See entire June 20, 2012 newsletter including upcoming show guests

(And why it’s green)

As I have said before, I seem to have an infinite number of topics to write about every other week when newsletter time comes around. Is Green Whirling Dervish Brain an official diagnosis? What popped up most for me for this newsletter is PLAY and how important it is to remember that sustainability is an inside job. (Coming soon as the last chapter in my book…) I don’t have to conduct a major research project to know that, in general, we don’t play enough.

Please stay with me. First of all, I am reading a book called Finding Your Way in a Wild New World by Martha Beck. My friend Kathy Sawyer literally called for an emergency face-to-face so she could give me the book. Once the mission was accomplished, I dug in. The book was filled with yellow-stickies, along with an array of exclamation points, smiley faces and check marks, lovingly made for me – all in green highlighter of course. Since Martha Beck is literally an advisor to Oprah, she had instant credibility with me. Little did I know what I was in for, but I digress.

I hope you will buy the book and read it because it’s life changing. Here’s my take on what Martha has to say about play. “To thrive in our wild new world, you’d be well advised to play until you can’t think.” She talks about how as adults most of us tell ourselves that playing is a “leisure time” activity, NOT to be confused with productive work, NOR to be taken to excess. She cleverly uses Peter Pan & Captain Hook as an example of how Peter’s refusal to grow up ultimately led to his defeating Hook. Ms. Beck takes it a bit deeper and talks about real play actually being a wildly creative application of deep practice – like picking something hard and doing it at a level that’s almost too difficult. Like building your own radio studio and launching an internet radio show perhaps?

Here is my request: while you are reading this newsletter, press pause, right here. Ask yourself if you are playing enough? Do you sing in the car like you ARE your favorite singer? (I do) Do you EVER dance like no one is watching? (I do) When was the last time you called in to work for a play day? You can’t say that to some employers but good, progressive ones encourage mental health days and insist that employees take their vacation time. (Getting better at this one and letting my team know when I am going off the grid.) When was the last time, if ever, you said to your kids “no school today, we are taking a road trip and going on a picnic”? When was the last time you picked one day and didn’t even LOOK at your to do list? You get the picture.

Here’s my very personal share. When my friend Mary told me about a month ago to try taking my oars out of the water, to stop rowing so hard upstream to expand Mrs. Green’s reach, and to just allow, I felt like someone had thrown ice cold water in my face — in a really good way. If I don’t stop to play, to read, to have fun, to practice intentional acts of girlfriend time, to go to Heavenly Feet, to make it a great and FUN day at VerVe getting a pedicure, how can I be a voice for sustainability? I have to sustain me first so I can help with this big thing I have said yes to.

And guess what is happening? My creativity level is high. My team is more relaxed. My book is almost finished. Our contest with Miraval was successful beyond belief. Our tribe is growing. New partners are appearing and getting excited about co-creating. Bookmans Entertainment Exchange is making one of my dreams come true – stay tuned for The Silent Killer (plastic bags.) Some of my friends and I have come up with a code for spontaneous, late afternoon gatherings. MMAR – meet me at Renee’s. Our most recent gathering lasted three hours. It renewed my soul. I am also meeting new friends and getting the hit that our relationships are all part of finding our way together in this wild new world. I hope this doesn’t sound narcissistic because I don’t believe it’s all about me – ever. But I want you to know I am walking the walk and I hope you will join me. To playing!

And the Winner Is…

Our contest with Miraval exceeded our expectations at every level. It was a long contest (6 weeks) with a record number of entries. We had winners from all over the country and received really nice emails from everyone who won the Mindful Eating cookbook. People rave about it as do I. My favorite quote from one friend who actually bought the cookbook was “I love it that they have recipes for cocktails in it!” I was thrilled that Miraval shared their chocolate chip recipe. And I have to admit that I was ecstatic when I got the call that Kelly Medvec was the winner. I know her personally so they let me make the call. She was thrilled beyond belief (and who wouldn’t be over the moon to win a 2 night/3 day stay at Miraval?) and said she never wins anything. What a first!

Find out who the cookbook winners are and about Kelly’s GRAND prize by visiting Mrs. Green’s World. We’ll keep the information up until Friday.

See entire June 20, 2012 newsletter including upcoming show guests