Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Meade
Last week I devoured a wonderful book by Lynn Serafinn called The 7 Graces of Marketing. It challenged and inspired me in a way that no other business book ever has. It goes to the heart of what’s wrong with profit-driven, manipulative marketing, and it calls us to be conscious co-creators of a new kind of marketing, both as business owners and consumers.
But it goes further, it calls us to be world-changers, both as consumers and as spiritually minded, heart-centered business owners.
Lynn writes:
“[M]arketing is a relationship. We all play a role in that relationship–whether as a marketer or as a consumer…. If we as consumers remain passive reactionaries in that relationship, we are giving marketing the very power we hate most about it–the power to exploit. Making the move from being passive reactionaries means we must open our eyes and become conscious and responsive. Only then will our relationship with marketing be not only resilient, but also healthy and useful to society. “
Can you see how Lynn calls us to step up, not only as conscious consumers who reject exploitive business practices, but as conscious business owners and marketers?
She goes on,
“[I]f marketing is truly to evolve, co-creativity must extend even further. Resistance to marketing must change into empowered co-creation…. If marketers and business owners approached marketing with the kind of relationship an artist has with his canvas, we might begin to feel differently about it.”
What happens when we don’t participate in this co-creative relationship”
“As we come to realise that nothing can satisfy this insatiable hunger and emptiness we feel, we begin to lose trust in commerce in general. We begin to blame big business for our problems and become suspicious of the intentions of companies, even if they happen to be good. We begin to create a world in which no one is to be trusted.”
We disempower ourselves.
We institutionalize scarcity, even as we preach the gospel of abundance.
We deprive the world of the full flow of our talents and creations, while depriving ourselves of the liberal sustenance available in a co-creative world.
In June, Lynn convenes the first 7 Graces Global Conference. It’s happening live in London, England, and by simulcast. She explains:
“Its purpose is to create a Tipping Point that can shake up the status quo, not through rebellion or government mandates, but from the inside out through awareness raising and lifestyle changes.”
Lynn has priced the simulcast so that virtually anyone who is employed, by themselves or another, can afford it. That said, she’s finding resistance among people who otherwise express their deep commitment to the principles she upholds.
Here’s what she writes about that:
“Many people in the world express their distaste for money and materialism, yet they still find themselves slaving to attain (very little of) it. Many of those who say “I can’t afford it” do not see the irony of the fact that they own cars, TVs, have (often crippling) credit card debt and buy their groceries from supermarkets. They know there’s something out of balance in the world, but they stay stuck in a hamster wheel, not understanding that the only way out of their dire situation is to step off that wheel.”
It’s not my intention to pressure or shame you into participating in the 7 Graces Global Conference. It is my intention to challenge and support you to look deep into your heart. Then make the decision that is right for yourself as a business owner and a world citizen.
You can learn more about the conference and register for the live event or simulcast here. And yes, this is an affiliate link. I will earn a modest commission if you choose to register. That said, I hope it is clear from what I’ve written than I support Lynn’s work with my heart and soul.
Sign up by clicking here.
I ask you, along with Lynn: “What is it we actually cannot afford?”
- “We cannot afford to become ever-more dependent upon big business at the expense of our communities.
- “We cannot afford to lose the wisdom of millennia upon millennia of craftsmen and agriculturalists.
- “We cannot afford to allow billions of people around the world to become trapped by debt from which they will never escape.
- “We cannot afford to consume and dispose of goods at a rate so fast it is putting our entire eco-system—of which we are an integral part—at risk.
- “We cannot afford to go back into our little boxes and think, “The problem is too big. There’s no way to change it.”
- “We cannot afford to procrastinate, become cynical or lose hope.
- “We cannot afford to do nothing.
“It’s time for action. If not this conference, then something.
“…because neither humanity nor the planet can afford to lose the battle against ourselves.”
Please, if this speaks to you, join me at the 7 Graces Global Conference.
June 22-24, 2012
London OR via simulcast (interactive Live Stream)
Sign up by clicking here.
I’ll be participating by simulcast. I hope to see you there.
Photo Credit: NASA
