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Sunday, March 29, 2009

Shop www.oshunspirit.com!

We've got the dancing spirit today!

After years of waiting patiently, the domain name www.oshunspirit.com became available and we were able to secure it! This url will land you at the Bonanzle storefront! www.oshunspirit.net will bring you to the website, as always.

As we continue to develop multiple streams of delivering online services through e-commerce venues, social networking sites, and multi-media platforms, the oshunspirit.com address will assist our customer-friends in accessing the quality products, programs, and services they have come to appreciate and rely on through the Oshun Spirit brand.

Dance with us and join us in our joy! Visit www.oshunspirit.com and enter .com in the coupon code box at checkout, today, March 29 and take 25% off your total order. Its a beautiful day for a celebration!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Imagine the world as a village of 100 people...

This is a great little experiment that I do every summer with my Lil' Sprouts Program. I give each child 100 pennies in a paper cup. And then we begin...

Imagine that we could reduce the world’s population to a village of 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same. The demographics would look something like this:

The village would have:

60 Asians

14 Africans

12 Europeans

8 Latin Americans

5 from the USA and Canada

and 1 from the South Pacific

... we spread the pennies around on our world maps.


OK, 51 would be male, 49 would be female

82 would be non-white; 18 white

(That gets a wow! here in New Hampshire.)

33 would be without access to a safe water supply

39 would lack access to improved sanitation
( I explain what that means.)
Eeeeewww!

24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do
have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)

only 7 people would have access to the Internet

and 1 would have a college education

5 would control 32% of the entire world’s wealth; all 5 would be US citizens

and 67 would be unable to read, ever!

That's where we pause. This year marks the 15th season I have created and facilitated a Lil' Sprouts program at our local natural history museum, The Libby Museum. It's all about embracing earth-friendly concepts of diversity, oneness, community, respect, and tolerance through multicultural, age-appropriate literature. I throw in a generous dose of art, music, and a hands-on, active learning approach. Sticky, muddy, messy fun!

Lil Sprouts are asked to create a community where all creatures are embraced for their similarities and appreciated for their differences. The emphasis is on understanding differing points of view and creative peace-making. The Sprouts know the importance of books. Sharing ideas. Getting to know about the world. Caring about the world.

And we vote on what do to with the pennies.

I highly recommend this book:
If the World Were a Village
David J. Smith & Shelagh (ILT) Armstrong


There are currently more than six billion people on the planet! This enormous number can be difficult to grasp, especially for a child. But what if we imagine the whole world as a village of just 100 people?

In this village 20 earn less than a dollar a day, 17 cannot read or write.

In a time when parents and educators are looking to help children gain a better understanding of the world's peoples and their ways of life, If the World Were a Village offers a unique and objective resource. By exploring the lives of the 100 villagers, children will discover that life in other nations is often very different from their own. The shrunk-down statistics will encourage readers of ALL ages to embrace the bigger picture and help them to establish their own place in the global village.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Dreams and Bonanzle T shirts continued...


First, you'll need to read the blog posted on March 23.

OK...
1. An hour or so after I posted my blog I read a request for financial support... to create embroidered Bonanzle T shirts via securing the paid membership requirement necessary to sell Bonanzle-branded merchandise...
2. I recalled a Bonanzle image with floating hearts that I liked, and thought that it would make a great T shirt. I offered to fund it's manifestation.
3. Although I could provide the financial support, there were policy and procedure hurdles...
4. They evaporated!
5. My T shirt should be here in a few days!
6. And you'll be able to order one soon!
7. And a family will prosper...

The lesson... when you dream a dream... perhaps someone else's dream is dependent on your validating your own dream... so don't just dream it, do it!

I am surely blessed!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Ascension Alchemy: Dolphins, Dreams, and Bonanzle T-Shirts


I've been updating my wardrobe. Each spring I choose a few white T shirts and a new white hoodie to wear with my jeans and sun-kissed skin and hair. Its my "thing." Fresh, bright, white. In fact, I recently ordered a white Bonanzle T-shirt with a custom design. It should be here today. And yesterday, I almost ordered a white hoodie with a cool flying cat logo from gratefuldeadandmore's booth on Bonanzle, but the design was no longer available in my size. That design has been discontinued.

So with that in mind, and having spent a wonderful weekend with dear friends spent simply enjoying a few crocuses and the yellowing of the finches, I laid my head on my pillow last night and drifted away feeling full of love and life. Now, I'll get on with my dream. Well, in a minute, first a little more background information...

Each year, I join a community of seers, healers, and lightworkers who are able to merge with dolphin consciousness and increase our personal vibrations enabling a unique, dolphin-directed mulidimensional awareness. In fact, I just returned from my annual trip. Connecting with dolphins in this way is a profoundly transformational experience. Dolphins are transmitters of ancient wisdom and planetary ascension energies. Dolphins model how to unite the mind, body and spirit in loving wisdom and authentic power. They teach us how to move fluidly from one dimension to the other without judgment or fear, and how to create in a unified field of pure potential.

Over the past 5 years I have been channeling energies that I use in my healing practice. The dolphin transmissions have included ascension techniques and information about what we will be-come through the coming shifts. The constant message is crystal clear, this special moment of time is the most spectacular awakening in consciousness that has ever occurred on this planet. These dolphin encounters have blessed me with gifts of wisdom, love, healing, and an expanded vision. It is my intention and purpose to share these gifts with others through the products and services I offer through my healing practice and online venues . I am always interested in fine tuning and creating new ways of delivering these energies most efficiently and effectively. Like bright white summer clothes, it's my "thing."

OK, on to my dream; powerful, vivid and absolutely lucid. I may not have even been asleep. It was so lucid that it really felt real. I mean really real. Scary real. I wanted to share it this morning so I would not forget it.

In this dream, I "woke up" in an underwater palace or temple (yes, a stereotypical Atlantean environment). Although I knew I was me, I had been suddenly shifted into a different dimension, and was quite disoriented underwater, yet not wet, breathing just fine and speaking without words. The place had a strange, unique, but yet familiar feeling. There were several shimmery beings around me and everything I understood apparently came to me telepathically. Everything seemed to merge into a simple, uncomplicated oneness. I felt transparent, illuminated, loved. It reminded me so powerfully of how solid and separate we all still feel from each other now, on Earth. This feeling of oneness made me yearn for tools to bring back to the surface. Like I said, its my "thing."

It seems once I made that intention there was an energy shift.

I was shown the energy of the Earth completely uncomplicated and extremely clear, and the feeling of love and peace was unlike anything that I had ever felt. And I noticed I was holding a package, which I opened, "knowing" it contained my new Bonanzle T-shirt with a custom design. ("How did UPS even find me here", I wondered. Always looking for practical answers...)

It was my shirt, but instead of the Bonanzle logo, there was the flying cat logo (from the discontinued sweatshirt) except it was a sparkling, luminous dolphin (and not a cat), and it was leaping, moving, smiling, singing... alive on the shirt like a movie or hologram!

Wait. That's not what I ordered.

And there was printed just one word: JOY. But it was also moving, fluid, alive.

And, there was a note in the box that said, "This design was discontinued, there was not enough demand for it. Thank you for the opportunity to bring it back. We hope it will become a best seller."

For a few moments after I woke up (at least I think I did), I still did not know where I was, who I was, or how I had gotten there . . . I was overcome with a great sadness (oh the life of an empath) but I also had a deep feeling that everything would be okay and I was pretty excited about it. I cannot tell you how incredibly different this dream was from the usual wild stuff I dream about.

In meditation, the meaning of the dream became clearer to me. I realize what the dolphins have been trying to teach me all these years.

"This design was discontinued, there was not enough demand for it. Thank you for the opportunity to bring it back. We hope it will become a best seller."

The design is the human being void of joy. The human being who has forgooten how to BE. We're being discontinued. We serve no purpose. We're being re-purposed, re-imagined, and recycled. There are no preparations to be made for the coming shift. There are no emergency supplies to pack, no money or food to hoard, techniques to learn, karma to balance. The only thing we need is the love we hold in our hearts for each other.

Knowing that that, be joyful. Write JOY across your heart and live it.

Love your family and friends fiercely, and hold passionately to the truth that you have inside of you. No matter the coming challenges, we will remain as the eternal, multi-dimensional love that we hold in our hearts. And we will also be fully aware of and in harmony with universal law, truths, and teachings that transcend time, space and dimension. Old, worn out human beings, re-purposed as joyful co-creators. A great design, back by popular demand!

Creative, responsive, new and better. Like Bonanzle. I can't wait for my delivery today!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Spring Rites: A recipe for joy!

The sun has been shining on my southeast rock garden, and just yesterday, as we celebrated "Pussy Willow Day" with all the joy and fanfare befitting the fuzzy delights, I saw them!

Cheery crocuses! Color! Spring! Another Celebration was in order! How about Saffron Rice! Bouillabaisse?

The party continued!

Do you use Saffron? It is very strongly perfumed, with an aroma of honey, with a pungent bitter-honey taste. Coming from the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus, it takes 75,000 blossoms or 225,000 hand-picked stigmas to make a single pound which explains why it is the world’s most expensive spice.

A native of the Mediterranean, saffron is imported primarily from Spain but is also cultivated in India, Turkey, China and Iran. The name is from the Arabic word zafaran which means ‘yellow’. The French culinary term safrané means ‘coloured using saffron’. Its colouring properties have been as prized as its unique flavour. In India its colour is considered the epitome of beauty and is the official color of Buddhist robes. Saffron was also used to scent the baths and public halls of Imperial Rome.

Most specialty food shops carry saffron, though if it has sat on the shelves for too long it may have lost flavor, so look for bright color. Its most common function is to color rice yellow, as in festive Indian pilaus. It combines well with fish and seafood, infamous as a key ingredient of Spanish paella as well as bouillabaisse.

Because of its expense and intense flavor very little saffron is needed and the key is to distribute it evenly throughout the dish being prepared. It can be crushed to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle, but I find it is easier in some recipes to steep the saffron in hot water— a pinch to a cup will do. Good saffron should expand on contact with the water and a cup is enough to flavor and color a pound of rice.

We all crowded into the kitchen and opened a nice selection of Spanish Reds (perfect to pair with Paella) and cooked and toasted to spring, til we could laugh and eat no more! My houseguests are, in fact, still sleeping. Only the dogs got up with me. And now, as they're happily sprawled in the sun out on the deck, I'll share my recipe for pure paella joy with you!

Susan's Spring Celebration Paella
Ingredients

* Prepare Spice Mix for chicken

1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken; marinate for 1 hour, covered

* 1 (3-pound) frying chicken, cut into 10 pieces
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 Spanish chorizo sausages, thickly sliced
* Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1 Spanish onion, diced
* 4 garlic cloves, crushed
* Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, reserve some for garnish
* 1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
* 4 cups short grain Spanish rice
* 6 cups water, warm
* Generous pinch saffron threads
* 1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed
* 1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
* 2 lobster tails (optional)
* 1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen and thawed
* Lemon wedges, for serving

Special equipment:

* Large paella pan or wide shallow skillet
* Organic Spanish Red Wines

Directions

Open the wine.

Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Heat oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.

In the same pan, make a "sofrito" by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is filling the pan, add the lobster tails. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it's perfect.

Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.

Open more wine!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Spring Rites: Collecting Pussy Willows!

When I was small, I kept a few exceptionally large Pussy Willows in a little found nest on my dresser. I think I imagined them to be micebirds or something equally magical. I cut a small piece of felt and made a blanket for them, and kept a little water in a bottle cap should they get thirsty. I petted them, talked to them, loved them.

To this day, collecting Pussy Willows is one of my most favorite rites of spring. Each year I celebrate "Pussy Willow Day," a sunny Saturday or Sunday in late February or March when there's still snow on the ground, and warmer weather brings a waft of the sweet smell of mud on the breeze and I know... they're ready!

I gather my children, friends, neighbors, and dogs (anyone who will come) for a walk in the woods, and pack up some wine, fresh cheese, and a great round of bread. Formal attire includes rubber boots for this celebration usually takes place on a sunny rock in a swamp!

Pussy Willows are "the official harbinger of spring" in my heart, opening well before the crocuses and snowdrops and signaling the waking up of my New Hampshire woods. I dance from tree to tree, marveling at the furry displays until I finally decide which few branches I will prune off and bring home and place in my Grandmothers enormous crystal vase to be honored as a blessing and the promise of Spring.

Pussy Willow trees are native to wetlands of Canada and the Eastern U.S. If you find Pussy Willow trees as delightful as I do, eventually you may want to try to plant them in your own landscape, rather than having to trudge through the snow, mud, and swamps to find them. Since pussy willow trees are wetland plants in the wild, they are happy in areas that have poor drainage. They do best in full sun.

There are male Pussy Willow trees and female Pussy Willow trees. The buds, or catkins, on the male Pussy Willow trees look different from those on the females. The male catkins are showier, and it is the branches of the male trees that I seek for bouquets.

Propagating Pussy Willow trees is really easy. They root so readily that cut branches can simply be inserted into moist soil in summer. Take the cuttings from the new growth on male pussy willows, not the older, gray-colored branches. Take a cutting that is about as thick as a pencil and at least one foot long. It needs to be long enough for a few inches to be underground, while a couple of nodes should still be showing above ground. Roots will develop within a few weeks. (The end that you want to insert into the ground is the end that you cut.) You can also root cuttings in water and then transplant outside when danger of frost is past.

The Pussy Willow tree that I planted outside my kitchen window is bursting today, filled with plump catkins and chickadees, finches, and sparrows noisily waiting for their turn at the nearby feeders. It is one of the greatest gifts that I ever gave myself. And it's a gift that keeps on giving! Today I will bring a bouquet to the wonderful girls at the Post Office, who stamp my outgoing packages Fragile and let me use their tape sometimes. Pussy Willows say "thank you" in a very special way.

And this Saturday, I'm going to celebrate "Pussy Willow Day." My dear friend is coming for the weekend with her dog and her rubber boots. She's bringing the wine. I'm baking gourmet dog cookies today.

Celebrate Spring at my Bonanzle storefront by entering coupon code CATKIN at checkout Friday, March 20 and take 25% off your total purchase. Happy Spring!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Tachyon and Energy Healing for Pets and Animals


Animals by their love, devotion, independence, and instinct to survive are truly inspirational. But this can, and does, create great hardship for our beloved pets. Animals suffer stress for a variety of reasons including living in unnatural environments, absorbing the emotions of the homes they live in, taking on negative energies and diseases as a buffer to protect their guardians, and misunderstanding situations that they find themselves in. Animals are very receptive to telepathic communication and energy work, and especially healing; they are eager and willing to clear their energy fields, but require a little help in doing so. Animals often heal quicker than their guardians, as they don't carry the same amount of emotional or energetic "baggage" as most humans do. Animals are pure souls, without judgment – and therefore are fully able and willing to accept Reiki Healing or Distance Energy Healing.

A growing number of veterinarians state that processed pet food is the main cause of illness and premature death in the modern dog and cat. In December 1995, the British Journal of Small Animal Practice published a paper contending that processed pet food supresses the immune system and leads to liver, kidney, heart and other diseases. Dr. Kollath, of the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, headed a study done on animals. When young animals were fed cooked and processed foods they initially appeared to be healthy. However, as the animals reached adulthood, they began to age more quickly than normal and also developed chronic degenerative disease symptoms. A control group of animals raised on raw foods aged less quickly and were free of degenerative disease. For a return to health, pets require a diet which strengthens the immune system and most closely resembles that which they would get in the wild.

A great way to improve the nutritional value of your pet's food is to place some tachyon stones in the food storage bin or bag (don't place them in the dish). I also charge my pet's (and plant's) drinking water by placing tachyon cubes in a pitcher of water. Elderly and artritic pets do very well when a tachyon blanket is placed on their beds. It is a pleasure to watch just how well Tachyon works with animals. This is because animals just don't have the blocks, energetically, that humans do. Humans, through free will, can create and maintain blockages in their Energetic Continuum. In my experience, when supplied with Tachyon energized food, water, and rest, most animals will rebalance and rejuvenate quite quickly.

I believe that each animal has a mission, or spiritual purpose for being with their particular guardian. When this is understood and honored, and their sense of wellbeing is supported, they can become the most wonderful teachers and healers for us, their human companions. If you would like more information about tachyon wellness products, please visit the FAQs page of my Bonanzle storefront, our website Oshun Spirit Earth Friendly Goods, or email me at suberry@myfairpoint.net.

May you be blessed with the gift of unconditional love as I have been.

Just My Dog

He is my other eyes that can see above
the clouds; my other ears that hear above
the winds. He is the part of me that can
reach out into the sea.

He has told me a thousand times over that
I am his reason for being: by the way he
rests against my leg; by the way he thumps
his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he
shows his hurt when I leave without taking him.
(I think it makes him sick with worry when he
is not along to care for me.)

When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive.
When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile.
When I am happy, he is joy unbounded.
When I am a fool, he ignores it.
When I succeed, he brags.
Without him, I am only another man. With him,
I am all-powerful.
He is loyalty itself.
He has taught me the meaning of devotion.
With him, I know a secret comfort and a
private peace. He has brought me understanding
where before I was ignorant.
His head on my knee can heal my human hurts.
His presence by my side is protection against
my fears of dark and unknown things.
He has promised to wait for me...
whenever... wherever in case I need him.
And I expect I will, as I always have.

He is just my dog.


by Gene Hill

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

NEW PROGRAM! Holistic Prayer Group: Healing the Mind, Body, & Spirit through Prayer, Meditation, and Sacred Art


















You are invited to join with like-minded, loving hearts around the globe each month by enrolling in Holistic Prayer: Healing the Mind, Body & Spirit through Prayer, Meditation and Sacred Art.

Prayer, your communication or connection with the Divine, in its simplest form may be an intention and in its more soulful form, a meditative state of being versus a state of doing. Depending on your beliefs, prayer may be accomplished with words, art, actions, or in silence. This new group program seeks to guide and support inward journeys leading to inner peace and healing using interfaith prayers, poetry, inspiring quotes, and channeled art.

Channeled Sacred Art is an ancient holistic and multi-faith blessing. It opens the heart, mind and spirit to beauty and wisdom by providing contemplative experiences of encoded images, frequencies, and sacred geometry. As a visionary artist, I am able to channel sacred, healing art in the form of full spectrum mandalas, geometric grids, fractals, and color frequency transmissions. My work is used by practitioners around the globe.

Channeled Spirit Art is a pure transmission of the universal language of light. Free of the cultural and personal filters of human language, Spirit Art provides a medium through which Ascended Masters, Angels, and Spirit Guides are able to communicate directly with your Soul. Additionally, the organic and geometric form structures and color frequencies channeled through the drawing stimulate the human energy system and resonate much like a crystal, providing the same kind of vibrational healing. The divine, healing energy inherent of channeled art allows you to continue to expand and focus your conscious awareness, explore Spirit messages and your insights more deeply, and enjoy the blessings of spiritual growth.

We know that a peaceful world evolves through peaceful hearts. You will find inspirational messages and prayers for inner peace and the healing of the self imbedded into the art (and printed to read). You will also find prayers for the healing of the planet. By embracing prayers of different religious and spiritual traditions, times, and cultures, we will help to dissolve the barriers separating us and replace separateness with unity. Depending on your beliefs, you may refer to Source as God, Goddess, Spirit, Higher Power, the Divine, the Universe... and this progam seeks to honor people of different faiths and on different spiritual paths. We will gather together as human beings celebrating the divine within ourselves and one another as we explore spirituality from the ancient mysteries to the ascension process. Combining all spiritual paths, we will celebrate our similarities and our differences, honoring the perfection of God/Goddess in all of us.

You will be well served by this program if you are seeking support for your personal healing journey – be that physical, emotional and/or spiritual. If you are feeling sad, depressed, and/or disconnected on some level by the state of our families, communities, world, or planet and if you seek to connect with others for some greater purpose, like world peace or the healing the planet, this will be a great opportunity to participate in the evolution of the collective consciousness of humanity. If you are grieving the loss of someone or something and seek to connect with the Divine on a deeper level for understanding and acceptance that loving and supportive consciousness will help you to heal.

As a participant in the program, you are invited to blog about your experiences by commenting on the program modules here, at Oshun Spirit Living Light. By sharing our spiritual journeys, we support, embrace and inspire each other. We'll heal, we'll grow. We'll laugh, we'll cry. We'll cultivate magic, harmony and bliss while anchoring the Light, we'll raise our voices and our spirits to the higher realms and anchor Heaven on Earth.

Each lesson module of this course will be delivered to your email inbox in time for our group prayer and healing each month on the new moon at 9 pm USA Eastern Time. Like the Infinite Goddess and Lightworker Group programs, you may choose to schedule a private healing with me around the program content at a reduced rate. Information about private healings will be included in each module as each offering will be unique.

You may purchase the March 2009 Holistic Prayer Program Module at the Bonanzle storefront or on our website, Oshun Spirit Earth Friendly Goods. Please email me at suberry@myfairpoint.net if you have any questions or would like to purchase the 12 month program ( $300 thru February 2010) which includes a complimentary Dolphin Healing Group Session from the Andros Leylines next February.

I hope that you will join me in anchoring oneness consciousness and the creation of Harmony, Justice, and Peace on Earth. With love and gratitude, we will send out these joyful vibrations to the beloved Earth Mother and all our brothers and sisters of service, in the Oneness of Awakening.


Namaste, Susan

Saturday, March 7, 2009

NEW! Oshun orisha accessory peacock feather pendants exclusively at our Bonanzle storefront!






































Peacock feathers have long been cherished and admired for their beautiful colors, vibrant and rich, befitting of Oshun's royalty and power. When peacocks shed their feathers they grow back even brighter and more beautiful, thus sustaining the power of the peacock image. Peacocks also hold meaning as a symbol of accepting one's own beauty and as a reminder to view self and others in their truest form... the incorruptible soul worthy of perfect love.

These artisan-made blown glass peacock feather pendants are magnificent, each design is unique. They are available exclusively at our Bonanzle storefront. They are approximately 1.5 x 2.5 inches, and strung on a black satin cord as shown. Blessed by an initiate priestess of Oshun of both Afro-Cuban Santeria and Brazilian Condomble. They are tachyon energized, of course!

The Peacock, like Oshun, is representative of glory, immortality, royalty, integrity, and the beauty that can be achieved when we endeavor to better ourselves and better our lives. May you be blessed!


Sunday, March 1, 2009

I closed my ebay storefront, and I'm calling Bonanzle home!



Ebay was no longer a good fit, aesthetically, ethically, and no longer in alignment with my world view of how responsible business should be conducted. After 5 years in residence, I closed the door to my ebay store this morning. But don't be sad! There is often a rainbow after the rain... and they say the grass is greener...

The bright spot in the world of e-commerce is Bonanzle.com. An up and coming social marketplace venue, Bonanzle management makes a conscientious practice of contributing positively to the wellbeing of their customers, and community environment in a big way. This includes being ethical, transparent, service-oriented, creative, responsive, and responsible. With recent upgrades and features, it is apparent that this venue is seriously committed to holding its merchants (and customers) up to the same standards.

I already have a "social responsibility" commitment embedded in my business model, and I whole heartedly believe that doing business with others who have made that same commitment to business ethics shows my customers that I'm serious, and willing to walk the talk. And in so doing, I endorse the expression of people helping each other and supporting their mutual success in whatever way they can – personally, professionally, and globaly. At Bonanzle, this sense of "doing it a better way" creates a ripple effect where newcomers willingly engage from day one with the sincere interest and concern reminiscent of small-town humanity.

Today, more than ever, it takes a village to survive and prosper. It takes cooperation, but only if offered in the spirit of generosity and compassion, with respect for individual differences. The Bonanzle community is working this out despite its explosive growth (about 35,000 members) in just a few short months.

Community responsibility is an ideal, a goal, a standard to which few web business citizens have fully measured up. Yet socially responsive, socially reflective disciplines are achievable. At Bonanzle, members are pro-actively expanding new horizons on this issue and expressing a collective self-confidence and pride in what we each achieve in our own businesses and as a group. It's an amazing process to witness and to participate in. That’s why I'm open for business at Bonanzle! I'll see you there.