“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
~ Margaret Meade

I remember it like yesterday. Two years ago I’ve embarked on a journey of pure serendipity. I left a relatively secured job to join a start up with a team of idealistic people I haven’t even met in person before. The reason I took the job was to experience change in my life while doing something that would have an impact in other people’s lives. Our team believed that social networking technology can be used to inspire and empower people by providing an online oasis where they can have meaningful conversations, freely express their beliefs, dreams, interests, creativity, and spirituality, without worrying about being judged and ridiculed. It was the early days of Zaadz.

Running a social network is as challenging as it is rewarding. Slowly but surely we grew our humble community. We resisted the urge of growing too quickly by focusing on quality of members rather than quantity. As a result, our growth was slow and organic. And therein lies our biggest challenge: sustainability. Our team and CEO at that time, Brian, had to make a hard choice: pack it up and call it a day, break up the team and keep on going, or keep the team and the community intact by finding a company that aligns with our vision and values. GAIAM came to the rescue. It was a perfect fit. Zaadz eventually transformed into Gaia Community. Our niche community continued to flourish.

Fast forward a year later, our biggest challenge–sustainability–is still there, only this time the harsh reality of our current economy had caught up on us as well. To make the long story short, GAIAM had to make cutbacks. Unfortunately, my position was one of those affected. So as of yesterday, I’m no longer working for Gaia Community.

[NOTE: See Siona's blog for details. To all Gaia Community members: I may no longer work for Gaia but I'm still part of our community. Time-permitting, I'll continue to visit, interact, and answer your questions. So feel free to email me and drop by my grapevine once in a while ]

In spite of what happened, I’m still grateful for the opportunity to build something that is meaningful to others. Over the years I’ve met a lot people, online and offline, who had expressed their gratitude and love for the community we’ve started. I often hear the expression, “Thank you for what you do. I feel at home here,” whenever people describe their experience on Gaia. This made me proud and gave me goosebumps. How often do we hear people thanking us for making their lives a little better? I never got tired of hearing praises like that during my stay with Gaia. I’ll miss that part of my job.

Another thing I would terribly miss is my daily interaction with the Gaia team. I work remotely and have had very minimal physical interaction with them, but we’re like kindred souls online. It was a pleasure to share with them this journey. They’re the most passionate and compassionate people I’ve worked with. I wish them well.

Finally, I’ve also greatly benefited from Zaadz/Gaia on a personal level. For instance, I was able to work remotely from Ireland to be with my (then) future wife. Zaadz/Gaia will always be part of our family story.

So, what am I going to do next?

Short answer: I don’t know. A part of me wants to continue to find fulfulling work wherein I can leverage all the things I’ve learned from growing online communities, community support, moderation, social networking, and social media strategies. But another part of me wants to take the path of least resistance and go back to the corporate world of cubicles, office politics, status reports, and endless unproductive meetings. If it’s just me, I would take the former option. But the reality is that there are people who depend on me, so I’m considering the latter. I may be an idealist, but I’m also a practical person. Thanks to my pragmatic personality and my Asian cultural upbringing.

In any case, the biggest challenge for me is dealing with homeostasis. For the past couple of years I’ve gotten used to working remotely. As soon as I got up in the morning I was only a few steps away from work. There were days when I didn’t even bother to take a shower or change my sleeping clothes. (I sometimes teased my teammate, Matthew, that I work naked. I think he liked it.) I’ll miss the freedom, flexibility, and the less carbon-footprint lifestyle (i.e. for two years, I didn’t have to drive to work). I’m hoping I can telecommute in my next job.

Another adjustment I’d have to deal with is that, I won’t have the privilege of spending as much time online as I did before. I’ll do my best to keep up with my (hyper)streaming practice. But I’ll probably go under the radar again. I’m not comfortable mixing my online and personal/career life.

In the meantime, I’ll use my free time to reflect on things I’ve been putting off. One door closes, another opens. But I’m not getting any younger. So it’s time I shift my attention to what really matters.

P.S. Touched to my tenderness. This is why I will miss Gaia – http://bit.ly/2MpZ9d. I’m honored to have served you. Thank you for the opportunity.

Just got back from the Gaia gathering here in the Seattle area (more
accurately, Kirkland WA where I live). There were five of us in the
group. As you can see in the photo we had a cozy and fun gathering
(even if we’re camera shy).

You might be wondering what those books in the photo were for. Here’s what happened.

Prior to the meetup I asked the attendees to bring one of their favorite books — a book that had changed their lives or had shifted their thinking. During the meet up each of us gave away our favorite book to other attendees. Here’s where the “magic” comes in. We did it by intuition.

We didn’t have pre-agreed upon instructions on how to do the book swapping. It all happened spontaneously. I just started out by presenting my favorite book (The Weblog Handbook by Rebecca Blood, see my review here), talked about why the book was important to me, and then I gave the book to the person whom I felt could use the book.

For instance, I just had a feeling that Alana would benefit greatly from the book so I just followed my intuition and handed it to her. Don’t ask me to explain it. It just felt right. I think the feeling was the same with the other attendees. I’ll let them tell the story from their point of view. Hopefully, they blog about it

Another purpose of the book swapping is paying it forward and letting go of attachment. The book swap is not temporary; we gave our books away. It’s easy to give away something that has no value. It’s a lot more challenging to part with something that has a special meaning to us.

We concluded our meetup by watching a short inspirational film courtesy of Spiritual Cinema Circle. (Disclosure: I work for Gaia. Same as Gaia Community, Spiritual Cinema Circle is also part of the GAIAM
family. I’ve requested a bunch of sample DVDs from our head office and gave it away as thank you gifts to all who attended our small gathering.) All in all we had a fun and meaningful afternoon.

So that’s how our meet up went. It was cozy, insightful, and serendipitous.

Thanks to O.M. Bastet, Marianna, and Alana for attending the Gaia gathering. Special thanks to my wife (a.k.a. ~myDakini) for preparing a delicious Filipino meal. Our meet up wouldn’t have been as enjoyable without an abundance of food

If you’re planning to have a Gaia gathering in your community, I suggest that you give the intuitive book swapping a try. Or, maybe have a DVD house party with a meaningful movie and discuss how each of you relate with the theme of the film. That’s sure to bring up a lot of interesting conversations.

Looking forward to our next gathering.

P.S. Check out how other Gaia Community members had celebrated our 2008 Global Gaia Gathering. Keep watching this link to see who are blogging about it: http://www.gaia.com/blog/tags/ggg2008

You’re more of a role model to us than movie
stars, athletes, artists, nobel laureates, business moguls, or rock
stars. But when all things are said and done we’re the ones who will
shape our own destinies. So it’s enough that you were there being an
instrument in giving us the opportunity to witness what love, sadness,
happiness, and life are all about.

Thank you and Happy Father’s Day.

What
have you learned from your mother? If you could share something with
your mum, wherever she is, what would you say? How has your mother
inspired you?

My mom thought me patience, kindness, humility, compassion, forgiveness, and the Golden Rule.

I love you, Mama. Thanks for bringing me into this world. I’m sorry for the times I’m not there when you needed me. So here’s one of the greatest songs ever written for a super mom like you. Any way the wind blows… I’m always thinking of you.

Today is Pangea Day, a global event meant to bring the world together through the use of film.

If
you could make a movie about something, knowing it would be seen around
the world, what would you choose? What story would you tell?

A film about a post-singularity
world when humankind had achieved convergence of technology and
spirituality on a planetary scale. The Matrix, Blade Runner, and Star
Trek all rolled into a futuristic dystopian saga.

I’m still thinking of a working title…

(Earth Energy photo via Auntie K)

Today is Earth Day. I’m contemplating on our human footprint and celebrating Earth Week. Aside from ecological observance, this day is relevant to me since I also work at Gaia — another stroke of serendipity.

But instead of just the usual environmental theme, I’d like to look at
the Earth from a grander cosmological perspective and reflect on why the 21st
century is a pivotal moment in the history of humanity. So here’s a
video of Sir Martin Rees at TED.

Here’s to our only planet!

(photo via ~jjjohn)

I believe that every day should be Earth Day.
Whether we care or not, whether we’re conscious of it or not, we’re
part of the Earth; we belong to the Earth; we’ll return to the Earth;
we are Earth.

Tomorrow is Earth Day. In observance of this annual celebration, I’ll be blogging about green things for the entire week and will tag my blogs with Earth Week. Keep on watching http://coolmel.gaia.com/blog/tags/earth+week

To kick off Earth Week, here’s the original 1983 video of "The Global Brain" by Peter Russell.
This video is from the 80s but it rings truer today. It’s a powerful
visualization tool for stepping back and taking a much much bigger and
more embracing perspective than we normally do in our every day lives.

Depends on the nature of love that we are expressing towards another.

For Eros or romantic love,
I show it by means of respect, constant reminder of admiration (cheesy
as it may be, the words "i love you" still packs a powerful punch when
delivered at the right moment when the other person least expect it),
whispering sweet nothings about the past and the future, and a
transcendent kiss to my beloved.

For Philia (or friendship love),
I show it by being honest, loyal, and available when the person needs
me; by being a good friend with no-bullshit. This means keeping my
circle of friends small and cozy.

For Agape (or universal love),
I constantly attempt to improve on this by being as compassionate and
open-minded as I can towards other people’s beliefs, but with minimal idiot compassion. This is where the Golden Rule (or Ethic of Reciprocity) comes in handy.

This woman is the beacon in my life. ‘Nuff said.

My inner fool is fooling around in virtual reality right now. I’ve always wanted to do Tai Chi while wearing an expensive silk kimono. It sounds foolish but it looks cool in-world.