February Reflections 2015

th-3By February, many of us have given up on New Year’s resolutions, while others are “fed up to here” with winter. The ancient Celtic feast of Candlemas, aka Groundhog Day, has ushered in the second half of winter. Now it’s time to stop, take a deep breath, and consider launching a sort of “mid-winter reboot.”

Back at the December Solstice in the dark depth of Yuletide, something wonderful happened: the silent, invisible seed of our purpose in 2015 sprouted into Being—a revelation we cannot yet fully grasp, but will soon begin to sense.

“Happy New Year!!!” we cried those first few days of 2015, fully trusting in the promise of renewal. Today, however, we may fear our hopes for a fresh start were a bit optimistic. Or maybe not. Because what we now experience is just a natural part of the year’s cycle: a frustrating phase of relentless, disheartening resistance.

th-1And it’s happening in Nature, too. The first shoots of plant life are struggling against the cold hard earth. They have to—if they’re ever going to break out into the light and warmth of the spring sun. Sound familiar? But what exactly are we resisting? It’s probably the backward pull of our past—the old patterns that need to fall away before a new soul cycle can unfold. Meanwhile, all the parts of us that are NOT on board with this bright new future of ours are shouting, “No Way!”

So what do we “do” about this resistance? We observe and allow it. Then, we identify and choose whatever it is that our hearts most deeply and genuinely desire. Candlemas is the mid-point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. That’s something to celebrate. Record snowfalls notwithstanding, winter really is half over. Soon the man-made miracle of Daylight Saving Time will expand our days and the first signs of spring will appear, boosting our energy and steering us away from the past and toward hope and our intuitive promptings of the year’s true purpose.

 

Conscious Money and Conscious Capitalism

auto-trader-crimson-circle2015 certainly started off with a “bang” for me. I had a great time talking “Megatrends” early January at an AutoTrader.com gathering. It was fun presenting a Conscious Capitalism case study on Ford to an audience of auto experts. 01-15 Trust Magazine-CoverAt Crimson Circle Energy Company’s annual ProGnost event, I echoed the Megatrends theme in The Quest for Spirituality; The New Economy of Consciousness and Creativity; and Conscious Money. You can download ProGnost 2015 (for a fee), with Geoff and Linda Hoppe, Doug Davies, Jim Self and yours truly.

In late January a very special blessing came from Trust Across America (TAA). After naming me a “Top 100 Thought Leader in Trustworthy Business” for 5 years, they honored me with TAA’s “Lifetime Achievement” award. If you agree fostering more trust is one of the best things we can do, sign up for TAA’s Trust! Magazine.

So thank you Trust Across America and you dear reader for listening to my news! Next time I’ll share more articles, tools, and stories about Conscious Finance.

Love,

Patricia

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March and April Reflections

Spring Equinox ushers in a season of striking contrast. Here in Boulder, CO, it was 75 degrees one day-and snowed the next. But having endured the dark and cold of December, January, February, and most of March, we can surely make it through another snowstorm (or two), knowing that many gentle, warmer months lie ahead.

boulderspringSo much is still growing quietly beneath the surface, but signs of spring are unmistakable: the longer days, songbirds, a crocus in the snow. We hear the Call-distinct and hearty: Wake up! The promise of Renewal awakens within you a more conscious sense of your year’s true purpose.

At Equinox, day and night are roughly 12 hours long. But now the light force quickens and swells. As the light overtakes the dark, I long to fill every vase with flowers, cheer up a wool sweater with a pastel scarf, and happily polish off another task or two at my desk until sunset.

In terms of soul evolution, this is the season to stretch and grow while anchoring yourself, your vision, and your most cherished values deep into the Earth. The year’s vision will begin to blossom in May and into June. Meanwhile, in March and April, expand your horizons. Experiment. Launch a few initiatives. See what happens. Some might take off; others may wither. It’s okay. At this point, just step forward. You can sow a few seeds now-and others later this spring. Some of these will grow through the summer to be harvested as autumn approaches.

The mood of March-Contrast, Renewal, Planting Seeds for the Future-carries through April. Accept the rain. Savor every warm day. Anticipate the merry month of May. Mother Earth takes her own sweet time waking up and so should we. April Showers bring May Flowers!

Conscious Capitalism at the University of Colorado Boulder!

This February, CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business hosted its 5rd annual gathering on Conscious Capitalism. What a pleasure to keynote this forum of students, faculty, and enthusiastic community members. My old friend Jim Autry, author of The Book of Hard Choices, offered an electrifying discourse on the power of values in business and the terrible cost of failing to honor simple human decency. Three women leaders, Dawn Bitz, Dana Watts, and Beth Jensen, vividly described the joys and challenges of Boulder’s favorite “industry”-the Great Outdoors. I spoke on Conscious Capitalism, illustrating how it’s practiced with a video on The Container Store then invited people to road test my new self-assessment tool: “Are You A Conscious Capitalist?” More on that soon! Thanks to everyone at the Center for Education on Social Responsibility (CESR) at the Leeds School, especially Nan Stout. Thanks also to Leyla and Mark Steele and to Alain Bolea.patricia-CUboulder

 

Celebrate Spring with Conscious Flowers

If March wind & April showers inspire vases of flowers-why not make them conscious blossoms-as in local, organic, or Fair Trade? Whole Foods Market sells local flowers and imports stems grown in developing countries that meet the retailer’s in-house Fair Trade standards.

Flower production, says Fair Trade USA, is “one of the most dangerous types of agricultural work” because mostly women workers are exposed to harmful chemicals. Since 2007, however, conscious shoppers have bought more than 50 million Fair Trade flowers, says the US certifier.

BloomNation, an FTD-type alternative, promotes top local florists and their specialty bouquets. You know what you’re getting and get more for your money.

Easter and Mother’s Day are coming! Think Conscious Flowers. Check out the full story.

How Transparency Grows People and Profit

If you’re reading this, you’re no stranger to Conscious Capitalism or the values that drive it. Transparency is a top value at Whole Foods Market, where a team member can look up any coworker’s salary and bonuses. Co-CEO John Mackey, who launched the policy in 1986, says, “If you’re trying to create a high-trust organization where … people are all-for-one and one-for-all, you can’t have secrets.” Excellent point. Furthermore, as a landmark Watson Wyatt study demonstrated, high-trust organizations outperform their low-trust counterparts by 286 percent!

When people ask Mackey, why is so-and-so is paid X, while I am only paid Y, he candidly replies, “If you accomplish what this person has accomplished, I’ll pay you that, too.” Here’s the story, based on The Decoded Company: Know Your Talent Better Than You Know Your Customers. The Watson Wyatt study is from The Speed of Trust (Free Press, 2006) Stephen M. R. Covey, p. 21.

Spring is my favorite season, as I am sure you can tell. I hope this wonderful season brings you spiritual renewal and earthly delights!

Love,

Patricia

January Reflections

Happy New Year!

Although the world “rang in the new” early January first, the year’s true, natural shift occurred in December at Winter Solstice. On the shortest day of the year, the Light is reborn-and so are we! In the Sacred Darkness of Solstice, a symbolic seed germinates deep within us. It represents our vision, initially veiled to us, for the coming year. We may have a felt sense about 2014, or hold clear intentions for the year ahead. But our future will unfold organically, just as it does in Nature. Like a farmer, we can identify which crops to plant, but we cannot command the rainfall, humidity, or other factors that will influence the harvest.manchester-winter

 

A well-known spiritual motto states: We can’t control what happens to us, only how we respond to it (which is often hard enough!). That said, we can and should voice our desires for the New Year, envisioning exactly what we want. Just remember that the visionary results we’ll harvest next autumn will also be shaped by the wisdom with which we meet the unexpected challenges we often encounter. Such is the interactive play of Co-creation.

HAPPENINGS

Thank you Cleveland! When a city’s business, sustainability, and spiritual communities unite to explore Conscious Capitalism and Conscious Money, is it any wonder magic flows? As every speaker knows, after you obsess over your slides and notes, success depends entirely on the audience. Cleveland’s conscious community created one of the most fulfilling, enjoyable events of my professional life. Thanks again Bill Vogelgesang, Dave Nash and Sister Rita Petruziello.

clevelandTalk

My next adventure in Conscious Capitalism is Friday February 28, 2014 in Boulder, CO. Please join me at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business, where I’ll keynote the annual gathering on Conscious Capitalism. There is no charge to attend, but you must register online.  See you there!

CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM and CONSCIOUS MONEY

Every January Fortune magazine comes out with its new list of “The 100 Best Companies To Work For,” a priceless resource for Conscious Capitalists, Conscious investors, Conscious Money fans, and job seekers! Find it at your newsstand or online (fortune.com, yahoo finance, etc.). In December 2013, Glassdoor put out its own list of 50 great places to work (as well as a second list of 50 additional great medium sized workplaces). While Fortune focuses on more established firms and Glassdoor tends to spotlight social media and tech upstarts, both are celebrated for their objectivity because each is based on employee rankings. It’s fun to compare the two. Personally, I’d seriously consider investing in ANY (publicly traded) Fortune “100 Best Company” that’s also recommended by investment advisors. Not so most of the Glassdoor firms, which are a bit too volatile for a 50+ investor. But if I were in my 20s or 30s, I’d want a job at a Glassdoor firm-and the stock options I might receive there could cultivate a nice nest egg of Conscious Wealth.

Love,
Patricia

November Reflections

In November, the daylight fades. Falling leaves disintegrate; the darkness calls. Summer’s pleasures are gone-but the renewal of spring is months away. We can’t resist the natural cycle. So instead, the earth’s energies invite us to surrender. It’s time to let go, time to begin making peace with the year, its blessings and achievements as well as its trials and disappointments.

What is November encouraging you to surrender? Perhaps it is a hope you nourished through 2013, one that sadly, has not come to be. Or did you intend to embrace a positive new habit: to take a daily walk, do a 20-minute meditation, or play a musical instrument? Now here you are: the year’s coming to an end, and your new initiative never really got started.

Or maybe this was your year to shine? Everything seemed to go your way. You enjoyed exciting new levels of health, wealth, or happiness. Do you hope next year will bring even more? Or you are guided to surrender even the year’s joys and successes along with its sorrows?

Just as we collect the dry leaves, withered summer flowers, and the remnants of a good autumn harvest to cultivate a fertile mix for future growth, the dreams and sorrows that we willingly choose to surrender in November will enrich and nourish our vision for the New Year.

November ushers in the final phase of the Celtic calendar. Now and into December, we address the business of surrender and acceptance in order to fully welcome the fresh new cycle that begins at Winter Solstice and then joyous holidays-Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa-that lead to New Year’s. It’s time to be still and prepare for renewal.

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Conscious Capitalism and Conscious Money

My article on Conscious Money in the November/December online issue of
Green Money Journal speaks to investors and financial professionals. It’s the sort of story you could share with a stockbroker or financial planner to show them how YOU think and feel about your money, that is, you want your money choices to reflect higher consciousness and human values! Read now on www.greenmoney.com.

Last month I shared my AMA (as in Management, not Medical) story on Conscious Capitalism. But what if you’re an individual? Can Conscious Capitalism work for you? The answer, as I argue in Conscious Money, is, “Yes!” Provided you know how identify a conscious company. Think of a firm where you might want to work, shop, or invest. Does it:

  • Embrace and personify a purpose beyond money making?
  • Practice transcendent human values?
  • Treat its people fairly and well?
  • Honor the environment as a crucial stakeholder?
  • Satisfy and delight customers?
  • Give back to the communities in which it operates?
  • Generate sustainable shareholder value?

If the company lives up to these standards, it is probably a Conscious Capitalist.

November Happenings

Early this month, I head to Cleveland, Ohio’s River’s Edge Retreat Center for a public event November 8th for Cleveland’s business and general communities. I’ve so looked forward to meeting Sister Rita and my friends at Candlewood Partners! In the morning, I speak on Conscious Capitalism. The afternoon is dedicated to Conscious Money. For more details, check out: riversedgecleveland.com. Come join us!

After this exciting gathering, I’ll take the advice I offered earlier and start winding down. My friend Carolyn Long comes to visit and Thanksgiving follows soon. Then there’ll be travel homeward, friends’ birthdays, lights on the tree, and the holiday music I’ve come to love.

Enjoy the quiet before the festivities begin! Sending love your way,

— Patricia

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Healthy Money Summit – Make the Shift to Shared Prosperity

Do you want to know the secrets to increasing your personal prosperity – while also creating abundance for your family, your community and the world?

If you’re like most people, there’s at least one area of your relationship with your finances where you feel challenged.

The good news is… money can also be a source of authentic empowerment and a tool for growth and connection. You can transform your unhealthy patterns around finances with positive, effective and sustainable practices.

Of course, that’s the whole message of Conscious Money–and exactly why I wrote it!

I’m honored to be among 35+ of the world’s leading experts in the fields of finance, economics, psychology and spirituality who will be featured in the no-cost Healthy Money Summit. We will share with you practical insights, tools and techniques to empower true financial abundance – both individually and collectively.

Other experts include Geneen Roth, Vicki Robin, Gay Hendricks, Riane Eisler, Marcia Wieder, Barbara Stanny, Hazel Henderson, Deborah Price and many others!

You can sign up for free here.

HealthyMoneySummitIf you want to overcome those financial roadblocks that just never seem to go away, so that you can enjoy life and fulfill your mission…

If you want to feel free instead of fear when you sit down to pay your bills…

If you want to spread your money in meaningful ways that support your deepest values and passions…

…then, the Healthy Money Summit is the place for you!

Click here for more details and to sign up for free.

When you join the Healthy Money Summit, you’ll have 6 days of inspiring live sessions with powerful speakers focused on helping you experience the joy and fulfillment of creating a healthy relationship with money allowing you to live the life you desire, while serving the world in a positive way.

Register for the Healthy Money Summit now, and take the first step!

Warmest wishes,
Patricia

PS – This year’s series is going to be even more transformative than the last. I look forward to connecting with you during the Healthy Money Summit!

Reserve your spot here.

March 2010: Spirit in Biz. What’s the Motive?

Me again? Yes. I’m going for shorter, more frequent newsletters. It’s Twitteresque.

Back in Boulder (I bypassed Boston and the storm) after an exciting Miami speech for Florida Atlantic University’s Program in the Study of Spirituality — and a great audience: equally passionate about business and Spirit.

Early on, however, a sincere, if traditional gentleman, blew the whistle on our little love fest with a concern I’ve gotten before but heard with fresh ears. I’d just told the story of HP inkjet honcho Greg Merten, who added hundreds of millions to HP’s bottom line through the spiritual value of Trust (See Megatrends 2010, pp 1-2).

“I’m all for spirituality, the man said, “but not in business. What’s the motive? If it’s to make more money,” he added, “that’s not spirituality; it’s materialism!”

I honor your viewpoint, I said, but I don’t see it that way. I’d hate to shut down corporate meditation because it makes people innovative and companies profitable!

When the man continued to raise well-meant objections, the audience engaged frankly with him, some suggesting he had a “Money is Bad” bias. All in all, we had a  very lively discussion. Two hours flew by. I met new friends and went off to dinner with my old friend Astrologer Barbara Hamilton and her daughter Sarah.

But on the plane home, I recalled that Tami Simon, founder of Sounds True, the premier producer of spiritual audio programs (which starts meetings with a moment of silence and has a meditation room), chided me for connecting Spirit and profit. “I have no idea if what we do [spiritually] makes us money or loses us money,” she said with passion. “We do it because it has intrinsic value.”

Come to think of it, Greg Merten did not devote a full day every 4-6 weeks to team dynamics to enrich the bottom line. He did it to get better at relationships.

Can a questionable (read greedy?) motive impugn the value of Spirit in business? I still don’t think so. But today, thanks to a gentleman in Miami, I’d venture to say I now think the question is a healthy and thoughtful one.

Thanks to Lexie Potamkin and Nathan Katz for a memorable Miami adventure.

June 2009: The Oslo Summit and Business for Peace Award

I just got home from the Oslo Summit and Business for Peace Award conference. Talk about an international event! Honorees and speakers came from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe to Oslo City Hall, site of the Noble Peace Prize Awards, to a spectacular room covered in magnificent murals. I’ll now describe the day’s three parts, but fair warning: I’ve saved the best for last!

Peace AwardPart 1: The Business for Peace Foundation, our sponsors, wowed us with welcoming videos from Nobel Peace Prize winners Muhammad Yunus and Wangari Maathai (of course, we all wished they were there in person). They then lined up Jan Egeland, Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and negotiator the 1993 Oslo Agreement between Israel and the PLO, to moderate the day.

Mr. Egeland faced an ambitious morning in the debut of The Natural Resource Charter, a set of principles on how resource-rich, but comparatively poor countries can harness these assets for the benefit of their people. How enlightening to hear from President Festus Mogae, Botswana’s recently retired head of state, describe the ins and outs of the diamond trade, including complex negotiations with De Beers and how Botswana set up a fund earmarked for future generations. Nigeria’s Nuhu Ribadu, an outspoken crime buster, and UNIDO’s Dr. Kandeh Yumkella rounded out the African perspective.

Next a team of resource experts headed by Stanford University Professor Michael Spence, the Nobel Prize winner in Economics, introduced the Charter, reviewed its guidelines and opening the floor for debate.

Part 2: The overall conference theme: “The World in Recession –- A Call for a More Ethically Aware Capitalism?” was certainly a perfect intro to Conscious Capitalism and I was thrilled to speak during Part 2, which began with a frank and enlightening keynote by China’s top trade negotiator Mr. Long Youngtu, Secretary-General of Asia’s Boao Forum (The Norwegians explained that Boao is a sort of Asian rival to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.) Mr. Long candidly reported that once China understood the potential of “win-win” negotiations – a foreign concept until recently – its trade relationships could really move forward.

In preparing my talk, I came across (well, actually, it was my researcher Joy Moloney) three green Norwegian initiatives that knocked my socks off and fit right into the Values-driven Consumer module. Here they are:

  • Norway vowed to be carbon neutral by 2050, then changed it to 2030!
  • 80 Oslo buses run on sewage & save half a Euro per liter. Emissions? Zero!
  • Norway is testing less expensive, “floating” wind turbines, which will revolutionize the wind sector with turbines in deep ocean waters.

Norway, home of solar pioneer REC, might be the green capital of Europe.

Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, now president of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, offered the “Western” view. George Washington University professor Tim Fort, my colleague from Conscious Capitalist “Club,” spoke via satellite. In a lively panel after our talks, Professor Juan Carlos Echeverry from Universidad de los Andes and Borge Brende, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum and former Norwegian minister, joined in.

Part 3: The day culminated in our meeting the seven finalists for Business for Peace Award: Sweden’s Anders Dahlvig, CEO of furniture giant IKEA; Sudan’s Dr. “Mo” Ibrahim, founder the Prize for Achievement in African Leadership; Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Jameel, whose Grameen-Jamel Pan Arab Initiative focuses on micro credit; The USA’s Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric and the force behind green initiatives; Uganda’s Josephine Okot, founder of Victoria Seeds, China’s Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China’s Zhengrong Shi, CEO of Suntech Power. For more details on the finalists’ outstanding achievements, please visit: www.businessforpeace.no

It was my great fortune to spend time with finalist Josephine Okot, the dynamic seed entrepreneur, and to discover her awesome work transforming northern Uganda refuges into farmers (Talk about microfinance) and her devout supporter and friend the UK’s Alison Hall, IBMer by day, Victoria Seed enthusiast in her off duty hours.

Who “won?” They all did – and Business for Peace wisely emphasized this point. Nevertheless, the top prize and the exquisite sculpture entitled “The Just Man,” (pictured above) by Bruce Naigles, an American sculptor living in Norway, went to IKEA’s Anders Dahlvig. (Fun for me because in my remarks, I’d cited IKEA’s Value/Values proposition: “Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget.”)

The Personal Part: My time in Oslo was particularly rich personally. I made many Norwegian friends, like Inge, Kat, Anne Lise, Nicolai, Jon, Johan and Borge, Special thanks to Per Saxgaard and Anne Lene Hompland for inviting me and for their warm hospitality. Finally, I thank Bjorn Vestgaard, a Crimson Circle fan like me, and project manager for Oslo’s proposed World Trade Center. Bjorn recommended me to Business for Peace and made this whole, wonderful adventure possible.

March 2008: Conscious Capitalism in Germany

Frankfurt. Early one Monday morning in late Feburary, I look out at 70 or so business people, mostly middle-aged men. A few of them look as if they might want to duck out for a second cup of coffee. I myself am wondering how well it is going to go over for an American to preach corporate responsibility here. After all, when Europe pioneered the social side of Conscious Capitalism decades ago, American called it Socialism. That said, the spiritual side of Conscious Capitalism — how managers, consumers and investors embody values like integrity, compassion and purpose – is, from what I’ve seen, of growing interest to Germans.

In any event, I’ve done my homework: I’m armed with German examples of ultra-green consumer trends and great German companies who’ve won the International Spirit at Work Award or a spot on the Sustainable Business (SB) 20. Or rather Joy Moloney has done my homework. Joy (then Van Elderen) my researcher on past megatrends books, is back on board, finding facts and figures still astound me.

Traveling to Frankfurt, I’ve come across some interesting finds, too. In Paris to change planes, I grab a Herald Tribune. There on page one are headlines that will surely concern my audience, “Germany Inc. gets wake-up call: First jail sentence in VW scandal” and “Liechtenstein a ‘tax haven’?” My friend and colleague Sabine Beidemeyer, whom looked forward to visiting in Frankfurt, had briefed me on both these stories People were shocked, she said, that a prominent executive stashed his cash in nearby Liechtenstein. Tax audits revealed he was hardly alone.

It was beginning to look as if Germany were facing its own version of the 2001 U.S. “accounting scandals” which catapulted Socially Responsibility Investing and the Spirituality in Business to prominence.

Back in front of my audience, I hold up the Tribune, read the scandalous headlines and watch several heads nod. Now, I alert them to the French economic journal “Enjeux” whose cover story seems written just for me. My French-born life and business partner Alain Bolea and I often discuss how open the French are to social values, while remaining ambivalent at best to any reference to spirituality. Imagine my reaction then to Enjeux’s cover story: “Comment manager sans perdre son ame,” that is, How to manage without losing your soul.

Bingo. (Or maybe Voila!) Maybe the word “soul” plays better in France than “spirit.”

Between Volkswagen, Liechtenstein, saving your soul, a few German examples and a lot of numbers, I am beginning to come across to the group. Frankly, I’d was a bit nervous (My international experience with spirituality in business not always been great. But I’ll save that story for another time). Today I feel little resistance, if any. This audience is in fact open. They keep eye contact, smile sometimes signal their agreement. Later, many chat with me, share their own stories, say they liked my talk.

This is all great because my news is that I have a German publisher! When I saw seen Sabine last fall at the International Spirit at Work Awards conference in Atlanta, I’d complained about my lack of a German pub.

“I know just the right one,” she said confidently. “I will talk to them.” Next thing I know, I get an offer from J. Kamphausen, who published Lance Secretan’s book – and Eckhardt Tolle’s too. A great company. Thank you, Sabine. I tell you: there is nothing like the magic of my goddess friends!

Thanks, also to Nadja Rossman, my new editor at Kamphausen, whom I met in Frankfurt and who interviewed me in the beautiful and famous “Writer’s Bar,” at the Steigenburger Frankfurter Hof, where I am told, “Everybody” gets together at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Nadja asks me the most thoughtful, amazing questions I’ve ever gotten. She makes me think and pulls out the best answers. You’ll find the PDF of another interview she did earlier this year in the German “exist enzielle,” a magazine for women entrepreneurs. Nadja’s next story will appear in a journal for HR managers.

Stay tuned…

May: Patricia in Sweden

The Swedish coaching firm “Lots/Mindo” whose CEO Hans Akerbloom, I met at the World Business Academy’s Global Mind Change Forum in September 2005, brought me to Sweden the first week of May.

Before I even got there, a huge article appeared in “Dagens Industri,” Sweden’s Wall Street Journal. There were several exciting events, including lunch with Scandinavian Business Leaders in a historic Stockholm hotel and several days at a conference center surrounded by parks and forests outside of the city center. Megatrends 2010 made the TV news twice!

Initially I worried that Scandinavia (which practically invented Conscious Capitalism) might not appreciate hearing about it from a U.S. based author. How wrong I was. Not only did folks feel revitalized by the message, they were excited to extend their take on Conscious Capitalism into the spiritual side.

Scandinavians speak English very well (and often other languages too) but I have to report an intriguing linguistic episode. One conference participant shared, “So Patricia is talking about the shift from brain storming to brain stealing.”

Damn I thought, I NEVER said anything about stealing people’s brains. Turns out I misunderstood. He really meant “brain stilling,” as in meditation. Yes, exactly! (Brainstorming is still a great tool, especially after brain stilling.)

March: CSPAN

Spring got off to a great start at the Virginia Festival of the Book. I was delighted so many of you emailed to say you liked the talk at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, later broadcast on CSPAN’s “Book TV” It was also covered by a local station. Pop me an email if you want the DVD.