Lynn Serafinn's Cosmic Journey

Appreciation – A Simple Way We All Can Change the World

Mike O’Mary (pictured left) believes every one of us has the power to change someone’s life.

When Mike was a teenager, his brothers and sisters were placed in an orphanage. He moved away to live with his father, but he visited his siblings whenever he could. While Mike always tried to do something special during the time they spent together, he never really knew what his brothers and sisters thought of him or his visits with them.

But many years later, Mike received a letter in the mail. He opened it to find a hand-written note from his youngest sister. In that note, she told Mike how much she appreciated his kindness during one of his visits, when he took her out to choose a Christmas tree. She said it was the first time anyone had ever taken her to pick out a tree, and how after all this time she had never forgotten how wonderful she had felt that day.

That note healed years of self-doubt Mike had carried with him since he was a youth. He was so moved by his sister’s note he could not help but reread it many, many times.

But then one day, Mike realized there was tremendous power in this simple note, and he decided it would be a good idea to share the story of his sister’s note with other people. First he told the story in a newspaper article. Later, he wrote a book called The Note. Mike was encouraged by the response he received from the public.

But one day, Mike woke up and thought, “If one simple hand-written note can change my life so profoundly, what if I could inspire one million people to write a note of appreciation? It could make the world a million times better.”

And that, in a nutshell, is the essence of Mike’s latest creation:

The Note Project

http://noteproject.com

The Note Project is a global movement to make the world a million times better by inspiring 1 million people to write a note of appreciation to someone who made a difference in their lives. It is free to join AND because Mike is so passionate about writing notes of appreciation, a portion of all proceeds from the sale of his book The Note on The Note Project website goes to charities that support literacy projects around the world.

Mike’s vision for how The Note Project will change the world is pretty inspiring. He says, “Everyone has the power to make the world a million times better. And it’s so simple. Just think of all the people who have made a difference in your life, whether friends, family members, neighbors, teachers, employers, co-workers, old classmates. Think of the good times you had together or the nice things they did for you…Maybe they cheered you up when you were sad or made you feel special when you were questioning your self-worth…Whatever it was, a simple note of appreciation from you could make their day, their week, and maybe even their whole year!”

To celebrate the launch of The Note Project, Mike is hosting a FREE 3-day online Note Project Telesummit where you will hear wisdom from 10 world-renowned authors, artists and speakers on the topic of “Appreciation as a Way of Life.”

The Note Project Telesummit

Mon April 18, Tues April 19, Wed April 20

12pm Pacific, 3pm Eastern, 8pm UK

Register FREE at

http://noteproject.com/launch/pages/telesummit.html

Here’s the great line up of guest speakers:

• Mike O’Mary - author, publisher, Founder of The Note Project
• Lynn Serafinn – transformation coach, author, humanity-based marketer
• Dan Millman – champion athlete, author of The Peaceful Warrior
• John Kralik - author of 365 Thank Yous
• Michael McMillan – designer, motivational speaker; author of Pink Bat
• Florence Isaacs – author, journalist, media expert
• Chester Elton –author of The Carrot Principle and The Orange Revolution
• Nia Peeples – actress, singer, charity relief worker, Founder of Elements of Life
• Brenda Adelman – actress, spiritual mentor, “Queen of Forgiveness”
• Gail Goodwin – author, founder of InspireMeToday.com

If you cannot make the live event, you can download the audio later if you register.

I hope you’ll join me in tuning in to what just might be the best “feel good broadcast” of 2011– The Note Project Telesummit on April 18-20.

Warm wishes,
Lynn Serafinn
Questions/contact:
http://spiritauthors.com/contact

P.S.: It’s completely free to join the movement to make your pledge to send a note at http://noteproject.com. But if you need a little help to think of ways to write your note, check out Mike’s book The Note on his website. It’s available either as a full color gift book (for $14.95) or as an eBook (for only $1). When you buy the book during the month of April, you can receive a great collection of free gifts. See http://noteproject.com/launch/pages/ekit.html for details.

Unity is the Message. Diversity is the Messenger.

Sometimes something happens so spontaneously, you know it’s going to create a wave of change in your life.

This week I have had the great pleasure of hosting the 3-day telesummit “The Shift. The Message. The Transformation”, which is being sponsored by my client E.Dee Conrad, in celebration of her new book A New Dawn Awaits. The telesummit is an online event with 10 different speakers spread across 3 days. On today’s broadcast, we were talking about “The Message” of these changing times. What is it? What are we being called to do, be or understand?

Our guests were angelic channeler Jeff Fasano, spiritual teacher Tambra Harck, and “House Whisperer” Christian Kyriacou. When I asked them all what “The Message” was, here’s the essence of what each said:

Jeff said, “That we are all connected.”

Tambra said, “That we are Love.”

Christian said, “That we are already Perfect.”

As the conversation unfolded, it became clearer and clearer to me that these three words were simply different “flavours” of the same message: Unity. Unity was the Message. And the messenger? Well, the messengers were all expressing it in diverse ways.

Around midnight tonight I was on Facebook sharing comments with Jeff Fasano about this. He said, “So interesting to to hear the same message and all parts of it in different ways.”

To which my response was, “Indeed, Jeff! It really “landed” with me that “unity” is the message and “diversity” is the messenger. Beautiful.”

These words slipped out of my mouth (or, rather, my fingers… after all, I was typing on Facebook!) tha t I hadn’t even thought about them. But then, when they emerged, I know that these words will probably be attached to me for the rest of my life, because they just “grabbed” hold of me in a very profound way.

I felt SO inspired, I suddenly had an urge to create a video about it. It was like a fever. And in less than 2 hours, I made the images I wanted, found the perfect stock music and put the video together. I’d like to share it with you here:

NOTE: If you are viewing this blog post in your Inbox, you probably cannot see the video on your screen right now. If that’s the case, you can watch it on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6borzYRHDEc .

I want this video to go VIRAL. Not for my sake. For the sake of “The Message”. It’s only a minute long. So please take 1 minute to watch it, and then leave your comments (either here or on YouTube). But most of all, SHARE it with a friend. Let the message be spread that our DIVERSITY is what allows us to unfold the same Message in so many beautiful ways.

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A slightly more esoteric angle on this topic:

I have often said, “If Truth is True, it must be True at all times, in all places. Therefore for any “message” to be “True”, there really can only be one “Message.”

However, if such a message is to be True at all times, in all places, it must therefore be unlimitedly variegated as well. It must contain all possible ways of expressing itself. By its very nature, it must be spoken from unlimited mouths in unlimited ways. Diversity is the Messenger.

In Vedic (ancient Indian) spirituality, there is an image of Mahavishnu, the 4-armed Dreamer of Creation, lying on the coils of a cobra called Anantashesha (which basically means, “having no end”). Anantashesha is not just any cobra, mind you. He has unlimited heads (i.e., as he has “no end”, his qualities are unlimited). Of course, because he has unlimited heads, he has unlimited mouths. And what does he do with those mouths? He sings the praises of the great Dreamer of Creation, Mahavishnu, who is the embodiment of Eternal Truth.

In other words, Unity is the Message. Diversity is the Messenger.

And so we too, all of us, are a part of the great Unity wherein there is only One Message: We are all of the same essence; and that essence is Divinity, Perfection and Unconditional Love.

And just like Anantashesha, our unlimited forms and variety serve only to give unlimited flavour and colour to the One Truth.

May all human beings embrace their beautiful diversity and become Messengers for this Message.

Shift the World. SHARE this Video.

Thanks so much.

Lynn

P.S.: If you’d like to hear the playback of “The Shift. The Message. The Transformation,” go to http://virtualspiritualevents.com

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About Lynn Serafinn

Lynn Serafinn is a an award-winning transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio host and bestselling author of the book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. She also works as a campaign manager for mind-body-spirit authors and has produced two #1-selling book campaigns, and another #2-selling campaign, in just the past few months. She is also the creator of Spirit Authors, which offers training, coaching, business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether established or aspiring. To contact Lynn for coaching, campaign management or media appearances, please fill in the form at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.

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Recipe for raw cream of asparagus, tofu and fennel soup – a spiritual delight

You’re probably wondering what the heck this has to do with anything. Why is Lynn suddenly publishing a recipe? Well, I think the fact that when I tasted this I thought I had gone to heaven might be reason enough. But if we need another reason, I can think of several, which I shall share with you AFTER the good stuff… the SOUP!

Equipment
The good news is, you don’t need any fancy equipment for this one. I am using a Tribest “personal” smoothie maker, and I imagine a good blender would also do the trick. For me, my personal smoothie maker is perfect because I live alone, and there is no waste or leftovers. It’s also extremely energy efficient because it is tiny, and you only need to run it for a few seconds to make your soup. The recipe below is for ONE serving (about 12 oz/400ml). If you have a larger blender/smoothie maker, and want to make more soup, just increase the amounts as desired.

Note: If you don’t have organic veg, or you don’t have whole spices to grind, you can still make this recipe, but really the taste is completely different. And if you think you don’t have time to make this, my TOTAL preparation time was LESS THAN 5 MINUTES!

Ingredients
First of all, I highly recommend getting your produce from a local organic farm. I just started ordering a weekly fruit and veg box from Riverford organic. They deliver it fresh right to your door. I have to tell you, the asparagus was SO tender, it was like eating a completely different vegetable from anything I’ve ever had before (and the humus I got from them was simply to die for!).

• 50 gm organic tofu (about 1” x 3” x 3” block)
• 6-8 stalks organic asparagus
• ¼ bulb organic fennel
• ¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
• ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt
• ¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon powdered kelp (optional; I add this to boost my sluggish thyroid as it’s rich in iodine)
• 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin organic olive oil
• 1/2 cup water. The water should either be room temperature or slightly warm, if you prefer warmer soup. Do NOT use very hot or boiling water, as it will expand in the blender AND it will also kill off the nutrients.

How to make it:

• Grind peppercorns and cumin seed with a mortar and pestle (you can use powdered, but it simply isn’t the same!). Set aside.
• Cut tofu into 1/2” chunks and put in blender cup. Put in just enough water to cover them.
• Blend tofu until it is a smooth cream.
• Chop asparagus and fennel into small enough chunks to get around the blade of the blender. Put into blender and pulse until chunky.
• Add ground pepper, salt, cumin, kelp and olive oil. Blend for 30-40 seconds.
• Your soup is READY to eat! If it’s too thick, and some water (slightly warm if you want warmer soup).

This is awesome with a couple of slices of toasted no-yeast rye bread with humus. What a TASTE!

Ok… so why am I REALLY talking about soup?

Environment: Earlier this year, I took a “10/10″ pledge in which I vowed to cut my fossil-fuel consumption down by 10% in the year 2010. You might think reaching this goal is a diffcult thing to acheive, but something as simple as making raw organic asparagus soup can help you get started. How?

• If you buy your organic produce from a local farm, like I did, you are saving on “food miles” as they are not being flown to you from the other side of the planet. It’s even BETTER if it comes from your OWN garden.
• Coming from the local farm, and not the local supermarket, there is NO packaging or waste at all. Even the little bits of veggies that I didn’t throw into the smoothie maker I put into my compost bin, and it will be helping to grow vegetables in my back garden later this summer.
• Running a little 200 watt blender for 40 seconds takes a LOT less energy (and costs a lot less money) than cooking a pot of homemade soup on the hob for 20-30 minutes, so it’s very economical, too.

Health: Eating veggies that are local means they are fresher, and packed with nutrients. The longer the gap between when your fruit/veg has been picked and when you consume it, the more nutrients are lost. Also, eating with the seasons (as organic farms provide you only season produce) will also improve your health, as it puts your body “in synch” with your environment, giving your greater immunity.

Spirituality: There is something very spiritual about getting closer to Source by eating organic, local, fresh and uncooked. I don’t think I will ever go 100% raw, but I have to tell you, when you eat something like this, you feel like you are tasting the Sun and the Earth, and that’s pretty special. It helps you feel connected, and lets you know that you are safe in this big, vast Universe.

Fun and Creativity: It’s actually pretty cool to make up new concoctions. I make up something new every day. I had a delicious melon and plum smoothie before. Sheer nectar! In fact, what’s so neat is that just about ANYTHING you toss into the smoothie maker can be turned into something really tasty and interesting. Experiment and set yourself free!

Closing thoughts
Today, I found out another close friend of mine has breast cancer. Mind you, this particular woman is one of the most health conscious people I know, so if it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone. I do believe the high incidence of cancer in today’s world is due to us being just so disconnected from the Source of life, both in our food, and our state of being in general. Our failing health is a symptom that we human beings are craving a return to a more natural state of living in harmony with the Earth. And the good news is, I firmly believe it is “do-able.”

I took the 10/10 pledge because I love our Planet, and I also believe our dependency upon petroleum is simply a recipe for disaster, for so many reasons.

Let’s not consume THAT recipe. Instead, let’s start (un)cooking up our own recipes. I’ve done many things this year to make good on my 10/10 promise. If you do only one thing this year and nothing else, start off by making a pledge to buy local produce. Or better yet, how about starting a vegetable garden in your backyard? I’ve just done this with the help of a neighbourhood woman, as part of the new “garden share” project we at Transition Bedford are hoping to get going this year. But more on that another day.

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Lynn Serafinn is a transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio host and author of the mind-body-spirit bestseller, The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. She is the recipient of the Bedfordshire Businesswomen Award for working with a community group for her work with Transition Bedford, part of the Transition Network, a grassroots initiative to build a sustainable future. She is also the founder of Spirit Authors Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience, which offers training, community and support for aspiring and established mind-body-spirit authors. She also works as a campaign manager for book launches, and has produced two number-1 selling authors in 2010 so far. Coaching, training and campaign enquiries may be submitted at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.

Reconnecting Humanity and Earth with Eco Hero Tony Juniper

It’s hard to believe that my radio show Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul is coming up to its 1st anniversary this month with episode 49.

I wanted to celebrate the occasion in style, so I had in mind I wanted an extra special guest for that particular broadcast. I am delighted to tell you who he is.

On Wednesday 20 January, at 6pm UK/1pm EST, I will be hosting campaigner, writer, sustainability adviser and one of the UK’s best known environmentalists, Tony Juniper. A dynamic and inspiring speaker, and often referred to as an “Eco Hero”, Tony has worked for the last 25 years for change toward a more sustainable society at local, national and international levels. Amongst his almost endless list of personal and professional experiences, he has served as Vice-Chair of Friends of the Earth International, and is currently Special Adviser to the Prince of Wales Rainforests Project, Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic’s new Green Magazine supplement, and is the Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Cambridge, England.

On this very special anniversary edition, Tony and I will discuss his thesis of “Harmony” as taken from the upcoming book of the same name he is currently writing with Prince Charles and Ian Skelly, and is scheduled for publication by Harper Collins in autumn 2010. Tony will tell us about the present state of environmentalism, what we’ve achieved and not achieved, and what’s next for humanity at this time in history, and explain how the solutions to the ecological and economic problems we now face at a planetary level are not due so much to our political, technological or corporate systems, but rather to the fundamental fact that we as a culture have become disconnected from the Earth, and are illiterate as to how nature works and how we as humans fit into the natural order on a cosmological and spiritual level.

On the air, Tony will offer us some easy, joyful and practical ways to re-engage and reconnect with our planet and re-establish the true, holistic harmony that is meant to sing within every human soul.

You absolutely will NOT want to miss this most important and truly inspiring show.

In keeping with the theme of the show, I will also read the “Harmony Meditation” from my upcoming book, “The Companion Guide to the Garden of the Soul”.

Listeners can listen LIVE or “on demand” any time at
http://ow.ly/UvBM

You can also subscribe to the show via iTunes. Just look for Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul on BlogTalkRadio
http://blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn

The Known Universe – a totally awesome video – really!

VIDEO: The Known Universe by American Museum of Natural History

This is simply awesome. And I mean that in the literal sense. It fills me with complete awe and really puts existence in perspective. What an amazing Universe we live in! Felt it had to go on my site. I call this my “cosmic universe” after all! Hope you enjoy it.

Please let your comments below and share with others.

Bestselling Author’s Work with Transition Town Awarded

PRESS RELEASE: WOBURN, BEDFORDSHIRE – 18 November 2009 – Today at Woburn Sculpture Gallery, Bedfordshire Businesswomen (BBW), a not-for-profit networking organisation for women who live and/or have business interests in the Bedfordshire area, now in its 21^st year, announced their annual business awards for outstanding achievement in various categories. Amongst the six winners for the 2009 awards, which were sponsored by Barclays Bank, was Lynn Serafinn, a Bedford-based community leader, transformation coach, personal development trainer, public speaker, radio host and bestselling author of the book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. Ms Serafinn received the BBW award for “Working within a Community Organisation or Not-for-Profit Organisation” owing to her work as Founder of the Global Wellness Circle, and also as the Chair of Transition Bedford, a new initiative that is part of the worldwide Transition Network addressing climate change and fossil fuel dependency.

In spring 2008, Ms Serafinn noticed that there was a large faction of practitioners in the holistic health and wellbeing industry who felt isolated both professionally and socially, having no way to promote their businesses or to educate the public about the benefits of living a more natural, holistic lifestyle. In response to this, she formed Continue Reading…

Truly Connected to the Earth-stunning video

Rarely do I feel moved enough by a video to put it on my blog, but this one was so captivating and moving that I simply had to. It is a pictorial journal by Hans Silvester, who photographed the people of the Omo River in Ethiopia. They treat their bodies as artists’ canvases, clearly expressing their feelings of connection to and love for Nature. Take a few minutes to be amazed at the stunning beauty and complexity of the artwork, the intense emotion that comes through their expressiveness, and the sheer freedom you feel as you watch a whole culture of people letting go of inhibitions and ego and simply expressing the Art of Creation itself. If you happen to have read my book The Garden of the Soul, the Omo people are the perfect expression of the “Principle of Giving”, which is the unfettered outward expression of the Authentic Self.  Surely we could all learn a lot about our real relationship with the Earth by meditating upon these jaw-droppingly beautiful images. Enjoy this!

And many thanks to Urus Fret of Norway (a member of the Garden of the Soul social network) for sharing this wonderful video.

Moving into the Storm – from enslavement to freedom

The following blog post was originally written for Transition Bedford site at http://www.transitionbedford.org. I decided to include it here on my own blog because, although it makes references to working within the Transition Network, the key points are relevant to everyone who wants to understand more about what it means to be free at an inner level, and to understand more about why they may not always be creating the impact in the world they desire to create. I welcome your comments and feedback, as I spent  significant amount of time writing it, lol! Hope you enjoy it. –Lynn

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Whether we are aware of it or not, the members of the Initiating Group (IG) at Transition Bedford are now evolving from the “forming” stage into the “storming” stage. Can you feel it? Entering the storm means we are making real progress, even if it seems unclear right now. So, at this important juncture, in hopes of taking us even further into the eye of the storm, I’d like to share some ideas which have been swirling about in my mind ever since my Transition Training in London. It has to do with media, our responsiveness to it, both conscious and unconscious, and our role as leaders in the community. After much reflection, I believe in our work within the Transition network, it is essential that we bear in mind

1. That we as an initiative will need to understand and address public emotions that may be stirred up by the media in all its forms (TV, film, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, pop culture, music, advertising, Internet, social media, etc)

2. That we will also need to become acutely aware of how WE ourselves are impacted by media, whether consciously or unconsciously

3. That we will need to know how to protect ourselves against succumbing to any unconscious unwanted impact, so we do not become “reactionary machines” instead of creative, resilient human beings, both individually and collectively.

4. That we will also need to become acutely aware of our own impact upon our community as we reach out to them.

5. That we will also (and most importantly) understand how to avoid unintended impact upon the community.

It is important to understand that these statements do NOT mean that we, as part of the Transition Network, are not entitled to our emotions. It would be an unreasonable expectation to think that we as humans should never feel angry, overwhelmed, grief-stricken, bitter, hopeless or cynical, especially when we are facing issues of such importance as climate change. Nor is it true that, by being part of a Transition Town initiative, we are expected to become super-humans or non-humans.

In fact, the truth is exactly the opposite. Continue Reading…