Pleasure is Reality

Humanity is addicted to pleasure - and that's not a bad thing. Kabbalistically, pleasure is the only true reality. Love and goodness and joy — these are the attributes of the Light. The rest is illusionary.

Problem is, before coming down to the physical reality, our souls struck a deal with the Creator: let me earn my pleasure. So the Creator sends us painful situations and people that allow us to work for it. But most of us can't stand the pain so we run towards pleasure, the temporary kind.

Today, when you are on line for Starbucks waiting for your non-fat latte with extra foam, or sneaking a cigarette or surfing the internet while work awaits, check in with yourself. Why are you doing this action? Is there some uncomfortability you are avoiding?

Don't get off line, or stub out your cigarette. I'm not intending for this message to guilt trip you. Just pay attention to what you are doing. And learn from it. Always learn from it.

Sunday, June 8th: Kyle Mathis Salon in Santa Monica will Cut and Color for Raising Malawi

There is little I wouldn't do to help raise money for orphans and vulnerable children. Last year, I had this idea to host a dinner party and serve each guest one pea so they could appreciate the hunger and poverty Malawi's children live with each day. I'm glad I bounced my idea off a couple people first or I would've likely been entertaining alone with my small pot of peas.

I have since teamed up with four other women who have their own (much better) ideas for pulling off events to help raise awareness and funds for Raising Malawi. Our first event will be held at Kyle Mathis Hairdressing in Santa Monica on Sunday, June 8th from 10AM to 6PM. This new, upscale salon is offering half-price cuts and color with 100% of the proceeds going to Raising Malawi.

Our goal is to raise $10,000 and we need your hair to help us! Leah, Heather, Meital, Selen and myself (Julia) will all be there to pour wine and pamper (cheese, not peas), answer questions and run a silent auction to raise additional funds.

Make an appointment (310) 393-7947 or just drop in: 201 Wilshire Blvd #120 Santa Monica, CA 90401

Kyle Mathis offers other services (e.g., nail and brow waxing), so please pop in for something - even just to say hello.

We hope to see you there!

Thanks, Meital!

OK, so I said I wasn't going to count any donations from my team toward my Raising Malawi fundraising goal since the gals were already giving pretty regularly before they met me. But now that we're working so closely together and pooling all of our energies, the time has come.

This last $200 bump comes courtesy of my teammate and weekly brainstorming buddy, Meital Levi. This woman is a firecracker. No kidding. She lights wicks and cracks fires around everyone she meets. She is busy securing details for a super cool venue for one of our upcoming events. More to come on that, but I guarantee it will rock!

Stephen Colbert's Brilliant, Creative Fundraising

Stephen Colbert is my hero. I love how he uses his influence to do good in the world. When he "ran for president," supporters donated $66,000 to South Carolina classrooms in his honor. Recently, he ran his own philanthropic straw poll during the Pennsylvania primaries to see if Senators Clinton and Obama have what it takes to tango.

Over three weeks, citizen philanthropists gave $188,567 to classroom projects on DonorsChoose.org, reaching approx 44,550 Pennsylvania students from low-income communities.

Most people gave in honor of Obama:

Give in honor of Barack Obama
$159,347 raised
2,327donors
34,446 students reached

Give in honor of Hillary Clinton
$29,220 raised
327 donors
10,097 students reached

In case you missed them, here are two TV clips which inspired this outpouring of generosity:

Stephen Colbert kicks it off

Matt Lauer interviews Stephen Colbert

He's so genius. Remember when Ben & Jerry's came out with an ice cream in his honor?
Colbert donates his proceeds to charity to benefit various causes.

That's living the American Dream to its fullest!

Fundraising Malawi Team

I keep meaning to get a picture of the new Fundraising Malawi team. It's so nice to have a team! From left to right we are: Julia Silka. Meital Levi. Heather Lounsbury. Leah Reynolds. We're all pretty cool on our own, but we're really fabulous together. So fabulous, we seem to actually glow. Will get a better picture next week.

Also, update on the silent auction donations. My friend Minnie from work offered to donate 4 tickets with parking to a Dodgers game this summer.

Heather has a meeting tomorrow with a cool connection. I can't say just yet. I hope something comes of it.

Meital is working on a proposal to secure a hot venue in hollywood. I can't say just yet....but again, hope something cool comes of it.

Leah showed us some of this painter's work. He is going to donate a very nice piece for auction. I'll make a separate post for that once I have a chance to research him a bit more.

My friend Steve was supposed to call me tonight with some ideas, but evidently blew me off. Need to remind myself to give him grief tomorrow. ;)

That's it for today. I'm wiped. G'night.

Hey! I think I feel raindrops!

OK, so like two minutes after my earlier RainMaker post, I got an email from my friend's sister Molly Lopez who camped out at my pig-stye of a place in NYC as her new apartment was getting ready. I am renovating now. It's rough. Anyway, she donated $100 to Raising Malawi in a gesture of thanks, so that brings us to $30,533.57!

Me and my new team (Heather, Leah and Meital - we meet once a week) are also in the process of collecting donations for a silent auction(s) to be held in LA this summer. Details still to follow on that. So far we've got:

1. Four tickets to Cirque du Soleil show: KA in Vegas (David Duncan and his friend Mario)



David called his friend Mario - top marketing guy at Cirque du Soleil - who will donate 4 tickets to KA in Vegas. David offered to kick in for hotel to make it a travel package. (David...maybe we can call MGM and see if they can donate for whatever night and then you can kick in for something else or make your $1,000 contribution straight to Raising Malawi?)

2. Donated Downloads from new release; $30-40K potential (Rose Reiter)


This is not the download song, but it'll give you a feel for her music (nice, huh?). Rose just shot the video for her new release,"Can't Hold me Back", so I'll post that when it's ready. She is proposing to donate 50% of all digital downloads from day one release (June 1) until my goal date - Dec 25, 2008 - to Raising Malawi. So, quick math, if she had a goal of 100,000 downloads, then it would be about $30 - 40K to Raising Malawi. Any music gurus out there who know how to help us promote this?!

3. One African Djembe (Diana Fengler-Shores per Remo.com)
I work with Diana. She's into the whole new age thing (like me) and also drumming scene. I'm certifiably clueless about drums, but what she's shown me is beautiful. She just secured a donation of one large festival Djembe. In Africa, one of the Djembe's functions is as a healing drum. Remo Djembes are based on the same traditional Djembe tone and form combined with Remo's modern advances including a wide range of tuning systems, heads, finishes and sizes.

4a/b. A painting (details to follow) and Neil Lane Jewelery (Leah Reynolds and Neil Lane)

Leah, my Fundraising Malawi partner found someone to donate a painting. I'll update this post with the details after we meet tomorrow and I can remind myself of the specifics. She also works at DeBeers and would LOVE to sell a diamond to anyone shopping for a diamond. This way too, she'll have some more sway at the office, if you will, and can influence the powers that be to host an event at DeBeers, ideally this fall. When we do host (which we intend to), she secured a commitment for a piece of jewelry from Neil Lane. I'll get the specifics on that tomorrow.

5. One session of acupuncture with the fabulous Heather Lounsbury, L. Ac.
Heather (my other Fundraising Malawi partner) is donating a session of acupuncture. She's a doctor. I asked her about my neck pain and she diagnosed me as carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. I love Heather :)

6. Something good from me as soon as I get the inspiration.


I'm ready to do something big. Matching gift or something. Haven't figured out exactly what yet. I'm still sleeping on it.

Come on Rainmaker, Make it Rain

I'm back from a week in Orlando. My client does a lot of work with a company called Ideas to Go, which facilitates brainstorms with brand teams and consumers and then gets reactions to those ideas in focus groups, all in one week. This was my third trip down there and I'm fast becoming friends with Christine, one of their head facilitators.

Our client Linda (also fast friend) invited the two of us to dinner one night. We stayed well past closing thoroughly enjoying each other's company. Not the superficial type of company you tend to keep when you're traveling on business, but the real, authentic stuff that makes you think; that makes you want to go out and be more fabulous than you already are; that makes you "take pause" (inside joke) and smile at your good fortune to be able to live the life you do.

During our dinner conversation, I shared a bit about Raising Malawi. Christine, ex-camp director and experienced rainmaker offered to lend her brain to the cause. It's a good brain -- strategic and fun. I'm very excited! Meantime, she slipped me a check for $100, which I mailed off yesterday and will add to our running total, which brings us to $30,433.57 raised to date.

Many thanks, Christine Haskins!

When I got back home and checked my email, I had a note from a rep from More Magazine. Ladies, you know More don't you?

It's a national women's magazine geared towards women aged 40 to 59. They have a circulation of more than 1.2 million and total readership of 4.5 million. More was #1 and #2 on Ad Age's Hot List of magazines in '06 and '07 and a finalist for a National Magazine Award for general excellence last year, in a category with The New Yorker.

They're doing a story about women who are doing very creative things to raise money for their businesses or charity causes, and came across my blog. They needed to know more to see if I fit the right profile for their story, so send me good vibes, will you please?! What a cool honor it would be to be featured in More!

And if they do run the article, what a cool PR win for me to help with future fundraising! It helps brand me as the "creative fundraising woman" and with said title, inspires me to knock on new and bigger doors, press kit in hand ;)

Come on....oh, please, oh please: MORE RAIN!

Gandhi and the Alcoholic

This is one of those Daily Kabbalah Tune-ups from Yehuda Berg. It doesn't sound real; more of a parable with a lesson. I post it because I am living it. It goes like this:

There once was a woman whose young son was diabetic, and not only was her son a fan of sugar, but he was also a fan of Gandhi. The mother decided to seek out Gandhi's wisdom. She and her son rode a train for three days to seek the advice of the renowned spiritual leader.

When they arrived at his home, they waited on line for hours until they were finally invited to speak with him. Once the mother explained the story, Gandhi replied, "please come back in 30 days." Rather than travel back and forth, the woman and her son found temporary housing, and she took a job as a dishwasher at a local restaurant.

After 30 days, they returned to Gandhi, seeking his advice yet again. This time Gandhi stood up, held the boy by his shoulders, and said, "My son, you must stop eating sugar." The mother was enraged. "With all due respect, we traveled a great distance to seek your counsel, and this is all you have to tell us?" To which Gandhi replied, "Madam, I could not ask your son to do something that I myself could not do. Only yesterday was I able to completely cut sugar out of my diet."

Today's lesson is plain to see - we cannot expect others to do things we aren't able to do ourselves!

And so here I am. Sober as the sun is bright for the past 25 days, going on 26, feeling like it's been 100. I'm restricting for 90 days because I caught myself giving the lecture (a lot) without living the lesson. It's been totally doable, but I have felt:

1) socially pressured
2) socially odd like a self-righteous prick, party-pooper, loser
3) like I'm missing out
4) like i'm depriving myself of something for no reason
5) cravings that gnaw at me at night, on weekends and when traveling
6) can't loosen up and really enjoy the party with everyone else
7) can't see any benefits. haven't even lost a pound and don't know why
8) cheating myself of finer pleasures; food and chocolate is most certainly less enjoyable
9) a little surprised and annoyed that everyone needs to know my reason for not drinking and noticing that I've subconsciously made a whole list of acceptable answers - including "need to lose weight", "I have a headache", "I'm hungover", "I'm pregnant", etc.....but am very careful not to come out with anything to suggest "I have a problem" or "I am an alcoholic" or worse, "I don't drink" because that last one would cut something very major out of my life that I really don't want to cut out
10) looking forward for 90 days to end so i can go back to drinking

What would Gandhi do now?

I guess, if I were Gandhi, I would meet my commitment to 90 days and then look for better ways to heal myself.

So that's what I'll do.