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FEATURED ACTION: Japan Post 3/11

By Yuka Saionji
Dear Evolutionary Leaders,

Hello from Japan. Today I wanted to share just a little bit of what has been going on after 3.11 in Japan. At first, I didn’t know what or where to start after this huge devastation. But we knew we had to take this as an opportunity and not just a tragedy. And let it be a birth to a new light. The Evolutionary Leaders have been such a great source of wisdom, power, energy and hope for me – all the emails and messages we have received from EL members gave us so much energy and power to move forward.

There are many projects and movements that have happened after 3/11 for me and the Goi Peace Foundation (www.goipeace.or.jp) but today I wanted to share what is most important to me right now. Like Bruce Lipton’s example of our body as future model or Elisabet Sahtouris’s example of the butterfly stem cells, I truly feel the importance of community rising together, and us evolving our consciousness. To take one step out of fear… and to collaborate for a new arising. And for me, the power of dialogue, collective wisdom and collaboration was the key and a new way of creation and leadership.

Therefore I am now working with Bob Stilger and Yuya Nishimura of Resilient Japan (www.resilientjapan.org), who are creating spaces for young community leaders to come together for a 3-day dialogue (retreat). We invite youth mainly in their 20s and 30s who work in the devastated area as a volunteer or staff member or with an organization, youth who are the victims of the earthquake and tsunami who were evacuated, and youth who want to create a new change. We bring 60 of them all together at a time in a safe place without worries about the nuclear issue… to share feelings, to see what is happening, and bring forward what is arising. We have already done this three times and plan for two more this year, engaging a total of 300 youth.

What is so important about this program is that people can get so caught in trying to fix things or focus so much on what we have to do, that many who are working directly at the disaster area don’t get a chance to see the change within, to connect with themselves, to see the bigger picture, to connect with source, and to have time for collaboration and networking for a greater cause. Through this program, you can see the change in their consciousness and how they grab onto hope, light and possibility, rather than to work just from fear or rush. And how important the consciousness level is in order to create something new! How easy it is to get back into old patterns and get caught up in them. We realized that giving this kind of space and time makes a huge impact and difference – inside and out. The change on the inside becomes the source they can go back to at troubled times in the future. The changes on the outside are the many collaboration and projects rising out of this program. We have seen many connections happening through youth coming together and sharing.

An example of collaboration was a summer camp that was created to host children from Fukushima (the site of the nuclear disaster) out at a safe place in Tokyo so that they could freely play outside without worrying about the nuclear effects. We have a program in Fukushima to empower youth through music. We are planning to host a retreat in Miyagi (which took a huge tsunami hit) for high school and college students soon and to train those who are interested further in facilitation and hosting so that they themselves can start a dialogue in their community. There is also a project to support youth who are trying to start social entrepreneurship in Miyagi. And experimentation with gift economy is happening amongst youth who want to see a new change in the world, etc., etc.!

This project may be small at first, but we believe it has a huge impact on each individual. And it is so important to empower the youth and those who have been evicted to take their power and their ownership. And, one step at a time, we are seeing these changes. We want to keep continuing this work and for this, we would really like to ask for your support!! In order to keep hosting these spaces as well as support projects rising out of this… we would really like your support. If you would like to help us financially, please SEE ABOVE.

Or if you are in Japan, you can connect with these youth to empower and invite them to conscious evolution. Thank you so much!!

Infinite gratitude to all Evolutionary Leaders members for your existence and all the inspiration you have given me. Special gratitude to Jean Houston, Mark Gerzon, Fred Matser, Duane Elgin and Lynnaea Lumbard, who have directly helped and guided me move forward in Japan.

Yuka Saionji
The Goi Peace Foundation
www.goipeace.or.jp