Talking to my friends about this, I also got hints of general life advice from parents, much of which was ridiculous.  I am eager to put together a “Best & Worst Life Advice” post but to do this I’m going to have to ask for your help again.

Don’t be shy, I want everything you’ve got. Send me tidbits, paragraphs, life lessons, anything and everything your dear folks passed onto you, for better or worse.

Email me at MGRANTCONSULTING@GMAIL.COM or post your best stuff in the comment section below this post. 

With Gratitude,

Merk

So what’s so AWESOME about eatART?

Founded by a brilliant team of the coolest people in Vancouver (trust me, the coolest), engineers, ambassadors of good times and renaissance men and women who are incredibly passionate about the importance of bringing awareness to the energy crisis in a positive and engaging format.

eatART = Energy Awareness Through ART

Known for epic, large- scale art installations, eatART continues to blow us away with interactive, fun and fascinating structures, events and community projects.

The world is a better place for eatART and I am showing my appreciation and support for them by participating on July 16th.

***If you’re down with the awesomness that is eatART and their cause, show YOUR support and please donate to my pledge page HERE***

All funds raised go to continue eatART’s awe-inspiring work.

With Gratitude,

M.

The further I let go of inhibiting beliefs, the more clear I become in creating The Next Step. It began as an idea that evolved into a film project and now? The Next Step cannot simply be a film. Nor can it simply be about solutions to the energy crisis.

When I returned home from WDS, a lightening bolt of obviousness struck me: The Next Step must become a multifaceted project. It cannot live and die, it needs to carry on a conversation. While the topic of energy is a hot one, it certainly won’t be fading into the background anytime soon. Every person on this planet is involved whether they like it or not, whether they acknowledge it or not and every person deserves the right to know what is happening in their community to solve the “un-solvable” issues surrounding climate change and our impact on the Earth.

Plus, I like to write. A lot. And I think people like it when I write, so there’s that too.

But wait! I had a Prosecco fueled 2am discussion with my beautiful sister this past week in Calgary (at the STELLAR Una on 17th Avenue…thanks for letting us shut the place down) and she managed to push a few buttons. She pointed out that while the taking on the topic of peak oil and climate change is a noble cause, it is also a MASSIVE issue with more questions than answers. She was moved by my work with The Looking Glass Foundation and with Ken Shaw, of Breaking The Silence and the blog we created together. She asked me a few tough questions, pissed me off and gave me a new perspective on what exactly my focus should be.

(paraphrased, forgive me, it was 2am) “Focus on the change you can bring about in your community, with Ken, and LGF and leave the climate change debacle to the big guns….”

Of course she made some fantastic points. But I know what happens when you leave the hard stuff to the big guns. I think we all do right? The next morning, after waking up to the sounds of joyfully screaming children and a very vocal budgie, I put it all together:   **The Next Step cannot just be about the future of energy and climate change. It MUST be about the future of everything. The Next Step for society, for sustainability, for social awareness, for love and our irrepressible connection to this planet and to each other.**

So…what does WDS have to do with this? I spent 3 days with 499 open-minded, fascinating people, where our passion for human connection has continued to fuel how I interact with everyone on a daily basis. I have, in turn, become open and confident in my ability to connect with others. Truly, a gift from WDS that will continue to give.

Please stay tuned as The Next Step evolves (website SOON) and please read more as Ken Shaw and I push back to Break The Silence.

With Gratitude and LOVE,

M.

It’s been a week since I returned to Vancouver from Chris Gillabeau’s first World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon.  When I bought my ticket through a very random set of circumstances on a waiting list of 400+ people, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I’ll save the juicy deets from WDS for another post, for now, I wanted to share a bit of the insight that I gained from being in Portland with 499 rad folks.

I’ve been on an personal roller-coaster of transformation this past year, from ending a long term relationship to re-connecting with long-lost family, and in an attempt to rediscover who I really am, I’ve also unearthed cracks in my identity mostly filled with trauma, fear and a hell of a lot of other people’s baggage.  As I open myself to new experiences and new connections in particular, these “cracks” are thrown wide open, exposing these limited beliefs that I’ve been grasping with a tightly wound fist. And then, miraculously, and in what seems like an instant, I let go.

I know what you’re thinking, how can you just “let go”? This sounds far too simple doesn’t it? My friend James Sinclair, who I worked with on What If? The Movie, has expressed to me many times that as quickly as you can have a negative thought, you can simply let go of that same thought, in an instant.

Because I had never experienced this seemingly radical instant transformation, it became a bit of a thorn in my side. I obsessed over how James had been able to eliminate destructive thoughts and tendencies simply, by shifting a negative thought into a positive thought.  From someone who has a tendency to over-think things, the concept seemed too easy to be legit. I’m sure a few of you are thinking that very same thing right now.

At WDS, life guru and all-around superhero (just sayin’!) Jonathan Fields talked about “re-framing”, a technique often used in therapy settings, and a highly effective way to shift your ideas on experiences in your life.  It isn’t a radical idea, in fact, its pretty simple.

I hadn’t even realized it but I’ve been re-framing bit by bit over the past couple of months. Unsatisfied with the self-induced anxiety of remaining independent following the loss of my partner, the fretting over money, time, reputation, friends, family, societal obligations and depression, I visited a naturopath, got on an aggressive plan to re-connect the wires in my brain, met with my birth mother for the first time in 20 years and basically, gave my fears the big eff off.

Consciously saying “I can choose who I want to be and what I want out of my experiences in life”, instead of saying, “I can’t do this because of this person/thought/belief/perception….” holds incredible power.  This tiny shift in thought made a massive impact on how I am currently choosing to live my life.

As I rode the train into Portland on Friday evening before the WDS kick-off, I went over in my head all of the things I was nervous about:

**meeting new people

**judgment

**networking

**will anybody want to hear what I have to say?

**does what I am doing really matter to anyone else? 

And then I addressed each thought for what it was, fear, trepidation, uncertainty and flipped them on their heads.

**I will meet new people who will bring love and light and success into my world

**I will eliminate judgment when I interact with people

**I am a strong connector and I do not need to act like someone else to network successfully

**Not everyone will want to hear what I have to say and that’s okay but a lot of other people will

**Everything I am doing matters to me and will serve to make a positive impact on the people around me

Of course I can’t guarantee that this will work for you, it certainly takes an understanding that everything that happens is because YOU make it happen. I believe every choice we make is reflected in the outcome, that we have full control over our experiences and circumstances.  From gaining this perspective, my personal power has grown and my stress levels have reduced drastically.

Tiny shifts = HUGE gains.

I have so much more to share about the World Domination Summit but I don’t want to overload you so please stay tuned for an in-depth look at what we did for those 3 magical days in Portland.

Love, M.

I am back from Portland, Oregon where I attended Chris Gillabeau’s World Domination Summit (more on that soon) and today I am off to another summit here in Vancouver, Canada. Today is the first day of the 2011 International Student Energy Summit being held at the University of British Columbia.

I will be attending and filming, asking questions and interviewing energy students and innovators from around the globe over the next 3 days.

I’m opening up the comments for questions that you would like answered as well, so please send me your queries and interests as the days progress and I will do my best to get them answered!

I will be posting throughout the summit, so stay tuned!

Keeping in mind the nature of my project, what do you want to know? What questions would YOU ask?

Post your questions on Facebook, Twitter or in the comment page of this blog or even better, send me an email at mgrantconsulting@gmail.com

Thank you!

With Gratitude,

Mercedes Grant

Last week we completed our third week class at Pull Focus Film School, following a morning of “interactive” film innovation with National Film Board Production Manager, Terri Snelgrove and an afternoon of reviewing footage and story development with the ever-inspiring and ass-kicking Michaelin McDermott.

I was up till 2am the morning before my class, writing and writing and writing…mostly incomplete sentences of rambling nonsense AKA the brainstorming process.  My thoughts are saturated with the subject matter as I’ve been working with this idea for nearly a year now on and off, taking a “break” from filming to organize TEDxGeorgiaStrait which only served to fuel the fire of my new energy obsession and Canada’s growing role in the energy crisis.

We analyzed my most recent stab at a synopsis, asking questions and debating the merits of the “big picture” essay doc when our instructor asked everyone to state what they found most interesting about my film idea. The answer?  The innovators!

Who are they?

What are they doing?

I realized today that I’m looking at the big picture from the outside in, instead of the inside out.  To bring emotion, connection and awareness to the audience, I need to focus on the people who are taking action on a personal level, in their community and on a national level, as Canadians citizens, entrepreneurs and innovators.

I need your help oh wise and connected citizens! 

Do you know people in your own community who are making changes in their lives to reduce their environmental impact? Do you know of innovators and entrepreneurs who are taking the risky steps to ensure a sustainable future for our future generations?  Are YOU one of these people?

Don’t be shy now! I would be incredibly grateful for your participation.  To show my gratitude for your generous commitment in this project, I will assign you a credit in the film and send you a personal thank you from the stage when I win a prestigious award following the film’s completion.

Okay okay! So the last bit might be pushing it at this point but I will personally guarantee YOUR name in the credits of the film.

Your continued support of this project is incredibly helpful.  This is a daunting project and your assistance in research, production, back-patting and motivation is inspiring and incredibly appreciated.

**If this resonates with you, please share this with at least 3 other people who you feel would benefit from this. Remember, every shared connection helps!**

Please feel free to leave a comment with your information below OR contact me via email at mgrantconsulting@gmail.com with your ideas!               

With Gratitude,

Mercedes Grant

The Next Step Film Project

Finally, Raindance Canada has opened its doors to Vancouver, offering monthly Boozin’ n Schmoozin‘ events at the Railway Club as well as film workshops with some of Canada’s hardest working and talented filmmakers. The first Raindance Vancouver course is with Katrin Bowen, director of the award-winning feature film, Amazon Falls!

I have signed on as Raindance Vancouver’s Manager and I am so happy to be apart of an organization that offers artists the opportunity to network and learn from the best in an unpretentious and exciting environment.

We filmed Andrew Weaver for The Next Step Film Project in Victoria last year, the man has serious swagger and is hands down the dude to talk to about climate change. GO!

When: Thursday, May 5, 2011 7:00pm-9:00pm

Where: Room 1800, SFU at Harbour Centre, 515 W Hastings, Vancouver

Cost: FREE with registration. *Currently in waiting list status* Go to www.sfu.ca/reserve

With that said, I had a stroke of insight following artist Carson Ting‘s 6 minute ramble regarding “creative transparency”, a term he coined to share his viewpoint that artists should share their creative “shit” instead of locking themselves away in a tiny room, hovering over their work with the inherent paranoia that too often comes instinctively when we have a really great idea: trust no one, encourage secrecy at all times and especially for the love of jebus, DON’T give away any of the radical processes you went through to get to this point.  Bullocks, says Ting, in so many words.

What I gained from his idea of creative transparency is the liberating concept of sharing everything, and really, in this era of social media and incessant interaction, this comes naturally to so many of us.  I know that the reason I am so active with Facebook is because I really enjoy sharing my observations with the world and I mostly don’t give a shit if you like them or not.  I can get out there and say it and share it and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do to stop me.

To apply this to some context, I have recently picked back up a film I had in the works last summer.  A film I began filming before I even knew what I wanted out of the film.  Have you ever been so passionate about something that you jump in head first and think it over later? That is exactly what is happening with this project now, I jumped in and I’m now treading these icy, foreign, shark-infested waters with Pull Focus Film School acting as a life jacket. 

In our first class last week, we were told that to have any chance of squeezing funding out of the tiny pockets of those who have them, we have to include an “interactive” component to the end product.  So what does this mean? I really had no idea.

Until tonight!

The glorious entity we call the internet has created a plethora of opportunities to interact on every level (yes, EVERY level….) with just about anyone else in the world at any given time.  The possibilities for “interaction” are truly endless. ENDLESS!

So in the spirit of “creative transparency”, I will be blogging, Facebooking and Tweeting about as much of the film process as I can and I will be asking for participation, ideas, interaction and yes, that overused word, collaboration.  I will embrace the concept of shifting from the old world notion of competition to the new world thought of collaboration, sharing and creative transparency.

Is this going to bite me in the ass? Maybe. Am I attached to this thought? Nope.

If the most flattering form of a compliment comes in the form of imitation aka stealing ideas, imagine what could happen when we shift our focus from the vandalism of stealing a thought to the liberation of sharing and connecting others to those same thoughts?

**If you resonate with this post, please share it with 3 other people who you think would also gain some appreciation from it. Thank you!**