Who's responsible for your personal freedom in 2018?

Dear <<First Name>>,

Blessings from my Helping Friendly Heart to yours this Winter Solstice Season! Did you know the Pinecone, Santa Claus, and your Brain Honey are all intimately connected? (Merry Christmas.)

The stars are already aligning for 2018. How do I know? Because I’m thrilled to announce that our first Helping Friendly Book Club of the Year will meet on the ever auspicious, deliciously mysterious 2/6.

That’s right folks, 2/6. THE 2/6!

Join us Tuesday, February 6th at 8:15 PM at our favorite place The Wild Detectives in Bishop Arts District. We will meet to discuss perhaps the most concise distillation of #SEJNES we’ve read on our Quest so far, “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” by Don Miguel Ruiz. This powerfully transformative book is beloved by millions for its clarity and simplicity, and its easy application to daily life. What good is discovering the SEJNES if you can’t apply it to your life on a daily basis?

Our first encounter with the Toltec philosophy came through #CarlosCastaneda and “The Teachings of Don Juan” (#HFB10), who along with Don Miguel Ruiz tells us that the purpose of the Warrior (the ideal person in the Toltec tradition) is to transcend social conditioning as we discover our personal power, and learn to live with clear intent and impeccability. That kind of sounds like following your pinecone, doesn't it?

“The first step toward personal freedom is awareness. We need to be aware that we are not free in order to be free. We need to be aware of what the problem is in order to solve the problem.” - The Four Agreements

People in this country, especially politicians, love to throw the word “freedom” around, but what does freedom really mean? Who in our society do you point to as being an example of true eternal joy and never ending splendor level freedom? Who's degree of freedom would you like to emulate? Who really knows how to be free in 2018?

Now that we’re reading our 27th book on the Quest for SEJNES, we’re beginning to shift from the Discovery phase, into something closer to a Practice and Application phase, and eventually into Mastery, I hope. We’re beginning to see recurring patterns connecting all the books, and there's no better example of the practical, day-to-day application of SEJNES than The Four Agreements. Their simplicity is their power.

Please allow me to take this opportunity to thank everyone, near and far, who found some way to touch the Helping Friendly Book Club and our continuing Quest this year. In whatever form, whether in person or in spirit with a kind thought in your mind, it's wild to think much we've discovered together over the last four and a half years. The froth is in the confluence of all of our hearts and minds and I am grateful, very grateful, for how far we've come and how far we're set up to go. I mean it when I say it that 2018 is going to blossom. We have an exciting horizon in front us, friends. We're just getting started.

Here's wishing all of you a very merry Day of the Pinecone and a blessed start to the New Year. Whatever you're celebrating this holiday season, I can’t wait to celebrate the TWO/SIX with you in February. It’s going to be a great year for phyllotaxis.

More than a little,
Cole

Everything is connected.

FUN FACT: 2/6, among other things, also happens to be Bob Marley’s birthday. In honor of that fact, I challenge you to look for instances in Bob Marley songs where his philosophy overlaps with The Four Agreements. In the center of that Venn diagram- you will find the SEJNES.

Perhaps we should celebrate Bob's birthday at our meeting on the 2/6 in some way and start a new tradition of some sort? A White Elephant Book Exchange for anyone that's interested perhaps? Let's co-phorph a Helping Friendly Holiday together. Suggestion box is open.

The Helping Friendly Foundation is on a mission to elevate the public conversation and connect people through books in convivial ways.

There’s a lot to be excited about in 2018. One of the reasons HFBC isn’t meeting until February is because the Helping Friendly Book Stand Steering Committee is meeting in January to kick off Helping Friendly’s biggest, boldest project yet. There’s much more to come on this front, so please stay tuned. We’re going to need everybody's help soon as we aim to create something greater than the sum of all its parts. (If you're interested in being on the Steering Committee and haven't let me know yet, let me know!)

If 2017 was the year of the Time Wharf, 2018 will be the year of the Helping Friendly Book Stand. We’re on a mission to Illuminate Curiosity for the Purpose of Forward Motion, Create Space and Stimulation for the Generation of Insights, Support Conscious Connected Community Building, and to Elevate Social Vitality through Literature, Art and Conversation.

We want to change the way people feel about reading and bring Mystique back to Knowledge. Let’s elevate the public conversation and connect people through books, together.

Connect with us.