I am back and I have missed my loving and shamelessly inspired community! I have so much to report from my ten days in silent meditation but first I have to tell you about an important initiative that started in Prospect Park today. I’ve said many times that Shameless Inspiration is about taking action and building a community so I wanted to get out there to connect and hear what people have to say. So, we took it to the streets to get the people of New York talking about gratitude, self-compassion, shamelessness and inspiration.

I was filled with nervous excitement as I left my apartment with my partner and my camcorder. When we arrived at Prospect Park, it was time to start approaching people and I felt all the fear of rejection and self-doubt well up inside me. Deep breaths…deep breaths…”Time to be shameless…,” I told myself and began soliciting the people passing to give two minutes of their time to talk to us about gratitude. My anxiety quickly dissipated as strangers began to engage and I felt so privileged that they would take the time to share and reflect on their stories and beliefs. We heard all types of stories of how people show gratitude and how it feels to be appreciated. In many cases, people shared stories of hardship and many emphasized the need to be grateful for what they do have, the importance of being present and appreciation for those who have supported them through difficult times.

The footage that we got on the Compassion Cam today and over the next couple of weeks will be available on GratiTUBE. I can’t wait to get this out there!!!

I was also fascinated about how all the people I saw in the park trying to make a difference and I want to take a minute and show some support for their initiatives.

One of the participants today, Dana Brundage, will be running the Boston Marathon as part of team Massachusetts Eye and Ear. She was my first GratiTUBE participant and I’m so grateful to her for sharing her story of being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. To support her, follow this link http://www.crowdrise.com/teameyeandear/fundraiser/DanaBrundage

I also met some people encouraging people to reclaim earth day. Check out this 10-day initiative starting on earth day: http://globalclimateconvergence.org/our-story/

Thanks to everyone who participated today. Thank you for keeping me inspired and trusting me to share your story with the world.