A few weeks back on April 29th, we had a Mind Petals Gathering at the Gramstand Cafe in the East Village. The night was focused primarily on plastic bag pollution, as I gave a discussion on the pollution / death factors of plastic bags.
We had some powerful discussion from everyone that attended. The night was definitely a success as those present gave feedback about pollution and shared their views on how to lower their pollution impact on the environment.
We also touched upon issues such as oil, biofuels, the role of capitalism on the environment, green businesses, spirituality, nature, and future plans of actions to help spread awareness and get people involved in our movement.
Last Saturday Mind Petaler, Corrina, and I set off to the Union Square section of the city to spread the awareness with flyers, one-on-one discussions with people, and, yes, me with my big-ass sign that said “PLASTIC BAGS KILL.”
We spent about 3 hours campaigning. I’d say that 7 out of 10 people were really receptive, amenable, and open to learning about the plastic bag issue. Some people even wanted to collaborate with us for future events / fund raisers. Others offered ideas, insights, and solutions into the issue of plastic bag pollution.
BUT… of course, there were those 3 out of 10 people who were absolutely pissed off about what we were doing. Some people even got physical!!! Can you believe that? We were yelled at. Cursed at. And berated from time to time. But, I couldn’t say I didn’t expect that.
When people come together and speak out passionately and, perhaps, aggressively against the status-quo… well, that rubs people the wrong way and they feel threatened. Trying to do everything in their power to keep you in the sheep herd, people will try and bring you back down to their ignorant level of bliss.
Our mission for the day was definitely accomplished, as many people declared that they would no longer use plastic bags and opt to purchase / use reusable bags. Those people made my day!
For those of you who want to get involved, please signup to our Action Alert newsletter.
Part 3 of the “Plastic Bags Kill” discussion. The facts of the matter is that people honestly don’t know about plastic bag pollution. It’s my hope that these discussions will have educated you and lead to you making better decisions when going to the store and not consuming plastic bags, opting to bring your own reusable bags. Thanks for watching. And please remember that your everyday actions really DO make a difference and have an impact on our environment. Every person counts. And every person can make a difference.
GIAS is the philosophy behind Mind Petals, our driving force. It’s the culmination of having compassion for all living things, including all animals and our environment; inspiring the world by planting as many ideas (seeds) as possible into the minds of others to bring about positive change; standing up and taking action for what you believe in; recognizing your true and infinite powers and harnessing that power for the greater good. This is GIAS.
Most people have no idea what REAL chocolate is — raw cacao. Vanessa Barg, the “Chocolate Girl” and alternative health expert / consultant, educates us on what chocolate, and raw food, is all about. If you’ve ever wondered about the magical benefits and experience of eating chocolate in its natural form, then watch this video and learn. Enjoy and Much Love to you.
Below you will find the Mind Petals Organization GIAS Plan, created for Mind-Petalers / and any person who wants to get more involved in helping to save the world, not just thinking about it. This is a plan of action for those seeking to organize, act, and change the way you live; whether it be through the Mind Petals Movement, or through your own individual actions / community gatherings — it doesn’t matter.
Green Inspirational Acts of Spirituality
G - Green. Considering the Earth / Environment in all of our thoughts and actions — always, without compromise. Learning how to recycle throughout our day until we’re not even thinking about it. Consciously eating foods that sustain the planet, not destroy it such as killing and eating animals. Lessening our carbon footprint (pollution) by riding a bike instead of driving a car, using a fan instead of the air conditioner, etc. And showing love for all plants and animals throughout the entire world — protecting, not consuming and exploiting for a profit.
I - Inspiration. Educating ourselves on issues that help the world in some way. And using that education to share with the world to inspire and motivate people to actively change the world and make a real difference. Our ideas are our seeds, now we must plant them in as many minds as possible, so they may sprout and bear fruits of love and positivity, blossoming into action. Get out and speak to the world — NOW.
A - Action. Ideas alone aren’t enough. The will and courage to stand-up and act is essential for change. Through non-violent / civil disobedience based protests, events, and campaigning — as well as the actions we take during our daily lives — we are leading by example and creating an energy that will embolden others to get up and act. Sitting on the sidelines and remaining in a passive position (no matter how good our intentions are) will never be enough when battling for the Earth. So get up and Act!
S - Spirituality. Trusting in ourselves. Our innate powers and potential. Strengthening the connection of our mind, body, and spirit to bring about a true understanding of who we are. This is true freedom. True power. When we attain this freedom, we realize how infinitely powerful, creative, and brilliant we are to do anything in the world. We see that we are the #1 authority in our lives — not society, not our parents, not our professors, and not the government. We, inside of us, have all the answers to our questions. We are the keys that can unlock all the energy to bring about internal and external change.
Is money, cars, homes, and fancy titles your cocaine — your joy and high? Is making a difference and having a positive impact on the world your source of joy? Is is both? Is it just one? Are you heading in the right direction? Are you in control of what you’ve set out to do with your life? Or is society driving the car for you? Ask yourself these questions…
Just over a week ago Mind Petals Organization had another monthly gathering in NYC where individuals gathered to share ideas, insights, experiences, and plans of action to improve the world in some way.
Discussions
Vanessa Barg, Certified Holistic Health Counselor and Raw Chocolatier, spoke about the awesome benefits of consuming raw chocolate as well as the power of incorporating raw foods into your diet. Vanessa is not only an amazing health consultant and coach, she’s a ball of joy, positivity, and love. I urge you all to find out more about Vanessa. You can start here:
I (David Askaripour) spoke as well, discussing various topics around the theme of “Nature as a Mega Frequency.” Which basically goes to say that we’re all connected, all organisms on earth working together to bring about changes. And each person is, undoubtedly, a part of this mega frequency. So what you do, think, and act really matters.
Transformation of Mind Petals
Mind Petals Organization is definitely still in its infancy stage, as obviated by our lack of precise niche and focus — something that I’ve actually grown the love over these past few months. As well as our super diverse group of speakers, supporters, and contributors — you know who you are! And thanks SO much.
A lot of people have said “screw it” and “forget Mind Petals” since the organization strayed away from Business, Capitalism, Money, and Entrepreneurship and probably due to my current spell of “insanity, environmentalism, spirituality, and conservation.”
There’s no doubt that this is happening and that’s perfectly fine with me. I have conceded that our environment, spirituality, and nature are more important to me than business. However, I believe that business/entrepreneurshp and all of these things are ALL still related.
In my heart, in my mind, and in my spirit I have developed this immense calling to do everything in my power through — all of my connections, all of my discussions, all of my prayers, and all of my actions — to help enlighten the world on issues that I believe are essential for preserving all of life. This is my mission. This is where I’m steering Mind Petals Organization.
I see a transitioning taking place in Mind Petals Organization and it’s very exciting. As I begin to get deeper into environmentalism and spirituality, I begin to not only learn more about myself and the world, but the organization is beginning to attract a different sort of people who want to share in this frequency. A frequency that anyone can benefit from.
Non Profit Status for Mind Petals Organization
In about a month if everything is aligned with my lawyers, the state of New York, and some various paperwork, Mind Petals Organization will officially be a non-profit 501(c)3 entity.
I’ve been working establishing various programs, workshops, and gatherings to bring people together in all sorts of positive and fun ways with the common denominators of love, peace, and protecting/improving the world in some way. I hope that you’ll choose to be a part of that.
Those that do something when they see something wrong. Those that take action for what they believe in. Those that do things to benefit others. Those that share their love and kindness with the world. Those are the Saviors
Understanding the various games of society is essential to understanding what’s really going on — figuring it all out and deciding if you’d like to stay in and play or pack up the pieces and start your own game. In this discussion I answer the following questions of:
What if someone is really passionate about making money — isn’t that okay?
How do you balance yourself knowing that you have to be a part of the system in order to get things done?
What about the parents, professors, and priests who are really passionate and care about you — are they still wrong?
For as long as I can remember, I think that I have isolated myself from society in one way or another. Back in my early school years — middle school — when I a little menace involved with the groups of “cool” kids that made fun of “fat kids” and picking on “nerds” and intentionally flunking classes and simply acting like someone who I wasn’t in order to fit a certain image. I remember going home as asking myself “wow, why am I acting like this just to be ‘cool’ and just to ‘fit in’ — I don’t believe in any of this, so why do I do it?”
I got caught up in living a double life of maintaining my popularity with the “cool kids” and “macho people” and all the while living a secret life of thinking about and doing things that were of real interest to me, such things like: science, nature, learning about ancient civilizations, learning about programming languages, physics, etc… things that I liked a lot, but was always scared to speak about them with my current “friends” at the time because I was scared of being labeled a nerd or kicked out of the cool gang. I didn’t want to lose the good grace of the society that I worked so hard to be ingratiated in. I didn’t want my polished position to be compromised in any way.
I fooled myself into believing that this was the right course to go down. That I would be okay and that what I was doing, holding back my true nature, was right. Society lead me to believe that this was right. I lead myself into that belief. But the reality of the matter was that I was, in fact, isolated. Because no matter how demonstratively popular and “cool” that I was when leading that life, I was nothing short of a genuine phony by not living the way that I wanted to live; sweeping my passions under the rug while people ventriloquize my every action and behavior — telling me how I should act, perform, and be like. Suppressing what I was really all about.
It wasn’t until, say, mid-college when I began to figure it all out. When I pulled down the curtain behind the almighty image of what I was supposed to be, where I was supposed to go, and how I was supposed to live my life. The greatest, most brilliant, trick that I’ve ever fallen victim to. Now, all of a sudden, I began chipping away at the illusion and started living a life the way that I want to live — not by the standards of others.
I bring all this up because I feel that many people, right now, are caught in situations of suppressing who they really are, in an attempt to perfectly fit a certain mold that society pressed. They don’t feel that they have an outlet and/or a community of people whom they can really relate to and speak to about what’s really going on inside. Maybe you’re thinking about things like spirituality, sex, quantum physics, religions, theories, philosophies, etc… but are simply too scared to discuss them with your so-called friends (trust me, they aren’t your friends if you are scared that they’ll reject you) because you feel that they are “too weird” or eccentric.
Well, I was fortunate enough to wake-up and say FUCK THAT! And come to the realization that I am free to be who I am — no matter what. And so are you. One of the reasons for starting the Mind Petals Organization, which grew out of mindpetals.com, was because I figured that there are people out there who intentionally become isolates — isolating themselves from the greater society because what they have to say, in their mind, is just too “out there” or radical, and have opted to either remain silent or only hold these sort of discussions with a select group of individuals (what I call TRUE friends) who are open-minded and accepting of novel ideas, no matter how “weird” they may appear to be.
I created Mind Petals Organization to bring together these small, yet immensely powerful, islands of people who speak about certain things amongst themselves and now bring them together into a community where there is freedom of thought. Freedom of expression. Freedom in art no matter what the medium may be. A place to throw your ideas into a pool of loving, open-minded, caring, and enlightening people who strive for positivity, never negativity. This is what utopia is. This is the paradise that I am growing.
In this segment I wrap up with my closing remarks and we enter into a question / answer / feedback forum — which is always really fun! What I really love about discussions such as these is that they can never really end… they can just keep on going because the possibilities of talking about life are endless — they really are. Please enjoy.
In this segment I continue my discussion on the sticky web of society and how to avoid being trapped. As you’ll gather from my discussion, the way out is to simply love — to dig — what truly makes you happy and do that just for that… not for anything or anyone else. To come to this realization it may be immediately or it may be years, perhaps never. But we all have the potential, the opportunity. Please enjoy.
Someone once commented to me, vehemently, calling me an anarchist, to which I hastily responded “no.” But to a degree, I was wrong. And through some meditating on the matter, yes, in many ways, I am a proponent of anarchism. When the system is fucked, step outside of it. Build your own system. If people really knew what anarchism was all about, they would have a beautiful appreciation for it. Nature, being the biggest anarchist of all, teaches us so much about how to get rid of the waste, how to rejuvenate stagnated growth, how to regenerate a way of living that has been severed by society’s razor of mind control, fear, and aggressive –misguided– capitalism. These subjects and life experiences are of great interest to me. Please enjoy (or not…). Like I say in the discussion: “either is okay!”
Two days ago, Feb. 26, Mind Petals NYC met for our seventh month here in the city. It was a rainy, rainy, day but a few brave souls still made it out. Seven of us gathered and had a great time. Without a doubt, it was one of the most powerful, thought-provoking, and inspiring Mind Petals gatherings I’ve ever attended.
We all sat in a circle and really opened up our hearts and minds. I kicked off the night with a discussion on society and my thoughts about how I feel that society has immense control over the minds of so many people, to the point that most people don’t even know it. Going through life, following orders, and living through other people’s plans.
I spoke about how people should realize that they are the center of the universe and how they are not marginalized in any way, but extremely powerful. This, of course, sparked all sorts of feedback and questions that flowed into topics such as:
Spirituality
Buddhism
Zen
Quantum Physics
Film
Religion
Jesus
Buddha
The Games of Society
Drugs
Business
et al.
For the first time, a few High Schoolers actually attended — that was awesome. They asked more questions than I’ve ever seen at any Mind Petals. And for that, I was totally happy. I love talking with people who aren’t afraid to ask questions, no matter how unsure they are about something.
Great night, no doubt! Thank you all for coming and for your contributions!
Stay tuned for the video.
Little things make a large difference. I often think that so much has to be done for change to happen, but change happens with the little things: with a simple change in a lifestyle habit or thinking a little more about others or any other seemingly small step towards positive change. Our gathering started off with discussing a separate issue, Death, and how too many people are so paralyzed by the fear of it that they seek to latch on to anything that gives them a sense of being a part of something bigger. Leading me to mention: as human beings and living organisms, we automatically co-exist within this ‘something bigger’ just by being alive. But apparently not everyone thinks in such a way and thus seeks comfort through religion, material goods and/or social relations to give their life meaning. This is a superficial way of dealing with life and although it helps to be socially accepted, it cannot truly satisfy our deepest needs of being part of the greater scheme of things.
As the night progressed, we discussed the issue of helping people and how change happens gradually, even if we would like good things to happen almost immediately, they won’t. Along those lines we discussed the spreading out of ones efforts to create change and how helping people can possibly hinder one’s original efforts. Spreading oneself too thin will possibly diminish the desired results, and lack the necessary energy to truly implement change. Some attending friends who were pre-med majors discussed how concentrating their efforts on a few people will enhance the people’s lives and show an example for others to follow. Additionally, I mentioned “if everyone would concentrate on helping themselves first, then there would be less people in need of assistance in general.” But I feel the current idea of being a helpful and concerned individual is undermining individuals’ ability to ensure their own well-being before providing assistance to others.
This was most of what we discussed at the first gathering, along with random things about recent life events, parties, and new people we meet. Any ideas for topics of discussion are always welcome.
I shared this small story as well: A schoolteacher tells her young students to be good citizens. They are unsure what she means and ask her for clarification. So she gives the example of helping a blind women across the street as being a good citizen. Later on she asks if anyone was a good citizen and two young boys raise their hands. The first one says he helped a blind woman cross the street. The teacher says that that was very nice of him. The second boy says the same thing. The teacher gets suspicious and asks where they found this blind women. They say they were leading her from one end of the road to another and they were a little scared because a crowd of people were yelling at them to stop, and the women herself was uncooperative because she did not wish to go anywhere in the first place.
This is interesting to me because many times we are told to preform behaviors that we have no experience with and don’t consider ourselves ready for, but are still pushed to preform.
** Stay up-to-date with the Mind Petal Boston Garden on our page
Avi Flombaum [co-founder of Designer Pages] is definitely one cool dude. I always laugh when I talk to people about Avi, because there’s always one common demoninator when someone speaks about him — how smart and chill he is. And that’s exactly what makes Avi such a down-to-earth and enlightening entrepreneur. So glad to have him a part of Mind Petals Organization. In this discussion of “Naked Functionality,” Avi breaks down and juxtaposes two schools of thought when it comes to web applications — the bare and “naked” applications and the applications with “purpose and context” that separate themselves from the pack because they provide unique, niche, value. If you’re at all involved with web development, online applications, and/or simply have a love for the Internet, then sit back, relax, light up, drink up, whatever, and listen to Avi flow… Ha, I should start calling him “Avi Flow..” I like the ring of that.
Last night we rocked it on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the Gramstand Cafe with another Mind Petals Gathering. Great news, Mind Petals Organization is planned to become a non-profit organization which I announced last night in my intro. So I’m happy that we’ll be growing the organization in that direction.
We had just over 20 people come out last night. It was sweet! Ha, everyone always makes fun of me because I wait ’til the last minute to take the group shot, usually by that time a lot of people have left already. But oh well, it’s cool. It’s coo!
So what happened last night!? We spoke, we shared thoughts, played some chess, I learned more about photography from Amy, Melissa taught people all about patents, Avi gave a talk on “Naked Functionality,” I gave a discussion on “Samadhi,” Orian spoke about the world of RSS, Mike discussed his site “Swarrm.” And the list goes on. Etc… Etc… Basically, a bunch of people came together to be intellectually entertained and that’s exactly what happened.
Let me shut up and you can view a short video of some members introducing themselves.
MP Member Introductions
part uno
part dos
Here’s some more pics.
As always, please contact us if you’re ever in the New York City area at nyc[@]mindpetals[.]org. The last Tuesday of every month at 7PM is when we gather. When we conduct our diabolical plans to take over the world!!! hahahah!!! No, for real, we welcome you with open arms. Come plant some seeds in our garden of inspiration.
I’ll be posting the discussions on the site within a few days, so stay posted.
Good friend and one of the most insightful, joyful, and intellectually refreshing people I’ve ever met, Anna Miller starts Mind Petals Boston Chapter. But it’s not a “Chapter,” it’s a Garden of intellectual entertainment and infinite possibilities .
For those of you out in Boston (what’s the word… Bostonians?), we welcome you to come out to the first gathering on Sunday, February 3rd (7pm) at The Other Side Cafe [407 Newbury St ]. Food and drinks will be there.
Our Garden is all about having a good time, sharing ideas, uplifting each other, positive energy, synergy, amazing stories, and smiles . We hope you can make it out and help us grow our community.
Mind Petals Organization is run by donations, so we are grateful for any contributions. If you’d like to get in contact with Anna, she can be reached at: anna [at] mindpetals [.] org. If you’re on facebook, join the group.
Orian continues his presentation on building and maintaining a founding team for your business. His principles for building a team can be applied to many situations, not just your business. The book mentioned in the presentation,The Partnership Charter , may be of interest to you and your team.
Orian is co-founder and CEO of Eluciv Knowledge: an upcoming RSS / feed filtering service that’s going to revolutionize the entire process of how people receive, store, and review the content from all the blogs you read. We’ll definitely be talking more about their disruptive service in the upcoming months. Oh, and Orian also knows how to throw an awesome party! hehe…
Topics discussed in presentation:
Set clear expectations for your team members
Be prepared to explain “why” you want to go in a certain direction
Don’t be scared to talk to your team about ANYTHING
Be open and honest with your team
Never let a team member hold you back from pushing forward
If it comes down to it, give your team member an ultimatum
Catch up on our other Mind Petal-icious Presentations over at MP TV.
The follow-up of the “Never Settle on ‘The Authority’” (part 1) talk, going into certain individuals in history who simply weren’t happy settling for the answers they were receiving — they just weren’t having it. So they went out to answer their own questions.
Never settle for something to be true, right, and correct simply because an “Authority” figure has deemed it so. Always venture within and ask yourself as well. You know more than you think.
This release is scheduled to be played on the SZABIST Radio Station in the upcoming month. play now [full view]
What’s Going on Mind Petals SZABIST Chapter
Ali Shah Assani, Chapter President, and Zuhaib Memon, Chapter Historian, answer a few questions about the new chapter and the creative culture of Pakistan:
What is your name and what college do you attend?
AA: Ali Shah Assani. I am attending SZABIST Karachi, pursuing my Bachelors in Computer Sciences (BS) with major in Software Engineering.
ZM: My name is Zuhaib Memon and I study in SZABIST, doing my Bachelors in Science, majoring in Computer Sciences (BSCS) from there.
How old are you?
AA: 22 years-old.
ZM: I am 21 years old.
What are some ways in which students at your university express themselves creatively?
AA: Students inform other students about their creative endeavors, but most of them are just obvious. One of the best ways of expressing creativity at the university are term projects. This gives a playground to students to work in the domain of a course or in their own student bodies and unleash their creative potentials. We have witnessed different events taking place at the university employing innovation and harvesting the wild seeds of creativity. From product/business launches, to outdoor field research, film making and dramatics, concerts, arts, Cyber Game tournaments, from final year CS projects to organizing workshops and events. Students at the university fit right onto our motto “we just don’t work hard — we work smart!”
ZM: Well, at the moment they all just tell friends their achievements and friends spread their achievements to other friends.
What are some of your passions in life?
AA: I am passionate about computers, trance/techno music, robotics, my guitar, Internet, business plans. Something I am most passionate about is the way I think; I am unemployable!
ZM: Violin, Computer, Robotics, the Web, and clean, safe, pollution-free environment.
How did you come to hear about Mind Petals?
AA: I wanted to start a Young Entrepreneurs society at my university and I was surfing over the Internet to find other related networks, so I could study their content and how they go about sharing their resources. I came across a few networks and Mind Petals was one of them. I really liked the content organization and requested for assistance and guidance. This is was when David and I exchanged emails for the first time.
ZM: I came to know about Mind Petals through the website, and lot of hype at my university about Young Entrepreneurs. So I searched Google and found Mind Petals.
Why did you want to start a Mind Petals Pakistan Chapter at your college?
AA: I was new to the word “entrepreneurship,” till the mid-2006 when I was studying the Management Principles course at my university. The word quickly grabbed my attention; I felt like this is what I am and wanted to become. We had an end of course project where students were to, really or fictitiously, launch a product/service or organize an event. Zuhaib Memon (Chapter Historian), three other team mates and I launched a website in December 2006.
Reviewing our work and potential, our instructor suggested working out a club/society at the university so that Young Entrepreneurs can come under one roof to discuss their ventures share information and resources and collaborate with each other. Zuhaib and I were busy with the website for the next 6 months when it abruptly came to a halt.
It was then that we decided to take a break from our failure and launch a society.
ZM: I want the Young Entrepreneurs at my college to collaborate with other Young Entrepreneurs all around the world. And those who want to become entrepreneurs can be guided from others. Also since I myself am an entrepreneur, I would like to help others and be helped at one point or another, so I can be guided in proper direction.
How would you rate the current state of innovation and creativity in the Pakistan society as a whole?
AA: GIGANTIC!
ZM: Tremendously huge.
What does Mind Petals mean to you?
AA: For me Mind Petals is a place where I can find people belonging to my breed. The people who highly react to jobs and for ones where getting a job is not an option. With such an unemployed mindset we were totally bored with attending guest lectures and workshops on finding the right job , passing the job interview or even writing your first resume. We wanted the paradigm to change where we could share information on finding the right employee, writing your first business proposal, and passing the first million milestone.
We love innovation! Of course, anyone who opens yet another corner cafe is an entrepreneur, but not much of an innovator. We embrace entrepreneurs with new ideas and innovate, these are the people who carry out the “creative destruction”.
Mind Petals today in Pakistan is taking its first steps towards collaboration between all Young Entrepreneurs. It is a place for any one who believes that one man can move the world. We believe that there are people around in the world who have brilliant ideas but lack knowledge to convert them into successful businesses. We would like to take up the responsibility to educate and work with Young Entrepreneurs from the refinement to the launch and continual growth of their businesses.
ZM: Its a root, from where the petals become the idea and grow up to make you what you want to be. Its like a tree, the seed you sow, the fruits you shall reap.
What is the future of Mind Petals Pakistan?
AA: Our vision is to establish Mind Petals amongst one of Pakistan’s highly reputed young leadership, entrepreneurial networks. Though we’ve just started, our team is working along to promote MP amongst corporations and other student bodies. We are currently in our induction phase where we are introducing MP to students at our campuses to tell them about the opportunities and benefits of becoming a MindPetaler. Our team is crafting the concept for a weekly show at the university’s radio to interview young established entrepreneurs — after all, content is king!
ZM: Its a bit early to say anything at the moment. But if we try to work in the right direction, we can have many people working together and sharing ideas.
[left to right: Steve Villaverde, Hank Williams, Philip Tobas, Danny Kessler, Tony Bacigalupo, Rich Salem, David Askaripour]
We had another successful gathering the other night down in the the Lower East Side section of Manhattan. Though is was a smaller group, we had some really great conversations, brainstorm sessions, and a few inspirational presentations.
Our community is definitely gaining momentum and gaining strength here in the city. There are so many creative, disruptive, and innovative people in this city, and I’m really happy that some of them have been able to link up with Mind Petals Organization and add on to what we’re building.
[Shelly Banjo of Wall Street Journal is wearing black shirt]
[left to right: Danny Kessler and Cyrus Koosha]
Every month we’ll be continuing to organize Mind Petals NYC Gatherings. For those of you who aren’t sure what the concept behind the organization is, this is the idea:
Mind Petals Garden
Think of Mind Petals as a garden. And in that garden people gather to plant seeds. Each seed represents an idea, insight, experience, theory, philosophy, solution, music, concept, just about any form of creativity… and we each gather to water, nourish, and cultivate these seeds — as a collective. In time, they blossom into things that change the world, inspire, motivate, and help others. This is Mind Petals. And we’re constantly looking for more planters to join us.
Entrepreneur, Musician, Poet, Writer, Engineer, Speaker, Designer, whatever term you use to define how you express your creativity — it doesn’t matter — you are welcome to join us; you are welcome to share your creativity with us.
Because we are ALL creative. Everyone in the entire world is creative. The only difference is that some of us are able to cultivate, control, and express our creativity better than others.
Whatever it is that you’re doing, whatever passion you are living, just keep at it. Keep on expressing yourself no matter what. And if you ever make it out to New York City, stop by.
Last week Tuesday, October 30th, we had our 4th Mind Petals NYC Gathering at the Gramstand Cafe. It was a rockin’ gathering with an excellent turnout of creative and inspiring people who had a lot to share with the community.
This gathering was special, because it was the first time we had a list of presenters to come up and speak about their ideas, that lasted anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes. In former meetings, ideas were shared, but usually among regular conversations throughout mini groups that formed.
From the last gathering, and moving forward, I decided to always have at least 5 speakers who will come up and share some inspiring thoughts. After each presenter, we allowed for 5 minutes of feedback, questions, comments, further ideas, etc..
This worked out very well and we all benefited from the questions that were asked and the insightful answers from each presenter. And as promised, I took it a step further and recorded each presenter so that I can share their words with the world.
Here’s a recap of what each presenter spoke about:
David Askaripour — The Ever-Changing Nature of Ideas
Mind Petals
Ideas are constantly changing and in motion
In order for your ideas to evolve, you must free your mind
Don’t think outside the box, stay inside the box and shake it up
Ask new question, do new things, talk to new people
Do things out of the ordinary
Don’t be scared to say yes, when everyone is saying no
Orian Marx — How to Build and Maintain a Strong Founding Team
Set clear expectations for your team members
Be prepared to explain “why” you want to go in a certain direction
Don’t be scared to talk to your team about ANYTHING
Be open and honest with your team
Never let a team member hold you back from pushing forward
If it comes down to it, give your team member an ultimatum
As always, if you’re in NYC during the last Tuesday of everything month, please get in touch with us — we’d love to invite you to our gatherings. You can check mindpetals.org for an up-to-date agenda of what’s happening each month. I can also be reached at: david [@] mindpetals [.] org.
Thank YOU!!
Thanks so much to everyone who attend, shared ideas, and added-on to what Mind Petals Organization is doing. I truly appreciate you contributions and hope to see you all again — and new people as well!
Last week Tuesday on September 25, 2007 we had our third Mind Petals NYC Chapter gathering in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan.
As usual, there was a myriad of innovative, insightful, and creative people who really made for an interesting and fun night of networking, brainstorming, and outright having a blast.
New York City is really growing with all sorts of thinkers and I’m just so proud and fortunate to be able to create an environment such as Mind Petals were such people can come and openly share ideas, discuss all sorts of topics, and get the support they need to push forward with an idea — no matter how “crazy” or “absurd” it may appear to be.
One particular conversation I had with a Mind Petals member that night really stuck with me. The conversation revolved around whether or not she should keep on motivating a particular person who she sees a lot of potential in, even though he can’t see his own potential.
My advice was to never stop trying to coax people into realizing their full potential — their limitless potential. We all have so much potential and no matter how old the cliché of “you can do anything” becomes, it’ll never be outdated in my mind.
If you see that sparkle in someone’s eye, even if they, themselves, can’t see it … do everything in your power to help steer them towards the light — the realization of what they can do if they believed in themselves.
Because 50 years later when they have done such big things, they’ll sit down in a chair one day an say “wow… imagine if Dave never helped me see my potential many years ago?”
These are the sort of discussions that occur during our gatherings and the sheer synergy and blending of our different minds, perspectives, and experiences simply cannot be described with words — words wouldn’t describe what takes place any justice.
Mind Petals NYC is going strong and I invite any Mindpetaler reading this to reach out to us the next time you’re in NYC — we’d love to have you a part of our gatherings (visit Mindpetals.org) Let us know and we’ll add you to our guest list. The more minds, the better! The more beautiful the painting we can create.
Thank you so much, Access Granted, for sponsoring the event. We appreciate your contributions
Wine, Beer, Food and Brilliant Minds Discussing Ideas, Plans, and Our Businesses
We did it again. Last night was the second Mind Petals Mixup here in New York City. And I must say, it was awesome! With just over twenty young entrepreneurs, we had a great night of fun, food, drinks, and great conversations. You know, the sort of conversations that you’re still thinking about when you get home.
That’s what I love about the Mixup. You mix a bunch of minds that come from various entrepreneurial backgrounds, and you put them in one room…and what do you have? You have a breeding ground for innovation, new thoughts, and brilliant ideas.
This month we started with something a little different. I gave everyone 2 minutes to describe 1.) who they are and what their company is all about and 2.) what they are seeking as an entrepreneur and what can you bring to the table to help the rest of the people in the room.
This sort of icebreaker was a success, because it immediately let people understand who everyone was and how they could help you / how you can help them. This is exactly why I named this gathering a “Mixup.”
It was great, everyone gave a short story about themselves and shared with us how they can help everyone and bring value to our gathering. As of now, our Mixups are invite only. I go that route, because it insures that everyone attending has been vetted and can offer everyone else something.
As always, if any Mindpetalers out there will be in NYC this summer and are interested in attending our Mixup, please let me know. We’d love to have you a part of our gathering.
Here’s a little clip of my MP Thought of the night. Basically, I had an idea to start each Mixup with a thought about something — anything, really. My thought was about “Input” and how entrepreneurs should actively add to their knowledge base by reading books, sitting down and learning from other entrepreneurs, and to constantly ask questions and challenge people. The video was cut short because my camera ran out of batteries, but we able to capture a few minutes.
Here are some pics of the night. For complete album, check out the flickr roll.
Thanks so much for all of you who attended and for those of you who made donations to help keep the Mixup mixing! Much appreciated and looking forward to the next one. And big thanks to Access Granted for sponsoring the event — if you need a home, make sure to check them out. Rock on Mindpetalers!
Last night was our debut Mind Petals Mixup here in the Big Apple, New York City baby! It was an amazing turnout of young and talented entrepreneurs not only from New York but as far as San Francisco and other areas.
Wine, unlimited gourmet cookies, brownies, cup cakes, amazing tea and a bunch of innovative, smart, and hungry entrepreneurs in a café downtown Manhattan — what more can you ask for?
The best part of my night was finally getting to meet so many of the entrepreneurs who I have been speaking to online and over the phone for the past year after they’ve found Mind Petals, and actually getting to meet or — “Mixup” — with them in person. Amazing.
That’s what it was about: mixing up various entrepreneurs and interacting, engaging, debating, and brainstorming with one another — this is how brilliance comes about and it was great to see this happening at our Mixup.
Once a month we’ll be throwing a Mind Petals Mixup here in NYC, so if you plan on visiting NYC this summer, definitely let me know — I’d love to have you there!
Here are some shots. You can also view all of ‘em here.
The Mixup totally rocked! Thanks so much Access Granted for sponsoring the event and Gramstand for supplying the awesome spot / yummy food. Hope to see some of you guys next month. Oh, and yes!, I am rockin’ a mohawk
Most people have no idea what REAL chocolate is — raw cacao. Vanessa Barg, the “Chocolate Girl” and alternative health expert / consultant, educates us on what chocolate, and raw food, is all about. If you’ve ever wondered about the magical benefits and experience of eating chocolate in its natural form, then watch this video and learn. Enjoy and Much Love to you.
We all sat in a circle and really opened up our hearts and minds. I kicked off the night with a discussion on society and my thoughts about how I feel that society has immense control over the minds of so many people, to the point that most people don’t even know it. Going through life, following orders, and living through other people’s plans. 
Avi Flombaum [co-founder of 
So what happened last night!? We spoke, we shared thoughts, played some chess, I learned more about photography from Amy, Melissa taught people all about patents, Avi gave a talk on “Naked Functionality,” I gave a discussion on “Samadhi,” Orian spoke about the world of RSS, Mike discussed his site “Swarrm.” And the list goes on. Etc… Etc… Basically, a bunch of people came together to be intellectually entertained and that’s exactly what happened.
Good friend and one of the most insightful, joyful, and intellectually refreshing people I’ve ever met, Anna Miller starts Mind Petals Boston Chapter. But it’s not a “Chapter,” it’s a Garden of intellectual entertainment and infinite possibilities .
. We hope you can make it out and help us grow our community.
, may be of interest to you and your team. 
Think of Mind Petals as a garden. And in that garden people gather to plant seeds. Each seed represents an idea, insight, experience, theory, philosophy, solution, music, concept, just about any form of creativity… and we each gather to water, nourish, and cultivate these seeds — as a collective. In time, they blossom into things that change the world, inspire, motivate, and help others. This is Mind Petals. And we’re constantly looking for more planters to join us.
Last week Tuesday on September 25, 2007 we had our third Mind Petals NYC Chapter gathering in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan. 
