Hello and welcome to a new Project Camp video. So during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown we got stuck in the mountains in southern India and together with us there was of course the owners, a few other guests and a couple of Krishna monks that got stuck here for the virus. And the more time we spent here the closer we got to the Krishna consciousness movement, religion and lifestyle. So day after day we've been spending more and more time with the monks to really understand their very particular lifestyle and because these people have been living for millennials together combining the individuals and the group life in a peaceful and full manner. And by now they have hundreds of temples all around the world and I'm sure they know a thing or two about living together. But first a little bit of history here. So the Krishna movement officially became a society in 1966. It was founded by Swami Prabhupada and it's got over a million devotees around the world by now. And it has around about 850 temples spread across the planet and of course the majority of them are in India but you can find a Krishna temple all around the planet. The Krishna consciousness is built upon Hinduism knowledge which is up to 5000 years old but it got a huge revival when Swami Prabhupada traveled to the USA where he found a very fertile ground in the hippie movement because what they used to preach was singing, dancing and eating and of course they aligns very well with the hippie sort of philosophy and in a matter of just a few years he managed to acquire millions and millions of new devotees and become hugely popular in the West. So we're now going to have a chat with the monks to learn more about monastic life and get inspired for project camp. Alright, before we dive into it, a little disclaimer here. The interview is pretty lengthy and it's got a monastic pace.  Describe what a normal day looks like in a temple. We worship the Lord along with the spiritual master. So we have deities of peace in the temple, those who have visited they know. And in the morning early, we have totally six aruthis in a day. Arathi is a wave offering in which different articles are offered with a specific Vedic ritual. It is offered to the Lord. Worship time, 4.30 am to 6.00 am including the chanting. Again it is free from 6.00 am to 7.30 am. Again worship time including Bhagavad Gita class, 7.30 am to 9.00 am. Breakfast is almost like free time, you chit chat and you eat 9 to 10. 10 to 12.30 am to 12.30 pm. If you are not engaged in any other, we call it as services. It's a free time. And 12.30 am to 1.30 am, again it is puja time. 1.30 am to 2.30 am, it is lunch time, again it's a free time. So from 2.30 am, you are left free till 4.30 pm. And 4.30 am to again 6.30 am, you have your Sandhya Arathi and Tulsi Puja. And 6.30 am to 7.30 am, you have your Bhagavad Gita class. From 7.30 pm to 8.00 am, you have your dinner. Again from 8.00 pm to 8.30 pm, you have closing, Sai Na Harathi. So after 8.30 pm, it's free time. You want to use sleep, otherwise you work up whole night. So days in a temple are fully busy, with monks that are engaged both spiritually and physically the whole day. Next, how many monks live in a temple? There is no limit. It depends upon the building, what they have, hired for the temple. It depends upon the space, depends upon the financial incomes, what the temple has. There is no limit. Basically, monk life is a life of dedication, right? They are dedicated to the mission, they are dedicated to the propagation. So this kind of dedicated which have in one temple is in Mayapur, we have around 400 monks in one temple. Around 200 in that spoon or so. Some big temples like that, they have around 400, 21, this is full time. Then there are many others who are serving, learning, new commerce, all different types. How much free time and worship time is there in a temple? 99.99%. None of them are free in the temple because one has to go for book distribution, one has to go for helping in the kitchen, one has to go for helping for the Maharaj, one has to go for the administrative work, one has to go for preaching. So very less negligible chances I can say. You will hardly get 30 minutes to close your lids. Yeah, actually there is no free time actually. The whole idea of Krishna consciousness is that 24-7 you are supposed to be engaged in the service of Krishna. So there are two aspects, one is our own personal sadhana, it's called our own spiritual practice, plus the preaching and the service. The temple service is right from the cleaning of the temple to the worship and the duties. So everything, it's all service. So if there are more devotees then it's a little less physical work because it can be shared. But in some smaller temples then you have to do everything. Alright, so that's very little free time in the temple. Lots of worship and service. Next, are there many visitors in the temple and how are they seen? In the temple from Monday to Friday, we see around 500 visitors. But in Sunday, the 12.30 A.D., we have a system. After A.D., even 1000 people come, 10,000 visitors come, we provide lunch prasad. We respect the God to the peak. No doubt in that. Krishna is the ultimate. So whoever comes, he is also Krishna's devotee. And we take his care. Not less than the people or the Prabhujis or Mataji's who reside in the temple. So Krishna monks have tons of roles. Could you explain a few? First thing is you're not allowed to come with shoes inside. You're supposed to keep your shoes out of the temple before you enter or any room for that matter. Like you're sitting with your shoe. This is totally unacceptable. The closer you go to the Lord, the rules become more strict. If you're more a little father away, then you're given a little more space. When you come close to the DTs, that becomes very heavy. You cannot be lax with the rules. So in the beginning, we don't stress too much the rules, we just stress on the chanting. But then when gradually a person becomes more serious, then there are more rules, especially in eating also what can be offered to Krishna. There are many rules. It seems external in the beginning, but there are both the external aspect and the internal aspect. The internal purification is the chanting and external is your cleanliness.   Shastra says, be clean.  It's a point of cleanliness because Krishna taught how to be clean, from heart bodily which in turn makes your soul be clean and cleansed from everything. Alright, so tons of rules. But are these rules ever questioned? They did. The monks question a number of times. Why should I stick to the rules? And we explain them. It has been mentioned in the books what Krishna says, which we call it as Bhagavad Gita. The conversation between Krishna and Arjuna on the Gurukshetra battlefield. So when scriptures are giving you, why you have doubt? Since we Google everything right now, we say Google is the best guru. People say that. So when Google, which is created by a human, is the best guru, why can't your heart believe which has been given some 5000 years ago by Krishna and which we still have it as Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata. It is innocence. None disturbs you until you disturb others. This is a phrase for humanity. Tongue is a weapon. When it is used politely, the rest of the world is polite to you. When your tongue is used unpolitely, whom you blame? The basic qualification of someone who is in spiritual. Even you are humiliated, your tongue should be polite. This is the difference between a spiritual man and a normal human being. And if you say, the rules makes us uncomfortable that I want to sleep this time and I am forced to get up. I want to eat at that time which I am not supposed to eat or I didn't get my prasad. I clearly told you in the starting, when you want something, you should become that. There is no second thought or back step in that. You should know before jumping, I am jumping into the fire or I am jumping into the water. You fear a good swimmer, jump into the water. If you are so powerful that your body is unbent when you jump into the fire, jump into the fire. But don't jump into the fire and say it is burning. Choice is given. After jumping, if you cannot sustain, that is your problem. So with so many rules, is there freedom in a temple? Yeah, this is the ultimate freedom. You are free from the cycle of birth and death. So Anand Krishna shows that he frees them from the cycle of birth and death and we go back to the spiritual world. Those people who in the material world, they think they are free, but actually they are bound by the laws of nature. So nobody is free in the material world unless he is surrendered to the supreme law. So this liberation is the real freedom. So we have to have a definition of what is freedom. Everything, I am free because I can go have illicit relationships with any woman I like. You think that is freedom, but that is the dog's or monkey's freedom. Even monkeys are doing the same thing. That kind of freedom is not real freedom. For us, our definition of freedom is the Bhagavatam says, Muktyar Hithvanyata Rukam Sarupena Vyasthiti. Liberation means to be situated in your spiritual constitutional position and serve the supreme law. This concept of political freedom or other types of freedom in that scripture doesn't give much value to that because illusory, because you are not crossed the modes of nature. You are not crossed the laws of karma. You are bound by the laws of karma. So where is your freedom? There is no freedom. Alright, we are almost halfway through the interview and I just found this beautiful footage from a Prabhuji singing. So I wanted to share this with you and take a little break and then go back to the interview. What is the structure in a temple? I mean, what our spiritual teacher has given is that there are three basic posts in a temple. There is one as the temple president and there is a temple secretary and there is a treasurer. So these are three posts in all the temples. Apart from that, there are other devotees who are given specific tasks or specific services and they take the responsibility and they do those services. But as far as official hierarchy, I mean these are the three top positions. And the guru? And the spiritual master, he instructs, he's about them and he instructs, generally they are disciples of spiritual master. And is hierarchy seen as a problem or a necessity? No, of course it's a necessity. It's not a problem. It's a problem when the hierarchy is misused and that has happened and that's why people tend to take it as a problem. Okay, so a temple is a very structure and hierarchical society. Next, how are the decisions made? By the temple president, with the consultation of the Maharaj, whoever recites in the temple, they have a committee, advisory committee. They will have the meeting and they execute. And is that a smooth process or it comes with like... Decisions are smooth process, implementing and getting implemented is tough process. Decisions, that depends on surrender. Because if one is surrendered, then he will accept the decision made by his superior. Yeah, depends on what the matter is. In spiritual affairs, there is Guru Sadovan Shastra. Like I said, rich make the basic, guide the basic rules and you can't just whimsically make decisions. There is a guideline for how to make decisions, what is the right decision to make. But then when in the practical field, there are on the job kind of decisions where you are doing something, you have to take a decision on it. So there you have to depend on whoever is your authority in charge. But if there is something really major decision, then it goes up to the spiritual master. Are there conflicts between the monks? When you are living together, there will always be some agreement, disagreement. So it depends on the maturity and if you have respect. If you respect the other person, then even though you may see some faults there, then you are a little tolerated. Tolerance is one of the main principles of spiritual life, the first principle. So basically you are seeing some shortcomings in the other person who you are living with. You have to share the same space, you know, the small and ashram you have to share with so many people. Everything is common, you know. So all these there are some types of clash in this and that. If you are mature and if you have a goal in mind and tolerance, you are ready to tolerate some inconvenience. If you neglect all the difficulties that may come, you are tolerated. Okay, so tolerance is key to live together. But when there are problems, is there a special recipe for conflict resolution? Whatever issue they get, when you smile and solve, mountains can be broken to mountains can be joined. And are monks ever kicked out? Yeah, it's basically two things, money and womanhood. Keep it simple. Sometimes the monks, they get attracted by some beautiful woman or something. So they want to get married, so they have to leave. Or money. Sometimes even in spite of woman and money they want to stay and they are not allowed, they are forcefully kicked out. Or if they do some really bad thing which is some abominable activity. It's like Delhi Ashram won Russian Monk, he went crazy. And he started dancing naked in the guest house. So he was kicked out. How does a temple make money? Our official two source of income is our book sales and our donations. Because monk life is simple. Two times food or one time food or three times food based upon his body level. And accommodation is already available. The clothes, what they wear, they will have two sets or three sets maximum. Maximum three sets. So, life story is very simple. How do you spend the money? Two things, again printing the books and for construction and maintenance of the temples and ashrams. And what about the monks? Do they get pocket money or say you need to go and visit your family? Or you have a problem, you need to go to the hospital, how does that work? Yeah, there's nothing like a specific fund as such. But generally some, the temple will take care of these things. If it's reasonable, unless it's unreasonable, something reasonable the temple will take care of. That's not an issue money. Because Krishna is the husband of the goddess of fortune. So when you worship Krishna then money is generally not a problem. What are the biggest challenges of living in a monastery? Every day it is a challenge. Yeah, basically no privacy. Generally everybody likes some privacy. But then you have to give up privacy when you are living together. And you have to take other people's problems. You don't have that problem but he has a problem. And you don't have to deal with that. I don't want to deal with it but I have to deal with it. Because I am living with them, I am so like that. And of course the desires, material desires come and we should not get washed away or blown away by these material desires. And another thing is social criticism and so many things. Generally when you give up family life and you don't follow family life, you get a lot of criticism from society. You wake up in the morning and you say, I am so calm, so peaceful. But what about the people in around? Are they in the same platform? You ought to be conscious between the four walls. When we step out the foot for the arati, we have to encounter. The things happen around us among the devotees who live in the temple. The visitors who come, they rush to us to ask questions because they need answers. Who is there to answer in their family? These answers only a man who is connected to the spirituality can answer. And we have to withstand with their questions. Either it is silly, we have to answer in the smiley way. Either it is hurting in the same smiley way. Either it is burning in the same smiley way externally. But what happens to internal?  What would you say is the relationship of Krishna consciousness with sustainability? Yeah, the fact that Krishna consciousness is sustained for millions and millions itself, it is a proof that it is sustainable. If you are not able to sustain means you are not applying the principles properly. The basic principle is you produce what you need and you use only what you produce. This is the basic principle of sustainability. What would be your number one tip for a bunch of people that are about to start the community? Community-wise, if you have to get together, you have to have common principles, which is standard for all, which everyone must accept. In any community to stay together, they have to have a common holding principle. If that holding principle is there, it is like for us Krishna, worship of Krishna. In a temple, everyone gathers to worship Krishna. So the common principle of Krishna, worship is there. So that is what is joining the whole community. Maybe they are of different backgrounds or so many different things. The common principle has to be there. And one thing, another thing is eating together. Like in our temples, when there is eating time, you may not know where the monks are. By the time of eating, you will find all are there. First they have to monitor, are they happy internally, individually, before joining a group? Are they eligible to respect them first and the next heart? Are they comfortable with the other's freedom or they are comfortable to their freedom? Once for all, they themselves have self-assessment and analysis. They can join a group. When you go to the crowd, two thangs, three thangs, five thangs, six thangs, they won't keep quiet. They will blabber. Are you eligible to withstand with that blabber? Are you capable to revert what that thang is blabbering without hurting even if you are getting hurt?  When other tongue is cutting your thoughts and you feel it is high time, how long you will live together? But when you go to a group, when you start living, what is your motto? Only that group will form some rules and you will live and you will die, is it? How this group motivations, how this group plans, how this group activities is helping the nation? That comes into the picture. If you are not helping the nation, what is the value of your existence? No, I am happy. My group, I am happy. My group is happy. We live. We eat. We exist. We disappear. Like that, how many groups have disappeared? Who knows? What is the use when you don't mark your name in the history where you have stepped on? What is the use? So mark your name in the history before your soul leaves your body. But the rest of the humanity, human existence speaks about you and the work you have done. That is the ultimate motto and motive. Thank you. Alright, I hope you guys got inspired by this monastic lifestyle. It is definitely something very foreign to us, very far away from what we are used to. And it's a very hardcore, quite intensive way of living. I hope that there are a few elements here and there that you can adopt and implement in your own lives and projects. A few takeaways from these interviews. One, living together is challenging.  Second, having a purpose is absolutely crucial. Having shared values and goals really helps to glue a community together. And it's kind of a tool to help overcome issues and problems as well as making decisions. And third, this is a very structured society. Monks living in temples, they have tons of rules, very set rules and hierarchies that have helped them to grow and expand over the centuries. Alright, that's it for this video. Thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next Project Camp video. Bye bye.


I think it's just keep it simple. I think it's the lesson of it. There's so many labels and things that get bandied around and we don't really need to know the labels. It all comes down to just being kind, compassionate, grateful for what, grateful and just listening. And when someone's in need of support, keep the focus on them. And if you need support, find the focus so that the focus can be on you afterwards. And that links back to the Samaritans. If we're supporting a difficult call, we would, all our focus would be on that caller. Everything, everything about it. But we know the moment after that call is finished. If it's a really difficult call, we need the emotional support, but the emotional support will then be there for us. So it's like when that person needs support, support them with everything you've got. Listen, keep it all on them and then find the support for yourself after, after that. And then the world will gradually sort itself out, but keep it simple. Great advice. And how about you, Jen? What thought would you like to leave people with? Yeah, I absolutely agree. Keep everything simple. We don't need clever gimmicks. We don't need clever terminology. We just need to be here in the present. If we want to be physically healthy, we need to be mentally healthy.


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It's not that I'm sad. I'm emotional, but I'm not emotional because she's leaving me. I'm like, I can't do this. I'm just happy she's going somewhere better. My fellow Snifers, Flighters, and Newbies, welcome to my channel. My name is Marlene McConn. We're on our way to the vet. I want to give you more details, but I'm actually late and I need to be there at four and right now the nav says I'll be there at, whoa, at four oh seven. I got to go. I'll give you an update when I park or when I'm waiting. Okay, I have lots to tell you, a lot to tell you.  So here it goes. First of all, how gorgeous is this wall? I don't know if I'm gonna film like the doctor, because I don't, I don't put cameras on people's faces, especially vets because they're working, you know. I don't know if you guys know this, you would know if you watch my Instagram, but Fublita, that's the little pudgy, comes here every few weeks, maybe like every month or every three weeks to get a beak trim. She has a split bottom beak. So here's what's happening. You guys haven't seen much of Fublita on the show because she's so tiny that she like flies around the house and hides where my other birds are. And like she can sit, she sits on stands and hangs out too, but I just feel that she needs a better life. She needs somebody who is going to just be able to give her the time that she needs. And ultimately every bird that I have, that's the big goal. I want them to be able to have the time and interaction. And honestly, in my house, it's just not working with her because some of my birds are so large, you know. And I want her to have a friend. I would love her to have another parakeet friend, if that works out. If not, I want her to get all the love and attention that she deserves. So Fublita is getting re-homed. And today we're at the vet for the beak trim, obviously, but also to get paperwork because she's going to be lying out of California. But here is the amazing news. I'm really specific about who birds go to. I mean, I feel like when a bird comes into my care, that's why it takes so long to re-home them is because they have to go to the perfect place. And I found the most perfect companion for Publita. So someone is flying out. I chose this person very specifically. I would not give this bird to anybody that I didn't think would take better care of the bird than me. Let's be honest, she's going to take much better care of Publita. She's going to do better with bonding with Publita. She's going to have more time for Publita and she has parakeets of her own, which she is so incredibly amazing with. So when I told her, I think you're kind of the perfect person for Publita. I didn't think this dream would come true that she would actually have her, but they're flying out here and they're going to take Publita home. And I've already seen Publita's cage set up. It's amazing. It's a dreamland compared to where she is now. That's what I want for her. The best part of all this is that you guys are going to get to follow Publita's journey because she is another fellow YouTuber. Really proud of her. And I really think this is going to be a great fit. So we got our certificate. Yep. Look at all of these guys working hard. Got her in there. Are you ready? Look, I have somebody who wants to meet you. Okay. It's not Brando. You're so cute. Brando, is it the best? It's the best. Come over here. It's like sweet. We have to explain this. You have not explained what's happening. You probably know her. If you don't, you should know her. She's very up and coming and very talented and adorable. You're going to get to follow her and see Publita's life. So introducing Elle from Live Laugh Birds. Go to her channel to see her journey to get here and what it was like when she first came in the house. Because you know, I didn't film that part. She still hasn't met all of the birds. So we're going to introduce her to all of the birds. But why don't you tell them a little bit about your channel and maybe how, how did this happen? Because she does not live in Los Angeles. Okay. She flew here from Chicago, right? Yeah. From Chicago. How windy is it there right now? It's like snowing and there's like five inches of snow. Oh my god. I used to live in Iowa. So I used to go to Chicago a lot. There was the mall and then there was the marina and I just was blew away into the marina. I have a channel called Live Laugh Birds and I basically teach people about how to take care of birds. It's mostly like educational videos. I have four birds right now. I'm about to have five. I have two budgies. I have a cockatiel and I have a green sheet conure named Kermit. My birds are just adorable. You're so cute. I love Brando so much. I've been watching Marlene for four years. Oh my god. Four years. And she's an inspiration. Oh I am so cute. You know what she did? She sent me a video of her parakeet saying hello my sniffers. Yes. I was like I wish you could have Pablita because you would be so amazing with her. You would have more time to interact with her. Pablita would have a friend. You know Pablita I think needs a friend. If she's open to it you will see what she'll see. I trust her. She sent me pictures of the cage. Big beautiful setup. So I want you guys to follow her and follow the journey with Pablita. So now that you know all that information let's watch her meet all the birds. Okay. Does anyone want tea or coffee or anything? I need a drink. I have water. Wait why are you laughing? Look at this. What is this? It's just green tea. Try drinking this. Wait you want to see my loose tea collection? That is loose tea. It's huge. I love loose teas. Check this out. How's her own loose tea? I know. It's the best one. This is amazing. So what kind of tea is this? It's just like green tea. Stop. I love green tea. Do we want this? Do you guys want to drink it now? Of course. Yeah of course. This is how I have to do everything with this guy. Who are you most excited about meeting? Well you better say Brando.  All right so Brando makes all the other birds jealous. Okay. But still let's first meet Iluca. Your zoo guys should go on her channel for her first reaction to seeing some of these birds. You're so cute. But I'm going to introduce her now to the ones that she hasn't met.  Vinny stay right there. Yes. Vinny get it. Because he sensed like the nerves and I ran so he came after me. It's never flown up here. So this is Vinny. Vinny. Vinny this is Elle. Yeah. Two three come on there. Help me out. I just love your flashy ways baby baby. How was I supposed to know that something wasn't right? Yeah. And then you can let him in. Vinny tell them to come in. Did you see he brought all those lemons? My mom is Johnny and he waits for Johnny to come out of the room and he goes Johnny come here. Johnny come Johnny. Yeah he goes I see him. You see him? And I've heard Johnny many times running down the hallway with Vinny chasing him. I'm going to hold Vinny for two reasons. One we have another bird in the mix. Yeah. So they're both going to be jealous of each other. Okay. And two Vinny if you never want a bird to bite your lip it's the worst feeling. Yeah. And every bird you ever meet is unpredictable and so you know that. Does that make sense? Yeah. I didn't even introduce you to Merlin and Cody. Down the staircase. I just want to teach you something real quick. Okay. Birds have flight patterns. I know Vinny wants to fly up here.  So this is like a way to get up. Technically once I get here there's so much more open space that he can still take off. You don't have to be that in tune with them. Like there's a good chance I'll lose him right over here because I can't. Right? It's Cody. Yeah. Hi Cody. You're so cute. You're so cute. Do you hear blue? Okay come down. I probably have to go get blue down. Oh there you go. Kind of unofficial. I brought the bird up here right now to kind of just introduce her to the bird and kind of you know talk to her a little bit about the bird. More so she knows all this but obviously so you guys can see too what's going on. Is this Puglita? Are you excited? Yeah. Yeah.  You're moving to Chicago from Los Angeles. You know what I mean? You're gonna show up on the scene.  Is it like a backpack? It's a bag. Yeah it is a backpack. Stop. It's a backpack for birds. Oh my god. This is so cute. I know it's called a packo bird. That's what she's gonna travel home in and then we've also got a cage for her to stay at the hotel. I don't know if I have any birds that fit in this size but. Brando would. You think? Yeah. I don't know. Brando's like a cockatiel size. He's so cute. Oh my god. He wants maybe Brando's a she. Look at Brando. Brando's a she.  I'm like no I didn't. I honestly didn't know. I just always called her a he or a she or whatever until we didn't know so but I realized that everything is taken very seriously. Oh we're gonna witness their first introduction. Okay so I'm just gonna like start by feeding her millet if she wants it. I'm not gonna put my hand in there and ask her to step up but it looks like she doesn't want it right now. I think she's a little stressed right now. I mean she also just got moved up to like here like you know. Yeah I don't want to lose trust but you can leave the millet in so that she can understand that. Yeah the other birds like teach each other how to do things like Mike on your Kermit like he uses a foraging toy and then Pearl will like use the foraging toy too and Kermit basically like teaches her to do things that she wouldn't do on her own. I didn't even teach Pearl to do so yeah maybe Pearl will come on step up on me and then probably till we'll see that and then. Oh for sure. Yeah the beginning my friend that gave her to me was working with her and this guy doesn't really know anything about birds particularly but he was like giving her neutra berries and she would come on his hand and everything like that so she just needs a little more time to be like in the calm environment because she gets spastic all over again you know she just needs time. And guys budgies deserve to be engaged not caged just as much as larger birds. Some people don't realize that and keep their budgies and cages all the time. You know and they don't they don't make a lot of complaints you know and like we have to be the voice of the birds. They're just as intelligent as the large parrots and they need to be let out they need to be worked with and you can train a budgie just like you can a larger bird. My little budgies like they fly to me on command they do the recall they do tricks they can do anything they're just as deserving of love and attention and it's really sad because people impulse by them because they're so cheap anyone can get a budgie and nobody really like knows you know how much potential these birds have.  Hashtag budgie awareness. I was just gonna say she should have her own hashtag budgie awareness. Yeah. Little budgies like they don't really like want me to sniff them like they I'm not saying she assumes sniffer position okay she doesn't exactly assume sniffer position but she smells really good you can like hold her like you know I always steal the sniff even with blue when I'm holding blue.  Go potty go potty right now stretch we're both stretching together. They always like raise their wings.


Hi, I'm John A. I'm from the production Seattle, thanks for having me. It's great to be here, and thanks to HVC now for hosting us. The front hatch is the Cancer Research Institute in Seattle. We also do HIV research. We're publicly funded, so we get most of our funding from the federal government. Maybe a little bit more. What we see in here, we have about 300 PIs at the site. There's about 3,000 people on campus. We're also associated with the University of Washington. And we also have a Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, which is an actual clinical setting for patients. So we've been using the EZ Bill since 2015. I've had a lot of experience with modules. I've been using it since the 90s, back when I was in NCT. So that wasn't new to me, but EZ Bill was. So I started using it, and then I started to have a lot of people. We just initially thought of EZ Bill as a tool to build software. So we just started with an initial pull of the repository and started building. And we installed the EZ Bill on a machine that we had been using for years as a developer platform, which had an enormous amount of it. So our early use of EZ Bill, our packages were very included. The package can be pulled in other versions. It's an EZ Bill version. And this idea of low level libraries. So that line between the OS and now we're at a point now where probably our next cluster will be deployed with the most minimal Ubuntu we can find. Nothing, nothing in there at all. No compilers, no make. And if it's not loaded through EZ Bill, it's not going to work. Sorry about that. I'm the person that is responsible for R and Python also. We have some very demanding R users. Our development had lived at the Fred Hutch for eight years. We still have a lot of those developers on campus. Bioconductor was also developed at the Fred Hutch. And we still have a lot of those people, although they moved to Buffalo a few years ago, which is a crazy move. So my users expect R to be out like the day after the release. It's a very demanding group. In order for me to prepare for that, I'm usually rolling out the development copy of R on a weekly basis. And I have an EZ config for that. And so my users can have a pre-release of what's going to happen. And then also I'm practicing my build. So it's not that I'm quick. I'm already practiced that release like a week or two in advance. And obviously most of our packages are bioinformatics. We're not involved in chemistry or physics. So very, very heavily involved in bioinformatics. And we also publish all of our EZ build recipes. And that's the URL you can find them online. It looks a lot like the EZ build site. EZ configs directory. Underneath that, you'll find the alphabet and then all of our EZ configs under there. So if you're looking for a new version of R or Python, we might already have it, although maybe not in the tool chain that you want. So again, we started just using EZ build. We just took off and we started building R and Python. We just started adding modules to the bottom of it. And we weren't really paying attention to the EZ build community and what was available out there. And we really diverged rapidly from that. And now we're very focused on the community. We really see a lot of value in being able to get EZ configs from the community. And so last year, maybe over a year ago, I started to untangle R EZ config from the EZ config that's published. So tease apart, pull all those different things apart and always use the base R and base Python. And then add R existing modules through bundles. And of course, you know, our current philosophy is to publish as much as possible now. I think three of the last R releases were mine. And I might say the other thing that we're doing with R is the community that has a separate bioconductor. And that's very confusing to our local users. So all the bioconductor packages that local users want are loaded into our custom Fred Hutch version. And EZ Update is able to look at CRAN and bioconductor. So when you load the Fred Hutch R, it has well over 1,000 packages now. And it also includes bioconductors. So we don't support that as a separate package anymore. So what Python looks like now is, you know, our custom version. So FH Fred Hutch version one is, you can see the dependency list. Now there's a lot of version suffixes. So read all that in. And then our extents list will be custom to our site. So again, when I started using EZ Update and we started developing that, it only read a single file. So in order to make an easy config like this work with EZ Update, what's happened in the last year is I'll open this file up and I'll actually read the dependency list and the extents list. And then I'll populate the dependencies from all of these, but there's about eight different modules in there. I'll open every one of those up, read the extents list and that and store that in a big list of like dependencies that are already part of that. And then when we scan the local extents list, we're always checking it against what's already included in these other files. So that was a major upgrade this year to make that work. And also initially, it would only work with modules named Python or R. But now we have so many bioinformatics packages that are written in Python that have huge dependency lists. And when I scan the file, I need to figure out what language it is now. So I look for the extents class. I look for it in the dependency list. Hopefully the very first dependency is R or Python. I use that version to create the suffix, version suffix. So in using EZ Update, this is a command line version. I'm looking just for the dependencies for RStand. And if we run it like this, you can see there's 48 dependencies. So it looks like a rather large, large package. I may also make a comment on the... If you're just searching, I have Rver and Pyver. So I don't know what language we're using and I don't know what version I'm searching against. So those command line arguments are just for me the easy updates. I don't know what I'm using and which repository I'm searching. I think I have an open issue with somebody who thought, like if they put that there, I would update the file. But it's really a hint to EZ Update to know what I'm searching against. So now the feature of EZ Update is it'll read all the existing dependencies from a file. So here I'm saying EZ Update, I give it my R file and then I say search RStand. And of those 48 dependencies, almost all of them are satisfied by the existing R that I'm specifying on the command line. So if you're building a custom package that just has RStand, now you can see there's just four packages you need to add. So I use this a lot in just trying to build packages or new packages or even just do metadata searches. I don't have it in the slide, but if you do dash dash meta, it'll just dump a ton of information about that module. So it's kind of interesting to see what the contributor thinks is important. And that works for both R and Python. So again, our current approach is to use bundles for everything. And that's what I see in the community. And again, there's so much Python code that's being written in the bioinformatics world. But I needed to improve how EZ Update works in order to install things. So WOT is a single cell RNA from the road. And it's a very, very complicated package. So building this by hand or suffering through repeated failures with dependencies not met. So you can see now that when I'm using EZ Update, it reads all these dependencies that are found in the dependency list. And then it finds WOT and it starts to unwind all those dependencies recursively. So this one package extends the base Python and adds 50 modules to it. John, a question on this. Where are you getting the information that what requires all these Python packages? Because this is not tracked in PyPy, is it? PyPy does. So the dependencies listings are in there. Although it's still, PyPy is very problematic as you know. And not everything is documented. Once you download a package, you might look at the dependency list and the setup.py. It often doesn't match what's in the metadata. So since it's maintained by humans, there's lots of error in there. So what I've done is I just have a separate script for that, which is probably not available anywhere. But what I do is a pip install WOT and then just check what pip did and use those versions. And where is that getting the information from? PyPy just, I don't know. God knows, I don't know. Maybe it scans the setup.py or the requirements.txt in the source star ball or it asks PyPy. Sure. I also have a lot of scripts laying around in the directory with this that I've not checked in. So I've actually go to PyPy, find the sources, untar it, put it in the directory, open up the setup.py file and scan that for dependencies. I've also looked at the requirements file. I'm just a huge critic of PyPy. That's a whole other slide deck. But it's getting better. In the last two years, I see a lot of improvements. So people are inputting better metadata now. But I'll just go into it briefly. But what we're doing now when you do a new PR for easy configs is it starts going through Jenkins and it's actually trying to build this. And PyPy, there's no such process. Anyone can just push something up. And until PyPy actually has a CI built into it where if you say it needs these requirements and it tries to build it with those and it fails, you know, we're going to have these problems. Although I can just imagine right now there's still a lot of people that build software that are out there. I think even WOT is still at the brode. It's not checked in yet. You know, it'll be another barrier to get people to maintain their software. I do see Facebook's investing money in PyPy. And their key thing is they want to have modules that are signed. So they're very curious about security and making sure the modules are what they say they are. The reason I used it, I picked the versions based on the PIP install is because that's what everybody's doing. Everybody's doing PIP install WOT and just whatever PIP thinks is how it should be. Rather than scanning the metadata myself or trying to figure things out, I mean, even the people that develop what probably do PIP install WOT themselves. So if they're happy with what PIP does, then we should too. I'll look at the code and see what it does. Look at the PIP code? Yeah. I'm so sorry. So that's the updates that I've done, the easy update. Just a few of the things that we're doing at the Hutch is, again, based on the earlier problems we had with a very polluted build environment, is I build every easy config now inside a Docker container. So I have a Docker container that has a very particular version of EasyBuild, that has a very particular version of the tool chain. And we're very careful about how we build that Docker container. So our Docker run command, it's a real chicken and egg thing. We need DevTools to install this stuff. But after that, I don't want DevTools. So it's one huge run command that installs DevTools for Ubuntu, installs EasyBuild, and then I remove DevTools in one line. So my resulting containers, it's a true clean room. It literally does not contain make. It doesn't have a GCC. It doesn't have any development libraries. So it's a very, very clean environment and we only use it one time. So there's so many pieces of software out there that will just insidiously like pull libraries from the net, things that you're not aware of, and drop them into that environment. So we just do a Docker run. We build a single easy config, and then when the run is over, the container is turned off. So each time we build a new piece of software, we start with a clean container, clean build environment. And that's really improved our build quality substantially.  And we've also started a bounty program. So we're actually working with HPC now to help us build as many of those dependencies as needed and help the community out. And that's an ongoing project and it's kind of an experiment for us. That's a very old photo. Just briefly share this, because of a, oh, share my screen. I'm using modules of course, so we do a spider, and every time I make a new piece of software at the Hutch, I'll run a couple of tools I have and update our website. So for the first time in many years, we have a current up-to-date list of every piece of scientific software at the site. We publish it on this website. We have a little tutorial in here on how to use modules, how to request software. And then I have some really specific sections on R and Python and just our bioinformatics software in general. So if you're looking for all the different R's we have, they're listed here. Anything, again, using Lmod, the module type says bio, so I publish that as a special list too. And I remove all the duplicates, so any given name is only used once. And it's kind of cheating, but you can use the browser search. So if you were looking for something that did single-cell, you could just type that and use your web browser through this list. And I have a, this is just Python that's publishing this. And for any one of these, you could just click on and go to the actual site where the software is. So I tease all that metadata out of the easy config and annotate everything. And then the other thing I annotate is with easy update, I also have something called easy annotate. So since I do a lot of work with the EXTs list, again, like how do I expose all of those, you know, thousand R modules and close to a thousand Python modules to our end users? So again, I'll open the easy config, pull all those lines out, go to PyPy, find the website and publish it in a list. So this is the module list for our current Python right now.  It's a complete list of everything and you can just click on anything in here and go to the site where the software is and get the docs on. All of those documentation pages I was showing you are actually GitHub markdowns. So it's the flip side of our repository. So it's all contained in our docs directory. And then from here is where you would find all of our easy configs, which are published. So we're using GitHub for all of this. So it's the repo for our repository and it's also our documentation. And then the scripts that create the web page are in this repo. So it's all nicely done in one single bundle. So, you know, GitHub Push puts my recipe out there and if I run my scripts correctly beforehand, it'll also create all the documentation for it. So users are, you know, as a new piece of software is published, all the documentation that goes with it is published at the same time. And that's the end of my presentation. The last bit is probably something you can update with something like GitHub Actions. So when you do a push, it updates the docs and publishes a new page. Yes, that's the next step. Save you a couple of minutes. Yeah, it's just a couple of command lines now. But yeah, that would be version two. Any questions for John? The mechanism you're using with a container to build easy configs, is that publicly available so other sites could use that? It is. It's called in the same, let me see here. Well, in the Fred Hutch GitHub repository, there's a repository called EBCB, easy build container build. Ketchy. Just have a question regarding the container build. You were mentioning that I think you have to have this long run command to install easy build and then remove all GCC. So did you think about using this multi-stage build from Docker where you can have basically a build container and then build it inside the clean container? I have. I've looked at that and I've done a lot of experiments with it and I have not had any success with it at all. It doesn't, I don't know. It may not work the way I think it does. So I've obviously had many stages in there. You know, an OS stage, an easy build, Elmod, well, Lua is way up at the top. Need that first. That's not part of the base Ubuntu. But if it's working for you, I'd like to see an example. Just adding on to, Ken, it's about the workflow GitHub action. There is also one that may help you. It's a URL checker. So if you're doing easy annotate, getting all the URLs, just want to make sure that you can still validate all those URLs. Sure, it's probably still working, but there is one feature that does that. So that could help you when you're publishing those documentation. It's on the marketplace. It's called URL checker. That's what it's called. So I actually was curious about it. I tried it out and it works pretty well. And it works through GitHub action. Yeah, again, whatever is published, I just take it at face value and publish that. Occasionally, there are some broken links. That would be a good thing to add to it. Okay, thank you.


and going back to the players thing that you talked about before it's a mere few years ago when the two players who may have claimed or be perceived as Everton fans as the ones who kept us up were with Charleston and Anthony Gordon and neither of them were there anymore no so I can't really do the bleeding heart stuff for Newcastle or for Villa or whoever got to sell the best players to stick to the rules I would advocate guys don't sell your best players give the odd finger to the rules because in the big picture sense you ain't gonna get end up in a nice place no because you're so in the branch that you sat on because you get rid of your best players you perform badly in the league because you perform badly in the league you end up with less money because you end up with less money you more likely to breach the regulations because you're more likely to breach the regulations you're gonna get punished you know and the worst case scenario of that is what happens to Derby County is just don't go down one division you go down a couple before you level off


In a minute, I will bring up an amazing panel to talk about the diverse contributions that extend beyond code, recognizing the vital roles of local ambassadors, glossary translations, and events like Kubernetes Community Days, in making the cloud-native experience truly accessible for everyone globally. We have lowered barriers for individuals with disabilities and underrepresented groups, ensuring that everyone, regardless of background or ability, has a place in our community. We will let diversity as we continue shaping the future together. And with that, let's bring our panelists to the stage. First, we have Andrea Giardini, independent cloud-native consultant. We have Jinhong Reinholtz, Chief Cloud Architect at SacroBank. Stefan Estegracias, cloud-native enablement catalyst at ITQ. And last, Anastasia Gubska, SRE and DevOps engineer at BT Group. Take a seat. Thank you so much for being part of this panel and talk about the contributions that extend beyond code. Let's start with a quick round of introductions. Anastasia, do you want to go first? Thank you. Hello, my name is Anastasia Gubska. I work as an SRE engineer. I work for British Telecom Group. And I want to especially thank everyone for having us here. It's been so wonderful and so wonderful and supportive and accessible at this conference. I also want to talk about the deaf and cloud-native meetups and being a member of the CNCF deaf and hard of hearing working group. Thank you so much, Stefan. Good morning, everyone. I'm Stefan Estegracias. I'm working as a collaborative enablement catalyst at ITQ. For the community, I'm proud to serve as a CNCF ambassador, contribute to the Glossary Project and organize local community events. Jinhong? Hello, everyone. I'm Jinhong Reinholtz, Chief Cloud Architect from Saxo Bank, which is an IT firm happened to have a banking license. In CNCF context, I'm organizing KCD Denmark and the cloud-native Copenhagen Meetup Groups. Anastasia? Good morning, everyone. I'm André Giardini. I'm an independent cloud-native consultant and trainer. And yeah, in my spare time, I take care of some KCD organization, some community groups previously in the Netherlands and now I'm based in Paris. So I'm taking care of the local group over here. Perfect. So no-code contributions. Let's start a little bit to talk a little bit about what that could be. And Stefan, could you maybe elaborate a little bit on the concept of no-code contributions and share some examples from your own experience? Yes. So initially, I contributed by posting issues, some project PRs, and a lot of digital documentation. Anyone is welcome to contribute. So to find out how, please visit the Contribution page with that code. So this Contribution page are managed by the Contributor Strategy Group. Contributions to the SCNCF are not just about writing codes, but as well how helping the community and the working groups in other ways. These contributions are no-code contributions. For instance, since the Glossary Project was announced at the PregoScupcon, I decided to join the French localization team to translate the cloud-native concept for French speakers. One definition at a time, because I think that adoption grows when the language is not a barrier. That means that everyone can understand the cloud-native concept for making them more accessible and more widely adopted. Furthermore, no-code contribution can also support the effort of working groups, such as the cartographer's working group who developed the cloud-native maturity models. This model offers a comprehensive roadmap for organization not only adopt cloud-native technologies, but as well excel in their implementation, management, and governance. In my role, I frequently use this model to guide the organization to develop their unique journey for cloud platforms. And then I come back to the project to share my feedbacks and experience to them. Another example of no-code contribution is organizing and contributing to local meet-up events, such as meet-ups and KCDs. So don't hesitate to contribute. You will be playing your part in the cloud-native journey smoother for our community. And it's a rewarding effort. Yeah, I completely agree. Thank you so much, Stefan. I also believe that one of the important ingredients in scaling cloud-native globally is by building these local communities with cloud-native community groups and KCDs. Jinhong, you have been involved in all of this as well. So can you maybe talk a little about how these events have played a role in making cloud-native accessible globally? And also maybe share some of the key elements in building a strong and supportive community, and especially one that embraces diversity. Thank you, Kasper, for bringing up this essential discussion. The global embrace of cloud-native technology owns much to initiatives like cloud-native community groups and the Kubernetes community days. These are our main avenue to make cloud-native technology accessible to everyone. Take Denmark, for instance. Our community, our local groups in 2023 have organized the KCD Denmark event, which brought 400 IT enthusiasts together and creating a vibrant space for learning and sharing. Notably, we have supported the coding pirate with a $40,000 donation, highlighting our commitment to wider societal impact. Let's also talk about Jessica and the blind participants who shared the KCD experience online. It's also reflecting on how our supportive spirit of our community. When we talk about building such a supportive and diverse community, a few key elements stand out. First, inclusivity is non-negotiable. Everybody should feel welcome. Second, accessibility matters, whether it's a financial or breakdown language barrier, like translating CNCF glossary into French. Third, we prioritize sustainability by minimizing the travel emissions. Or you can be innovative like us, reuse a fluffy disk as a conference batch. Lastly, it's all about boosting education and encouraging collaboration. At the end of the day, the global growth of cloud native goes beyond just the tag. It's about fostering a community where people come together, collaborate, and grow collectively. It's through this shared effort, we can truly open up cloud native technology to everyone, no matter where they are. Thank you so much. I know you've been involved in building communities, local communities here in Europe. Can you share some of your experiences and success stories? And maybe also touch a little bit upon the concept of Qtrain because you're one of the organizers there as well. And how that helps make an event like Qtrain, cloud native, more environmentally aware? Yeah, sure. As in Hong Kong, I've also been quite involved with the KCD program and the Meetups in the Netherlands before, where I used to live and now here in Paris. The KCD community, the Meetup community, is a great environment to grow and to learn from each other. This is what I like the most when sharing my experience with other organizers. It's really an environment where we try to help each other, building better events, and serve better our community. Many of the people that helped me out during KCD and during Meetups organization, were then the one that got involved in Qtrain. This is an initiative that we launched around six months ago to bring as many people as possible to KubeCon by train from different cities around Europe. It's an initiative that came out of nowhere really from an idea around six months ago and it grew into something bigger than me. Let's put it this way. I have to say a huge thank you to all the organizers that organized trains from all over the place, close by, far away, bigger communities and smaller communities, to bring as many people as possible to KubeCon by train. This was super nice because in this way, people that are part of the same community are allowed to get to know their inner community on their way to KubeCon before getting to a conference like this one which can be pretty overwhelming for some of the people. And yeah, of course, we also had the chance to share a nice moment together, a nice party when we arrived here and this is another event that allows us to make the community even stronger, make the community even bigger. So we plan on doing this again and now that we know the next true destination, we can plan well in advance. Let's put it this way. But yeah, a nice initiative and a very, you know, an initiative where the community responded really, really well and it was a way again to push sustainability for any big event like this one, but also to make the initiative more sustainable. We relied on like group booking to make the ticket price very affordable and as inclusive as possible. So this was also a big part of things. In case you want to join us in the future, you know where to find us, it would be nice to have you for the next edition of KubeCon. Awesome. We also, oh, sorry. Anastasia, you're one of the co-host of the new Deaf and Cloud Native Community Group and from your point of view, how can the Cloud Native community actively work together to removing barriers for people with disabilities? And can you share some of your insights and your contributions to this community group? Yes, first of all, thank you so much for including me on this panel. Currently, the most critically important thing is to raise awareness about our presence within the community. Oftentimes, community activities are not accessible for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Because of the inaccessibility, oftentimes deaf people literally stay home and then no one knows that we have accessibility needs at all. Our goal is to provide resources, both in our community and the community at large, to make certain that all activities can be more accessible for deaf and hard of hearing individuals and technology. An additional challenge is that sign language is not universal. Not all deaf and hard of hearing people use sign language at all, and certainly not all of them know American sign language. Although I'm currently signing American sign language, I'm not fluent, it's my fifth language. At my job, I use British sign language, even though English is the base language for both British sign language and American sign language, the sign languages themselves are quite different. As a co-organizer for deaf and cloud native in our community, our mission is to break down these barriers. We've created a space where deaf people can talk, share and educate one another, share knowledge and skills, and learn new technologies in whatever language they sign or speak. In this way, we can be part of so many cool things happening in cloud native tech. This is important because there's still so few opportunities for us to participate in community events other than KubeCon. And this is only the second KubeCon that has been made accessible to us. But we are very optimistic that through our work, the community will become more and more accessible, not only at KubeCon, but we will attract more deaf contributions in the CNCF landscape. You can also support us by organizing accessible events within your own community. Anyone can help. I welcome everyone to check out our contribute.cncf.io. There's an accessibility tab that you can experience many resources there. And if in your community, you see an accessibility issue, call it out. Our working group has published a lot of great resources for you and you can organize accessible events outside of KubeCon. If you do organize community events locally in your hometowns, please make sure they are accessible. If you need help or advice, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We are at hashtag deaf, hard of hearing. Caption your videos, spread awareness, and contact our group if you need us. It's very important to provide full inclusion for people with disabilities within your community so that everyone can feel included. I completely agree. Thank you so much. I really hope listening to these experiences has inspired some of you to start contributing whether it's code or no-code contributions as we discussed today and also making your events more accessible for the broader community as a whole. I want to say thank you so much to all of you for being part of this amazing panel. And yeah, let's give them a big round of applause while they walk on the offstage. Thank you. Thank you.


Hi, everyone. I'm George cow and I'm here with one of my clients Michelle Olson So happy to have her here to share with us some of the things that she's learned in our work together I hope this video will encourage you and inspire you on to Create and grow your own authentic business as well. Hi, Michelle. Good to have you here. Hi George Good to be here. Thanks for doing this So I'm gonna start with your your short bio and then we'll get into some of the lessons you've learned And then we can also share with The those who are watching this how you work with clients set up. So Michelle Olson is the founder and principal coach at Greenlight coaching Michelle is a purpose-based executive coach Who helps successful mid-career women who are feeling tired from where they are at in their career right now and Help them find clarity and activate their purpose during career transitions and Before we started recording this video. I was talking with Michelle a little bit about what she means by Successful mid-career men who are who are also tired. So can you say a bit more about that Michelle? So great. Thanks George So what I mean by it is most of my ideal clients have Followed an external authority found success based on the organization's definition of success and They're like, okay I've hit the milestones, but I feel really tired and I don't feel satisfied And so they start to question what more could there be and that more is Mostly within the meaning purpose area less so about more Titles or more money. So So, yeah, they hit fatigue Most I say most of my clients come to me and they're pretty tired So and I think it's because they've given up on some part of their own internal wisdom or their own connection with their higher self You know, I didn't expect that I would ask you this question But I think I think it makes sense usually we talk about the lessons you've learned in our work together But I also want to ask you I mean give it since we're talking about the these the women that you serve And I think that there are people in watching this video who can relate Maybe you can talk a bit about that so when somebody is feeling Lack of purpose in their career I know you have so much work around this, but What what where do they start I mean how how do they get back to to the heart of what they really want to be doing That's a good question. Um You know my first my first Intention with clients when they first start to work with me is to really slow down and And to create what I call a radical self-care plan So I have I encourage my clients to go internal first before external because I think there's so much wisdom inside ourselves With our connection to a higher power the universe whatever you want to call it and so really deepening that connection So getting quiet slowing down Creating daily self practice self-care practices. That's where I say go first Because usually they have already followed So much external information goals. I mean we're kind of set up that way if we think of it societally, right? We have 12 years of school. That's mandatory We're based in a system that you know if you choose the public system or even the private system You're having to follow the direction of The state and federal government rules around education and then you're also having to follow the direction of your teacher So there's a lot and especially for women there's a lot around following the rules following the goals to get ahead and And so when you hit when my clients hit that point, it's so it's you know, it's like instead of looking outside You know go within So that would be my that would be my direction to start with anybody feeling that right now Just slow down and take some time to reconnect with yourself first and foremost Wonderful, that's great So Let's start talking about what are some of the things that you've learned and how you've grown in our work together I'll let you start however you want. Yeah Well If anybody watching doesn't already know this George is quite extraordinary I'll start by saying that You know, I've worked with a lot of different coaches and everyone brings their strengths and the strength I find in working with you George is that You bring a simplicity to business like you have you actually have it's like you have the site You can like hold a lot of complex ideas around business, but you simplify it at least That's my experience as you're trying to simplify things and you help when we do our one-to-one coaching you help meet me where I am Which I so appreciate But one of the one of the largest or the biggest lessons I've learned from you is to listen to my audience and you you teach this to me both directly and indirectly You're always asking for feedback. So after a session, it's an automated reminder But you say, you know how the session go after workshops. I've done with you how to go. What can I do better? What went well? What can I continue with? So that's something I'm I've been practicing more just on I'm doing it on the phone with my clients ending each session Like what are you walking away with what went well? And I've just created a survey that you and I worked on and I'm about to send it out to help me think about offerings for this next year Because what I was doing prior to that and I've been doing this for quite a long time is just guessing Which sometimes it was right. I too went through a very Radical career transition had my own experience in that so I could it's in the early years I could really zoom in on that because I was I was fresh out of that experience But now being on the other side for many years now I'm realizing I really do need to hear from my ideal audience what they need and that you have been Just a really great guide and mentor for me. And if I'm feeling stuck or what should I do next? You know, usually you ask well, what what is your audience or what is your client saying or what is your audience need? And that's been super helpful and it's super simple Yeah, and it's something that I think a lot of entrepreneurs especially Maybe purpose-based or heart-based entrepreneurs we we forget because we're so excited about the idea that we have that we Sometimes don't take into account the perspective that our ideal audience might have and one of the things that We've been you and I were talking about is okay. What are some of the content? Yeah, that your audience has found most helpful or most interesting yes, and Do you want to say a bit more about that because I think that is a kind of a teaching moment that I think others watching this will be We'll find useful too. Yeah. Yeah, so this has been great. So one of the Benefits of working with you as I have finally gotten consistent with my marketing and through and your your Teachings are around content authentic authentic content marketing and so I've been consistent in that and what you and I were we've been tracking recently is what's what's landing and what's not and How I'm tracking that is through because I'm posting it on Facebook and LinkedIn and then What are people you know are people liking it like that's where I'm at right now still my audience is You know are people liking it? Are they commenting on it? And then it was great because recently you had me go through I think we brainstorm several different topics that I tend to write on and I'm you know currently saying I think these are the top five these are the these are the ones I get the most response from But the survey I'm about to send out We created 12 and so it'll be really interesting to see what people are saying In regards to that I think it's well that we chose work was everything I mostly write about and we'll see if it lands into the same top five that I've been tracking on social media and Is your survey something that is public is that something that I should include a link to or is that just for your list? I haven't I haven't I haven't even outed it to my my list yet. I hope to do that. I Hope to do that actually Tomorrow Friday, so yeah, yeah, so folks join her list And then so and and one of the interesting observations That we saw when we were looking through your Facebook stats was that the content that Got the most interest With that you hadn't yet advertised you hadn't yet boosted you just posted it Right was the content where you were sharing some kind of more personal story Yes, so tell tell us about that versus the stuff where you were just showing up as an expert, you know, right? So talk about that. Yeah. Yeah, that was just a recent aha in our session. So I I There are two two recent pieces of content that I wrote one which which was a very personal story about sexism in the workplace that I Didn't boost and actually got a lot more engagement than any even some of the ones I had boosted or yeah What that means if you don't know Facebook advertising is it just means you take the post and you Boosted to a particular audience that you choose in Facebook and Then the other one was Who's the other personal story? Was it about the Can't remember. Oh Yeah, I was thinking of that that first one you talked about. Yeah, it was it was also something that it was some kind Was this some kind of oh? I remember it was okay, so it was about I'm Expecting obstacles. I was having this was a this was actually a content piece from about a year ago that I just reposted I had shared just something personal in my life about how I was being in Resistance to the obstacles that were showing up right and something helped me shift that and when I actually leaned into it So both in both instances it was it was me sharing how Some of the practices I share in my own coaching. I'm using yes, and so it was it's eye-opening to To just remember that that for for people that Probably are interested in working with me. They want to know my human side and that might be true for most people But that was something we definitely were tracking. Yeah, I think that's definitely true for a lot of the folks watching this video Who are creating you know what I call authentic businesses or? Businesses that come out of a deep place of meaning and service for for the people they're trying to reach So yeah, that's really great. Maybe what if you're open to it? We can include the links to those two posts Yeah, in the nose of the video so that You know those watching this can see the difference Well in in fact, I mean I'll put the link to your Facebook page so that they could look at your Facebook page and see what some of Because you have a lot of posts now of course and yes And a lot of them are where you are sharing useful, you know kind of career reinvention advice or yeah some of the more Maybe emotional or spiritual sides of career reinvention and leadership and So it's like those are still important. I think I mean those are still helpful and it's still good to Show up as you know, hey, this is this is what I'm good at This is what I've talked to my clients about, you know, yeah Here's a tip that you might use and at the same time not forgetting to put in the the vulnerable The stories where you're willing to share vulnerability and I always tell people like it's not just about When we share vulnerability, it's not just a woe is me, you know, it's not just oh my god I'm so negative. I'm so negative. I'm so down. No, but it's it's maybe okay. Woe is me But here's what I did Yeah to Lift myself back up or here's the perspective. I got as a result of that so-called negative experience or You know that difficulty So anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing to all of you please go and look at the links in the notes of this and check out Michelle's page and kind of What you know, the expert type post is good is helpful and at the same time some of the more personal stories that people really engage with so and One of the things I'd love for you to talk about actually One of the five things that we identified is the content that your audience seems to like and your clients to Like the most is about the inner critic Yeah, and I'm wanting you to share something about that because I know a lot of us Watching this Deal with that. Yeah, especially maybe you can talk about it from the point of view of You know building a business and how does the inner critic show up? Yeah, yeah, yeah Oh, that's so good. Um Yeah, I have it so I'll say this I haven't yet coached anyone who doesn't have an inner critic I haven't yet met a colleague An inner critic so it is it's it's we all have it so Yeah, I think that and I think the reason too it's important in It comes up in anything, you know any kind of change you're going after so the focus I'm working on with people's career Transition is that when you're when you're going towards something new And you're making a change the inner critic gets really really loud and so I always tell clients that's a good sign That means you are Definitely in your at your edge or beyond, right? So when when the chatter gets loud, it's a good sign it you're you're moving forward Um, I also encourage my clients to create a relationship with the inner critic You know, I take some people take the view like kick your inner critic to the curb or I like more of the gentle approach and thinking of the how can we be friend the inner critic? How can we Go oh this this part of myself is trying to protect me or keep me safe and how can I acknowledge that lovingly and Still stay in the driver's seat, you know jack cornfield talks about that a lot like The buddhist teacher he says, you know, when the when the chatter is going on We say thanks for your opinion And so there's an acknowledgement of it But there isn't a collusion with it, right? And so So here's my you know for me my inner critic how so this coaching industry is Changed a lot at george and I were just recently talking about like when I started You know in the coaching industry about 10 years ago Most people had a sense of life coaches, but it still wasn't as new now today You know coaching has become like most people have heard of coaching and Um, how do I say this? It's become this, um I'm going to say all the things I don't like about the coaching industry is that I Think I think my audience would be your audience because I talk about that Yeah, that's why we're alive. So I just think there's a way that the industry. Okay so Right now tell me if I'm going off on too much of a tangent right now politically Part of what's happening is there's everything's you know, there's the top One to two percent right and that and and right now politically a lot of the focus is going on to the one to two percent and and In that causes a lot of Disharmony it causes a lot of upset and my opinion Is that the coaching industry is mimicking? Capitalism in in not its best self in not its best setting and so um So what I have to always remind myself is someone who's uh a mom first and a coach second And uh loves the work I do loves my clients That I'm at my pacing right and every so often my inner critic will come in And compare me to some other coach out there who's doing something that looks grander than myself And so one of the things I've appreciated about working with you is you're constantly on the forefront of naming authentic growth authentic marketing like you're a sound Thinker in this area and um, so I think it's important to remember like whatever your endeavor is if you're building a business You know keep your blinders on keep the focus on what you're doing and not in comparison to what is out there um, so that's been a big Inner critic piece that I have had to work with and to just not let myself get lost in it and just keep focusing on um, what I'm doing That's beautiful. I so appreciate that you said that because I think coming from you it'll uh, well It'll land differently than just coming from me. Yeah, so appreciate you you'd say that So let's wrap up this conversation I'd love for people to to hear more about what you do with clients Um, and maybe something you can mention is and something we just you and I talked about recently is how You do your best work when you are able to commit to a client For for for longer than just one session You're not one of those coaches that does like a one-off session and then yeah because you're really in it for The transformation that happens then that usually doesn't happen in one session Yeah, and I think those who are you who our coaches can relate to what I just said So Anyway, go and go and share anything you want about how what kind of client you most love to work with and what do you love doing with them Yeah, I love uh, so I work with women Um, and I love working with women mid-career And I love working with women who really are up for something Greater and when I say greater it doesn't have to look big and grand like What I mean is greater for themselves self-defined. Um Making some contribution that makes them feel good creating some kind of work that feels like it has a meaning so I I like working with women who really are up for um Creating a better relationship with themselves and work, you know having I had a client years ago use this term and I've stolen it from her but no separation between Who I am and the work I do so like showing up as you know, authentically In their personal life and then showing up authentically in their work life. And so You know and and that can look or an array of things like it could actually mean someone changes their actual work in the world It also has meant sometimes that people stay within an organization and then just move around in that organization um and You know, I in it's and there's been a couple of blue people who have stayed in their job They've just created some other things outside of their life and that helped ease their relationship to their work life. So Um, I just I really like meeting clients where they are and exploring with them I don't come with an agenda necessarily. I mean, I come with a an approach and a coaching approach But I don't come with an agenda Towards them around this is what I think you should do um So and I have lots of tools that I use to help individuals explore and create more self-awareness And a couple of the tools I'm those probably have Watching this have heard of is your an expert. I think your an expert in Myers-Briggs personality typing as well as any Graham Yep, um, both are actually those two are my favorite kind of personality typing systems that the ones that I'm most familiar with And I think you're extraordinary at those and so Those who are interested, you know, in fact, you're teaching an enneagram Workshop coming up, right? I am online workshop. Yes. Yes. Next uh, Thursday At 9 30 a.m pacific time. Yeah, and those who are watching this later They'll hopefully be able to get by that workshop. Yeah, because you're going to record it and it'll be available Yep. Yeah, awesome. Yeah Um, so I will be sure to put the link and we've got a couple of links I guess we're going to put into the notes of the video your facebook page, of course your website, of course A couple of this posts that we're going to highlight and maybe the link to this workshop as well great anything else you want to Complete this conversation with anything other? No, I just want to honor you george. I've been, you know, I've been working with you um I'm going to cry I've been working with you for almost a year and um What I really appreciate is our like, you know How much business knowledge you've provided me and the support that you provide your clients and I you know I've also been part of your master heart group and george really gives a lot so anybody watching You're in good hands if you choose to work with them. Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, what a joy to work with you Yeah So I encourage everyone to you know, go check out michelle's page learn from how she's doing her content and if you are a successful yet tired mid career mid career woman who wants to Kind of really bring purpose and meaning into your career into your work Contact michelle. We know somebody all of us probably know somebody like that. So think about somebody you can Uh, you can really help out by recommending them to talk to michelle And you offer michelle for the for the kind of client that you can really serve you offer a complementary Consultation Yeah, for the right for the right kind of client. So, uh, anyway, thank you so much for the work you do Yeah, thanks for doing this conversation and um, I look forward to seeing what folks say So to be watching this, please comment below and let us know something you learned or uh, if any questions you have from michelle Thanks, everyone Bye for now. Bye


Another line in the course was really kind of striking. It said, if you are devoted, you are entitled to devotion. You're entitled to miracles. That's one of the workbook lessons. But if you are devoted, you are entitled to devotion. In fact, this world is nothing more than the call to witnesses. So when I'm finding in my awareness, in my dreamscape, these devoted, amazingly devoted brothers and sisters that have cast aside all to give their lives over to the Holy Spirit to be used for the plan of awakening. I find that spectacular. That's part of the pathway. If you are devoted, you are entitled to devotion. That sounds kind of Eastern. And when there's the story of Yogi Nanda, Ramana Maharshi, there's some devotion going there. I've been over to India, onto some of these places in ashrams. I love the feel. I love the feel before I walk in the door. I'm like, ooh. So I go to some condents and monasteries. Ooh. That's the feel. I get the chills before I even get to the door when I'm in the parking lot. Oh, gosh, that's good. There's some devotion going on there. My life has been completely devoted to listening and following that voice and amazing miracles that happen. Daily miracles, many, many miracles. That's what you need. You need to be miracle-minded. You need to be eventually miracle-minded to be consistently happy. That's the formula, so to speak. Consistently miracle-minded takes you closer towards that revelatory awakening experience.


Why don't you take the chair right there? The rest of us can gather around. We're going to have to watch the call-in. Can we run? OK. You just hold on. Thank you, Director. OK. We'll bring the stove to the top, sir. Thank you. Hello. See you again. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you very much. We're calling off. Thank you very much. Mr. President, I want to make you tell us something. Let's see this. There are 13 of us. We're going to be surprised by that one. I'm pleased to get it. Even before I saw it, I know what it was tonight. I can see what a tremendous job it is to hear from this report. And I will totally do it. We're going to be honest. I know you realize the homework was starting to be given. Yes. That's it. We're very proud to have come forward. I'll read you a letter of transmittal. I just have a story to tell that has only just come to me. A friend brought in a young lady married two children. And such a sad story. And yet she was so magnificent when she was taking it. She has a little girl. It's about seven, if I remember correctly. A little boy was three. And at age three, the little girl. Hi. Good morning. How do you do? I know something was going on.     You're up. No. I think that you know time.  Keep going. Is that the word? Is it? I'll refer you to the letter. It's a new piece. Yeah. It shows up in the color. It shows up. It's not like doing this part. I don't want to tell you. It's a right. Now what you've always been doing. Well, I guess that's one of the things we want to kind of hatch out here a little bit this morning, and also that I can kind of concrete as we have a meeting this morning with Jim Wright, Max Kaplan, Secretary Schultz. But on the plant closing thing, normally if they would have finished in the Senate, we would have had it tomorrow. In the House, plus the trade deal. The argument, I guess, for us kind of as we've been arguing in the House here, if it's expedited and moved along, then you have to veto it, and we have to override, have the vote to override before the convention. What does that set up? The Democratic got politics in the House as much as you don't want to talk about it. Then, but the other one is, if the Senate's got enough. Mr. President, special seeing you again. Thank you for having me here. Pleased to have you here. Hello, Mr. President. I remember the picture that you took of the whole city of Jerusalem, and you said it to me. And I'm proud beyond words that you remember that. I think I'm going to do one of these two changes. A small talk for a minute or two, because the press is coming in for some calls, especially. I remember saying, I don't think you can. I'm coming over to this room, and I don't know if you're not going to make a base, and I need to do a very beautiful picture of the old city. And he gave me to be there while he was in Israel. I'm very honored that you remember that.  Please, you have to call the man. Please, you have to make a big decision. Wait, that's like a joke, a Russian joke that I heard from the fellow across the street, where a friend of his met in and said, hey, we got the time, and he was watching, and he said, yes. It is one o'clock in Washington, DC. The temperature is 73 degrees. Gave him the humidity and so forth, and he said, with the 10 mile an hour southwest of the winds. The other one said, where did you get that watch? Is that a Japanese one? He said, no, I just bought it a few minutes ago down the street. He said, we're making a watch like that? He said, yes. Wow, we should. Well, so the fellow that has stopped to do this picked up his two suitcases and says, damn, his batteries are heavy. That one group of stills coming in now. Yes.   Just to give you a little background, we've had six reading problems. And I brought something. I just brought some of those things because I think they're pretty interesting.