Ahhh…the most quiet, the most elusive, the most private of the Dream Team…Chris. However, Chris also happens to have been one of my biggest inspirations when I was first living here in Sarasota 4 1/2 years ago. My perspective on many things changed as a result of my friendship with him. This will most certainly be challenging to share as little as I can to respect his privacy but to reveal how much this man has positively influenced my life.
I first met Chris in early November of 2008. It was his first day on the farm. I had only been there a couple months myself but I had observed already that the first day at the farm was often the last one if a potential new employee didn’t get a bit of a heads up on the very unique work environment that defines Jessica’s Stand. Me being me, I often was the one to provide the head’s up. Plus, I was still stoked about being able to share the fact that I could now identify 11 types of lettuce & about a dozen other crops I didn’t even know existed prior to my work experience at the farm. I wanted another newbie with whom to share my silly excitement.
Chris was quiet but the depth of his soul spoke volumes. And as I quickly learned, farm work at Jessica’s was intensely spiritual. Every person that works there is absolutely energetically drawn to do so. No one’s path is crossing accidentally at Bill Pischer’s farm…no one’s. Chris was quiet so at first we didn’t exchange a lot of words, (or at least he didn’t…I’m sure I did whether he wanted to hear them or no) but his energy and mine were most certainly connecting.
I didn’t begin to really get to know Chris until a couple of months later. He ended up moving on from the farm in early January, but I still would bring him some produce each week. Usually, it was late on Saturday night. I would leave Nicole’s and head to Chris’s place. On the nights he was there, that is when I learned the story of the strongest soul I know in my life today.
I witnessed in Chris, via his story, the absolute weakness and the absolute strength of the human spirit and what it is capable of doing when it is focused and driven by love & what happens when love is absent. This man, against great odds, had made his way back to town to help raise his now 12-year old son. I just admired the hell out of him. The courage and the perseverance it took as he continued to balance the following of his heart with the responsibilities of being a father given the many obstacles he had in his path. He had many chances to throw in the towel and he didn’t. He just kept pushing through, taking life day-by-day.
Again, not accidentally, I was meeting Chris as I unknowingly prepared to enter my darkest days. He had just awoken from his. Not a coincidence. His story gave me great strength. In fact, from that point on, whenever I have found myself in the depths of my dark place, I think of Chris. I think about how much worse he had survived and slowly, I would be able to bring perspective back to my own situation. However, on more than one occasion, in fact as recently as when I was in Seattle, I’ve called Chris when I haven’t been able to calm myself. No fuss. He just knows how to help balance the validation I’m seeking for whatever I am feeling and the remembering that nothing is that big a deal. He is just an incredible friend, whose spirituality has guided his life and influenced mine tremendously.
While living here in ’09-’10, I was investigating a lot of different faiths. I went to some Quaker meetings, I attended 2 services of the Mennonite Church (another farmhand was the youth pastor there), and through Chris, I had my first experience with Buddhism. He had found the chanting done by this particular sect to be very helpful in his healing. It most definitely resonated with me from the very first night. It was tribal and I found it to be very powerful. Despite not chanting regularly with the group, I do so on my own at least a few times a week and will forever have Chris to thank for introducing me.
As far as Chris’s role in all of “this”. Along with Nicole, he has seen it all. Chris knows my extremes unlike very few. Many have witnessed the highs, but the lows always scared most other folks away. Not Nicole. And not Chris. He has a very calm, collected, wise demeanor. Completely opposite, of course, from my own. Whenever I am in a room with him, he calms me. He doesn’t get rattled. His energy is just one that knows. He never judges. He just does his thing. Respects others. Asks very little. And tries to do right by himself and by his son.
Like me, I sense Chris has not really yet allowed himself to live life. This Light stuff can take some getting used to when you’ve told yourself for so long it didn’t exist. This power of creating your own world…it is no small thing for it is very real. This is why so many run from it. As Chris continues to believe that he is in fact deserving of every single positive thing in his world, parts of him are going to come alive that have laid dormant for years.
He is an aspiring photographer. He has been on a farm for a lot of his life, so growing food seems to be a calling. He enjoys music, art and travel. His sense of humor is quick and very witty. When it comes to hands-on problem solving, Chris is extremely resourceful & creative. He has profound insight when he decides to share. And has a network of friends all over the country. I can’t wait to see what areas Chris decides to pursue as more and more opportunities fall into his path. There is no doubt in my mind about the strength of his light. He has empathy & understanding for the experiences of many others out there who just need a break for that necessary change to take place in their life. Chris may end becoming that break for a lot of deserving people who are being missed by a broken system.
I trust Chris with anything in my life. I am incredibly grateful for his friendship and for all he represents in terms of an example of healing and rebalancing. I am most especially appreciative of the opportunity our relationship has been for me to grow in terms of remembering there is only one love. Different energetic connections but only one love connecting us all. Chris has helped me learn that love doesn’t need to be this crazy-ass, four-letter word that we all get stumped on because of labels and definitions and constrictions on what we think it needs to be or not be. I love the way that our two energies connect and hope I provide just a fraction of the positivity in his life that he has brought to mine. I love that he is a part of this as it comes into being. Without this man’s guiding light 4 years ago, I would not be here in this place I am today. Thank you so much, Chris. It really is time to have some fun!
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Meet Luis, the youngest & newest member of the Dream Team. Not quite yet 23, this young man is one of the oldest souls I’ve met in my life, yet completely a 23-year old male living in 2013. He is incredible! Extremely bright, witty, loving, kind, adventurous, curious, and screaming for something to believe in. He is a show in and of himself – pure joy to be around.
His spirit KNOWS this isn’t how it is supposed to be out in the world. He, along with many his age, refuse to buy into the deal we all signed up for. Work a job that squeezes all the life out of you until you are 65 and then do what you enjoy? They look at us and ask what the hell we were thinking agreeing to maintain that as the ideal, valued life.
Luis has politely bowed out of that world. However, there isn’t much out there to turn to if you don’t want to play in that old-paradigm game. Especially not for someone who is so obviously meant to influence others in very non-traditional ways. Luis is destined to be a healer, a leader, and a teacher but in this life he is still 23 – living at a time of great transition. He needs some guidance but at a level with an absolute respect for the immense value he has right now to offer – even if you can’t yet describe what it is. Remember, it is all about the energy and he has it!
Listen, our youth are indeed here during these times to teach the adults in their worlds. More so spiritually, than in any other way. The old-world paradigm treats kids and young adults like they have such little worth and that couldn’t be further from the truth. They are then further insulted when they are told that the first 18 years of their life doesn’t count as the “real” world. What?! Are you serious? We are conditioning them to buy into the same world that is driving the majority of us nuts at present. They look around and see all the unhappiness, the inconsistencies, the hypocrisies, and the instability and wonder why everyone is blaming them and their sense of entitlement. You are damn right they have a sense of entitlement…a sense of entitlement to a life they actually enjoy. They know that we are ALL here to thrive not to simply survive. And they are here in mass numbers right now to inform all the adults that it is take for us to WAKE THE HELL UP!
The youth of today have so much in terms of untapped resources that it’s no wonder they are coming unglued in the constricting, limiting education system of today. This is a group for whom we need channels. We need lots of new channels. We need to have avenues for all of this creative energy getting ready to explode out of these kids. They are picking up on all the bottled up, constricted energy of their parents and that of their parents’ generation. They are going to be the ones to pop on behalf of us all. We need to have somewhere for these kids to go to truly be inspired, to channel that inspiration and to show us what we are ALL capable of. Well…not at all an accident that I happen to be creating a new Game just as Luis is out there seeking to play one and representing an entire generation in his search.
I have no clue what will come of my friendship with Luis and there are absolutely zero expectations. Intuitively, however, I know I met him in his life right now to minimally remind him to trust himself. This guy is most certainly rooted in his heart. All he needs to do is to trust that regardless of what anything in this old-paradigm world throws at him in terms of labels or pressure. It is lonely when you are on the fringe. Being an early player in any game can be scary because there is a lot of unknown. But all you need to do is flip the perspective…all the unknown means very little in terms of limits placed on what can be created. I am meant to support Luis in whatever way I can in his pursuit of his heart’s calling. I see his Light and will answer if called upon and offer opportunities wherever I can.
While Luis has not yet been a financial recipient of my company, he is a top prospect as his skills, interests, & desires continue to be revealed and developed. In the meantime, when he is up from Miami, I love just being around his energy. It is most certainly inspiring to me in my work & play. I thank him profusely for the amazing role he has had in my life in this limited time we’ve known one another. Excited for the now, dude!!
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The very first time I met Julia was over a decade ago when she was living with my brother and another roommate. At the time, they were all New College students. We didn’t have the chance, however, to begin to become close until the spring of 2008. I was still teaching & living up in Tampa, but I was coming down to Sarasota on weekends. Andrew had begun Harvest Cycle and I had bought into the idea more so for the potential return to entrepreneurialism than for the actual business concept. In any case, Drew was again living with Julia. It was then that I first had the opportunity to see the depths of this incredible soul.
You begin to feel Julia’s energy before you even enter the same room as her. Nearly 6 feet tall with long, blonde hair, and the gentlest, kindest of natures makes Julia an absolute force of feminine strength & power. A Sagittarian comrade to the core, Julia and I align on many of our shared sign’s general descriptors: Truth-seekers, wanderers, keenly interested in philosophy & religion, generous & just with stamina for our insatiable curiosity about the world. No matter how many irons in the fire she has going (and with Julia, it will be at least 7) you will know that they all will come down to the same motivation – a desire for knowledge & truth and an eagerness to share her explorations & discoveries with others. Julia is a very, VERY bright light!
The following spring, in 2009, my roommate in Sarasota was this guy with whom I worked at the farm. Julia dated him for most of the 5 months we lived together so again, I had opportunities galore to continue to learn about this island-born, bad-ass chick. During this time, Julia influenced me greatly in my growing knowledge of diet, food, and herbs. One of her many areas of skill and interest is in the area of plants and specifically, using their natural healing powers. This side of Julia makes her, in my opinion, a rare personality. She is all Sagittarian fire, yet simultaneously, she emits healing energies, which are inherently calming. It is an insanely intense combination – especially for these times!
Given Julia’s extroverted & extremely social nature, her network is quite vast. And the fact that she is involved in a million different, cross-generational, cross-cultural things no matter where she is living, she has influence spanning many different groups. She is an endless advocate for those who are less fortunate. In fact, she too suffers from always & immediately thinking of the needs of so many outside of her that she often leaves herself not much more than scraps. Choosing Julia as one of my initial investments was also a no-brainer. This is a light we want to be lit. This is one we need to have lit all the time & with the highest voltage.
Her professional life has been similar to mine. She has never really found that one place of work where she could fully utilize ALL of her many, many skills. She has extensive non-profit experience. Recently, she & I were discussing some of the obvious system-created obstacles preventing the non-profit world from even coming close to achieving what it is setting out to do. I was explaining the reasons for my decision to become a for-profit company. She couldn’t have agreed more with the underlying rationalization – acknowledging that the values of the non-profit world have every right to be considered equals in the for-profit world. THAT is the real problem of society. How can we wonder why things are so crazy when everything we claim to value is not deemed to have any in the economic models of our society – anywhere! If we want to see real change in this world we are going to need to make this change happen. And it needs to happen now. Hence, phase 1 of my company and my desire to have Julia right there leading the way with me.
Julia’s spirituality guides her life. She is one of the most connected souls I know. While I already have quite a few new, amazing healer friends in Seattle, Julia will always be my original healer. I was preparing to go head-on with my demons in 2009 when spending all of that time with Julia. Her unconditional love of humanity & her guiding light were integral as I was struggling to find any path to pursue that would finally result in inner peace. Julia strives to be that example of peace & love every day. Anyone & everyone that interacts with her is a beneficiary. I don’t think she is aware of just how much she aided me during this very dark time. As they say, it is always darkest right before dawn. It was Julia that was with me during this extremely pivotal, scary time. This is the absolute least I can do to repay her.
I am excited to see what project she comes up with for the public investment campaign we will have for her. She was the final one notified last Sunday of my initial pay-if-forward gift. And you will soon see how relatively little money in this community feels like millions. This is going to be the best money I’ve ever spent. There is no doubt about it. None. Again, I would trust Julia with my life. I love her to death. I admire & respect her in all that she has done, all that she is, and all she continues to strive to be in her life. She wants nothing but to help all of those that haven’t been blessed with as much knowledge and awareness. Give this woman money & watch what she will do with it and how many lives she will touch in the process! Get ready, Miami! Julia has a budget and we are getting her more!
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I first met Rob & Norinda a few years ago at a party in town. We were in the same conversation circle for a little while but didn’t really have the opportunity to connect. Around this same time, my #1, Nicole, was my webmaster and one of my clients for my old business, Harvest Cycle – Take 1 (as opposed to revived Harvest Cycle Raw, which you will read about on the new Investment page). Nicole benefitted from my farm connection and I always scored her extra produce from Jessica’s Stand. More often than not, Nicole would then pass this food on to Rob & Norinda. She knew they desired healthy eating, but with 3 teenaged kids, maintaining a steady source of fresh, organic produce was a challenge. So our connections together were established “unofficially” four years ago.
“Officially”, however, I really feel as if I just met them for the first time upon my return to FL. Rob & Norinda also have a unique place in the story due to the fact that they observed a few of the details of the stepping stone experience in St. Petersburg that got me back to Sarasota. Important only because for me, when I look back and analyze I often find many, many signs that were indicating what was to come. These two were going to be part of my life forever. I knew it almost immediately.
Nicole, again, was key in the development of our growing relationship. As my webmaster, and thus my mission controller, I was spending inordinate amounts of time with Nicole as we got alysonirenenoune.com up and running. As such, Nicole served as my main sounding board (she is indeed up for sainthood as I don’t think I know ANYONE else who could have done what she has done). I hadn’t yet had anyone with whom I could really talk through my thousands of ideas in my head. While working at Nicole’s one night, Rob & Norinda were over. Per normal, I got into one of my “utterances”, which can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours depending on the zone I’m in. They were present for one of the longer ones.
One of the greatest roles Nicole has had since my return has been to observe people’s reactions to my thoughts and words when these utterances take place. We hang with a pretty heady, intellectual bunch. In general, they aren’t easily captivated. Almost immediately after Rob & Norinda left on this particular night, Nicole said, “They were really listening. You had their attention in a way that just doesn’t happen very often.” Me, not knowing them yet or fully tuning in to their reaction, wouldn’t have been able to make that determination on my own. Additionally, Rob had asked, I thought jokingly, if I needed an agent. Nikki said to me that night that he was being 100% serious. Again, not knowing his background, I didn’t know why all this mattered. (Rob had been a booking agent). Rob doesn’t know this, but his comment that night confirmed my instinctive belief that I was meant to be on stage publicly…soon.
All sorts of things became clear that night. 1) They got “it”! They certainly were picking up very quickly on what I was trying to express. That is an absolute requirement (hopefully, an obvious one) for being a financial recipient at this point. Money isn’t yet unlimited so I am trying to scout those from whom I will get the biggest light-shining, energetic return. You must be aware of the Light in order to spread it and these two are most definitely aware.
2) They had an established background. When you go to Rob & Norinda on my new Investment web page, you will see that established is actually a drastic understatement for Rob’s musical achievements. And Norinda was in her 9th year of teaching at-risk, middle school students – we were best friends immediately!
3) They were one of the most beautiful couples I had ever had the pleasure of spending time with. Their energy together was one that you just don’t find with many couples. This isn’t a “good”/”bad” thing – remember, no more comparison. They, quite simply, have that rare soul mate connection emitting from them both. Rob & Norinda are most definitely soul mates and anyone that meets them feels this immediately.
4) Their story was insanely beautiful. They have 3 amazing children, the raising of whom is why Rob has been away from music for the past decade. They are CRAZY awesome parents. Their family is, I dare say, one of the most powerful in my life and I know a lot of bad-ass families. Again, not consciously, but right then and there they were at the top of the list. I was in awe of them from moment one – their energy, their intellect, their family, and their varied experiences. Once Nikki pointed out their dialing into all that I was saying…deal sealed.
Rob & Norinda have become incredibly close friends very, very quickly. I have spent a great deal of time with them and have met two of their children, who are just beautiful…just beautiful spirits. I have actually never met a man like Rob. I don’t even know where to begin to try to explain that claim. He is just the real deal. And Norinda and I have astonishingly similar stories from our past. Add the teaching & spirituality component and there is no accident whatsoever that we are all in this together right off the bat.
Norinda had been having the most difficult year of her career as it pertained to the administration of her school. Not surprising…she is bad-ass!! You just know she has the respect of those kids and that she inspires them…you know it within about 8 seconds of meeting her. But, much like me, she was being far, far, undervalued at her job. On top of that, she was being taken advantage of.
When I made my big discovery on Friday, January 11th, I knew Rob & Norinda were my first recipients. There was no hesitation. And I arranged to make it happen the following day, which incidentally, turned out to be their 9-year wedding anniversary. The other HUGE non-accident of this evening will need to be saved for another time, but suffice to say…ridiculous detail proving yet again that everything happens for a reason. Ridiculous!
Norinda is embarking on her singing aspirations for the first time in her life with her music producer husband. The music that these two are going to make can be nothing but beautiful & inspirational. And don’t be surprised if the entire family becomes involved. In addition to my super awesome power couple in Sage & Grady, I have Rob & Norinda’s clan as my super awesome power family!!
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