Meet BiG Thinkers: Sarma Melngailis, Kris Carr and Anthony Anderson

Alright, Green-Gogetters.

It’s important to me to give a bit of attention to the people who helped make BiG happen. It was really a treat to get the chance to hook up with these green scene stars on the phone for a one on one call about what will make the world a better place and inspire us all to take a bit more responsibility for the way things are.

Green Urban Goddess Sarma Melngailis is about a lot more than mouth-watery desserts and classy restaurant. It was fascinating to get a sense of all the work that goes on behind the scene. We see malomars and chocolate mint cookies, but there’s so much more to it. Listening to her talk about her uncompromising commitment to organic, raw ingredients inspired me is a reminder that we vote with out dollars!

It takes guts to make hippie a hip thing to do, and the thing I loved most about this call was when she shared a bit about the fact that she goes out of her way to choose staff who are not vegetarian or raw to ensure that she creates a comfortable experience for anyone who comes into her restaurant.

Sarma’s got style and there’s no denying it. You can catch her interview when you sign up for BiG and learn more about how you, too, can be a lucky duck when you check out her online store and score yourself some of her treats and eats!

Next time you’re sitting there feeling sorry for yourself about not having enough money or time or having too much to do, then pull out tonight’s interview with Kris Carr and listen to it again and again and again!

The fact that she’s taken one of the heaviest words out there and turned it into a “crazy sexy” thing means she’s tapped into her superpowers in a BiG way! THAT is the power of thought, the power of attitude and gratitude and living in joy, and that’s exactly why we asked Kris to be a part of our Believe in Green project.

Lucky for us, she said yes! You’ll love this inspiring interview with Kris and after listening you’ll want another dose of her positivity and you can dose up here.

The only man on our BiG thinkers panel was Anthony Anderson, also known as “the raw model.”

And now that you’ve seen his picture, I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not why I invited him, you frisky critter!! I invited him because he loves getting his fingers in the dirt and has some amazing advice and inspiration for BiG thinkers like you. He’s passionate about permaculture and by the end of this call, you will be too!

I was so impressed with the content he shared in this call and had more positive feedback about this call than any other. He was in a fantastic space for this call and I hope you’ll sign up for Believe in Green so you can soak up some of his wisdom and wonderfulness. (Even though this event has ended, you can still access the calls for free!)

How To Attack Paper Clutter — Just Do It!

I was like a mad woman with paper clearing last week. I decided that once and for all, the paper in my home – the majority of it — just had to GO! Unlike what I had been doing — attacking a bin at a time – I decided to just DUMP it all out on the floor of my home office, and go for it. Yes, that did mean stepping over scattered piles for a few days and feeling energy being pulled down just by the mere disgusting sight of it, but taking that approach was my fast track to getting through ALL of it more quickly. So with each new day, I awoke to my temporary “job” with renewed energy to tackle the daunting task.

The rainy, windy days of Hurricane Fay made it the perfect opportunity to stay close to home being drowned by paper. On a few days, I opened the sliding door and windows for some fresh, breezy inspiration from nature. I thought of Jinjee Talifero’s article in the August issue of Pear Magazine about the upcoming raw-vegan village in Ojai, California, and how the houses in that village will be built really low to the ground to give the effect of living in nature. With windows open in my one-story home, I got a similar feeling duirng my paper project because of all of the greenery that surrounds my residence. But when I couldn’t trick my body anymore, I just had to step outside when the rain took a break. There, I retreated to the screened-in porch area, spread a sheet over a lounge chair and rested as though I was basking in the sun. The breeze helped still my mind, and watching the trees blow fiercely yet gracefully was perfect entertainment — a far better sight than piles of paper! However, when I stepped back indoors, the paper reality greeted me once again. Oh Geez! Where did all of this paper come from in the first place?

Well, let’s go back about 14 years when I took on my first newspaper and magazine writing internships while getting my master’s degree at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. My writing clips began accumulating faster than I could get them scrapbooked, so that meant bin storage for them. To that initial pile, online articles of mine that I printed out were added — and even though I managed to get a ton of them nicely stored in a large binder, the paper pile in the bins just didn’t seem to be decreasing. Then, add to that the birth of a son who eventually started producing all sorts of masterpieces of his own – from art to writing and more. Whew!

Fortunately, I did eventually reach the point of knowing I just couldn’t keep it all, so I began recycling many of my son’s paper things and made sure to stay on top of the latest junk mail and such coming into the house. But, doggon it, those bins with older stuff just stayed full for some reason.

Now, with this latest round of paper reduction, I decided to get ruthless like never before. Simply ruthless! I now have one binder designated for my son’s keepsakes and have organized it with tabs from age 4 to present. His binder also includes a section for home-schooled keepsakes. On the other hand, while my writing clips are now out of the bins thanks to my plastic-reduction process, they are stacked awaiting a home — a scrapbook of some kind, I guess.

On many a day I have been tempted — very tempted — to simply let ALL of this paper go! Imagine that….a PAPER-FREE HOME! Ahhh, bliss! But there’s that part of me that wants to hold on to some paper memorabilia from my son’s early years – for his children! Who knows, he or his future wife might want to show it to their kids someday, especially those interesting, creative stories he wrote. Then, because I’ve written so much about parenting and the varied things I’ve done with my darling son, well, I want him to have those “journals” around when I’m not. So, rather than letting it all go, I decided to find my balance; one book with his paper keepsakes and, hopefully, one with mine will do the trick.

To add fuel to the fire — or should I say fuel to the paper – in the process of this major paper-shedding project, a strong urge to get as much plastic as I can out of here came upon me! I had been wanting to go that route for a while, and then, viola, there was Ardis’ article to turn up the heat. So, like a mad woman, I began attacking plastic.

One area I have really nailed is the clothes department. Yes, I have scaled those down to a minimum. Who would have thought I’d want to be a minimalist with clothes considering how many of them I’ve had over the years. These days, it’s all about simplicity for me, though. Who wants to spend forever trying to figure out what to wear? Not me! That indecisive process used to be fun, but long gone are those days.

In fact, I’ve minimized my clothes so much that I decided to give up my half of the master bedroom closet. I got tired of being weighed down by my husband’s many clothes when I stepped in there, so it was best for me to make that an area I don’t have to enter at all. Now, between dresser drawers and a smaller closet in another room, I’m joyfully set with clothes storage. This arrangement works perfectly for me.

My books have also been reduced significantly, but it’s quite a challenge trying to get them down to my goal of only 12 books. Again, who would have thought? Think about it, though….. If Jesus managed to choose only 12 disciples, I certainly should be able to select the 12 books that serve me best at this stage of my life, right?

Now, the only thing that remains to be attacked is one more closet with MORE BINS, and I suspect that’s going to take a while because they have a whole bunch of pictures in ‘em that are yet to join existing photo albums. Anyone have any effective solutions for quick and easy photo organization? If so, please, please let me know.

With Thanks,

Penny