My Meeting with Lynne Twist

I wasn't prepared to be as affected as I was by going to see Lynne Twist on October 5th.  I mean, I "should" really know myself better by now.  My heart was deeply touched by the stories she shared about her life experiences; especially the one about when she met Mother Teresa.

I knew when I got the email about her coming to Calgary that I needed to be there.  I first saw her "speak" on a DVD by the name of "Crude Impact".  On the extras of that particular DVD were interviews with her and her husband Bill Twist.  I was completely blown away by her thought provoking and paradigm shifting philosophy.  To see her live is a completely different experience, being in the presence of her energy.  The DVD was and is powerful though because it was "enough" for me to want to see her speak live.

Below is a trailer for Crude Impact.

Below is a link for the DVD Crude Impact including interviews with Bill and Lynne Twist which you can purchase from their site.

http://www.crudeimpact.com/page.asp?content_id=9661

I had expectations of seeing her speak on stage but none of the possibility of actually going up to meet her and speak with her face to face which was a pleasant and exciting surprise.  Along with hearing her speak, we received her book "The Soul of Money" http://www.soulofmoney.org/.  I waited in line to get my book signed.  I was a blubbering mess when it was my turn.  And those of you that know me know, that is just what I do.  When I am moved and touched to the core of my soul, my heart is open and emotions pour out. 

Lynne and I at the book signing.  What a beautiful human being.

Mother Teresa was and is her role model.  I told her yes, she is mine too.  But so is she (Lynne) and I shared that with her.  While there have been a few women role models, there haven't been a lot of them I'm sad to say.  Lynne is such a strong, authentic, grounded, honest, powerful and humble woman. She is someone I would consider being mentored by.  But in the meantime, I would look up to her as a role model of how I would like to be and continue to grow into.

"Be the change you want to see in the world", as Ghandi said.  I really get what this means.  All I can do is continue to make positive changes in my life and hopefully that will inspire others to do the same, just like Lynne has done for me.  I would like to believe that fundamentally people want what is best for themselves, the planet and us a community.  I want to believe that people will wake up and do what is right. 

Lynne and her husband created The Pachamama Alliance http://www.pachamama.org/ which is dedicated to preserving the tropical rainforests.  Lynne shared one of her stories about her trip to the Amazon Rainforest where she met the Pachaur Tribes. 

The Tribes mentioned that we in the West have created a nightmare for ourselves and have veils over our eyes to the truth in our current culture.  It's time to lift those veils and awaken to the truth so that we can make changes to create a sustainable way of living.  This includes living within our means (and not accumulating debt) and not continuing to contribute to the overconsumption of products.  Our way of life in the West has become a place where throwing away things has become the norm.  This has huge repercussions.

A consumer is described as:  an individual who buys products or services for personal use and not for manufacture or resale.  A consumer is someone who can make the decision whether or not to purchase an item at a store and someone who can be influenced by marketing and advertisements.  I would also describe consuming as the act of continuing to fill a hole in our souls that can never be filled with enough stuff.  That hole can be a longing to be a part of something bigger in our lives.  A life filled with purpose, meaning, community and doing things we love and enjoy.

I am not a religious person but I do believe we are spiritual beings that are connected to each other.  What one person does affects another.  I pray that we awaken and realize that how we are living needs to change and that there is a better way.  One that allows us to live sustainably and without harm to each other, ourselves and the planet.