pretty much sums up what life is about: “Stephen Covey writes “The highest state of man is interdependence, but I would say an even higher state is a group of interdependent folks working together towards a restorative, sustainable goal that improves the lives of everyone they touch.” The people in my life that I cherish share this goal, whether spoken or not. Abundant Harvest Organics has gotten me in touch with some of my idealistic roots. I look forward to our weekly package that contains beautiful, alive food. I look forward to seeing the other folks at the delivery spot, all who seem to be saying that it is worth a little extra time to participate in a movement, no matter how seemingly small, to support a higher good: better nutrition for our families and support for local farmers. This is empowering. Please check it out.

Watch Personal Branding, David Armano, Critical Mass in News Online, Webisodes, and Game Videos |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Malia

If you have trouble justifying taking the time to care for your health or spending the money on living longer and better, you are not alone. Fortunately, there are solutions available, along with education, support and encouragement. Maybe, together, we need to update our priorities in the new year.

You may have seen my earlier post regarding Michael Hingson, WTC survivor and motivational speaker. Did I mention that he escaped the WTC collapse with remarkable teamwork with his Guide Dog, Roselle? Dave and I have been working with Michael to redo his website. The thing you should know, the “inside scoop” so to speak is that Michael is a computer genius with a masters in physics, world traveler, Ambassador for the National Braille Institute, Assistive Technology expert, among other things such as an all-around charming, wonderful, funny and kind person. Please check out his new site for The Michael Hingson Group.

Before our collaboration, Michael already had a successful site and a growing career as a national motivational speaker. Like so many other business owners online, his only “handicap” was not having creative control of his site, to be able to add content and make changes whenever needed. A highly creative and productive person needs to have this type of access. Most traditional websites don’t offer much flexibility, requiring owners to pay a webmaster to have changes made and or wait long periods of time for modifications.

To help Michael achieve his goal of greater access and control, we selected a WP Blog template. Michael, who is an excellent writer, is now able to add posts, pictures and other media and update content himself. For us, this goes back to why we named our company “M-Powered Marketing Solutions.” We believe that site owners should be able to manage their own site work as much as they want to do. If needed, they can hire us to teach them how, or to do it for them. Either way, our overall philosophy is the same: give them the choice. Freedom of choice. Yes, that is empowering.

Also notice that his banner displays his name in Braille. This, of course, is a symbolic action to raise awareness about Braille literacy and its importance especially for the young people who are relying more on technology than learning to read.

Michael Hingson is a person dedicated to making this world a better, brighter place. His message of “inclusion” touches all of us.

Well judging by what is reported in our local paper, the AV Press, it’s Gangs and Graffiti. That is by no means a condemnation of the paper, but it is sort of a self-fulfilling prophesy. According to what I am learning from a great course by Marc Allen, we will become as great as our dominant aspiration - a paraphrase from a quote from James Allen.

So what is our dominant aspiration? In practical terms, what are we doing to actively create and promote our brand as a creative community, to actively counteract and replace the negative misconceptions commonly held which seem to limit our success?

First, we have to start with a vision. If we could visualize our “ideal scene” (another construct I am learning from the Marc Allen course), what would it look like? What wouldn’t it look like?

For one thing, it would not be fragmented - a collection of sole proprietor service providers striving to get their unique message out, but in most cases offering just one component of the service spectrum - graphics, copy, printing, web design, traffic generation, etc. The advantage clearly belongs with those full-service agencies who cover more of the spectrum. I understand that competition is natural and basically a good thing. Survival of the fittest and all. But my gut asks me why should we individually struggle for a piece of the pie instead of getting together to collectively bake a new one?

So back to our ideal scene, first, we would have to create the vision, and according to Marc Allen - you really should check him out so see my post under “Transformational People” - we would do that by affirming what we want to be true. To do this, I wrote an article which I’ll bring to the meeting on Saturday, focusing on our ideal scene, to stimulate a dialogue and build a vision together. Please post a comment with your contact info below and we’ll keep you posted on new developments and opportunities for working together in the Antelope Valley. Since we have an abundance of creative genius here, the opportunity is great!.