NYC. Rushing from one place to another I came across a blind lady cautiously tapping her stick on the pavement as she entered a pedestrian tunnel. Despite my rush I stopped, offered her my arm and journeyed with her through the tunnel. “What’s the next street she asked me? 6th Avenue?” I confirmed it was. “You have a great GPS!” I told her. “Yes,” she said, “it’s my intuition.” I left her at the end of the tunnel and rushed on to 6th Avenue. Once there, stumped by an illuminated red hand, I turned to see how she was getting on. I watched her walk toward me; well dressed, with a proud posture and a joyful disposition. Then, as if something had alerted her, I watched her make an exact left turn around the corner, stopping only to wait for people blocking her path to notice her and move aside before walking boldly on.

It’s been a few days and I still think about her. Is she alone or does she have family and friends? What is her experience of the world like? Her experience of life? I think about how confidently she navigates the world. How must it have been for her to have me approach her like I did? How did she know I was safe? How does she traverse the unseen world so well and with such grace? I’m sure she would have said it was intuition. I imagine it was more. I imagine she, without her eyes tricking her into believing everything beautiful and important is in the outside world, had gained these strengths and abilities from looking in.

As I depart from spring, entering the summer of my life, I feel evermore connected to the natural cycle of things. Spring was great, full of enthusiasm and innocence but I wouldn’t want to extend it beyond its time. I am ready for summer, ready to bloom more fully, to bear fruit. I look forward to my continued evolution through the seasons of life. I am sure I will embrace my autumn when it’s time, and my winter too – each as a vital part of my human experience; none better than the other and each distinctly different.

'La Primavera' - Botticelli - A favourite of mine

For this week’s “weekend movie” I chose “The Help.”

For me “The Help” is a truly human story and one I think most people could relate to. It’s not just a story about African-American maids and their white bosses; it’s a story about a battle between fear – with its tools of prejudice, suppression, isolation and oppression – and love – with its tools of truth, courage, empathy and understanding. It’s a story about what it takes to uphold your self and others, a story about friendship, especially between women – illuminating both our weaknesses and our strengths, and a story that shows the effects one or two courageous people can have on a whole community and beyond, Full of wisdom and humanity – this movie is inspiring and will likely move you to tears – it did me.

See the trailor under ‘I’m Watching..’

In Lak’ech; a civil initiative seeking to restore peace in Mexico by strengthening its society to transform violence with compassion.

www.inlakech.mx

With two born-deaf grandparents, Mark Hildreth was an unlikely musical prodigy. Born and bred in Vancouver Canada, he has performed since age 5. After hearing a casting call on the radio while driving with his Dad, Mark demanded to have a chance to try out. Having taught himself to play piano at age 8, he first appeared on stage in the opera Madame Butterfly at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, and a love of music and performing was born. Mark has since become one of Vancouver’s familiar faces, and has been graced with local and international awards. He is recognizable from his work as an actor in the Showtime/CBC television series The Tudors and ABC’s hit series V, as well as the film Pirates of The Caribbean 3.

With hundreds of stage appearances under his belt, Mark is on a mission to leave the world a better place through music. A winner of the 2006 Singer Songwriter Awards and theBillboard World Song Contest, Mark has an international fan base and an active web presence. His intent: to bring joy and compassion to people through music.

Mark has spent much of the last few years building his craft the US, specifically Los Angeles. He is currently performing in Vancouver and has toured many cities in the US and Canada, including Toronto, Chicago, New York, and LA where he has played at the Viper Room, The Knitting Factory and the House Of Blues Hollywood. He is recording his second album with Warne Livesey, a prolific producer with 3 decades of experience and over 15 million albums sold.

www.markhildreth.com

Scientist, mathematician, philosopher, entrepreneur, educator, inventor and author Keith Raniere has devoted his life to studying the human psychodynamic and developing new tools for human empowerment, expression and ethics.

Noted as one of the world’s top three problem solvers, Keith Raniere was honored in 1989 by the Guinness Book of World Records in the category of highest IQ. He has an estimated problem-solving rarity of one in 425,000,000 with respect to the general population. He has intellectual patents pending in the areas of human potential and ethics, expression, voice and musical training, athletic performance, commerce, education and learning, information processing and human modeling. He also holds several technological patents on computer inventions and a sleep guidance system.

Author, speaker, and award-winning director Mark Vicente was part of the creative team behind the sleeper hit “What The Bleep Do We Know?!” Several books have been written about the film’s remarkable grassroots marketing campaign, which led to its unprecedented success.

Always on a search to find new and revolutionary ways to raise awareness through film, Mark Vicente is currently developing a number of projects utilizing groundbreaking human potential technologies. Mark is executive producer and writer of “Bending Time”, a sci-fi spy thriller packaged with a virtual reality and biofeedback video game. He is also slated to direct the political drama “Carbon Crimes” which begins production in 2011 and has signed on with a major Hollywood studio to adapt an Arthur. C. Clarke novel into a 3D science fiction film.

Deeply moved by the unprecedented violence, taking place in Mexico, Mark is currently in post production on Incendiar el Corazon, a film about non-violent protest movements. The film follows a group of concerned Mexicans using song, community building, and non-violent protest to recover the hearts, minds and homes of those who have been deeply affected by the fear of kidnapping, robbery and gang violence.

www.markvicente.com

Abigail E. Disney  is a filmmaker and philanthropist. Her longtime passion for women’s issues and peacebuilding culminated in her first film, the acclaimed Pray the Devil Back to Hell, about the Liberian women who peacefully ended their country’s fourteen-year civil war. She is currently Executive Producer of the groundbreaking PBS mini-series Women, War & Peace, the most comprehensive global media initiative ever mounted on the role of women in peace and conflict.

www.praythedevilbacktohell.com

Abigail Disney is also co-founder and co-president of The Daphne Foundation. The Daphne Foundation funds programs that confront the causes and consequences of poverty in the five boroughs of New York City and in Western Africa. We have a particular interest in grassroots and emerging organizations engaging their members in the creation and implementation of long-term solutions to intractable social problems.

www.daphnefoundation.org

Oslo Freedom Forum - May 7th, 8th and 9th 2012

The Freedom Forum seeks to:

• Bring humanitarian issues to the top of the global agenda
• Provide a setting for eye-opening presentations
• Highlight the stories of human rights advocates
• Encourage the inspiration and exchange of ideas
• Focus on closed societies that need exposure
• Grow and empower an international community

www.oslofreedomforum.com