Human | Bonnie Barnard - Part 8

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Girl Scouts Take the Stand of Inclusion

While on my morning walk listening to Beth and Friends, KEZ 99.9 fm, on my iHeart Radio app, disc jockey Beth played a portion of the YouTube video, below. It is a talk given by a 14 year old Girl Scout advocating a boycott of Girl Scout Cookies because they allow transgendered individuals in the troops. Beth’s response was something along the lines of “I will buy MORE cookies this year because I want to support a compassionate organization.” I agree with her. It would great for hate toward others unlike us to end in our generation. Listening with an open heart to the full YouTube video I remember how sheltered and naive I was at her age. And, I applaud this young woman for having her voice heard and making an argument utilizing the written tenants of the Scouts. Bravo. However, the lack of understanding and compassion spoke louder than her argument. The bigger question, I believe, is not how do we extricate individuals who are different than...

Here Comes Claus in Old Town Scottsdale

My daughter visited over the Thanksgiving Holiday, and like any good mother I brought her to Old Town Scottsdale for an afternoon. As she was in a store, I stepped outside following my ears. I was hearing something which sounded like Christmas singing, guitar playing and a horse neighing. An odd combination, or so I thought. Until I saw it, yep, you guessed it, I’m sure … Cowboy Claus. This got me thinking, as it often does about non-traditional jobs. Work one creates out of a passion and a calling. His style is similar to Sister Wendy’s style who gave my entrepreneurial drive juice for many years. I would catch myself saying something like “if Sister Wendy can be an art critic with a large following, then I can design my life to work for me.” Yes, I could watch Sister Wendy for hours, as many do. She sells videos, books and her popular show is seen on PBS. Sister Wendy is a contemplative. She works two hours a...

Meaningful Gift Ideas for the Holidays

Friends, Can’t think of what to get your beloved this year for the holiday season? Grab your spiced cider, decide you will have an answer by reading this post and invest three minutes in finding your answer. Last week I celebrated a MAJOR birthday. Major in terms of number of years I’ve walked above the earth. At an intimate home gathering twelve friends created this masterpiece for me, before my eyes, at my party. Five others had contributed to the blank canvas prior to this evening. If you look closely you can see some phrases such as: Loud love Skipping through life Joy Love Speak light Peace Blessings Responding to the ideas I imagine Every day is a nice day Included in the design are hand prints, doves, a woman’s head, lips, an eyeball, numerous hearts and a cloth multi-colored peace sign in the center. I LOVE this painting. It represents all that is good in my life. The colors wake me up. When I see...

Starbucks: Creating Jobs, Seeding Lives

Friends, My heart is so full of joy right now. There are moments when I am proud to be an American. Where wearing the “country” label feels good upon my skin. Today, I experienced one of these moments. My morning started as it often does with a walk to my local Starbucks. Walking allows me to get grounded to the earth, move my body some and receiving a natural source of Vitamin D. This morning as I stood in line to purchase my venti green tea iced, no sweetener. I was met with a smile from my barista behind the register and a patriotic-looking display to the right front of it. The display read “This country needs jobs” with an invitation for the consumer, me, to get involved with a solution. For a $5 donation, six other investment groups (foundations, banks, corporations, faith-based organizations, government, socially responsible investors) match my gift to parlay it into a $35 donation. This donation is then loaned to create community businesses in America...

Transformation is Sexy

“Nothing is sexier than watching active transformation” came sliding out of my mouth suspended 90 feet above the ground. I went zip lining with my friend Brandy last week. She was terrified. Okay, terrified is a generous understatement. She was silent in the car ride to the zip location. She robotically geared up with the assistance of our guide. Trembling she wanted to run. A few times she said ” no I can’t” and those around her would remind her she could. Her skin was a cross between ghost and paste and her energy was somewhere outside of her body. She had a good reason to be frightened. Several months prior she had been in a plane circling over LAX when the plane caught on fire, smoke filling the cabin. She associated the experience of height with potential death and she wanted to move beyond and through this fear. It was, however, active within her and running her body. We were given safety instructions and then we ascended via...

Praying for Another

In the midst of writing a chapter today on “befriending loss” my phone rang. A dear friend/colleague of mine was on the other end. Between sobs of roaring tears she eeeeked out “I need help. Please pray for me.” Hearing traffic as background noise, I told her to pull over to the side of the road, get out of the car with her feet on the green grass and call me back. She did. I typically don’t get authoritative with those calling for help. I knew, however, she was not grounded and rattled. Standing on firm ground and breathing was a large part of what she needed. Her story spilled forth. She was financially afraid. She had undertaken a large endeavor with a huge financial payoff down the way. Until then, she was afraid she’d run out of resources. We prayed together on the phone and I reminded her she is made in the image of the Most High God and within her and around her is everything she...