Consider for a minute that you are merely an organism on this planet. You are the result of every effect following another effect so far back that we cannot make out the fuzzy long distance image of what an original cause might have been. This moment you are experiencing right now is exactly what needs to happen and is what creates the moment you are experiencing now just seconds later. Imagine that there are countless timelines all moving forward and intersecting each other, with every person, every animal, every molecule experiencing a varied experience of the very same shared moment in history.

Life is so beautiful because of it’s diversity/difference and rich lush landscapes with one complex harmony of structures meeting another. The intricate network of nutrients in transit in the structure of a leaf sits against the cold lifeless concrete that’s been from the soil, to the factory, to the truck, laid down by a worker and has now seen thousands of these leaves live and die against it. When I slow down and think about the complexity of every object, every being, every aspect of my daily experience, I find that not only is the world inherently forever in motion and constantly changing but that each and every state of every thing is perfect.

The Occupy San Francisco encampment was receiving so many food donations last week, they had to turn generous people away. Across the nation companies, organizations and individuals have shown their support for the Occupy movement by contributing supplies to the camps of people who now occupy public zones in reportedly more than 1,000 U.S. cities. These citizens are not merely erecting tents and staying the night, however: there is incredible organization going into the demonstrations. Many encampments have their own first aid tents, communications areas, and, of course, food tables. All the effort going into creating these temporary mini-cities reveals how popular the movement has become in the month it’s been active.

How did Occupy Wall Street begin?

The Canadian anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters first proposed the idea of occupying the New York financial district in late summer of this year, circulating a poster showing a dancer atop the Wall Street bull and posing the question, What is Our One Demand? Since the protests began September 17, many demands have emerged, including ending corporate personhood, raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, shrinking the income gap between rich and poor, and reforming campaign finance laws. With its strident and raucous anti-capitalism stance, we could have expected Adbusters to launch a fringe movement that would fail to capture the hearts of a majority of citizens; however, widespread anger at the state of the economy and exploitation by corporate power have caused the movement to move towards the mainstream. Time magazine, for example, recently reported that 54% of Americans approve of Occupy.

Where does Cafe Gratitude fit into all of this excitement? Well, if you haven’t heard, our LA location just trucked a big batch of Grateful Bowls over to Occupy Los Angeles to feed the people camping outside City Hall (see the video below!). Ryland Engelhart, general manager at Gratitude LA, explained that he sees the Occupy movement as a call for unification from people across the country. Americans are feeling separated from each other and from our institutions, he says, and this may be a chance to bring us all together to improve our society. Luckily, the tent village in the City of Angels was still in need of food, so Ryland was not turned away and protesters got to enjoy delicious organic vegan meals!

We can connect food to the Occupy movement in more ways than simply feeding the demonstrators, however. A great article in Mother Jones has just been published, illustrating how the financial industry is not the only economic behemoth that has been consolidating power and causing angst for the majority of Americans. The food industry, the article claims, is even more consolidated and monopolistic than the financial sector. For example, just four companies produced 75 percent of cereal and snacks, 60 percent of cookies, and half of all ice cream in the U.S. in 2002. And since then, not much has changed, although the food movement is gaining steam, and will ramp up its power this October 24, the first-ever National Food Day.

Here’s hoping that the people on the streets keeping eating well, and that we can all start understanding that we’re going to need a movement as powerful as Occupy Wall Street to reform our current food system!

WE are finding lots of opportunities to shift our attention to being grateful recently. Some days I think our commitment to writing our next book on community building is bringing up a lot of resistance for us to work through. Whatever it is, gratitude is a wonderful pathway to centering us in the present moment, where we have much to be grateful for. 

Yesterday one of our farm members totaled our car on his way home from a party. We are so grateful no one was hurt and although the loss was great it certainly could have been so much worse. Tomatoes and blackberries are abundant, corn plants have tassels, peaches are starting to change color, small chicks are on their own out in the field, leadership training is coming up soon.

Watch for dates for the next farm dinner and come see the beauty of farm life.

Sometimes being with the upset of others is easy for me.  When my best friend, or my lover come to me, complaining, afraid and resistant, sometimes a soft smile will grace my face.  Of course, I’m not happy that they are upset, but I am able to stand and watch their stormy emotions, be present for their experience of fear and separation, and smile at the beautifully human experience that they get to have, and that they will watch me have some day.  I choose loving them unconditionally, and so I choose to be present for their upsets too.

With other people – coworkers, acquaintances, and friends’ partners - it can be more challenging to hold the seat of unconditional love. I think part of the challenge here comes from my ego trying to insist that, “I didn’t choose these people!”  Speaking from experience, I can say that it is much harder for me to be present for someone’s upset when I feel like I didn't choose them and want them to go away.

Today, I am practicing choosing people that are a stretch for me to love.  It allows me to accept my coworkers upset when I can see that I choose them to do my life’s work with.  I can be more patient with a friend’s partner when I see that I choose them, as a human being who is trying to live  in integrity and learn about love.  As for those acquaintances that I just want to go away?  Maybe I can choose them, choose being their friend, and in doing so choose the parts of me that are afraid to be left out.

Seven years ago today I was 19 years old and running away from a flirtatious and awkward 18 year old boy who wouldn't give up on me.  For months prior I kept giving hints that I wanted to be friends and nothing else.  I felt weird that he wasn't getting it, and I wasn't certain enough to outright tell him.  

We met online.  I was desperate for a roommate at the time and he thought that I was interesting.  I met him at my favorite smoothie/tea shop and he gave me my favorite movie on DVD (which he bought in preparation for our first meeting) before I even sat down.  He quickly became one of my best friends and we started working together dressing up as Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam for a tax company (which was far beyond his comfort zone, but allowed him to be close to me).  He obviously wasn't having a good time dressing up and waving at cars (something that I felt inspired about at the time).  We didn't have much in common.  I was a newfound feminist student activist; he was a programmer and gamer.  I was weary about dating him because I didn't see us having similar goals or even similar languages. I was the type of person that wore a prom dress made of duct tape.  He was the type of person who left high school out of disinterest.  

He made advances that pushed at the boundaries of friendship and I nervously rejected them, unsure of how such a relationship would work.  While sitting on the couch, he would reach for my hand or lean in for a kiss.  I didn't know how to react and so I didn't say anything and carefully avoided him in romantic settings.  I thought maybe something was wrong with him because I didn't understand why someone would be so intensely interested in me.  

At Cafe Gratitude, we experience our community as ever inclusive, larger than life, and growing every day.  Even so, it is thrilling to find whole new chapters of our extended family who have been inspired by our offerings, and who are crafting powerful, abundant, conscious, lives.  That being said, I would like to introduce you to Tangee, a passionate writer, mother, performance artist, and dedicated eco-scout, who has been practicing conscious parenting with her "hubby" for their "lil munchkin," Andrik.  They all belong to a cohesive community of conscious parents called Family Love Village.  It is a real joy and a wonder to follow this group of parents and parents-to-be as they journey together, sharing a path of joy and commitment.

"The Family Love Village is a cohesive community where other like-minded parents support one another with alternative, natural, positive, eco-friendly and conscious parenting choices. It’s a sacred place where judgments are left at the door and loving trust and bonds are formed.   It's a forum where we can discuss and share our concerns, frustrations, and triumphs, as well as create the space to be open to learn more tools that help guide us on this cognizant parenting journey – knowing that we’re not alone on this parenting path!"

Cafe Gratitude celebrates Family Love Village for embracing a conscious lifestyle, fulfilling on the promise of community, and creating a better future for all of our children, "one cloth diaper and green toxic-free toy at a time."

This week I invite you to give it up.  

I've lead my share of protests and studied resistance movements.  I've emerged myself into identity politics quandaries and alliance building.  Trust is something that I've only given when there's evidence, which isn't really trust at all, but more like math:  for every time someone "double-crosses" me, I take one steps back in trusting that person again.  For every time I was fulfilled I take one step forward.  This dance in the end has me living life in place, static and stale.  I've held back, been defensive and then gathered evidence for the troubles of world and stayed at home.

An amazing friend of mine is a huge inspiration to me in regards to trust.  She has had her fair share of discouragements and falls in relationships and jobs.  She's been hurt, refused, turned against and abused.  Moving from one job to another and one relationship to another... she's never been single and not looking for a partner.