You and I Are Going to Change (a minimum of) 40 People's Lives Forever

I am turning 40 on the 29th of December, and the older I get the more I realize how very blessed my life is and has been. Because of this, I want this milestone to have meaning that extends beyond me. I want to give back to the world in some way.

My goal? I want us to help 40 people gain ongoing access to clean water through Charity: Water by my birthday. All we have to do is raise $2,650 over the next 4 months. We can do that, right?



I have so many things behind me to ensure my relative health and success. I grew up with access to health care, a family that loved me, an abundance of food, free education, and a house to keep me warm, but something even greater than all of that, something that we usually overlook because so many of us have so much of it, is clean water.

I grew up with clean water. I could drink it, wash my food in it, bathe in it, and play in it without wondering where it came from or worrying about how much I used. I had no idea that it was the basic key to a good life.

So much of the world is without access to clean water, let alone enough water, and it means miles and miles of physical travel and work every day just to have enough to stay alive through the next day if it doesn't make a person too sick before they can go back for more. Without access, children are turned away from schools without clean clothes, potentially good food is contaminated by a dirty water source, and parasites and other diseases take too many children before they're five years old.

I got to grow up to look forward to my 40th birthday in a place where water is as easy as a turned tap anywhere I go. I want others to be able to have at least the ability to drink without being poisoned by the only source that can sustain them. I want more people to have 40th birthdays like mine where they can find themselves still healthy and young and looking forward to a future where the water we give our children won't be responsible for their deaths.

So help me help 40 people gain access to clean drinking water for my 40th birthday. What we think of as a little water can change a lot of lives, and this is all I want this year. Pass it on.

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PS. I learned about Charity: Water at the World Domination Summit in Portland this summer, and I knew immediately that I wanted to do something with this organization. The administrative costs of Charity: Water are covered by private donors so that 100% of your donations directly fund water project costs in the field. Take a moment to find out how this fantastic charity works, check out all their completed projects so far on Google Maps, and watch videos and read stories from in the field.

I Went to World Domination Summit 2012

Last weekend, I went to Chris Guillebeau's World Domination Summit 2012 in Portland, Oregon.



I flew there in an airplane, of course.



I almost immediately found myself at a party with sumo wrestling suits, ping pong, a dunk tank, people doing yoga, food carts, a balloon artist, and a real, live marching band.



I was surprised at how I felt as soon as I was there. I felt such a strong pull toward each person I spoke to. It was both exhilarating and exhausting.



So I went back to the hotel early and slept. Life is way too freaking intense, maaaaan.



I spent most of the World Domination Summit listening to powerful storytellers like Brené Brown and Scott Harrison and J.D. Roth and Susan Cain.

They made me want to run back to my hotel room and let the words run away with me. They don't just say You can do it! They say You can do it! And there are practical things you can do to get you there if you want to work really hard! These people mean what they say.

It's refreshing when there are so many who are willing to pep talk you to death with inane shit about how you are awesome and hot and can do anything you want to just because you believe you can because the Secret and faeries and unicorns are all real in your heart, and what is real in your heart is what creates the world, because egomaniacism rules the universe or something.

I just made egomaniacism a word. So there.

The question leading the conference was "How do we live a remarkable life in a conventional world?" What I heard most throughout the weekend was that we all have this immense power to lead interesting lives and put more good out into the world if we are willing to put ourselves out there and do the work and leverage our available resources. This is what I live by, and it was uplifting to be around so many people who know this, too.



I have a strong aversion to talk of the relationship between love and/or personal growth — be it spiritual or otherwise — and one's ability to become wealthy and/or successful.

I want to be clear that the WDS speakers themselves did not directly reflect this philosophy, but there is often a thread of I-became-a-better-person-and-the-money-followed running through these kinds of inspirational business happenings, and I found it in some of my conversations. I have nothing against good people making money, but tying their relationship with that money to their moral and ethical high ground screams of immense bullshit to me.

Negative people who do bad things get rich. Positive people who do good things get rich. Negative people sometimes do good things that improve the planet to improve their social standing. Positive people sometimes do good things that improve the planet to improve the planet. The universe didn't open a path to more money for the good person because they were good any more than the universe opened a path to more money for the bad person because they were bad. People make money because they figure out how and do it. There are a million ways to get there, and moral and ethical superiority aren't what makes the universe draw your lottery number.

The universe is kind of jerk that way. It doesn't serve humanity.

Of course, I really believe that not being a huge jerk will help you get to where you want to go faster than being a huge jerk. That's not magic, that's being a decent human being, and I'll admit that it helps, but you still might lose all your money, find yourself estranged from your family, and die in a freak roofing accident without ever having accomplished your life dreams, because that's how it works.

Bad things happening to you are not proof of your inferior goodness, and being good won't stop bad things from happening.

I know. This is the most uplifting one-sided gab-fest you've ever witnessed.



And then I had a few meals with Christy Stahl (above, of Vintagology on Etsy and The Grandway Theatre) and Blair Glaser and Krista Carnes. It was a relief to let my brain stop its whirring for a bit and get in touch with some truly nice conference companions.

Whenever you go to a conference, find yourself at least one down-to-earth, proper sense-talking conversation and idea partner. I found three, because I am very lucky.



After much hashing and rehashing with others and then writing out my thoughts alone, I came to the conclusion that I have no firm idea yet how to move forward business-wise, but I have figured out that time management is probably closer to a spiritual practice for me than anything else, and I need to wrangle with some issues to get my deal with time smoothed out.

I would be more clear about that matter if I could right now, but I'm still figuring out how to put it down in words so that it makes perfect sense rather than making me sound like a crazy person with a feather in my turban and an acrylic crystal ball who claims that space aliens gave me my true name.

Not that I have anything against people with befeathered turbans and space alien names. That's just not my style.



So, as you can probably tell, I haven't worked out all of what happened at the World Domination Summit and what it did for me, but that's good. It was a big, meaty conference with a grand dose of food for thought topped off with a Bollywood dance party cherry at the Crystal Ballroom. I've barely finished chewing.



If I can make it happen to get to the World Domination Summit in 2013, I'll be there, because anything that can get this deep under my skin is worth the price of admission.

Thank you, Chris Guillebeau. You've created something truly remarkable with the World Domination Summit, and I'm excited to see where we all go because you brought us together.

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A year ago today: 7 Short Dust-Jacket Synopses Of My Early Twenties