Are you using Zaadz to change the world or avoid the world?

I can appreciate what you are saying.

good questions. love your list!

as for me, here's just one way i use Zaadz when i'm not doing “work” on the site.
create pods on topics that i'm passionate about so i can learn more about them:
e.g. zPod:KB101, zPod:CLIMATE CHANGE, zPod:Social Enterprise, zPod:Singularity, etc…

and yes, “honing your writing style and finding your voice by blogging daily in a disciplined way.” that too, without even thinking about a book :)

~C

Powerful post, Duff!  One that definitely invites one to be very discerning about one's intentions at all times! 

For me… it's about empowering others (hosting Trust22 movie viewing, going to fundraising events, buying art, buying music CDs, attending events), raising money for my 15-year-old nephew's dream, AND in doing all these things, empowering myself to live to my highest potentials by being raw, organic and 100% authentic in my relations with everyone here (and offline too)… Zaadz has been a powerful tool for me!  I've shared ideas here that revealed, to me, new levels of passion within me… :)

Thing is… there will always be those who utilize it for reasons listed at the top of your post too… but the seeds are still planted … even in them.  No matter what filters one uses… Light prevails to touch us… pointing out the intention of why others may use it…  well, it's nice to bring awareness to shadow aspects… but there will always be shadows.  I love them just the same.

Again… awesome post!  Thought provoking!

{{hugs you}}

how about working on your understanding of what you want to attract so that you are ready to work towards it and 'attract' it via 'law of attraction'? wgat about being in school to learn a lot of things and letting them gestate in your soul until you are ready to express them? many of the best films and best books and best projects were YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS in gestation. sometimes going into the unknown is the start of a journey. sometimes wandering aimlessly is part of a journey of great heroes. i think one should have caution with people and remember that some of the greatest leaders went to school for years and years and much of this is a way for people to go to school in things that are not well put together in the world at this point, especially in western culture. reading blogs and doing things often i think finds people working to make changes in their lives after they have absorbed enough to share. over time more will likely see that process, but until then likely many will be criticized for what makes little sense along the way. blogging may be a form of therapy for some even if it is seemingly narcissistic to myself or anyone else at times. often one starts by clarifying who they are and what their journey is before they can help others. one of the best things that may help them is to go through endless blogs or endless blogging. out of chaos comes order in so many cases. i think zaadz can be a great way to virtually travel and learn and encounter things. joseph campbell spent 5 years underlining sentences prior to coming out with things. it is easy to only value the external and miss the function of the internal. easy to only value the yang in life and miss the value of the yin. easy in this world of caffeine and starbacks to only value go go going and to forget that sleep, rest and drawing inward has its own function. western society is a culture of yang yang yang. we have many distinctions around how to get stuff done.

compared to cultures with more invested in drawing inward we have poor distinctions around things like 'love' and 'compassion'. we haven't invested in those qualities nearly so much. we can take rockets to the moon, but we can't understand the workings of our own soul so well. in india they have 96 words for love where we have one. they have more refined distinctions than we do in many cases where it comes to the heart. some of that comes from what looks like 'doing nothing' externally when a LOT is happening internally.

i think one of the best things we can do at this point is a LOT of contemplation and reflection as to why people are so violent and miserable in western culture and modern culture. we don't need less thought i think we need more. we need people learning how to think. how they feel. how to cut through how they think to get to how they feel. words, at least quality words have a consciousness to them. we can run around creating all we want, but we may want to consider the words of i believe it was confucious who said if he had a day to do something he would spend the first half of it planning. shakti gawain's book creative visualization was much like 'the secret'. the issue is we have manifested all sorts of things in this culture without thinking through the ramifications. we have 'just do-ne it'. offered a lot of garbage to the world because people haven't wanted to think it through. we would do better for people to spend time letting books and other projects gestate and putting out less things before they are really ready.

also i think we need to have a larger perspective on zaadzsters. many are the research and development department essentially for a lot that is happening externally. the information they glean may not be about their own life so much as the lives of people in their communities. we need to look beyond the separate self and be more aware of the interconnected self. a lot of change happens from conversations. most creation begins in a conversation. it is like looking at plants and assuming nothing is happening in the winter and kicking them or trying to rip them out. we don't know what is happening below the surface and should be cautious about assuming we do. even under our own surfaces.

conscious revolution is a lot more than meets the eye. see my blog post on 'the next secret' for those who want to hear more on that subject.

Wonderful post! I find that Zaadz has taught, brought forth and helped expose a lot about myself that I didn't know was there until I started a little journey within…years before zaadz was born…with Bri's newsletter. Life saving and Life changing. I am using zaadz in all ways to increase my More. More love. More friends. More Understanding. More motivation. More learning. More Joy. More, More, More. I am changing the world with zaadz…from the inside out. Again this is a great post, thanks for putting it out there!

great post, Duff! Siona (or was it ~C4?) posted a link to this here: How Do You Use Zaadz?

Is Zaadz a tool for your advocacy work? Or is it a distraction?

I've had enough distractions. Spent enough time trying to argue with people who wouldn't listen to reason and couldn't understand. It's time to move forward to change the world. One person can change himself (certainly) and those closest to him (possibly). Beyond that you need a network of like minds in concerted action. And THAT….. is what Zaadz supports - that is the sharp tool for acute world change. Zaadz offers exchange of ideas, inspirations to bypass obstructions, new resources, new minds. Zaadz is your mind's empowerment station. You do not find that anywhere else.

If you are here for social purposes - or to make claims you can't back up - you belong on a dating site or Gather. If you are here to change the world - this is the network you need. Your decision about whether you waste YOUR time….. but please, if that's what you have in mind, don't distract the rest of us going about the real work of the universe.

yeah, i think a yin imbalance or just a distraction imbalance surely occurs for many, and interestingly enough (law of attraction, hehe), i had a fairly intense discussion with someone today about the imbalance of many people who are not questioning or thinking about strategy and that sort of thing. i think there is conscious drawing inwards which some do such as forest whitaker prior to his new film (last king of scotland) where he drew in for four years, and then there is just mindless escapism, people spending life unconsciously playing videogames for years and years without other activities. some idle chit chat is one thing. when one's life is idle chit chat then the value surely is questionable. i chatted with a guy the other day spending money he doesn't have on a computer that has a fair amount of features so he can play slot machine games on his computer (that he doesn't get money from). i guess that is a situation much like i watch on myspace where i think there is a lot of pain as people wander around using that as total escapism.

maybe that is the distinction here beyond just yin and yang is it is one thing to draw in and nourish/rest. another to just work to escape/disconnect. a friend talks about true yin and true yang vs. false yin and false yang. false yin may be forcing yourself to sleep taking pills and other things vs. resting when your body is ready. (clearly subtle distinctions there and i don't lump all cases together). then you may have false yang where people drive their body repeatedly with caffeine without considering the wear on their body and without letting their body properly rest. in yin/yang theory they talk about yin arising from yang and yang arising from yin. many distinctions to that inquiry and many subtleties of course.

good dialogue.

yeah, i think the virtual vs. the real is a whole dynamic to 'dance' with. i find i go in phases of immersing myself in one place or another, but then i do art or writing to help balance out a bit from online interaction. friends locally in my case are a challenge. at this point even non-zaadz friends are spread out across the world. mostly this country and canada, but some others as well. has had challenges. whether utah or anywhere else at this point culturally i am so different. i think we are at a trailblazing and path paving time. trailblazing is intense and lonely. path paving can be less lonely, but still intense. lots of work. once the paths are laid it is of course easier. i have laid some good tread locally among a few people and that grows and evolves nicely and i feel more and more safe and well to be myself locally, but that has been a lot of work. helps them and me. i have said that i draw on my out of state friends to give to my local friends. at least initially. over time i draw on my local friends too and it is more give/take. i think it is natural for people to draw on the zaadz mastermind groups (napolean hill reference) and then use that to serve and share locally.

Thank you!

transience is fascinating stuff. can bring new energy in and out in different ways, but can be exhausting as well. i find that utah can be that way. people get unstuck and then leave rather than staying around. zaadz and the web in general has allowed me to stay around and be nurtured i think in ways i could not likely have done prior. i think that fits in well. another thing zaadz can do in places like you are is allow that same sense, consistency to interactions when there is transience around and even perhaps consistency to people who you meet there. i have found the web to be quite potent that way. finding friends on zaadz or other places and then sometimes them networking. met a friend through a friend in sf who moved here and spent time with him a bit. learned some good things and shared some things. he turned me onto some books. his ex is with a guy i used to be into. lots of little details. the guy i used to be into friends with another guy up in oregon who i am also friends with. there are little fascinating networks that form i have found and over time those networks often seem to do something. i still get a sense something is building among a group of us. maybe not a specific something as much as many small things. we have talked at times about converging in different areas to interact. kripalu or esalen or some such thing could be good.

especially for the gay community i think zaadz can and is a haven for people. a place that is clearly not about one’s genitals and gender attraction and having only that in common. a place clearly focused on other things. a refuge. that i think is also good for you to take into consideration. gay men really struggle to find friendships based on much other than drinking, drugging, and sex in many cases. it can be hard to find friends locally for many gay people. mormons and gay men have all sorts of conflicts going on. suicides around in quantity. gay men struggling to find conscious interaction. those who are interested in consciousness. i have invited a number of gay men to zaadz who are seekers of different sorts and they have been thrilled. the rejection that they often face among gay men for being conscious is matched only by the rejection so many face for being gay. it can be a double stigma for many of them. rejected by society and then rejected by their own community, or what could/should be their own community.

it can be very wounding for gay men to be in this culture and country and pretty much anywhere in the world. places like zaadz that are generally accepting of diversity are generally quite helpful. i have in fact been asked by other gay men if i was really gay which i found amusing. when asked why they asked they said it was because i didn’t focus on sex. i have been treated like somehow i was messed up because i am not so entirely focused on sex. do we go up to scientists and ask if they are heterosexual or assume they must be sexualy dysfunctional because they work on science? because if they speak to a woman they don’t talk about the size of her breasts? gay men are struggling currently with what women have struggled with with guys to some degree, but what would be considered quite inhumane behaviour and certainly not gentlemanly. zaadz has been a space where some gay men can know that while they may not be the global mainstream in the gay community, they are at least not alone.

one of the things many don’t realize is while in urban environments it is normal to be gay often times, gay men have to leave their families so much of the time to be there or to be around family they have to leave their peers. it causes all sorts of splits that are not forced in the same ways. of course there are many others wounded. many people need to heal prior to serving others or in between their serving. this country is not good at showing its wounds, but it never ceases to amaze me the sheer numbers of wounded folk out there. i think there is often a process from narcissism to service that includes a journey through healing and self development and defining/articulating what is going on in your soul and what you are after. a whole process of inner work. many who are less wounded don’t understand the layers of mind/body healing and cleansing that are often required to transform or those who have already done that work often forget the process they went through.

Heather, Barry, and most especially David: You might want to check out the Global Zaangha pod or do a search for a local group in your area. If you can't find one, have a look at this post and see about getting one started.

I'll be writing more about this soon - now that the new search tools are up! - and we're excited about what a location browse will do when it comes to getting together in person, but for now, there are still plenty of ways and opportunities to connect in face-to-face. I've found, personally, that some of the best Zaadz encounters I've had have been offline (as I've said before, you think this group is amazing on the web? You should meet them in real life!), and so I'd highly encourage people to arrange a meetup. They're fun. And just incredible.

There's a downloadable booklet on organizing your Zaangha here, but in truth the gatherings can be as informal (or activism-oriented) as you wish.

And David? I loved your thoughts about those little connections that mesh and weave and overlap. I've found the same sort of thing to be more and more frequently true in my own life … and no less amazing when it occurs.

thanks for the zaangha recommendation. will think about that. been considering doing a zaadz utah group. looks like we need a group here. i am not probably the ideal group leader for a variety of reasons, but i think it is not a bad idea to start the zaadz group so people can connect and congregate and build various options locally.

Thank you for this reminder.

Well put, inspiring and brutally honest bloggin' you've done here.  This is the kind of writing that puts the fire under everybody's ass and gets many a balls rolling.  I'm doing my damndest to make a difference and also writing those daily blogs you spoke of, honing my skills in hopes that some of the things I write and share with people can help make a difference in their lives, as well as those they share that information/light/love with.  Good stuff…