Against all odds I will continue to go to extraordinary measures.

First of all I'd like to say how grateful I am to have made it home right now. Turns out the down pour of rain in Los Angeles is not over with as I thought it was. Today I decided to take a walk and see where it would lead me with no plan set in mind. I arrived at the coffee shop by my house which I love and is a local la fave of mine for amazing food and baked goods. With my journal in tow I sat there and stared out the window at the clouds in the sky looming over what is normally a very sunny place. It has not been for the past week or so and I have totally been okay with it as I draw inspiration from it. I draw inspiration from the change it brings that is, which reminds me yet again that the only thing certain is change. I received an email yesterday from my best friend proclaiming hey stranger and suggesting I must be thrilled with the weather. I am thrilled with the weather and I apologize to all my friends for my lack of contact. It is not intentional by any means I am simply exhausted but grateful for the reasons why. Let me explain.

As many of you know by now I am part of a team of five people who are donating six months of our lives to produce a fundraiser and train volunteers to make the 2010 UNICEF Tap Project
, which provides children in underdeveloped countries clean water, a success. Being on this journey has brought back memories of one I took not too long ago and which prompted my way of living with awareness. Mind you I was always a risk taker but I just didn't always have the awareness I do now. All of us were assigned to be head of something based on our expertise and past experience with non-profits although all decisions are made as a team. I was assigned as head of the fundraiser which allowed me to open up my contact book and get to work with one sole intent in mind the entire time, getting those children clean water. The ones I long to meet face to face one day when my journey with UNICEF takes me in that direction but for now I am exactly where the universe needs me doing exactly what they need me to do.

Back in 2007 I was also exactly where I needed to be doing exactly what I needed to be doing. Touring with my play and donating the proceeds to a different non-profit art related organization in each city. The simplest way to answer people's constant question then, "don't you need to make money before giving it away?", is to say "don't I need to risk and get lost in the unknown in order to know faith?" It was in the end what my gut and soul where asking me to do. What I was living was showing me the way and quite frankly this you could only understand by being me and walking in my shoes. So bottom line was I had to continue to go to where my heart was leading even if the road got bumpy, dark, and felt isolating and as if I were lost. Doing so taught me something I will always take with me, God is my compass and through the universe it/she/he/ewa/nothingness communicates with me through signs and where it leads I will gladly follow. Life is too short and too uncertain for me to do otherwise. This is a short video recapping the tour of The Art of Being.



Thanks to that experience my contact book grew tremendously prompting people to question how did I do it? Get not only in touch with the heads of major corporations and get a response but also have companies like Southwest Airlines enable my work by donating airline tickets. Or companies like Amoeba Music donate funds so I could continue my work. The list of those who have joined me on my journey and supported my vision truly is endless and continues to grow but the answer is simple. I am simply the vessel for work that needs to get done and the universe always knows when something is genuine. That has been shown to me in many ways over and over. Like I told Shari, "you can cheat others, you can cheat yourself but you can't cheat the universe, it knows." Which is why these doors I knocked on were opened to me. The intent behind the knock has never been to solely to serve me or get the world to love me and see how great I am. I love myself and I know nothing absolutely nothing that comes from outside of me could make me feel worthy. It is always and will always be about the work. And while some of you may be tired of my knock, you know who you are, I hope that it is my passion for the mission that allows you to understand why I can't stop knocking. ;-)

However for me things have not been tremendously easy. They've always had a flow to them which allowed to see I was being led but there has always been a hurdle or a bumpy road. While I am of the belief that life is what you believe it is, life has also taught me that life happens on its terms and while we may want to believe we control outcomes we most certainly do not and that is the lesson I am faced with accepting once again. I have tried every avenue possible to ensure our fundraiser a headliner which will ensure us ticket sales which will then allow us to have money for UNICEF to distribute to the four countries receiving it this year via clean water. The intent is clean water for children in underdeveloped countries. It's that simple.

My efforts in return received an amazing venue willing to let us use it free of charge, amazing talent who immediately said yes, and donors who have in one way or another donated something that allows this project to have a voice and reach audiences to create awareness of what a truly big problem this is. Just because it isn't here it doesn't mean it isn't happening or can't happen here. To see what I mean take a look at my proudest commercial ever. One I received no pay for but one that allows me to be here today typing this as it led to me becoming an honorary Ambassador for UNICEF and then a Tap Project City Coordinator.




So this week as I faced a looming extended deadline to attach a headliner I tried everything within my power to have one by today. I do not but here is where my journey becomes magical. Last night I cried and cried. They were tears of surrender and accepting God's will and knowing that once again as usual I could not control the outcome and I could force no one to headline all I could do was work hard which I had done. I was accepting yet again the beauty of life on life's terms. I have been here before many times and I have proven repeatedly that a devastating no always leads way to a AMAZING YES! It just never is on my time or deadlines it's always on God's time. As the old saying goes, "If you want to make God laugh tell em your plans." It's laughing that's for sure. ;-)

Last night as I cried and watched Elizabeth the Golden Age for the second time this week a magical moment happened. Just as the storm she faces in the film while she awaits the Spanish Armada ships to arrive in England and destroy it the winds current takes a change as it did outside my door just at the exact same moment. I opened the door to find thunder and lighting giving the usual sunny LA skies a different shape and color. I smiled at the universe as the clouds above passed through changed colors and reaffirmed yet again that I am not alone, being guided and change is coming. Yes once again the winds of change are upon me, my colleagues, and the children that brought us together.

I have been brought here to be of service to UNICEF as have my colleagues and we will forge ahead like warriors and get our headliner always knowing when to let go and let God. This would be a good time to thank them for their patience with my constant phrase at all our meetings, "the universe will conspire." I know it's probably hard to believe that now and a lot is at risk right now but as I've learned these past four years, the bigger the risk the bigger the reward. After all faith isn't something you have when everything is going well, faith is something you need when all appears to not be going they way you intended. Key word appears because as Emerson has said, "All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen." We aren't alone in this fight. With headquarters permission, tbd, we will move forward on God's time and get our headliner and your support at our fundraiser on March 25, 2010 at The Conga Room
at Downtown Live in LA. Yes my dear lovely colleagues: Nina, Ruby, Justin, and Sarah once again I say to you THE UNIVERSE WILL CONSPIRE. How, when, and where only time will tell. As I await our next step I find solace in this stunning song.


The most commonly asked question is why I am doing this free of charge during this economy? Followed by "it's too risky." I wish I had an answer full of wisdom but the truth is I like nature am simply being. I hope you are too and that your love for yourself, life and others grows more everyday not in spite of adversity but because of adversity allowing you to trust that like anything in life that is worth it you are too! Trust the journey and I know you will find your inner warrior. I now "against all odds" will continue to go to extraordinary measures with God and the universe guiding and lighting my way to ensure these children with names, hopes, and dreams just like you and me a chance at making them come true by giving their bodies its basic human right, clean water. I leave you with this question to ponder, "If we aren't here for each other than what are we here for exactly?"