NEW VIDEO RELEASED!

Thanks to the creative team at Ebright Video Productions, a new Viral Video Campaign has just been launched!  The purpose = to spread the grateful and compassionate spirit of Step Back from the Baggage Claim around the globe and encourage all to join the movement.

1.  Watch the Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_IDxaMTmZQ

2.  Pass the Video - spread it to your entire network & encourage them to spread it too! 

3.  Join the Movement - people from all around the globe are reading the book and committing to a more thoughtful presence of moving throughout our world. Be the change you want to see in the world!

With the madness of holiday travel approaching, our world will welcome more grateful, compassionate, and graceful people in action!

 

Thank you to all who help spread this spirit!  

Travel Gracefully.

www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com

From The Inside Out

The Step Back from the Baggage Claim movement will be featured on the blog talk radio show “From The Inside Out with Kathy Cleveland Bull” at 2 PM EST on October 28.

Kathy Cleveland Bull is an internationally known change expert who offers a weekly dose of information and inspiration for those who want to take charge of CHANGE in their lives. The program features authors, experts, and guests who give insight into how we can successfully navigate through the twists and turns of our everyday lives. Kathy is a very talented and wonderful person!

To listen to the interview about Step Back from the Baggage Claim or share it with those who may be interested:

• Visit http://www.blogtalkradio.com/From_The_Inside_Out_with_Kathy/2009/10/28/Step-Back-from-the-Baggage-Claim-with-author-Jason

• Listen to the program LIVE at 2 PM EST on October 28th, call in to ask a question or submit a chat question via email.

• If you can’t listen live, you can listen to the podcast after the show at your convenience.

Thanks for your help spreading the spirit!

“What we plant in the soil of contemplation,

we shall reap in the harvest of action."

- Meister Eckhart

Travel Gracefully.

www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com

Feast On Life

It’s not easy to slow life down. I’m as guilty as anyone. The normal ‘North American Sprint’ often becomes just the way we move in and out of everyday life. The hustle and bustle of family life, business, ‘to do’ lists, instant information in a myriad of media formats, and a fast-food culture can keep us racing from one thing to the next. In our racing from Point A to Point B, we can find ourselves moving into autopilot mode and losing small slivers of our true selves along the way.

I was first introduced to this poem through Parker Palmer’s book A Hidden Wholeness. Palmer shares these words as part of a slowing down process to connect back to “the seed of true self”. The poem is “Love After Love” by Derek Wolcott:

The time will come

when, with elation,

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror,

and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

Today, in the midst of a racing world and plenty of bags that we think we ought to claim, I hope to give myself a few minutes to slow down and feast on my life. Somehow, in the midst of that madness, the stillness delivers more wholeness to my journey between Point A and Point B.

Travel Gracefully.

www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com

Your Legacy Of Love

In May, I had the pleasure of crossing paths with Gemini Adams at the Book Expo America in New York City. Adams is an Award-Winning British Grief Expert and the author of the book Your Legacy Of Love: Realize...the gift in Goodbye. We enjoyed chatting about the literary world, comparing notes, and encouraging each other forward as we celebrated the passion behind our recent projects.

Your Legacy Of Love is about Adams’ journey following the death of her mother and what she learned along the way about the Emotional Assets needed to handle any tragic loss in life. She not only shares touching stories and insights from her own loss, but provides poignant life-lessons and good questions for anyone navigating this terrain in their life. Her book is also filled with a plethora of other resources for anyone trying to make sense of a painful and sudden void. The book’s voice sounds like the friend who has been through what you are experiencing and able to lend caring support to your journey.

In one of my favorite parts of the book, Adams recalls her symbolic exercise she performed on the ten-year anniversary of her mother’s death. She attached a handwritten note to her mom onto a helium balloon and released it into the sky. The heart of that note was the decision to “choose love now” to help fill her void.

“I wanted to move from the Gaping Void of grief into a comforting place of love. I knew that focusing on all the negative aspects of my life would only bring more misery. I needed to create space for the joy to flow through and the only way to do that was by letting go...So, ever since then I have made it a ‘must’ to live in love.” (p.213-214)

We never know what obstacles, delays and cancellations await us along our path. We can’t avoid them and there certainly are no quick-fix solutions. But, as we Step Back to make sense of our racing world we create space in our lives so that a different spirit can arise. What legacy of love do we want to leave for those around us?

Travel Gracefully.

www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com

Aidan

It’s been 10 days and I still find myself thinking about him.

I was asked to deliver the sermon and lead a workshop centered on the message of my book Step Back from the Baggage Claim at David’s United Church of Christ in Canal Winchester, Ohio. I was sitting up behind the pulpit, looking out at the congregation, as the choir was singing a hymn. I was about to be introduced to Aidan.

In the middle of the choir’s melodious notes, small six year old footsteps began making their way down the center aisle. His cockeyed glasses, oversized acolyte robe and tennis shoes were a cute combination. He made his way all the way down the aisle, up the alter steps, and began bobbing and weaving in and out of the choir. He was looking for his mom and calling her out by name. The choir just kept singing beautifully.

Aidan located Rev. David Long-Higgins, co-Pastor of the church who also sings in the choir, and made his way over to him. David calmly bent down in the midst of the song and lovingly put his hands on his shoulders.

I later learned that Aidan has neurofibromatosis, a disease in which nerve tissue grows tumors that may be harmless or may cause serious damage by compressing nerves and other tissues in his body.

From my vantage point up near the pulpit, I had the perfect view of Aidan’s journey down the aisle and the looks on the faces of every single member of the congregation sitting in the pews. I watched as person after person had a smile stretched ear to ear as they gazed at Aidan with such joy. This was no interruption to their worship service. This was a divine celebration rooted in gratitude and compassion.

As Reverend Long-Higgins shared with me, “He (Aidan) is the presence of God for me. Unpredictable and filled with grace.”

I am still thinking about the warmth of that community as they embraced each of Aidan’s steps. May the unpredictability of your world this week be filled with grace.

Travel Gracefully.

www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com

Be Good To People

It's a simple phrase, but one that might not be a bad thing to remind ourselves of every day.

I recently connected with Kris Wittenberg, founder of the Be good to people brand. Simply put, they want their products to encourage people to "spread the good".

In a world that often gets us racing from place to place, chasing never-ending 'to do' lists and 'Long Range Plans', a few good reminders are always helpful. When we allow ourselves the time and space to slow down and step back from whatever is claiming our attention, we are able to see things from a wider perspective and be more present to those along our path. With this re-orientation of the spirit, we are able to be good to people even in the midst of the obstacles, delays and cancellations in every day life.

Today, I hope to Be good to people along my path. Let's join Kris!

Travel Gracefully.

www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com

An Eclectic Week

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.” - Flora Whittemore

It sure has been an eclectic week for the Step Back from the Baggage Claim movement! Many wonderful doors continue to open, and each time they do, the spirit spreads and connects in profound ways. Here’s a quick look at where the spirit has been moving this week.

9/12 = Book Signing in the Milwaukee International Airport

9/13 = Speech to the Senior Executives of Ministry Health Care, a network of 15 hospitals and programs in Wisconsin and Minnesota

9/16 = Speech to the entire Jones Middle School in Upper Arlington, Ohio as part of their Service-Learning Day

9/18 = Book Signing in the Indianapolis International Airport

9/20 = Preaching the Step Back from the Baggage Claim sermon and leading a workshop at David’s United Church of Christ in Canal Winchester, Ohio

Whether it’s a room of 200 corporate executives, professional staffs, middle school students, or an entire faith community, the question still remains - What type of culture do we want to create in the spaces where we live in this world? When we’re able to put grateful and compassionate actions into motion, the world is changed.

I wonder what doors will be opening next?

May the doors in your life be filled with excitement, joy, and the opportunity to put a loving spirit into action.

www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com