Monthly Archives: November 2009

Necker Island: Inside the World of Sir Richard Branson

Earlier this month, Sir Richard Branson invited me to his private retreat and kindly granted me the privilege of an interview for InspireMeToday.com and for my blog at the Huffington Post. Many of you wrote and asked me to share some details, so here's the "inside story". I hope you are inspired to dream what's possible in your life. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ In early November, my husband Darryl and I sailed to the North Sound of Virgin Gorda in the British…

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Sunset Gratitude

Today's blog post is very different, in that I'm sharing some photos with you rather than words. I believe that these two photos say so much that few words are necessary. Both were taken tonight from our deck overlooking Flathead Lake in Northwestern Montana. We have so very much to be grateful for! In fact, we spent the entire day celebrating the season, putting up holiday lights and warming by a roaring fire. It's been the perfect day and I just had to share it with you. May the peace of this season bless you and yours.

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Zero Degrees of Separation

by Rev. Edie Weinstein According to Wikipedia: "six degrees of separation (also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth.” All well and good, but in my life, the ratio seems to be far more intriguing. Chances are someone I know, knows someone else that I know. I come by that gift genetically since…

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100 Tweets of Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving! This week we asked this question on Twitter: With Thanksgiving fast approaching, what are you most thankful for and how do you celebrate it every day? We received more than 100 responses and the while the answers were not surprising individually, collectively they caused me to think in a deeper way. Over 50% of those who responded were grateful for the people in their lives- the relationships with friends and family. Nearly 20% expressed thanks for being alive and their connection to God/the Universe. Possibility, opportunity and good health were mentioned in 15% of the responses. Many things…

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Love And Thanks To My On-Line Community

This week I posted a blog about the great community where we live in northwestern Montana.  However, living in remote community, working from my home and having a husband that travels every other week, my on-line community is extra important to me. It's my on-line community, usually through Twitter, that I turn to when I have a question, want to share exciting news or just want to chat with a friend. You're there at 2am when I'm not ready to sleep. You're there when I'm stuck on my blog and can't make WordPress work right. You're there to make me…

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Eagle Medicine

A few days ago I was visited by not one, but two eagles. They came in the morning and spent the entire day with me, just outside my office window at our home in northwestern Montana. Throughout the day they traded places, but one of them was always perched in my favorite tree, looking right down on my office. I talked with friends who've lived in this area for some time, as well as friends on-line from around the world. Regardless of their individual spiritual or religious tradition, they all  strongly suggested I "pay attention" as the eagle in Native…

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Happy Sunday from Snowy Montana

To me, snow is one of the most magical things in the world. I love how the world can be transformed in minutes as the planet is covered with fluffy white. The tranquility that I feel with the new fallen snow is nothing short of reverence for Mother Nature. My blog today is a bit different from normal, as I'm sharing our morning snow with you. As an added benefit you get to see the golden eagle from a few days ago also, as she returned to her perch in my favorite tree this morning. May your day be filled…

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Survivor To Thriver

by Rev. Edie Weinstein A few months ago, I reconnected with a dear friend from Willingboro High School with whom I haven't spoken for 30 years. Along with Abe came the gift of his wife Andi Morris...a definite Goddess Sister and kindred spirit. A Center City Philadelphia area Realtor, Andi is also a two time breast cancer survivor, who shares, “I was diagnosed when I was 37 and then when I was 43, I was re-diagnosed.” With the initial diagnosis, she was frightened and shocked. With the second diagnosis, came anger, “because I was working so hard to get beyond…

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Montana Community Inspired by Holiday Spirit

I've lived many places in the Unites States and have never felt more at home anywhere than I do right now. In order for any place to feel like home, it must have a sense of community. It's the interaction with other like-minded people that gives life meaning and enriches our everyday experiences. This morning I literally walked into a Currier and Ives picture postcard, in our town of Bigfork, Montana. I was invited to "be an elf" and help decorate the small town we call home. This is our first Christmas to be living here, so this was a…

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Corporate America

This morning I woke from a bizarre dream that seemed so real. In my dream, my husband Darryl and I went to go play miniature golf. I was given a pink ball, but the outer coating of the golf ball was peeling away rendering the ball unusable. When I asked for another ball, the woman at the counter gave me a telephone number and told me I had to call this number to get another one. Reluctantly, I called the number, only to have someone answer the phone, "Hello Zappos- How may I help you?" Obviously I was taken aback,…

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When Intention Meets Condition

By Edie Weinstein-Moser Still reverberating from a wondrous experience , the seeds for which were planted a few months back and perhaps eons before. When I was asked to offer my PR and Marketing Services to promote an event withMichael Beckwith and Rickie Byars Beckwith from Agape International Spiritual Center based in Los Angeles, my initial thoughts were "Oh goody! Piece of cake!" Little did I know that it wouldn't simply be a light and fluffy assignment...well, I sorta suspected. I called the group of us from Common Ground Fellowship, (an interfaith community in the Philadelphia area) working on the…

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The Brilliance of Twitter (in 140 characters or less)

Each day on our website, InspireMeToday.com, we ask our Luminaries to share the greatest things they've learned in life, in 500 words. Yesterday, I wondered what folks would say if they have to pass on a lifetime of wisdom in just 140 characters. So, I asked this question on Twitter and here are some of the responses. This is also a great list of interactive real people that you might want to follow. We made all of the names live links to make it easy for you. If you like the wisdom, follow them, or just follow them all. Either…

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Adaptability

The one thing constant about life is change. Just when we think we've figured out how to make life work, often we are thrown an opportunity to grow in a different direction. It's our ability to adapt that makes the difference between a life of frustration or excitement. Nature is our best example of adaptability. Dogs know when to shed their excess fur without someone telling them to do so. Birds know when to fly south for the winter. Squirrels know when to gather and store nuts. If the cold weather comes early one year, Nature adapts without thinking about…

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The Perfection of Imperfection

Yesterday I shared with you that I'm planning to write a blog each day for the next 30 days. That brought up all kinds of stuff for me. What if I don't have enough material? What if I don't have the time? What if they're not perfect? I even received a blog comment yesterday from a man named Scott, who also had the same concern for his blog- "What if they're not perfect?". Can you imagine things in Nature asking that? Look at some of the most bizarre creatures and think, what if a pelican looked at an eagle and…

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A Personal Note from Gail

The past two weeks I've really thought long and hard about my InspireMeToday.com  blog. If you've been reading it for some time, you know that I used to write much more frequently. When I started writing for the Huffington Post last April, my own blog - this blog, suffered. That's not meant to be an excuse; it's just that my focus was divided. The insight that I just had yesterday was that the two blogs are different, or at least they should be. I want this blog to be a reflection of who I am, what I'm thinking and how…

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The Cosmic Yes!

Spent much of the weekend floating on the gently healing ripples of sound offered by a trio of musical devotees Deva Premal, Miten and Manose as they descended on Philadelphia. I was enticed by the music from the very first note of the Gayatri Mantra which is a sacred Hindu chant, that flowed from my radio 5 years ago on a show called Echoes. The sweetly heart-penetrating voice of Deva carried me to such a state of transcendent bliss, that I knew I wanted more. And there indeed was more to be had this weekend. My friend Mahan Rishi Singh…

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Two Doors, One Fly, and Much Imagination

Somehow, a fly became trapped between the screen door and the glass sliding door in my home, and I decided I was going to save his life. I managed to slide the screen door open while preventing him from flying into my apartment. All he needed to do now was zip a few inches toward the left from where he currently sat. He would be free and I would feel like a hero. I was so proud of my humanitarian efforts that I imagined him yelling, "Thank you, kind lady!" in fly-talk, of course, as he soared home to live…

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Unlimited Possibility

We live the majority of our lives trying to fit into boxes that our society has created. We base our education, our friendships, our careers and the vast majority of our decisions on what is "expected". What we believe may be possible gets pushed aside by what we believe is probable. But what if you didn't know any better? What if you believed in unlimited possibility? What if you were an alien that just beamed onto Earth and you didn't know the rules?  What if you didn't know the way things were done and you were free to create a…

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Hello: An Introduction from Julie Okuma

Hi everyone! My name is Julie Okuma and I am proud to be a guest blogger for Gail whom I recently met at a workshop in Calgary. When people meet me in person, they are always surprised that I am dealing with an issue that rains terror on even the strongest. I suppose my bouncing happiness, giggles, and smiles do not fit everyone's ideas of how a person living with cancer should behave. I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer back in May - my body's second attempt to play out this story - the first was in 2007.…

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On Becoming Valuable

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value.” ~Einstein Like almost everyone and their mother, I lost my job this year. In all honesty, it wasn’t a big shock or blow. I’ve worked in 5 different industries for over 75 companies since I graduated from college in 2001. Change is my security. But it was different this time around. When MyThings.com laid me off—and both my freelance employers gave me the shaft, as well—I realized I didn’t have the same opportunities I’d had in the past. It didn’t matter how many feelers…

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