Taz Grout – Page 2

Feliz Navidad and Happy Adam Day

December 23, 2019 36 Comments

“Dancing and prancing in Jingle Bell Square.” –Bobby Helms

Happy Adam Day! Which, as I learned this morning at Satsang, is today since Adam came before Eve.

And if you’ll humor me, here’s another.

What is the favorite music of Santa’s elves? See answer below.

Just wanted to wish everyone a beautiful, mystical holiday and remind you that the deadline to apply for 2020’s 222 award is December 31.

Lastly, in honor of Ram Dass who is “Being Here Now” with my beloved Taz, here are a few of my favorite Ram Dass quotes:

“When you know how to listen, everybody is the guru.”

“The quieter you become, the more you hear.”

“Dying is absolutely safe.”

“We’re all just walking each other home.”

And a story that has given me much comfort as I’m invited into a different kind of relationship with my daughter:

After Timothy Leary died, Ram Dass, his colleague at Harvard in the 60’s, was asked how he felt about the loss of his long-time associate?

Ram Dass answered, “What loss? He’s still with me.”

May we all be together this holiday season. And know that loss is not possible in the Kingdom! Love you all!

Answer: Favorite elf music? Wrap.

Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World).

Big, fat juicy thanks all around

November 5, 2019 121 Comments

“If you have the right music very loud on the radio, you get about 50 more miles from your tank.”—Hunter S. Thompson

It’s gratitude month, my friends. And as I do every morning with my possibility posse, I simply must share three amazingly awesome things that recently transpired.

Numero uno. Dr. Christiane Northrup who may just be the most generous person in the world recently made an Instagram video about my new book. My editor asked her to possibly provide an endorsement (after all, she’s a well-known and very famous expert) and wow! Not only did she provide kudos, but she made this fun little video, completely unprompted. She even said this was the first time she’d ever been able to embrace A Course in Miracles and she wanted my book (when it comes out in January) on her nightstand. As I said, WOW!

Second really cool thing is that Karen Drucker, the uber famous touring musician, speaker and retreat leader (and winner of the Tarzan calling competition when she was 13) has offered to throw a benefit concert for the 222 Foundation.

The Unity Temple on the Plaza has agreed to host this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on May 3 in Kansas City. Karen, who will be playing and singing songs from her 15 albums, will present along with Greg Tamblyn, me, Emmy-nominated Stowe-Good and other like-minded friends. And, just so you know, we’ll be presenting the song Karen and I wrote called, “Something amazingly awesome is going to happen to me today.”

We are hereby affirming that this consciousness-bending show will alter the world forevah!!! The 222 Foundation is all about moving the needle and this benefit concert is guaranteed to rev up the engine. Make plans now to be there.

Third reason I can barely sit here in my chair is that an auction has just begun for the 52 paintings that were created by the German artist, Sigrid Drobner, for the 222 Foundation.

flower2 After Taz passed last October, this artist who I had never met promised to paint a special flower (and make a 3-D butterfly) every week of the year in Taz’s honor.

People sometimes say they’re going to do things, but this amazing artist actually followed through. She sent me one of these gorgeous paintings every single Saturday for 52 weeks. I can’t even begin to express how much her generosity has meant to me, how often it picked me up when I was wondering what in the heck I’m still doing on this planet.

And now she is auctioning them off with ALL PROCEEDS going to the 222 Foundation. Here’s what she says: “If anybody wants to make an offer, they can easily write an email to my address s.drobner@buntezeiten.de.” The auction, she says, will end December 1.

Again, my friends, never forget that support, love, generosity and abundance is the reality of the world. We simply have to let go of old school ideas that tell us otherwise.

I love and appreciate you all SO, SO much. I’d love if, in the comments section below, you share three of your own blessings. Let’s keep watering those seeds. course experiment

I want to give money away: Now taking pitches for the 2020 award of the 222 Foundation

August 27, 2019 24 Comments

“What reality was ever created by realists? What we cannot dream we can never do.”—Richard Flanagan

So, I started a foundation to honor my daughter, Tasman Mckay Grout, who died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2018 of a cerebral aneurysm.

As I’ve written before, Taz’s 25 years were pure magic. She landed here on planet earth with indiscriminate and generous love. She was beautiful, brilliant. Wild light coursed through her every cell.

To honor her legacy, the 222 Foundation is committed to rewriting the dream of the modern world from consumption and acquisition to the dream of creativity and self-expression. We believe the pursuit of happiness comes from human solidarity, simple living, respect for nature and the empowerment of all people. Our mission is to reallocate the world’s resources away from fear and towards love.

Here are the guidelines (as printed on the sunflower packets we distributed at Taz’s Celebration of Life):

Each year on February 22 (2/22), Taz Grout’s 222 Foundation will award a $10,222 grant to an innovative project or person with a big idea to change consciousness and therefore the world.

We look for projects that support the following ideas:

1. All people long to be generous and create beautiful things.

2. The story of scarcity, lack and the need to fight for resources was made up and is no longer valid. We aim to prove that, once liberated from outdated paradigms, the world is generative and endlessly abundant.

3. We believe all humans are interconnected and that even tiny actions have great significance.

Any and all projects that supports Taz’s vision will be considered. Here are a few that have recently caught my eye:

**The El Paso challenge. Started by 11-year-old Ruben, this social media phenomenon encourages people to do 22 kind things in honor of each of the 22 people who died in the recent shooting.

**Koolulam. This incredible initiative creates mass singing events, bringing large groups of strangers together to sing as one big human ensemble. I ran into a YouTube (check it out below) of 3000 strangers in Haifa, Israel singing One Day.

**Grupo Ecológico. Started by one family, this locally-managed Biosphere Reserve in Mexico’s Sierra Gorda empowers local farmers and teaches permaculture.

These are just a few examples of the kinds of projects we seek. The more creative, the better. We want nothing more than to generate new possibilities and shake up the world as we know it.

I hope you, my friends here on the blog, will help spread the word.

If you or anyone you know would like to apply for next year’s grant, please send a description of the project to taz.grout.222.foundation@gmail.com. Applications will be accepted through December 31, 2019.

And, as always, thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.

A broader perspective is our greatest need

July 26, 2019 50 Comments

“You must unlearn what you have learned.”—Yoda

A FB memory from two years ago popped up this morning of Taz and me in a photo booth in Stockholm, Sweden.

It made me happy to see the two of us clowning around, being goofy.

Taz and I had a lot of silly rituals. We watched every episode of “Gilmore Girls” together and our favorite character was the eccentric Kirk Gleason who, over the course of seven seasons, worked as everything from a bath mat salesman to a termite exterminator to a parachute jumper. We regularly sent each other pictures of Kirk, in all his glory. We called it “The Daily Kirk.”

On the first of every month, whichever of us proclaimed “Hedgehog” first, was guaranteed a lucky month. It started when she was in grade school, but even in college we’d text each other the simple phrase. Since she stayed up late, as college students do, she always prevailed at 12:01 on the dot. When she lived in Europe after college, 12:01 came several hours before I even qualified for our little game.

Someone emailed the other day, inquiring about page 92 in E-Squared. I told the story of baby Taz’s high fever, me being frantic with worry and hearing a voice with startling clarity: “I didn’t give you this great gift just to take it away.”

This reader wanted to know what happened.

I, too, sometimes wonder. But, in my better moments, I echo what Julia Roberts told an interviewer who asked if she regretted never having an adult relationship with her father who died of throat cancer when she was 11 or 12. She replied, “Are you kidding me? He’s with me all the time.”

On the first day of the last three months, Taz has sent me a hedgehog. On May 1, it came in the form of a news clip about British rocker Peter Doherty who was temporarily hospitalized after being stabbed with a…hedgehog spike.

On June 1, the word “hedgehog” came in as a text message…from (don’t ask me how?) Taz’s phone.

July 1, I was at the toy store buying a birthday gift for my friend’s one-year-old grandbaby. I asked the clerk what was the hottest new toy for a one-year-old. Without hesitating, she took me straight to a stacking hedgehog pull toy.

So, as I told the reader who emailed me, “Taz hasn’t been taken away. She’s still very much here, albeit in a different form.

Taz now has the broader perspective I so desire and, like Yoda, she’s teaching me to unlearn everything I know.

So, my fine-feathered friends, I’ll say it once again: Go out now and have the very best weekend of your lives.

Back to the Mothership

July 15, 2019 132 Comments

“Say yes to revealing an unseen energy that surrounds us, that we’re actually a part of. Our soul yearns to witness and experience this nonphysical energy, not only for us to fully heal, but also to make the absolute most of our lives.”—Christina Rasmussen

In my ongoing efforts to figure my life out (now that I’m a childless mother), I have concluded that, above all else, I need to write, to create. When I don’t, I tend to get cranky. You’d think I’d have mastered this daily ritual by now. After all, I wrote a whole book about it. Ever since second grade, when I wrote and illustrated “Paddy the Penguin,” I’ve known creativity is the thing that makes me feel most alive.

Even in the depths of my grief, I felt better when I wrote—whether a letter to Taz, a blog post or the book that comes out beginning of next year. So, I’m making a commitment to myself (and to those of you who have kindly put your trust in me) to resume a more consistent blogging schedule. As you can imagine, I have a few things I need to say.

I’ve been on a pretty intense journey the past nine months as I attempt to move beyond the physical realm, to connect to that bigger thing that feeds my creativity, that keeps me in sync with Taz, that offers a deep well of healing and peace. In the interest of transparency, you should probably know that some days I still struggle to hoist myself out of bed.

Luckily, Taz keeps sending signs and, among other things, she and a wonderful medium named Steffany Barton and I are toying with the idea of teaming up to write a book. And the 222 Foundation is steaming full speed ahead. Look for the Call for Proposals for the 2020 grant to be announced soon.

The amazingly awesome Karen Drucker has offered to sing a benefit concert for the 222 Foundation. My new friend Sigrid Drobner keeps painting weekly flowers with 3-D butterflies to auction off for the Foundation.

I have also gotten a lot of sustenance from all of you—book suggestions, postcards from the Camino de Santiago, sweet emails. Please know I value each and every one.

I was bragging to the Hay House marketing team this morning about all the music suggestions you sent. At last count, I’ve received more than 400 happy songs. All I had to do was ask. The team requested that I ask another favor. They want me to inquire about your favorite podcasts. Which podcasts do you like best, listen to most often? Let me know in the comments below.

Thank you again from the bottom of my patched-up heart. I love you and always will.

222 Forever: A treatise on eternal possibility

February 22, 2019 57 Comments

“Love is not a gated community.”—Frank Ostaseki

Yes, my friends, it’s finally here. The auspicious date when Taz’s 222 Foundation announces recipient numero uno of its annual $10,222 grant.

Sheroes Hangout is an incredibly inspiring café/coffee shop in Agra, India, not far from the Taj Mahal where I left part of Taz’s ashes.

I discovered this colorful, creative hangout in November when I was in India with TribesForGOOD. During seven-day social impact journeys, this innovative program pairs volunteers with small social enterprises, uplifting both volunteers and communities. That, of course, is how it should be. Win-win-win-win.

My radiant daughter Tasman, in her short 25 years on the planet, was relentless in standing up for those who are marginalized. Her continuous fight for the underdog is why I chose Sheroes Hangout. It’s run by victims of acid attacks, 10 women whose lives have been turned upside down by having acid thrown on them by people who allegedly loved them.

For example, Geeta and her two daughters were attacked by her husband while sleeping. He was mad that she hadn’t yet produced a male heir. The acid melted their skin, burned their eyebrows and disfigured their lips, faces and necks.

Today, rather than hide, rather than feel like outcasts, Geeta, her daughter and eight other women who suffered the same fate joyfully run Sheroes Hangout. They do the books, they cook, they manage the library and boutique where their creations are sold. Most importantly, Sheroes Hangout offers coffee and free food to anyone who stops by, no questions asked.

Rather than protest their unfortunate situations, these women are changing society by choosing to give, by choosing to love, by choosing to demonstrate that, despite being culturally shunned, they are still beautiful and worthy and bursting with important gifts to bestow on the world.

Not long after I was in Agra, the road near the café had to be widened so the grant from Taz Grout’s 222 Foundation will enable them to relocate to their new hangout.

Sheroes satisfies the mission of the 222 Foundation because it overcomes norms inflicted by society—norms like being defined and judged by our looks. Norms like believing it’s more important to look good on the outside than be good on the inside.

Because of their difficult circumstances, the women who run Sheroes Hangout have learned the importance and truth of inner beauty. They’ve learned how to give unconditionally. They inspire all of us to turn tragedy into something that helps others.

Eventually, Taz’s 222 Foundation will be an incubator for brand new creative projects and ideas. I will put out a call for proposals in August of 2019 and every year moving forward.

For this first award–because it has taken me a while to get my bearings back and because I didn’t have time to receive proposals, do the interviews and make decisions–I chose Sheroes Hangout because they so deeply inspired me.

Here is the video about Sheroes that I played at Taz’s Celebration of Life.

Thank you all for joining me on this journey of eternal connection, joy and love.

Create relentlessly, love fiercely and do quiet, kind things for the underdog: an update on the 222 Foundation

December 27, 2018 30 Comments

“We never lose the people we love, even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint.”—Leo Buscaglia 222 foundation love

One of my greatest blessings is my inbox. Every day, I receive fist-bumping miracle stories, love notes and signs from the universe.

“Oh, Pam,” it often chides me. “You promised to do this… You agreed to write that.”

Today’s sign was an email from a reader wanting to know if it was too late to apply for the 222 Award. Which reminded me I vowed to post an update soon. So here goes:

I’ve chosen the first recipient of the 222 Foundation. Because of the short timing and the shock of all that’s transpired, I decided to dispense with the application process for this first award.

It will be given out February 22, 2019 and announced at Taz’s Celebration of Life which would have been on 2/22 except I’ve been scheduled to fly to California to give a workshop on 2/23.

I chose a group of beautiful women who live in Agra, India near the Taj Mahal where I left some of Taz’s ashes last month when traveling with the first Social Impact Journey of Tribes for Good.

Let’s just say the women I chose exude immense inner beauty, generosity and know from first hand experience that the world will never change if we spend all our time and money on clothes and makeup and society’s messages that there’s something wrong with our bodies, our looks and our strong voices.

Eventually, the 222 Foundation will be an incubator for original ideas with the potential to overturn the dominant paradigm.

The yearly grant will be given to innovators, artists, inventors and entrepreneurs who have a vision for creating a meaningful and generous world.

It will be awarded to go-getters and problem solvers who know that squeezing themselves into a big machine is a limited ambition and will never be as interesting and satisfying as creating their own thing.

As I wrote in Art & Soul, Reloaded, nearly everything we once counted on, invested in and believed in is, for all practical purposes, grinding to a halt.

The old life plan (go to college, get a job) worked for a long time. It created jobs and wealth and lifted people out of poverty. But turns out, the American Dream, a term coined by Fannie Mae to convince two-income, post-World War II families to take out mortgages, has a Dr. Jekyll lurking in the back closet.

The only way to keep the old system chugging along is rampant consumerism. And we all know that makes NO ONE HAPPY!

But giving of our gifts does.

Any donkey can tear down a barn. But how many of us are willing to build a new barn, create a new world, envision a beautiful world that works for all of us?

Speaking of beautiful worlds, here’s a shoutout to Torie Tiffany (that’s her artist name) who created the logo for the 222 Foundation, the one pictured on this blog. Isn’t it gorgeous??!!!

Finally, here’s the mission statement:

The 222 Foundation was started to honor Tasman McKay Grout who spent her 25 short years on the planet inspiring everyone who knew her to live and love better. Everything she did was some variation of this theme: create relentlessly, love fiercely and do quiet, kind things for the underdog.

Each year on February 22, a $10,222 grant will be given to an innovative project or person with a big idea to change consciousness and therefore change the world. We look for projects that support the following ideas:

1. A change in perspective is our greatest need. We believe all people (no exceptions) long to be generous and create beautiful things.

2. Today’s hopelessness is based on false premises. We look to defy the old story of scarcity, lack and the need to fight for resources. We look to prove that the universe, once liberated from no-longer-working paradigms of scarcity, is generative and endlessly abundant.

3. The us against them model is kaput. We believe all humans are interconnected and that even tiny actions have great significance.

A call for applications for the 2/20/2020 award will be posted the summer of 2019.

And, for those who have asked, there will eventually be a link to donate. For now, anyone who is interested can send a check to the 222 Foundation, c/o DCCA, 900 Massachusetts, Suite 406, Lawrence, KS 66044.

I also need to alert you that there is another 222 Foundation (again, I found out from a message that popped into my inbox), but it has a very different mission and is not Taz’s Foundation.

Thank you all SO, SO MUCH for your kind thoughts and messages over the past few months. Please know they have kept me going.

Like all relationships, my journey with Taz evolved over the years. First, I loved her as a baby. Then as a toddler, a teenager and finally a independent, free-thinking adult. And now, I’m continuing to love her as the unfathomable, unlimited spirit she always was and will always be. taz7 (2)

Here’s to a brilliant, inspiring 2019!

Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, >Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.

“Whatever you are doing, love yourself for doing it. Whatever you are feeling, love yourself for feeling it – Thaddeus Golas

October 8, 2014 6 Comments

“I am a beloved child of the universe and the universe lovingly takes care of me now.”- Louise Hay

We celebrate Abe and Martin’s birthday with a national holiday. I’d like to propose today, October 8, as an international holiday to honor another great soul: Louise Hay who has devoted her life to love and teaching so many of us that there is nothing more valuable than to love and respect ourselves—just as we are—no matter what.

I was witness to her legacy the past two weekends at I Can Do It!’s in Rotterdam and London. Over and over, I heard speakers reflecting back Louise’s words, from Anita Moorjani, author of Dying to Be Me, who said the most significant lesson she learned from her near-death experience was to love herself to Jessica Ortner, author of The Tapping Solution for Weight Loss and Body Confidence, who wisely pointed out, “We can never hate ourselves thin.”

So today, in honor of Ms. Hay’s 88th birthday, I’d like to encourage everyone who reads this post to get up, walk to the closest mirror, look yourself deep in the eyes and remind yourself how deeply and passionately you are loved.

Happy Birthday, Louise, and thank you for rocking the love.

Pam Grout, whose brilliant daughter Taz is also celebrating her birthday today, is the author of 17 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the just-released sequel, E-Cubed, 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig.