Friday, December 28, 2012

Los Angeles "ORPHAN'S" POTLUCK

2012 “Orphan’s who are stuck in LA Christmas Potluck”
Pics from the event: http://bit.ly/COPl2012

No One Should Be alone for Christmas 

My first few Christmases in Los Angeles I was alone, unable to fly home to join my family and it sucked. A couple of years ago I found out the week after Christmas that a few of my friends were also stuck in LA alone and I thought there was no point to that since we were all in town... all feeling lonely on Christmas day. If only we all had known, we could have been each other's company. I've done a couple of these “Orphan’s of LA potluck” parties thus far and they have been wonderful experiences with amazing people.

WHAT IS IT?
Essentially, it is a place to go on Christmas day so people don’t have to be alone.  I send out a lot of invites (about 3,000) to spread the word to my community in Los Angeles and instruct them to spread the word to their communities, that if they are alone on Christmas day, or know someone who will be, they now have a place to come and spend the day. I open up my home to old friends, new acquaintances and a lot of strangers, which are friends that I haven’t met yet.  All are people who would otherwise be alone on Christmas day.

THE RESULT?
A little over 40 people showed up on Christmas day with various assortments of treats, wines and dishes from the parts of the world that they originally traveled to Los Angeles from. About 85% of them were people I was meeting in person for the first time. There was a sense of hope and thankfulness in the air as each person arrived, not quite knowing what they should expect.  I was greeted with lots of “Thank you so much for opening your home to us.” And “I am so thankful to have a place to spend Christmas day.”  Throughout the day everyone relaxed into this new environment that was filled with people they didn’t know when they first arrived.  I could see friendships forming and kindred spirits finding each other. I felt a little like an observer, watching from a distance as I floated around fulfilling my role as host.  I was fully engaged with each person I spoke with, yet mindful of the person who may have felt like they were the “new person” and needed a few introductions to help them get started on their journey to making new friends. 

It was a wonderfully fulfilling day and I would recommend hosting this type of event to anyone who has the means to do so. It doesn’t have to be on Christmas day, any day will do.  The goal should be to bring your current community together and build it with people you don’t currently know.  Helping to connect people will ultimately help all of us to break down walls and to build a stronger community overall.

It is my hope that, by raising awareness of the Christmas Orphan's Potluck, other's will be inspired to do the same thing in their own communities throughout the year.  By opening their homes to people they may not know, in an effort to show love to their community, it will ultimately lead to more connectedness and other acts of kindness.  It is like a large pebble being thrown into a pond of separateness.  The ripples of that one kind act affect the lives of everyone who attended the potluck or heard about the potluck.  Each of those people then becomes a potential new pebble to be thrown into that same pond.  It will directly and indirectly influence many lives and lead to more acts of kindness, and ultimately connectedness within more communities.

You may not see the potential power of this sort of thing but trust me, as I have experienced it, you will absolutely touch people’s lives in a positive way when you open yourself up to them in this way. You will be an example for others to follow.  What if the Gandhi of tomorrow is completely unaware of his or her own potential until your act of kindness ignites a spark in that person’s heart, which is then fanned into a flame of compassion for the world that burns so bright, the world itself is changed.

You can start the dominos falling in the direction of kindness throughout this world. It starts with YOU, not your neighbor, your sibling, your partner, your parents, someone you feel is more qualified, etc. You already have everything you need to start today.  Start with one small act of kindness and let it grow from there.  YOU ARE AMAZING my friend.  Continue to let your light shine and decide to bring your awesome self to the world every day.  Let that be one of your gifts to the world. 
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I'm the guy just left of the middle, in the green sweater, santa hat, a big cheesy smile and two thumbs up. :-) 




The next two pictures are from the people who showed up in the evening. 









Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Clarity within a tragedy


With a huge national spotlight shining on Sandy Hook Elementary School, causing such a focus on the idea of gun control, I felt I should address the issue.

Before I go any further, I want to express my deepest condolences to the parents, family members, loved ones and friends of all of the victims of the shooting that day.  I don’t have any children of my own so I can’t even to begin to understand the deep sorrow felt by the loss of a child.  I very much love and cherish children, and have a passion to protect, nurture and encourage them.

The reason I started this blog, although it has evolved, was to speak to young people with a message of hope, inspiration and encouragement.

Since I first heard of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School a few days ago, the coverage has brought the preceding subject to the forefront of my conscious mind.  I knew I wanted to address it, but one of my policies has always been that I do not engage in politically charged issues. The purpose of this blog is not to sway anyone’s political beliefs, but rather offer insight, encouragement and hopefully help people to see their own limitless potential that lays dormant inside of them. 

I will not offer any “answers”, only my observations and opinions. 

A quick aside:

I am very proud to have served as a member of the US Armed Services.  One of the reasons I did so is my deep-rooted belief that every human being is entitled to his or her own opinion and the right to believe the way they decide to, WITHOUT ridicule or oppression from others.  I volunteered to enlist and was willing to risk my life (if it should come to that) in service of this country, to hopefully preserve this freedom, among many others.  I will again offer that the following is my opinion based on my observations.

Despite the heightened state of emotional turmoil that this event seems to have brought about, one thing still seems very clear to me: this event has caused a shift in focus from the real issue at hand.

So much focus has been placed on the idea of gun control. I’ve heard some say, “If only he was not able to have those weapons then he never would have been able to commit such a heinous crime.” To this statement, I would offer that the man who committed this crime was mentally ill and would have found another means to express such violent acts, if he didn’t have firearms to do so.  The real issue is the man’s state of mental health and perhaps why it wasn’t addressed before it elevated to the horrific manifestation at the school.   Please don't misunderstand, I am NOT condoning his act, only pointing out another perspective.  

Before guns were available, people used blunt objects, knives, swords, bows & arrows, etc. to express violence.  Those same items were also used in hunting to provide for individuals and families, and for protection.  They are all simply tools to be used for good or for bad.  Much in the same way that money acts as an amplifier of what is in a human beings soul, so does the use of weapons, for either good or bad, reflect what is within a person’s heart. 

There have always been extreme expressions of hate, and equally there have always been extreme expressions of love and kindness.  It is not ours to call into question the objects used to manifest those expressions but rather the person who uses them. 

It’s almost a cliché at this point but it’s not the guns that kill people, it’s the people wielding the guns that make the decision to aim and pull the trigger. 

Before, during and after my service in the military, I received lots of training on how to properly use firearms and posses a level of respect for what they are capable of.  I am also a strong proponent of training and certification on the proper use and safety of firearms being required before someone is permitted to purchase or own one.

If you take guns away from law abiding citizens, who will go about acquiring them legally, the only people who will be left with weapons are criminals who are already breaking the law to posses them. 

An oppressive government very easily controls a people left unable to protect itself. “To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." George Mason, Co-author of the Second Amendment

By giving the government the power to limit ANY of our freedoms, you are saying they have the right to limit ALL of our freedoms. 

Taking away a foundational, Constitutional right, such as owning and possessing firearms, is opening a gateway to other freedoms being taken away.  Where would it stop?

Even if you believe in peace AS I DO, by forcing a choice onto anyone by limiting his or her rights, you have now mistaken oppression for peace.  YES, I want peace in this world but you will not change the human condition or even human nature by taking away a simple tool.  The tool is used as the human being decides to use it.

Peace will come through education and the spreading of LOVE.  As long as there is greed in the hearts of men, there also will lurk the seeds of evil deeds, which take root in the soul and blossom when in the search of quenching the thirst that greed creates.  There are so many more issues which could be addressed that I believe can contribute to peace, and most of them have to do with the foundation of who we are as human beings, not simply a symptom of the human condition. 

I will close with this; you may not agree with my opinions and that’s OK.  I completely respect yours.  All I ask is that you please be respectful of the fact that they are my opinions and we all have the right to believe as we decide to, WITHOUT oppression or ridicule from others.  Again, this is not an attempt to sway your political views, but rather to help offer clarity on the particular subject that has recently received a lot of attention.

As always, everything I write and post is intended with love and only to encourage you.  I believe in you my friend.  Have an amazing day.    


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Sunday, December 9, 2012

Thanksgiving



We live in such an amazing country at an amazing time in history.  I know it's a simple pleasure, but we have the ability to go to the store and buy food that we didn't have to grow, make, or do much work to acquire.  Again, I know it is something that most of us take for granted on a daily basis (multiple times throughout the day actually) but maybe we should spend a lot more time reflecting on the simple things that we are blessed with, and have been for so long that we have taken them for granted our entire lives.  So, before you thoughtlessly inhale your next meal, take a pause, study the food you are about to eat and think of everything it took for it to reach your plate.  Think of everything that you did not have to do for it to be there.  Think of all of the men, women and business involved in the process and be thankful for all of it.  Let that be a seed of thankfulness that bleeds over into the rest of your life.  Take a pause each moment to count another blessing that you have, perhaps, taken for granted in the past.  Awareness of the abundance that you already have in your life will put you in a state that will ultimately draw more of that abundance to you. Have a great night my friends. I am grateful for you (AND the Trader Joe’s pizza I just ate!)



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Acting Website: JaredDay.com 

Monday, September 17, 2012

What Is Sexy?



A few years ago I received an email from a female friend in her early 20's - who I had know for a few years - with recent photographs of herself, asking me, “Am I sexy now?” Intellectually I knew what her ego desired to hear. I decided to respond with what I felt that her heart and soul needed to hear more. She responded with tears of joy and asked me to share what I had written with others. Below is an excerpt from the email I sent her. It was the first blog I ever posted back in 2006, so I thought republishing it now would be a perfect way to kickoff this new blog. I genuinely hope you enjoy it, and that it can be nourishing to your heart. 

"Sexy is an attitude.  If not now, one day you will walk with more confidence and understand - and accept - your own attractiveness.  The more you realize this, the more confident and comfortable you will become with yourself.  That comfort is, in itself, a type of sexiness that only you can attain for yourself, through confidence in who you are as a person.  I hope that makes since.  If it doesn't now, it will one day.   

The more you grow as a person, the sexier you will become.  There is one key to that statement: Your heart has to grow along with the other parts of you.  We all possess some level of “Surface Beauty” and the confidence that comes along with that, but it is fleeting and temporary.  Even so, we all cling to and strive for it.  I am no exception.  But the key to being truly beautiful and truly sexy is to have a real awareness of the beautiful person that we are within.  Of course, you have to realize that there IS a really beautiful person in there.  


So, with that said, you have to continue to work on the person that you are to the core of yourself and your being.  Work on your Character: Integrity, having a strong moral fiber that intertwines throughout your entire foundation, and having an awareness and acknowledgement of the significance of others.  These are just a few things that make up your Character.  


Other than that, I think Sexy comes from: that sparkle in the eye of someone who truly loves themselves and others around them.  It is found in a smile that lights up the room and a genuine effervescence that bubbles out in the form of laughter from having a great sense of humor (and the ability to laugh at yourself!).  It lies in a gentle touch and warm caress of someone who possesses a nurturing spirit.  It is found in the arms of the person you love.  It is found in giving pleasure to the person you long to be with.  It is, in the midst of a deep kiss, breathing in the essence and passion of the person you are with.  It lies in many things, physical, mental and emotional.  Your sexiness is unique to you.  


Sexy is many things to many people.  The important thing is that YOU realize that you are sexy in your own way and you are only getting better as the days go by.  And because the days ARE going by, don’t get caught up in trying to be sexy and attractive to all people.  Just focus on being yourself and growing as a person every day and letting that be sexy to the right person.  


I will end with this: Believe in yourself, get better every day, always strive to be good, learn to be compassionate and forgiving of others and yourself when you mess up (and you will mess up). Love who you are now and who you are becoming.  So, YES you are sexy my friend."





YesICanNow Facebook group: http://bit.ly/YICNfb 
Acting Website: JaredDay.com 

Jared Day Mission Statement


"My desire is to transform the lives of every person I come in contact with, whether that be through a personal word of encouragement, something I write, or something I say from stage.  The purpose of my life is to inspire and uplift individuals to see themselves as they really are, unhindered by past experiences, and negative influences.  Human beings are unlimited, untapped potential and I want to help them to see themselves that way.  My desire is to help them to reach their full potential through my own personal experiences of overcoming adversity.  Everything that has happened to me in my life has given me a burning desire to empower the world, while advocating on behalf of those who have been told by life that they are not good enough.  I want to assure them, through my own example, that they are.  While my focus is on inspiring, encouraging and empowering children, I am an advocate for any human being, no matter their age." - Jared Day


YesICanNow Facebook group: http://bit.ly/YICNfb 
Acting Website: JaredDay.com