A Gift Economy Feels Good

I'm traveling for the rest of the year! Let me sing you my best goodbye...

...and then let me tell you about my new adventure!

I'm currently working with a brilliant team at the Million Kisses Foundation. We have joined forces to do our part in bringing a vision of a global gift economy into reality. 

I am the lead singer/performer of a Nationwide Gift Circle Project. I'm hitting the road with my suitcase and guitar, and performing concerts across the country. The cause? Ordinary dreamers with extraordinary dreams. (Is that flowery and feeling out of touch with "reality"? I fully agree....shall we create a new reality?)

The Million Kisses Foundation stands proudly with all the Pollyannas, star dreamers and fairy godmothers of the world. We love cynics as well because we know you have dreams too! My motivation is that I believe even the smallest dream coming true uplifts all of humanity.

Before I hit the road, I did a little local research and found a fantastic gift economy circle here in Salt Lake City, Utah that has been going strong every month for the past two years.  I've only gone two times, met about 15 people, and look what has already happened...

What I’ve Given

• Referral to a kayaking organization for someone looking for one (free)
• 1 Hour Guitar Lesson ($50)
• Rose Ornament ($40)
• 8 Bags of Clothes and Shoes ($40)
• Book about Creating Your Own Ceremonies ($15)
• Matrix Energetics Book ($15)
• Chakra Balancing Meditation CDs ($20)
• 2 Half Hour Angel/Energy Sessions ($30 each)
• Original Music CD ($10)

Total Dollar Amount of What I've Given: $250

What I Received

• GPS ($70)
• Tent ($150)
• Sleeping Bag ($100)
• Sleeping Pad ($60)
• Two Opal Necklaces ($40)
• Chakra Cards ($25)
• 30 Minute Free Editing of my Website ($50)
• Vacuum ($30)
• Bamboo Cutting Board ($15)
• Auric/Akashic Records Reading ($100)
• Life Coaching Strategy Session ($200)

Total Dollar Amount of What I've Received: $840

In a gift economy, the dollar amount is certainly irrelevant. The currency is not money, it is relationships. The true value of the clothes I gifted, for example, came from a follow up conversation from the woman who received them. She said, "I don't usually wear dresses, but one of the dresses you gave me makes me feel so very beautiful." As a thank you gift in return, she gave me the opal necklaces with a handwritten note.  

A man was about to sell his brand new GPS. When I learned that, I offered to pay him for it, and he refused saying, "Allow me the privilege of honoring the gift circle by simply giving it to you." He gets it. As a return, I gifted him with an angel/energy work session, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

I will document my gifting and receiving adventures along the way, both the good and the not-so-good. Will I get stranded on the side of the road by the scared, "mine is mine" consumerism mentality that presently exists in America's corridors? Or will doors be swung wide open to me to tables full of bountiful fruits and "what's mine is yours" hospitality? 

Let's see what happens, starting May 12th...