Happy New Year! hope the first day of the new decade finds you energized, inspired, and more in love with yourself and the world than ever.

I must say that 2009 has been truly the best year of my life, due, in large part, to the birth of Owning Pink. In honor of the New Year, I spent the hour before the stroke of midnight last night updating the Owning Pink mission statement, and I want to share it with you:

At Owning Pink, we believe that true healing and ultimate joy comes from loving and nurturing both ourselves and others. By shedding our masks and revealing our authentic selves in a community that loves and accepts us as we are, we empower each other to reclaim all the facets of what makes us whole- our creativity, our spirituality, our health, our relationships, our sexuality, our bliss, our MOJO. Owning all of you and loving yourself enables you to release limiting fears and access the divine within you. When you are in touch with your own divinity, you see with magical eyes, gazing beyond the masks others wear, shining a light on the beautiful, radiant heart that lies within. As you do this, you give someone else the gift of being SEEN, and in doing so, you continue the healing process for both of you. In this manner, true holistic healing happens, from the inside out, drawing us together in divine, universal love. We believe that, in doing so, we can change the world.

My dream for 2010 is that we take what we've created online and move it into our communities, whereever we live in the world. What if we could apply the Pink Group Agreement that guides our online interactions and move it into the home, school, work? In response to this desire, the Owning Pink team dreamed up a big idea, and we want to preview it with you here.

Remember the other week, when we were tossing around the notion of a Pink Effect campaign, which was inspired by the Girl Effect? Well, the idea is becoming a reality, and we are on the verge of a big wave of change in the world brought about because you Pinkies are seeing each other with magical eyes. We have a dream that we might save the world, and if we succeed, it will be because the Pink Effect inspires YOU to see people with your magical eyes and teach others to do the same. We envision it like a love virus that will spread all over the world.

Do you think we're nuts? Do you doubt that you have magical eyes? Trust me- you do. Many of you have already used them in the Owning Pink community. When you reach out and show compassion and support for your fellow Pinkies- even when you might not completely agree with what they have said- you are seeing them with your magical eyes. When you look past someone's politics, religion, or personal lifestyle choices and see, instead, the loving soul of another Pinkie, you are using magical eyes. If a Pinkie in our community turned out to be your relative or boss or someone else you find hard to love in your daily life - but you just didn't know that you knew them - I know you would be just as open and giving and supportive. That's what we're learning together in Pink Community. Everyone is a Pinkie!

We're really excited about the possibilities of the Pink Effect and while we're busy dreaming up new ways for everyone to contribute, let's start talking about it on this post. Share your reactions, share your hopes, dreams, hesitations, and concerns. Tell us what the Pink Effect might mean in your life and for those in your world. Dream with us about what would help you become infected with the Pink Effect love virus and fuel your enthusiasm for passing it on to everyone you know.

Here we go- announcing the Pink Effect (this is the draft for a video script we plan to roll out soon...)

THE PINK EFFECT

Our world feels BROKEN
Doesn’t it?
Loneliness, regret,
disconnection, depression,
poverty, materialism,
joblessness, stress,
divorce, betrayal,
addiction, hunger,
greed, anger,
hatred, fear,
cruelty, violence…
It’s enough to make a SOUL feel SICK.

What if we had the power to change all this
without spending a dime?
What if it was easier than we thought?

What if we could SAVE THE WORLD?

Would you HELP OUT?

THINK about it.
No matter how much YOU have,
it’s not enough, is it?
Something’s MISSING
that you can’t buy from a store,
or even make for yourself.
No matter how much you HAVE,
Part of you feels EMPTY.

Until….

You meet someone
Who SEES YOU.
Not the “you” on the outside that sometimes isn’t perfect,
But the REAL YOU inside.
The YOU that feels, and hurts, and loves and is vulnerable.
And they smile at the REAL YOU
Because
YOU
ARE BEAUTIFUL.

Feel that again….

YOU

ARE

BEAUTIFUL.

How does that feel?

Yes. :)

Not empty anymore.
FULL.

Not all those bad things.
Just LOVE.

……............

Don’t believe us because you have to go to a meeting?
Run an errand?
Do something you don’t want to do?

Take a deep breath.
Feel it again.

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.

See?
It works anywhere.
Anytime.

We call this feeling PINK
Because it’s happy.

People who see YOUR PINK
Have MAGICAL EYES.

Guess what?

YOU have MAGICAL EYES too!

YOU can see the PINK in people if you look past the
fear, greed, envy, lust, pride, revenge, prejudice, sadness…

Because underneath all that
EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL.
Even liars, cheaters, addicts, abusers, bullies, whiners, manipulators, criminals.

Yes. Really.
You’re not perfect either.

But
YOU
ARE
BEAUTIFUL.

We SEE YOU.

WE SEE YOUR PINK.
OWN IT.
Then you can SHARE IT.

But how does this change the world?

What if you were a SUPERHERO
who SEES with magical eyes?

What if you saw YOUR WORLD
with YOUR magical eyes?
In the boardroom, the classroom, the hospital, the courthouse, at home…?

Wow.

Think of someone you know.

Yes, now.

Imagine looking at that person with your superhero MAGICAL EYES.
Underneath the layers,
THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL
Imagine that this person felt SEEN,
perhaps for the very first time?

Yes. :)

What if by SEEING them, you awoke this person’s SUPERHERO powers?
What if you empowered them to use THEIR MAGICAL EYES
So they could SEE the PINK light in others?

The EMPTINESS would disappear.

This is the PINK EFFECT.

2010: THE PINK EFFECT EXPERIMENT

Let’s ALL do it.
Pick one person
Who may be difficult to love-
A co-worker, a family member, a neighbor, an old friend.
Use your MAGICAL EYES
To see the BEAUTIFUL PINK in them.

Fill the EMPTINESS

Give someone the gift of
BEING SEEN.

There are almost 7 billion people on the planet.
What if only 1% of the planet did this?

That’s HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
Who feel FULL
Instead of EMPTY.

WOW.

What if parents, teachers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, children, CEO’s
felt SEEN
and BEAUTIFUL
and PINK

What if the emptiness got HEALED?

What if they raised, taught, cured, litigated, voted, played, decided
with MAGICAL EYES?
What if LOVE
replaced
fear, ego, greed, envy, lust,
pride, revenge, ideology,
judgment, prejudice, sadness?

The world might just be
SAVED.

LET’S DO IT.

Commit your intention.
Open your MAGICAL EYES and SEE the BEAUTIFUL PINK in
One
Other
Person
This
Year.

Just one, if you’re not sure.

Just ONE.

YOU CAN DO THIS.

OWN YOUR POWER.

OWN PINK.

Empower others.
SAVE THE WORLD.

Join Us NOW
http://pinkeffect.ning.com/

So, Pinkies, are you in? Start thinking now about whom you might commit to seeing with MAGICAL EYES this year. What if we can change the world? I believe we will. Join us on our new website and start sharing your thoughts about who you might choose as your Pinkie Pal this year. I've already got mine. How 'bout you? Let's use this new forum to share the pitfalls, challenges, and triumphs as we gain confidence using our magical eyes. We know you can do it, Pinkies!

With love, faith and big pink hopes for 2010,

Lissa