Lessons in Abundance and Community

Wow, what an amazing weekend of radiant, blissful energetic connections and being!

This weekend, Matthew and Terces Engleheart (of Cafe Gratitude) gave a very large gift to the community-at-large. They gave away one of their $200 workshops on abundance away to over 150 people in the community to combat the scarcity mentality many are embracing in this time of economic collapse and dismantling of the corporate world. The economic issues have not bothered me one bit. My opinion, however unpopular it may be, if that all of this happening right now is a great thing and is what needs to happen to make way for a more sustainable future. Of course I feel bad that people are losing their jobs. And it really bothers me that the banks are taking away peoples' homes and getting more money from our government, when that money should have been given to the people to bail themselves out of those irresponsible loans. But as tough as it is for people, I believe this is what needs to happen for us to shed the things that no longer fit us so we can make way for a new mode of living. We can take the benefits of all we have done this past century and combine it with all we have learned from our mistakes and create something beneficial for all of humanity. From pain comes tremendous growth, and I love America dearly, but it could really stand to do some growing up. The way we have been living is not sustainable, it does not provide freedom for everyone, it does not pave the way for greatness. With the dismantling of the corporate multinationals, we will see true greatness - the people of this nation coming together to create real, lasting change. People deciding to live differently, to set positive examples for others to bring us out of this huge mess we have created. It is fixable, and we are the solution. As a shirt I once saw said, "We are the people we have been waiting for."

Throughout the entire weekend, I connected with so many amazing, beautiful souls, experienced an even greater increase in synchronicity (can you say collective consciousness?), and listened to people bare their souls and speak openly and honestly about anything and everything. There was no judgment, everything was done out of love, people acknowledged each other for their positive contributions and strength, strangers fell in love if only for a few hours. It was really intense, and one of the most beautiful experiences I have had so far in this lovely city of mine. I got a glimpse of what life would be like if we all dropped our judgment of ourselves and each other, acknowledged are egos and kept them in check at the same time, and communicated with each other openly, honestly and with love and acceptance. It was looking at the truth, which is that we have an abundance for everything we need, and if we continue to be love and give, we will always be receiving all we need. I was running on such a communal high all weekend as a result of all the energy we were all projecting outwards to each other. I am so thankful for the new friends I made, and the lessons I was taught. Matthew and Terces, thank you so much for your love and wisdom, your generosity, and your willingness to share it all with us. It was truly a blessing.

Monday Night Live at Café Gratitude

I got an email from the lovely folks who run the Petaluma potluck about Monday Night Live, a new program at Café Gratitude's Healdsburg location. If you can't make it up to Sonoma, don't worry - all events will be tapes and posted online later! Here's the email:

Hey! Shea here!

For those of you who don’t know yet, or for those of you who do know, but don’t know how it’s coming along, I am excited to write this email and let you know that beginning in January 2009, I’m going to be working with Café Gratitude in an effort to bring live, weekly, educational speaking events to their Healdsburg location. (How Cool Is That?)

The project is called “Monday Night LIVE! @ Café Gratitude” and, as the name implies, will take place live, on Monday nights, at Café Gratitude. The events will be from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. This will allow people about an hour to arrive, order and eat, with the speaker / presenter going on at 7:30pm for 45 to 60 minutes.

I am PROUD to announce that Monday Night LIVE! @ Café Gratitude will kick off on Monday, January 12th, 2009, with the first speakers being Matthew and Terces Engelhart – the owners of Café Gratitude, and the authors of ‘The Abounding River’, and “Sacred Commerce.”

After Matthew and Terces we have quite an amazing line up of speakers manifesting!

Happy Oasis on January 19th,
Elaina Love on January 26th,
Cecilia Benjumea on February 2nd,
Lydia Kindheart on February 9th,
Dr.'s Rick and Karen Dina on February 16th,
Melissa Phillippe on February 23rd,
Laura Bruno March 9th,
Dina Knight on March 16th,
Don Allan Hardman on April 20th,
Kevin Gianni in June,
Bruce Horowitz on June 22nd,
Cherie Soria on June 29th,
and many more!

I am choosing speakers who are passionate about what they do, what they bring to the world, and how they live their lives – and they will primarily be pulled from the following communities: raw foods, alternative health, fitness, sustainable / green living, and spirituality / consciousness practices. Personally, my main interest in terms of topic is this:

Who Are They and Why? Who where they before they found what they do (their passion), and what was their life like then? How did they find what they do? How did they get into it? How has it affected their life? And, who are they now because of it? I am, however, always open to other ideas for topics, and I also trust your judgment,
so if you have any recommendations, suggestions or referrals for specific topics or speakers, please contact me at shea@shealynnbaird.com.

The events will all be filmed, and the videos will be posted on my blog, SheaShayShā,
as well as on my YouTube account.

The goals of the project are to create community, educate the public, have fun, and benefit all parties involved.

Please check the schedule often, as it is, and will be, updated regularly. And please consider making Monday Night LIVE! @ Café Gratitude what you do on a Monday night!

We ALL (Café Gratitude Healdsburg, the Presenters who will be traveling to be with us, and myself)need YOU to make this work!

Monday Night LIVE @ Café Gratitude
Located at Café Gratitude Healdsburg
206 Healdsburg Ave (inside the Olive Leaf)
Healdsburg, CA 95448
Phone: 707-723-4461
Hours: 9 am to 9 pm

Thank you! See you there!
Shea

GI2MR cafe gratitude meet up

Dhrumil from We Like It Raw was in town for a few days, so he organized a little lunch meetup at Cafe Gratitude with Anna, Lauren, Sharon and I this afternoon.

It was really wonderful to spend several hours just sitting and talking and getting to know each other. A lot of my friends are not raw, and although I attend potlucks and local events, I still sometimes feel that there is not as much of a community as one would think there would be in a place like San Francisco, where almost every subculture from Burners to bikes has a community with a DIY state of mind behind it. I want more activity in my local community, so I feel it's up to me and the like-minded people I meet to make that happen. I think through meeting these lovely ladies, we can start to build things a bit more and create a more positive experience for those that visit the city and want to connect.

We talked about getting spring water, foraging for wild edibles, writing, life changes, synchronicity and shifting your awareness so that you tap into them, community, our own raw journeys, and a whole host of other topics. It was really wonderful, and I left feeling very motivated and inspired.

Sharon asked some questions about some minor drama on GI2MR and how some people feel apprehensive about posting because of a lack of support, and Dhrumil gave us a brief rundown about a video he has just posted addressing those concerns, and how he wants to change things to improve the level of support by introducing a Sherpa program where people will serve as guides to provide information and support. You can view the entire video below.


GI2MR: Sherpa's Program from Dhrumil Purohit on Vimeo.

raw chocolate mousse...

Finally got around to using that Irish Moss in my cupboard and made some delicious Raw Chocolate Mousse from the Cafe Gratitude Cookbook, 'I Am Grateful.'. It was delectable and delightful. My temporary roommates are all now cacao-addicted. Here's the recipe:


1 oz. Irish Moss
1/2 cup water
4 cups almond milk (better if you make your own, though you can get some store bought)
1/2 cup date paste (you can make your own by blending pitted dates)
3/4 cup agave
pinch of salt
splash of vanilla
3/4 cup raw cacao powder
3 TB lecithin
1 cup coconut butter

Directions:

Blend soaked Irish moss and water extremely well.(One of the reasons why a Vita-mix or other high speed blender is ideal.)
Add all the other ingredients, except the lecithin and coconut butter.
Keep blending until the mixture is smooth.
Add lecithin and butter and blend another 30-40 seconds.
Pour the mousse into cups and decorate with flower or cacao nibs.

Raw Thanksgiving in the Bay

I will post some recipes tomorrow or Wednesday for those of you who want to make some raw Thanksgiving dishes at home, but for those of you that live in the Bay Area and want to go out Wednesday night and all day Thursday, here is the breakdown of raw Thanksgiving events:

Wednesday, November 26th

Alive!'s Pre-fix Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner
Time not listed - I am waiting for a callback.
Alive! Veggie
1972 Lombard St (@ Webster)
415.923.1052
$50 Pre-fix Menu

Menu:

Pumpkin Smoothie
Butternut Squash Soup
Celery Root Salad
Pomegranate Fennel Salad
Pumpkin Shiitake Mushroom Torte
Sweet Potato Bread Pudding
Black Forest Chocolate Cake

Thursday, November 27th

Thanksgiving Brunch at Peña Pachamama's
Organic Vegan Raw-Living Menu from 10 to 2:30 PM
Peña Pachamama
1630 Powell Street (between Union & Green in North Beach)
415.646.0018
I believe the cost is between $5-8 per dish
(go with a group of friends so you can try more dishes!)

Here's the menu:

Thanksgiving Pecan Nut Loaf
Onion Mushroom Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Butter Nut Squash
House-made Cranberry Sauce
Green Casserole
Chocolate tacos
Pumpkin Pie
Carmelized pecans
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream


Free annual Thanksgiving lunch at Cafe Gratitude



11-3pm
Thanksgiving lunch served only at the SF Harrison, Berkeley and Healdsburg locations.
For the addresses of those locations, check their site
Free! (this means there will be a long wait - get there early!)

The meal is usually some sort of delicious pâté with crackers, salad, a drink and a slice of pumpkin pie, but perhaps they will surprise us.

**This is a free event, so if you can volunteer to help with the insane crowds, they would love servers and prep folks.


An Invitation to Celebrate an Evening of community, Love and Nutrition: Thanks Giving Dinner with Briksha
7pm-11pm
Yoga Society Of San Francisco
2872 Folsom Street
$40.00 if paid before evening of 25th, $50.00 afterward.

Menu includes:

*Mock Turkey
*Cranberry Sauce
*Lovely Sweet Potatoes
*Really Raw Mashed Potatoes
*Pure Pumpkin Pie
*Stuffed Veggie
*Indian Raw main dish (Masala Gobi) w/Hemp Seed-Curry Dressing
*Hemp Ice cream (Vanilla and Chocolate)
*Healthy Drinks (Kombucha,Chai etc.)

Pre-Registration is required for this event. For more information, or to register contact Briksha at briksha@rays-mandala.org or 415.503.7802