• Let's Make Magic Happen This Year!

What Is Your Big Hairy Dream — for yourself, for the world?

Thomas Edison said: “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

With that thought as inspiration, we share the new focus of Be Inkandescent magazine — coming later this year — which will be dedicated to exploring the Business of Mind, Body, Spirit, Soul.

Here’s what we’re cooking up:

  • Be Inkandescent magazine will soon sport a new look, as we continue to share original inspirational articles videos on InkandescentTV that feature entrepreneurs and other leaders who are determined to be the change they wish to see in the world.
  • This year, we will also be re-launching Truly Amazing Women as Inkandescent™ Women, which will spotlight the remarkable work of women who are making strides and changing lives.
  • And in the coming years, we’ll be working to open yoga studios and Inkandescent Retreat Centers around the country to bring people together with beautiful food, meditation, and holistic healing services, as well as workshops and trainings — all while we celebrate the artists, authors, and motivational ideas that inspire us to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.

Our Inkandescent™ mission: To build a community that “Alchemist” author Paulo Coelho calls “Warriors of the Light:”

The warrior knows that he is free to choose his desires, and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment, and — sometimes — with just a touch of madness.

As a Reiki Master and newly minted Kundalini Yoga teacher, I’ll be sprinkling my work as a journalist, author, and PR specialist with these ancient teachings. And, I encourage you to share your thoughts and ideas with us so we can expand and grow together: hope@inkandescentpr.com.

We couldn’t find a better example of an entrepreneur who embodies these ideals than Barclay Martin and The Wash Project that he co-created with the Medical Missions Foundation.

“Rather than showing up to solve someone’s problem with my solution, I asked a simple question when I went to Mali, West Africa, in hopes of solving a health crisis,” says the musician, traveler, and humanitarian. Today, they provide entrepreneurial opportunities to local Malian women and bring health/sanitation programs to more than 7,000 children.

In his current role as the Channel Development Coordinator for Unbound, Martin draws from his career in music — and lessons from years of walking with communities throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia — to build bridges and understanding.

We met him in Kansas City when he spoke at a TEDxYouth event. Scroll down to watch him in action, and read more about the project. In our Tips for Entrepreneurs column, the Medical Missions Foundation shares additional details about the project.

We leave you with this parting thought from Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1963 tome, “Tomorrow Is Now:” “One of the basic elements in our whole way of life, one of the elements that for 200 years has attracted the people of the world to our shores, is our belief that each individual has a right to a better life and to better working conditions and a larger share of the prosperity of the country because, by having them, he can develop his maximum potentialities as a human being. This is the ultimate purpose of our way of life.”

Here’s to your future success! — Hope Katz Gibbs, founder, The Inkandescent™ Group

Clearing the Path for Health and Wellness: The Wash Project

By Barclay Martin, TEDxYouth@KC

Imagine you’re in a typical suburb, and one morning you spot 30 young people, from another country, wearing matching t-shirts and walking into your subdivision. One approaches you and says, “I can see how you’re struggling.

Every Saturday, you take this machine, push it back and forth over your grass, only to find the grass has come back the following week. Now, our time is short, and we must return home tomorrow, but today my friends and I are pleased to bring you a solution from our country, which is why we are presenting you and each house in this subdivision their very own…goat.

But before you say anything, just know that we are pleased to help our fellow human beings, and we have received far more than we have given from this trip.

And as you stand on your front step, watching goats running wild through the col de sac, imagine what you would say?

In 2010, I took part in a medical mission to Mali, West Africa, where I conducted art workshops with the communities while teams of volunteer nurses and doctors ran life-saving operating rooms and clinics for those most in need of care.

The week was full of creativity and imagination, and art supplies were circulated through schools across the town of Ouelessebougou. But what I had forgotten to ask was what they actually needed. Read more.

How to Make a Difference: 2017 and beyond

By Barclay Martin
TEDxYouth@KC

Imagine you’re in a typical suburb, and one morning you spot 30 young people, from another country, wearing matching t-shirts and walking into your subdivision. One approaches you and says, “I can see how you’re struggling.

Every Saturday, you take this machine, push it back and forth over your grass, only to find the grass has come back the following week. Now, our time is short, and we must return home tomorrow, but today my friends and I are pleased to bring you a solution from our country, which is why we are presenting you and each house in this subdivision their very own…goat.

But before you say anything, just know that we are pleased to help our fellow human beings, and we have received far more than we have given from this trip.

And as you stand on your front step, watching goats running wild through the col de sac, imagine what you would say?

In 2010, I took part in a medical mission to Mali, West Africa, where I conducted art workshops with the communities while teams of volunteer nurses and doctors ran life-saving operating rooms and clinics for those most in need of care.

The week was full of creativity and imagination, and art supplies were circulated through schools across the town of Ouelessebougou. But what I had forgotten to ask was what they actually needed.

At the end of the week, I asked one of the physicians how I could make the impact of my next trip to Mali more sustainable. Without hesitating, he said “this week, I have served a line of patients almost 3,000 people long. If you can find a way to encourage hand washing with soap in this community, that line would be cut in half.”

Hand washing with soap is one of the most affordable and powerful practices to prevent diarrhea and pneumonia, which collectively claim the lives of an estimated 1.7 million children every year.

The next year, I returned to Mali and sat down with public health workers who taught me something critical: “In this place, there’s a thread of folklore that says if you wash your hands with soap, you’ll wash away your wealth. This has contributed to Mali having one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.

So we began doing hand-washing workshops throughout the schools of Ouelessebougou through skits, dance parties and laughter. During the week, Tieblecoro, our 22 year-old translator, pulled me aside and said, “what is happening here is important for my community. Can you help me to do this so that when you leave, I can continue?”

I said, “Absolutely.”

At the end of the week, I gave Tieblecoro the last of my West African francs and said if he wanted to continue, to go to an Internet café, sign up for an email address, and write me an email. When I got home, there was an email waiting for me.

This was the beginning of the Wash Project.

Tieblecoro took over leading the presentations in schools, and as momentum grew, he wrote me with a new problem: “Our project is becoming successful, but there are still so many children here who don’t have the chance to go to school, and what about the adults?” I asked him what we should do. “I think we should have a soccer tournament.”

If we have a tournament with real soccer balls, and referees, then the whole community will show up – at halftime we can tell them about hand washing with soap.” And in that moment, The Wash Cup was born – a tournament that has grown so popular that it now lasts for three months and draws thousands of people to it each year.

This all happened because I asked Tieblecoro, and he in turn, asked the community. Because we asked about how best to purchase soap, we now have a women’s entrepreneurial development cooperative, who makes all of the soap for the 18 participating schools and 7,000 students. Because we asked, the women whom Tiebecoro calls “the soap ladies” are now making their own money — and the decisions about what to do with that money — for the first time in their lives.

Because we asked, the girls in Ouelessebougou told us that they wanted to play basketball instead of soccer. Because we asked, they now have a tournament of their own, in a place where activities for girls are limited.

I could have brought lawn mowers to Mali – I could have brought solutions from my own perspective, but instead, I learned to bring questions. And those questions brought forward leaders. And those leaders have brought me further than I could have ever imagined.

So now that it’s your turn. What question will you ask?

As each woman realizes her power, she transforms the world.”

– Patrice Wynne, WomanSpirit Sourcebook

Remember that it’s okay to ask for help when you’re stumped, because sometimes you really can’t be expected to handle everything alone.”

– Martha Beck

This is the age when magical technologies make more and more radically fun ideas plausible, even easy. You’re only limited by your creativity.”

– Martha Beck

To find what you seek in the road of life, leave no stone unturned.”

– Edward Bulwer Lytton

When a dog runs at you, whistle for him.”

– Henry David Thoreau

If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.”

– Anna Quindlen

What is the point of having free will if one cannot occasionally spit in the eye of destiny?”

– Jim Butcher, White Night

Don’t follow your dreams. Chase them.”

– Richard Dumb

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.

– Robert Frost

Don’t follow, lead. Don’t copy, create. Don’t start, finish. Don’t sit still, move. Don’t fit in, stand out. Don’t sit quietly, speak up. (Not all the time, sure, but more often.)”

– Seth Godin

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it”

– Andrew Carnegie

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”

– Robert Frost

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.”

– Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., U.S. Supreme Court justice

That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.”

– Henry David Thoreau

I’ve come to confirm that one’s title, even that of president, says little about how well one’s life has been led. No matter how much you’ve done, or how successful you’ve been, there’s always more to do, to learn, and to achieve.”

– Barack Obama

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

– Friedrich Nietzsche

A lot of people have ideas, but few decide to do something about them now. Not next week. But today.”

– Nolan Bushnell, founder, Atari

Entrepreneurs are willing to roll the dice with their money or reputation on the line in support of an idea or enterprise.”

– Victor Kiam

The quality of your life is directly related to the amount of uncertainty you can comfortably live with.”

– Tony Robbins

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

– Mary Oliver

The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”

– Buddha

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

– Albert Einstein

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

– T.S. Eliot

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. 
Now put foundations under them.”

– Henry David Thoreau

If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more.
 If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.”

– Oprah Winfrey

You may ask me for anything you like except time.”

– Napoleon

Things don’t change. You change your way of looking, that’s all.”

– Carlos Castaneda

Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”

– Leon Joseph Suenens

Let us seize the day and the opportunity and strive for that greatness of spirit that measures life not by its disappointments but by its possibilities.”

– W.E.B. Du Bois

The goal of Life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with nature.”

– Joseph Cambell

Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.”

– Debbi Fields, Mrs. Fields Cookies

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.”

– Albert Einstein

The only dream worth having is to live while you’re alive and die only when you’re dead.”

– Arundhati Roy

You don’t love someone because of their looks or their clothes or their car. You love them because they sing a song only your heart can understand.”

– L.J. Smith

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

– Charles Darwin

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

– Jimi Hendrix

Destiny is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

– William Jennings Bryan

Entrepreneurs willingly assume responsibility for the success or failure of a venture and are answerable for all its facets.”

– Victor Kiam

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

– Seneca

Do not say, ‘why were the former days better than these,’ for it is not from wisdom that you ask this.”

– Ecclesiastes, 7:10

A great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.”

– Albert Schweitzer

Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”

– E.B. White

When I was younger I thought success was being a star, driving nice cars, having groupies. But today I think the most important thing is to live your life with integrity.

– Ellen DeGeneres

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”

– Abraham Lincoln

Spend the afternoon. You can’t take it with you.”

– Annie Dillard

Death is to lose the earth you know, for greater knowing; to lose the life you have, for greater life; to leave the friends you loved, for greater loving; to find a land more kind than home, more large than earth.”

– Thomas Wolfe

If people like you they’ll listen to you; if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.”

– Zig Ziglar

A person who learns to juggle six balls will be more skilled than the person who never tries to juggle more than three.”

– Marilyn vos Savant

Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost.”

– Robert H. Schuller

At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”

– Lao Tzu

Books

Looking to Add Pep to Your Step? Try Your Hand at Spiritual Cross-Training

Honest, intimate, embarrassing, and frequently funny — don’t miss this memoir by Rabbi Benjamin Shalva.

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Cooking School

Looking For An Alternative to Coffee? Try Yogi Tea

This recipe is based on the knowledge of Ayurveda, as Yogi Tea was created to deliver a healthful benefit to the body and a delicious flavor to delight the spirit.

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Diplomacy

Meet the Amazing Barclay Martin

Musician, traveler and humanitarian Barclay Martin has forged a creative path which merges some of his life’s great passions to serve some of our world’s needs.

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Fine Crafts

Stephanie Ponder Charms Us With Ponder's Pendants

“I’ve cycled through latch hook rugs, bubble gum wrapper chains, cross stitch, knitting and finally the pendants and other pieces made with resin,” shares Seattle-based artisan Stephanie Ponder. “But when I saw examples of resin on Scrabble tiles, I knew it was on to something special.”

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Food

Eat For Energy: 7 Ways to Nourish Your Soul

For those who haven’t heard of the concept, Chakras are the seven energy centers that run from your root to your crown. Once you tap into this internal power, you can identify the areas that are weak or strong and eat food to heal and fuel them. Sound like magic? Give it a try!

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Mary Jean Irion

Publisher
Hope Katz Gibbs
Art Director
Michael Glenwood Gibbs
Website developer
Max Kukoy
Managing Editor
Kathleen McCarthy
Editorial Interns
Meet our team

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History

Why Eleanor Roosevelt Insisted: "Tomorrow Is Now"

In her historic book, “Tomorrow Is Now,” Eleanor Roosevelt provides a look at the world that is eerily current. Dr. Allida Black offers insights.

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Intuition Rules

Five Ways to Become a Warrior of the Light

What is “The way of the Warrior?” According to author Paulo Coelho, “it’s the one who appreciates the miracle of being alive, the one who accepts failure, and the one whose quest leads him to become the person he wants to be.”

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Quotes

Celebrate 2017 with 17 Quotes to Help You Jump Back Into Your Body

“No beating yourself up. That’s not allowed. Be patient with yourself. It took you years to form the bad habits of thought that you no longer want. It will take a little time to form new and better ones.” — Holly Mosier

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Wine

What is Michael Hope's Favorite Wine?

“I sought to become a farmer to allow my kids to grow up in the country,” says winery owner Michael Hope. “I had no wine industry background apart from enjoying wine. I simply wanted to be a farmer and grow the best grapes I could.”

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Mary Jean Irion

To learn more about becoming a client of Inkandescent Public Relations, or becoming a Be Inkandescent Magazine columnist. send an email to publisher and founder Hope Katz Gibbs at hope@inkandescentpr.com.

Here’s to your incredible, indelible, Inkandescent success!