A Winter's Tale on a Midsummer's Night

There's a little bit of wonder and amazement you feel when you experience something rather extraordinary for the first time. Sometimes you can almost sense how it will now become part of your future thought life and existence, the 'palm at the end of the mind.' For me, this happened last night when I went to Delacorte Theater in Central Park to attend Shakespeare in the Park, a summertime tradition for New Yorkers since 1954, though I had never been.

It was a warm and very lovely summer night about an hour or so before dusk. The weekend's humidity and stickiness had gone from the air and the relief of a light breeze had returned. As twilight fell to night, the swaying trees and Belvedere Castle and misty fog and lights in the dark became part of the actual play itself to me.

The open air setting alone was magical, and a yet a mere canvas for the great actors from The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park repertory company, bringing to life the powerful words and masterful storytelling of William Shakespeare.

Interesting how you wake up one morning and think you're going to have a rather run-of-the-mill Tuesday.

What a pleasure to be wrong.

Looking Up

Last night I had gone to the roof for a few minutes to look at the lights, after an evening out.

Earlier in the night I had told a friend's husband that I didn't think I knew how to meditate, couldn't just 'sit there' with my eyes closed for twenty minutes. Apparently he used to try to meditate in the morning before the market opens, but then the dog would see him sitting on the floor and get confused and want to play.

I did confess that I do spend a lot of time on the roof, essentially 'doing nothing', or wherever I am near water actually. It's essential. "That's meditation," he said.

Last night, I just happened to be sitting and enjoying the harbor breeze, when suddenly fireworks began in Jersey City. I have no idea why they were happening, but they were quite impressive, and watched them explode and dazzle for several minutes.

Sometimes, especially when you're not expecting it, life brings unexpected fireworks.

Face Time

At the end of last week, I had suddenly received an email from my sister's iphone, that my little niece Katy sent. "Thought you might want to see my face. Email me back on my email. Love you! Katy."

I emailed her back (on her email) "You're right honey. I did want to see your face!"

I am actually going to have real face time with my nieces next weekend, over 4th of July, for a couple days at the beach with everyone before continuing on their journey up to Maine and Nova Scotia.

Last year I had returned to California for 4th of July weekend, after two weeks in New York. It was that weekend when I was back in lovely California, after about 10 solid days of rain in New York, sleeping in Carly's trundle bed, being a bit over-extended, over-tired and unsettled, when I gave into that gnawing feeling inside that I really wanted to move back to New York, ultimately for more 'face time'.

What a difference a year makes.

Katy sent me a reply yesterday, "Can you send me a picture of your face?"

Sometimes, love needs no words.

Summer Rain

So in California when it "looks like rain", it rarely does. Unless you're in the Rainy Season months, the thick marine layer near the coast is known as May Gray or June Gloom, and burns off in the afternoon by the ever present California sun.

In New York when it "looks like rain"...it does!

I got caught in a downpour tonight, when it started sprinkling in Chelsea but was pouring when I came up from the subway in Brooklyn Heights.

Unfortunately (perhaps because I'm now living in the 'country') there weren't any handy 'umbrella entrepreneurs' on every street corner. These enterprising businesses pop up miraculously in Manhattan during every rainstorm, selling their cheap black umbrellas for $5 each.

So I made my way home, rain pouring down, looking much less like Catherine Deneuve's "Geneviéve"

Or "Holly Golightly"

Than "drowned rat"!

However, as a testament to the sweet neighborly Sesame Street quality of Brooklyn Heights, or perhaps its that romantic Edith Warton "Age of Innocence" feel, a Hicks Street stroller spied me and crossed the street to gallantly walk me home under his umbrella.

(Say what you will about Brooklyn, this has never happened to me in Manhattan before).

Once home, I breathed in the smell of rain and watched the storm over the harbor. I think I even heard the distant clap of thunder. It made me think of summer storms growing up in Michigan, especially near a lake -- dark thunder clouds massing, sheets of rain and forks of lightening illuminating the night sky.

Then the quiet and calm and freshness in the air the next morning, after the storm has passed.

Summer Solstice, One Day Later

So I have started to realize that my "tape delay" nature may be personality vs. geography based...as I can't really make those "Oh, I live in California" excuses anymore!

Yesterday was Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and it was a true New York summer day - blue skies, lots of sunshine, and plenty of heat!

Summer Solstice is also "International Surfing Day" so when living in San Clemente used to spend the day at the beach, listening to someone strum a guitar, watching the surfers and the endless waves before the sun would eventually slip past the horizon.

In California, once the sun sets, the heat drains from the air and even in the middle of June, there would often be a beach bonfire or fire pit to warm us all.

Yesterday had a more East Coast celebration, enjoying Lobster Rolls at an outdoor cafe with a friend visiting from San Francisco, humidity still hanging in the air long into the evening. "Warm evenings" are something I am enjoying again.

I haven't had a lot of QT with the Atlantic yet, but even on another coast, the meditative quality of watching boats, the river current and feeling the Harbor breeze conjures up the sweetness of summer.

Enjoy everyone!

BP, Empathy and The Muddled Gray Area...

A couple weeks ago my friend Elizabeth forwarded this provocative animated video created by Jeremy Rifkin, which shares findings from a scientific study about our brains being soft-wired for empathy, and how this is a critical component to our evolution as a society. It's maybe 11 minutes long but well worth watching when you have time.

I was thinking about empathy last week when I had sent out a mass 'mail merge' business development email to marketing contacts inside companies, and less than two days later was very surprised to have gotten an email from the chairman of a large multinational oil company, whose colleague had forwarded him my note. Marketing is directly influenced by what's happening in the marketplace, and the 'court of public opinion' can prioritize "Corporate social responsibility" from an after-thought to an overnight corporate emphasis. I had gotten some insights on the company from a friend close to the oil business and he said, "They're all being very cautious right now."

Ah, of course they are. Accidents can happen to anyone.

I am side-stepping heated debates about offshore drilling, our oil addiction and having an American based energy solution, how effective or poorly things are being handled from a crisis communications standpoint, government response, if enough is being done to protect gulf businesses, how to save and protect species of marine life who cannot help themselves, if proper precautionary measures were put in place in advance or as this article from Bloomberg suggested, if too much is being done -- "...Whatever you do, don’t waste a lot of money on an army of advertising agencies and public-relations consultants trying to restore your image. It’s not going to work, so there is no point even trying..."

Not commenting on any of this, but just suggesting that I seriously doubt BP intended to create this explosion. And, before this happened, would not imagine that a large percentage of people had 'ocean protection' top of mind. When Fabien Cousteau first sat down to talk about ocean restoration and protection, several months before this oil spill, I was hopeful for his vision around "Plant A Fish", though also wondered if many people would care about what isn't in their own backyard.

I remember what the minister at Grace Church said earlier this year right after the Haiti earthquake:

"...The focus of the service was a commemoration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Reverend opened the sermon saying he's been asked several times 'How does God let something like this happen to Haiti?' He said (in addition to Pat Robertson's televised statements of cruelty being only matched by his ignorance) that before the earthquake, he's never been asked about Haiti, though of course it's a nation wrought with poverty and very deep social and humanitarian issues. The sermon became a message of how do WE let this happen, and our role in making society better for all....

Horrifying accidents, natural disasters and crimes of humanity do trigger wake up calls when we're not paying attention, highlight some cracks in the foundation, and hopefully prompt change to better ensure that things like this don't happen again. I was very interested in this story featuring Kevin Costner last week, who, 15 years ago, began developing oil/water separator technology after Exxon Valdez oil spill. An unlikely hero, but a hero nontheless.

It's human nature to want to blame someone, to have heroes and villains, to see things as black or white, right or wrong. It's not easy or comfortable when we don't have clearly defined 'bad guys' like Darth Vader.

Who became that way, after a series of poor decisions, motivations of power, greed, ego and other trappings, perhaps ignoring that small voice inside. It's a muddled gray area when the villain first began as one of us, as Luke Skywalker's father, after all...

Second Acts

I really enjoyed reading a post this morning on Closettour, a very engaging site created by a friend of a friend, who explores the wonder of 'what to wear.' (An ongoing thought for myself most of the fall and winter, considering the SoCal beach town wardrobe I moved here with...).

Jenni's post is about Edun, a fashion company that was the creation of Bono and his wife Ali Hewson to bring trade to Africa, that is relaunching at Barneys. Her perspective about the challenges of a company living its mission was refreshing, because you often don't hear about that.

"...Let me tell you, it ain’t easy. And under a microscope of that magnitude, even the tiniest effort becomes a worldwide example. If the designs were spot-on, they might have been too challenging for the factories. If the fabrics were vegetable-dyed, they might have faded in shop windows. And sometimes it seemed our orders were too big for the small factories and too small for the big ones. By the time I left Edun, to pursue a Masters Degree in Journalism, I couldn’t help feeling a little defeated..."

Second Acts in business, and especially in life, are something worth celebrating.

Il faut aller voir

"Il faut aller voir" -- "We must go and see for ourselves."

My friend Elizabeth sent me this wonderful story from the New York Times' unparalleled "Dot Earth" blog, which pays homage to the 100 year anniversary of Jacques-Yves Cousteau today. Charmingly Andrew Revkin shares memories of himself at age 13, when his hero Captain Cousteau first opened a whole new world for him.

As he notes: " As the human influence on the planet crests, we dearly need more communicators working, as he did, to remind us that we are deeply embedded in, and dependent on, a broader community of living things — many of which we barely understand and too often discount."

World Cup

I remember watching World Cup at a bar on Second Avenue and observing a Brit arguing with his girlfriend while watching En-ga-land play. He was what you might call 'die hard', and was questioning why she wouldn't entertain a more intimate 'party of two' with David Beckham if she had the opportunity. "Well why wouldn't you??" he asked indignantly.

It's going to be nice to hear updates of something outside of what's happening with the oil spill.

A Fine Day for an Oyster Planting

On Monday morning a new non-profit organization was born - Plant A Fish - an awareness raising campaign for ocean restoration. In honor of his grandfather's 100th birthday this Friday June 11th, Fabien Cousteau kicked off his new campaign that aims to educate, protect and ultimately restore distressed bodies of water around the world. Being a New Yorker, Fabien wanted to begin in New York Harbor, which amazingly once held the largest oyster population in the world!

We gathered early for the ferry to Governors Island, where Fabien would then host a media conference, followed by a dive with students from the Urban Assembly Harbor School, a very unusual school located Bushwick, Brooklyn that teaches marine biology and ultimately helps grow future marine stewardship among NYC public school kids.

My role that morning was mission critical!

Governors Island was especially eye opening to me. Located about a half mile into the Harbor from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan, its had a 200 year history of military use. Most recently it was home to the Coast Guard. It's now a island for New Yorkers to enjoy.

Fabien had a brief kick off for the media, where he educated us on why oysters are important, and a larger perspective of why healthy water bodies are crucial to our planet's health. "There is no planet B," he said.

As 'photo op' locations go, this one was pretty incredible.

Then Fabien and a handful of Harbor School students suited up and went on a dive in the Harbor.



On the ferry ride back to Manhattan, a French journalist commented about New York being such a maritime city. I hadn't really thought of that before, but on Monday it sure seemed like it was.

That evening I met up with Stacy and Jason and the kids for Connor's 10 year old birthday. We first went to the new park that just opened on the far southern pier of the waterfront in Brooklyn Heights. I felt like Alice in Wonderland as just the week before, it was concrete, and was suddenly transformed into this green oasis.

Jason kept texting me because I was wandering around, somewhat dazed, trying to find them (I am also navigationally challenged on land). Looking at the bikes and runners and walkers on the waterfront, I suddenly had the perspective of this being one of those cool cities like Vancouver or Madison, Wisconsin that truly incorporates healthy recreation into city life. I had no idea New York could actually be this. I smiled when I saw a new location for water taxis to Governors Island.

When I finally found them, Stacy and I gave each other an incredulous look. "New York is getting better", we both said.

Plant A Fish

"In our every deliberation,

We must consider the impact of our decisions

On the next seven generations."

- From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy, which was the inspiration behind the Seventh Generation brand name and company mission over 20 years ago.

A couple days ago, I flew up to Burlington Vermont for a presentation at the offices of Seventh Generation (a truly admirable company). I've never been to Vermont so the moment we landed and I saw the rocking chairs and the sweetly simple airport poster I smiled and suddenly felt a long, long way from New York's Laguardia airport.

We were only there for a few hours but immediately picked up that good college town vibe and was struck by the natural beauty all around. Besides a highlight of walking to the soft serve ice cream stand post meeting, I was especially mesmerized by the view from Seventh Generation's conference room.

Sometimes I think I'm half mermaid as looking at water is so restorative to me...and I believe, to most people.

Interestingly my friend and neighbor Fabien Cousteau's first job after college was at Seventh Generation. Fabien, a third generation ocean explorer and environmentalist, is the eldest grandson of the legendary Jacques Cousteau -- a man who essentially first 'walked on the moon' for us, under water. As a scientist, explorer, author, filmmaker, photographer and researcher, he was the innovator behind modern diving and even more - the pioneer of marine conservation. He first opened our eyes and hearts to the beauty and majesty of the sea and all its forms of life in water, all creatures great and small.

I originally met Fabien thru my friend Greta, who had met his girlfriend Susan where you meet people in New York - at a dog park. As life works in interesting ways, I ended up moving to New York just a few blocks from their apartment in Brooklyn Heights. Earlier this year, on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Tazzo, I sat with Fabien and discussed his vision for the ocean restoration campaign he wanted to launch called "Plant A Fish."

With the perspective of someone who has been diving since the age of four and grew up on the decks of his grandfather's famous ships Calypso and Alcyone, Fabien's passion, knowledge and appreciation for marine life is fascinating. Daunting facts such as "1.5 billion people - over 20 percent of the world's population - depend on the sea as a source of food or income" regularly come up in conversation. Or the fact that between pollution and over-fishing, our oceans are being emptied and vast species of marine life are disappearing. There's a documentary film out called "End of the Line" which is essentially about the end of most seafood by 2048 (ie in our lifetime).

Looking back now to our conversation in late January, it feels oddly foreshadowing.

Part of the horror of reading continuous stories about the oil spill in the gulf is that feeling of not being able to do anything. For the most part, we are a generous nation and with other natural disasters and plagues of humanity, there are incredible NGOs around the world whose infrastructure are in place to channel critical funds, medical services, food, water, living supplies -- who are donation away. With this...the oil is still leaking. And you know deep inside that this is an accident whose economic as well as environmental repercussions will be felt for many, many generations. You can imagine the fates of families directly tied to fishing industries. You see the oil slicked birds and your heart sinks, as you don't want to imagine what's happening beneath the surface. My friend John is an oil trader and has helped me learn a bit more about the ripple effect of 'what this means' in the global economic sense. Like in most things, there aren't black and white easy answers.

So 'in our every deliberation' after the idea, positive change must first begin with action.

As the New York Times reports, Plant A Fish, officially launches this Monday June 7th with kick off around an inaugurial 'oyster planting' in New York Harbor. Fabien has timed the launch of this campaign with what would be the 100 year birthday of his grandfather on June 11th. Oysters, certainly not the most glamourous of our marine life, have a critical function of being the classic bottom feeders in health and restoration for distressed waters. Though we like to pretend we can control our environment (as in what I put in my body, feed my family, put in my home, my city)...like it or not, we're all in one big eco-system, so its not a far leap to connect how aquatic health is directly linked to our fragile planet health, and human health.

The power of a good idea has simplicity, strength and momentum. Many of Susan's vast network of connections have jumped in, feet first, to raise money, strategize, donate time, talent, treasure, help. My former colleague and friend Isabelle is helping run day to day PR. Other friends Paul and Brett have strategized on introductions and VIP connections in the business and political world. Greta from her canyon in Utah has advised on non profit best practices, as well as reaching out to an ex boyfriend in the media to sweetly suggest he cover the event for visibility. 130,000 oysters certainly doesn't 'solve the problem' but everything begins with the first step.

Fabien has quoted a truth his grandfather often said: "People protect what they love."

And another truth comes to mind: You often don't know what you love until it's gone.

The Power of Good Vibes

Last night a few of us were in the office working late on a presentation with a very aggressive timeline that we had essentially redone several times. It was late; we were tired; and the term 'in the weeds' comes to mind. I was at my desk when I received a post from Sambazon's blog, written by my friend Ed "Skanda":

"Love your Acai berry juice!!! Top-notch product, great price, good taste. Feel a lot better using it!!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Bless you all, Customer: M. Franson – San Diego, CA"

This recent email sent to info@sambazon.com served as a potent reminder of the power of gratitude & appreciation. It transported me to a time when my yoga teacher (who was critiquing my teaching style at the time), reminded me that I’d forgotten to convey to the class the importance of cultivating deep feelings of love & gratitude during our practice. He explained that every emotion has a corresponding affect on the physical body and that to experience the full benefit healing potential of yoga, one should strive to remain continually aware of such positive emotions; a phenomenon I enjoyed directly while reading the grateful words of Mr. Franson.

As we strive to experience higher degrees of health and vitality through our diet, it’s easy to forget the importance of taking a moment each day to let go of negative feelings and replace them with feelings of love, acceptance & gratitude.

With Love & Devotion,

Skanda

I smiled when I read it, as it reminded me of the reason I loved working with Sambazon the most -- helping others. We would often get emails like this, and Ed or Jeremy would forward them around to the office, and it felt good to know that while we were working hard, we were helping others and making them happy. And it was amazing to think that in a busy day that often pulls us down to the weeds, a consumer would take the time to write in to express thanks, and that email would be sent around to nearly everyone, bouncing the feeling around, several times over, taking us all to a higher better place.

Love really does make the world go round.

Baby steps

As the news churns out more heart sinking images of the oil spill in the gulf, saw this fact on the Seventh Generation website when doing research for an upcoming presentation:

If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 100 ounce 2x ultra petroleum-based liquid laundry detergent with our 100 ounce 2x ultra plant-derived product, we could save 466,000 barrels of oil. Enough to heat and cool 26,800 U.S. homes for a year.

That's incredible. Nearly everyone can do that.