The Longest Night: Embracing Grief, Celebrating Light

Dearest Joyfuellers,

I am humbled and honored to invite you to join with people all over the world for a sacred intention to co-witness The Longest Night: Embracing Grief, Celebrating  Light on Solstice, Tuesday December 21st, 3:40 pm – 6:30 EST.

I wish I could tell you how it is that I have come to be behind and beside this extraordinary sacred online event, but for now my best understanding is that I keep listening to my heart’s directive and showing up and continuing my devotion with a collective of people who–like me–believe in a different way of being in and of this world. We believe in creating media that is experiential and animating, uplifting and connective.

I am in awe. I am grateful, and I am truly and deeply in loving service.

There are many people around the world contributing gifts to this program, including prayers and ceremony from Woman Stands Shining Pat McCabe, Chief Dwaine Perry, Rev. Pippa Jones (One Spirit) and so many others. Loving details have gone into every moment, including music and poetry from Gary Malkin, Kristin Hoffman, Milagros Phillips and Libby Roderick.

With silence, stories, prayers, music, all in a circle of deep listening, we invite you to join us as we gather and form the deeper bonds of love, friendship and community to strengthen us and enlighten us for the times to come.

Bring a candle, and a small bowl/vessel of water to participate in sacred ceremony in our Zoom Room:

https://zoom.us/j/6060001111

Zoom Mtg ID: 606 0001 111

The program begins with the Solstice commemoration of the Global Silent Minute, from 3:40pm EST. Sunset in New York is at 4:32pm that day, as we enter “The Longest Night” inviting all of us to reflect upon our stories as we re-conceive and regenerate our future through recalibrating humanity’s custodianship for our beautiful, blue planet.

All wisdom traditions affirm the importance of giving presence to our loss and grief, both personal and collective. Indigenous traditions and all the world’s religions have various ceremonies to allow grief to be expressed and offer some form of release.

It is important for us to come together as a global community to share this moment of reflection, of sorrow and loss, that we may hold and support each other in our shared grief to acknowledge what is passing as we sense what is emerging – the seeds of the “new” seeking expression.

RSVP to our Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/401393845002717 and discover more details.

Join our Zoom room or watch our livestream on many facebook pages including www.facebook.com/joyfuelway

We are grateful for the gift of your presence.

With love and gratitude,
Becky Suzik, Joyfuel

 

Joyfuel ACTIVATE! a mini playshop for your joy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear HeARTs,
I’m excited to invite you to a mini Joyfuel playshop with my dear friends Noel Marshall and Bob Warner at CoCreators Convergence. You are invited to join us in this Zoom Room https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83114637833 on Thursday September 9th at 8pm EDT for 90 mins of exploration of joy and joy guardianship, with ideas especially for these uncertain times.

Come and consciously explore your own personal relationship with joy, self kindness and creativity. Bring bright colored art supplies (crayons, markers, oil pastels…. whatever you already own, blank paper or a journal and let’s play!

I’ll offer a few expressive heART experiences that may lead to you creating a work of heART that you might enjoy not liking…. heck… you may even enjoy LOVING your creation too.

Come to Co-Creators Convergence and let’s active our joyfuel together!
ABOUT: Becky Suzik believes in the healing powers of expressive arts and stories. As a creativity and joy activist she offers playshops designed to activate creativity while exploring personal narratives about people’s talents/abilities/curiosities. Becky’s company Joyfuel is a mixed-media unforce devoted to sharing and promoting kindness, creativity and JOY in and for the world.
About CoCreators Convergence: CoCreators Convergence is a Barbara Marx Hubbard legacy group dedicated to giving our unique gift to the shift in Humanity. This dynamic, open-hearted hub gathers every every Thursday to converse co-creatively. Visit their website to learn more about this remarkable collective on the forefront of creative collaboration towards healing humans and our earth. http://www.cocreatorsconvergence.com .

Hope you can join the JOY!
Love. love. LOVE!
becky xo

Joyfuel is simmering a new Playshop May 28, join me for JOY!

Dearest Joyfuellers,

I have so many beautiful stories to share with you about this past year. I have never felt more devoted to my sacred mixed-media work than this past year, and finding ways to express, and attempt to inspire the JOY of others –my favorite music of all– through my work.

By breaking our hearts open in sadness, physical separation and loss during this past year of the Pandemic, Mama Earth is calling us into loving action towards the reduction of unnecessary suffering in the world. It is time to risk and love as if today might be the last day to love, because truly I know that LOVE and a new way of looking and being love will save us and create our new story together.

I am devoted to using–and reinventing– media and technology for kindness, creativity and joy, aspiring  towards co-creating peace on earth.

Through intentional use of technology, my heart and actions fly around our Earth (while from my home upon Tuscarora and Catawba land in North Carolina) working with and for so many others who are no longer waiting for governments to fix broken and hurtful systems of our world… instead we are doing the healing and restorative sacred listening work we need now.  It is beautiful. It is time to shine and become the love we were made to be.

I am humbled and in awe of what I am connected to, In service to a bigger vision than Joyfuel. While Joyfuel is on the backburner, it is still simmering while I learn, listen and discover more of how I might use my lifelong experience in communications to make a more significant impact for good in the world. Joyfuel is still here and in a few months, after World UNITY Week–a massive global giftfest, for which I am working behind the scenes–, I will begin devoting more daily time to the Joyfuel Trifecta (kindness, creativity and joy).

In the meantime I wanted to share what I hope is a lovely opportUNITY for us to play together towards animating YOUR joy. This Friday May 28 at 12 noon EDT (New York time) we have a Joyfuel Playshop! WooHoooooooo!!!!!!!!

Register for JOY HERE

Come and dedicate two hours to your own personal JOY, creativity and more than a smidge of self kindness.
Using basic art supplies (crayons, markers, oil pastels, etc… whatever you have!), music and words we will journey and co-create together what I hope will be a playful and joyful uplifting time together in our private zoom room.
This playshop is offered within the spectrum of gift economy. Half of all funds bless me and my family, the other half will support two groups of women doing healing and restorative work in the Amazon Rainforest and in Cameroon.
You are welcome to gift to me if you choose and as you are able, any amount you choose, or support my work through Patreon.
I am deeply grateful for all gifts,  and especially the gift of your presence.
Here is a short video sharing more about the Playshop!
https://youtu.be/TCys-6j3Ez4

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To complete your registration visit
https://tinyurl.com/
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(This is a private event and will not be streamed online. This is for YOU if you are interested in learning more about consciously cultivating JOY in your life and JOY as a daily practice.)
So much love from my heART to yours,
Becky
p.s. Make a wish…. blow out (yes, exhale on the image for realsies)… and I am praying with you: We shall be blessed.

Joyfuel Kindcast musician Pushkara Sally Ashford

dear ones,

On my journey to reclaiming my personal joy I made a conscious decision to bring people and experiences into my life that brought me joy— daily. Today I would like to extend an opportunity worthy of your attention and time— for your JOY!

Check out the Joyfuel kindcast – with Pushkara Sally Ashford who shares her journey as a singer who lost her voice and went on to find her soul. Pushkara is a peace activist, is 80 years old and lives on Whidbey Island in Washington state. Please join us for about 70 mins and comment in the chat and offer your own reflections on her remarkable life story, and her music which is totally UPlifting and beautiful!  (Visit the Joyfuel YouTube Channel here and SUBSCRIBE https://www.youtube.com/user/monkeychimonkeydo/videos .)

This sounds like joy to me.

with so much love for our joy… becky

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Joy & Kindness Panel at World UNITY Week

Dear Joyfuellers,

Less than two weeks ago I had an extraordinary opportunity to be a part of World UNITY Week, a week-long global collaborative celebrating the contributions and ideas of thinkers and seekers around the world… events and offerings committed to deep listening and learning  to collaborate on healing solutions our earth and humanity deserves and needs.

Joyfuel partnered with so many inspiring organizations. I was behind the scenes of many presentations and even produced  several Joyfuel programs including a wonderful panel discussion about JOY and Kindness with Greg Acuna, Joy Resor and Louisa Garrett.

I hope you will find time to listen and experience their deep and meaningful thoughts and ideas about the possibilities of kindness and joy even as we navigate our world in the throes of a global pandemic.

Huge THANKS to our panelists for their contributions and for their willingness to jump in to share this conversation.

 

Louisa Garrett, #MakeKindLoud
● email address: Louisa@makekindloud.com
● Web site(s): http://www.makekindloud.com
● Facebook Fan Page(s): http://www.Facebook.com/MakeKindLoud
http://www.facebook.com/Louisa.garrett1

 

Joy Resor, Joy on Your Shoulders
● email address: joy@joyonyourshoulders.com
● Web site(s): http://www.joyonyourshoulders.com
● Facebook Fan Page: http://www.Facebook.com/Joyonyourshoulders
http://www.facebook.com/joy.resor

 

 

Greg Acuna, Planet Earthlings
● Email: greg@planetearthlings.org
● Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/planetearthlings
● Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/earthlingsorg

Please visit, like and follow their social media to invite positive energy and ideas into your life and your mediastream.

with love for your JOY,
becky

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shift from me to we

(click above to hear an audio description of this post)

Dear Joyfuellers,

2020 is certainly providing a year to potentially reconsider and re-imagine our individual lives while contemplating our interconnectedness and dependencies upon one another.

Since 2014 Joyfuel has run numerous experiments about what it might mean to be a mixed-media agency dedicated to kindness, creativity and joy: In-person and online ePlayshops, social media Mindful Moments, and Joyfuel Kindcasts–each Joyfuel project has intended participant exploration of how we might open to play and generate ideas towards activating greater joy in humans.

As founder and lead joy activist at Joyfuel, I view 2020 as the year we discover together how to collaborate on Joyfuel shifting from “me to we”, by community sourcing new and inspiring content for our readers and subscribers. Perhaps our leading question this year: How do we collaborate and support an emerging community of storytellers committed to telling personal stories of the kindness, creativity and joy that binds us together?

Towards this exploration Joyfuel has been chosen by The Pollination Project to receive a 2020 Impact Grant providing funding towards our basic annual expenses. This funding will allow further investigation and engagement with you and other Joyfuellers around the world, and I am deeply grateful.

I am also deeply concerned by the tidal wave impact of coronavirus creating lockdown and health care crisises, and food shortages all over the world. My heart is fully broken open to find ways to use ideas and funding to inspire and support people in sharing their stories of kindness, and how to find joy amidst sadness and loss.

Holding all of these facts and concerns, Joyfuel is rolling out a new initiative… a new branch is growing on the Joyfuel Tree called JOY CORPS.

Joy Corps aspires to train and support world-wide storytellers for kindness through storytelling workshops and brainstorming sessions supporting people through the ideation process of potentially solving their problems through the power of visual kindness storytelling.

Joy Corps is still very much unfolding and in the works. I hope to offer our first training in early May, and have new storytellers’ kindness stories featured on our media channels very soon.

As these projects are emerging, your financial gifts are greatly appreciated. Please consider a recurring monthly financial gift on Patreon (change amount or cancel anytime), a one-time gift through paypal, or gift a larger amount by check. Every penny will be used to grow and support our community in 2020.

Your ideas and thoughts are welcome. Please comment or hit reply to let me know what you are thinking. We will do this together. Now more than ever we need an agency to speak of the things that unify us in humanity, qualities of kindness, creativity and joy to support us through these challenging times. I am dedicated to you and this work and to finding a way together.

In gratitude for JOY,

Becky Suzik
Joyfuel Founder and Chief Joy Activist

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☼ (◠‿◠* E4 Liz Buechele

The Joyfuel Kindcast with Liz Buechele:
The Smile Project

In this episode Becky Suzik talks with writer, speaker, roadtripper and kindness activitist Liz Buechele, and shares a deep conversation about the intricacies and challenges of cultivating JOY when our heart is breaking, in a world that is hurting.

Liz works in the non-profit sector and is the founder of the Smile Project, a non-profit organization spreading happiness through intentional acts of kindness and empowering young people to create kindness clubs in their communities. She has found an extraordinary way to combine her passions for writing, traveling and meeting kind people, spreading joy and kindness through her daily social media posts capturing where she finds happiness.

Liz has been writing Happiness Is posts for 8 years. Tomorrow–January 25, 2020– she will share a post worthy of celebrating, her 3000th consecutive post for happiness!

Links mentioned on the Kindcast

SPARK

#SmileProjectRoadTrip

Happiness is database

The Smile Project on Facebook

The Smile Project on Instagram 

The Smile Project on Twitter

Email Liz 

Music on the Program

Show theme Song “Being Kind” by Nimo Patel

CLICK HERE Record YOUR Voice Mail MESSAGE
on The Joyline

Questions, feedback or suggestions for our program? Get in touch using the JOYLINE! or email me becky@joyfuel.org

I am so grateful for our growing Joyfuel Community. If you enJOYed the show, please  share with your friends and family. You can leave a review on iTunes  or Facebook page. If you’d like to help me grow MORE Joyfuel projects, please gift money fertilizer by becoming a Patreon contributor (monthly recurring donations, opt in and out anytime) or gift one-time contribution through paypay or venmo. We are building Joyfuel together.

Thank you for listening and for all you do to spread kindness!

with love for your JOY,

 

 

❤️ Thank you for fueling JOYFUEL through
Patreon or gifts through PayPal ❤️ 

 

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☼ (◠‿◠* Episode 3 John Pavlovitz

The Joyfuel Kindcast with John Pavlovitz:
Kindness & Other Superpowers

This episode features writer, pastor, speaker and author John Pavlovitz. Perhaps now more than ever we need to feel hope, like we are part of something good and kind amidst a world that is hurting and changing.

John Pavlovitz is a blogger, author and has been pastor for over 20 years. A minister steeped in the Christian faith, John is a husband and father, and also an activist for LGBTQ equality and human rights. John is a frequent speaker and sermonizer in Raleigh, North Carolina at UU PEACE Fellowship, and a minister at North Raleigh Community Church. He contributes to Huffington Post, Churchleaders.com and many other digital information channels.

John’s forthcoming book “Hope And Other Superpowers” offers ideas about the human superpowers we possess like kindness, creativity and joy, and the role these play in HOPE for our world.

Links mentioned on the Kindcast

John’s essay “If I Have Gay Children”
John’s web site
John’s Patreon
John and Jenn’s Etsy Shop with t-shirts (like John is wearing in photo above) and more!

Links to John’s books on Indie Bound

Hope and Other Superpowers (release date November 6, 2018)
A Bigger Table  2017

Music on the Program

Frank Turner’s song Be More Kind.
Show theme Song “Being Kind” by Nimo Patel

Youth Spotlight

Austin’s The Young Urban Gardener Facebook and  YOUTUBE Channel

CLICK HERE Record YOUR Voice Mail MESSAGE
on The Joyline

Questions, feedback or suggestions for our program? Get in touch using the JOYLINE! or shoot me an email! creativegirlnet@gmail.com

Andddddd, if you enjoyed the program and you’d like to SHARE with your family and friends, oooooh….. Thank you for helping spread kindness!  Hey and you can leave a review on iTunes   or Facebook page. Thank you for listening!

with love for your JOY,
Becky Suzik

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❤️ Thank you for fueling JOYFUEL through
Patreon or gifts through PayPal ❤️ 

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☼ (◠‿◠* Episode 2 The Human Kindness Foundation

Joyfuel Kindcast Episode with the Human Kindness Foundation’s Prison Ashram Project

 

Catherine Dumas, Executive Director, Sita Lozoff Co-Founder and Spiritual Director and Morgan Siem, Volunteer and Board Member of the Human Kindness Foundation

Today’s guests Sita Lozoff and Catherine Dumas are creating tremendous ripples of kindness in the world through the work of the Human Kindness Foundation and the Prison Ashram Project. Serving more than 35,000 incarcerated people in the US and other countries, the project has been supporting people in kindness and spritual direction for 45 years.

Visit the HKF web site to order books, t-shirts and support their work.  www.humankindness.org

Titles by Bo Lozoff mentioned on the show. All available by on the Human Kindness Foundation web site.
We’re All Doing Time (aka The Prisoner’s Bible)
Deep & Simple
Fiction: Lineage and Other Stories

From death row: Finding Freedom by Jarvis Jay Masters

To request books be sent to a prison inmate, provide person’s name, prison ID number, and facility mailing address. If you do not know the prison assignment there are many online searchable databases that will help you find their location.

Sacred Gates: Bringing Mindfulness to Prisons Volunteer Guide Click to open/read the full PDF
The film The Exonerated (watch trailer here) with Susan Sarandon is based on Sunny Jacobs’ story of wrongful incarceration.

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❤️ Thank you for expressing your love by fueling Joyfuel and gifting to our Patreon ❤️

Questions, comments, feedback… LOVE  for Joyfuel? Please get in touch with me.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoy this show, please bless others by sharing.

In love and kindness,
Becky

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