The theme ‘Love, Truth and Freedom’ resonates very strongly with me as a person who is trying to be the best person she can be in this lifetime.

It’s challenging to be a ‘good person’ in this time. The forces around me still insist it is ‘better’, it is ‘safer’ to subterfuge, to hide yourself, in order to find advantage.

But what if your heart’s desire isn’t to take advantage? Suppose your whole intention and purpose are to have peacefulness and harmony within and around you?

Then all your dynamics change… Your whole competitive spirit realigns. The ‘fight’ within you gets redirected to peacefulness, to methods of peace. You seek peace wherever you look.

And you find it.

Living my Truth has got me to question many of the ‘realities’ of life, since the markers that had been set for satisfaction and success stopped being significant quite some time ago. They just aren’t relevant.

My Freedom feels far more important…

And so here we come to the next phase of our Theme: that of Freedom.

A strong desire for freedom of my Self, especially my mind, has propelled my many choices over time. I have had to practically scream out loud, and in, ‘I am not a slave!’ The significance of this, given my background as inheritor of a history of slavery, is substantial in my place of birth and residence. We often say that we are free but still bound up in Thinking.

But if only it were only the persons directly traced to slavery who had the difficulties – and heavy ones – associated with free minds and free thinking! Hardly…

Recognising that Freedom implies lightness, flow, own decisions based on one’s own parameters for living, is quite a major leap for many, in all parts of the world.

We are not free as yet, many, MANY of us, though I sense we want to be all the way.

But how much? How much do we want to be the true person we’re created to be? How much of our birthright are we forfeiting, while we continue to look at the sign posts which have little usefulness in ‘real’ lives?

And now, onto Love. What is this? Who knows this? How does this feel? Is it really there? Out there, somewhere? Or inside?

I daresay the answer to these questions are linked to the question I’ve mentioned of how much do we want to be free… to feel love, to give love, to be love, especially to Self…

Love is the ultimate Truth, the ultimate Freedom… simply, the Ultimate.

In a world where mental constraint and confine are sadly the order of the day and evidently the lead to lives of scarcity and fear and competition, I now say that the key to our (self) release to Freedom, to Creativity, to peace and good humour, is considering Love and all it means to us; all that it could mean.

As an Ambassador for World Leadership Day 2009 I am honoured to have an opportunity to apply this greatly resonant Theme to my choices, to my decisions for this tremendous occasion. And as I continue to seek to live my Truth, I embrace Love as my vehicle to my Freedom, firstly by loving myself enough to access it: my birthright, my Freedom.

Peace and Love to All.

Sherrilene M. Collymore

Barbados

Janet inspired me by being provocative about what led to her getting 10,000 views in a year. Mine took longer but I'm not surprised, because I know my dynamics and what brings people over and I closed down quite some time ago by choice in that regard.

Nonetheless, 10,000 profile views seems like quite a nice round figure to reflect on! And by the way, Andrea  [drechanteuse] was the [lucky?] person to stroll by just about that time.

Whew! 10,000! That is a big number. Especially for a kid from an island whose population numbers also in the thousands! I'm pretty certain that the views were mostly international though, also knowing my people and the likelihood of them tracking down and reading my GAIA profile.

It has been quite an educational experience noting socio-cultural differences across Western countries, especially the U.S. and the U.K., vs. standard living here. I am still digesting how 'net' life proliferates and is rampant in the West. For example, to hear social initiatives being launched to make sure everyone has access to broadband internet, first in the U.K. and then in the U.S., nearly threw me off my chair! With poverty and lack of opportunity reigning quite high in other places as first priority, this seemed like an absolute stretch to me. But that's the reality of different perspectives... still lots I don't know, obviously!

Reaching out on the net has served me beautifully. There are some pretty awesome people that are also quite net savvy [and hooked, like me!], and it continues to amaze me how well we communicate even though we aren't reliant on body language, or have all of the traditional requirements for 'good communication' at hand... There's just something about sincerity that transcends, isn't there?

GAIA is still my favourite home within my home [not quite 'away'... no, not at all!] I've met some beauties [and some uglies!] here.  I've got great proof of what is possible within humans in every place through this route. We are not just 'all one', we are all precisely 'the same'! The basics apply everywhere, no matter the little ebbs and flows, the panics which come about from societal response. Name a single [reasonably balanced] person that isn't first interested in being contented and I will be happy to talk with them and see what lessons are there for each of us to walk away with.

And I've no doubt, we'd end up with the same conclusion!

Thanks, my GAIA crew for being yourselves and making this island girl / global girl feel at home. It's good to know you're out there, helping to keep things in some kind of check, while the rest of the world gets its own check in order. I'm encouraged everyday with your presence.

If only you add to my counter by coming by to grapevine me, I'll take it! This is as close as I'm going to get to reaching out and saying a loving hi to my global, resonant community! I do enjoy it very much.

Keep in touch. I love you!!

Sherri

Boom!

Hmmm...

Ahhhh!

I wonder...!

Shoot!

Aha!

:D

Ok I think that makes seven words, pardon me this once!

Peace and love. SC