I had the great opportunity of visiting Los Angeles for work this week (life is unfair, I know...) I stepped off the plane just a few hours ago but I feel compelled to share my impressions with you, not so much of the city...40 degree Celsius weather, multitude of beaches, palm trees, Disneyland, blah, blah, blah..but of the incredible hospitality of the YES!+ Art of Living L.A. group. As soon as I landed in L.A., I took a shuttle bus to the magnificent L.A. Art of Living Centre (Overdressed for the intense heat and with a bright red suitcase in hand). My hotel was a $100 cab ride away and to all intents and purposes I had no idea where I was going. The sight of the metal barred windows and doors of the houses lining the streets of west L.A. didn't exactly help. But I was determined to follow through on this adventure of sorts. Part B of the adventure entailed boarding a city bus to another part of town to get my Kriya tape (more on that later). So, you can imagine, the combination of nervousness and excitement that I was experiencing. I had no idea how the day would turn out but I was confident that everything would be just fine. As soon as I saw a glimpse of the L.A. center, I jumped out of the shuttle and paused to take in its sheer resplendent beauty. A girl walked by with a yoga mat and entered the building. Somehow this made me feel right at home. When I walked in, I saw the remnants of a big lunch on the table, a few posters and fliers of Art of Living programs and...shoes. A young guy greeted me and didn't bat an eyelash as I walked toward him with my 3 bags and an SLR camera around my neck, explaining that I just came from the airport and wanted to say hello. He led me downstairs, where a group of people were busy planning the October Navaratri event! Natalia Stefanova, an amazing YES!+ teacher that I had met in Hartford, gave me an in-depth tour of the center. One of my favourite parts was the beautiful garden outside with real-life fig trees!! They were absolutely delicious. Within 30 minutes, we were piled up to the brim in Nitin's car in search of a great Mexican restaurant. After food & drinks, my new friends offered to drive me to Daren Black's office to pick up my Kriya tape. I was spared the hour long bus ride with my red suitcase! We pulled up on Venice Boulevard and me and my newfound posse went inside to see my mission to its end. I was so touched that these people who I barely knew went so much out of their way to make my special moment come true. After that, we drove down to Orange County to hang out in Rachana's house. We went swimming, got an out-of-this-world massage from the best massage chair ever, ordered pizza, played Taboo and called it a night. As if their hospitality hadn't reached its limits, I was dropped off at the front steps of my hotel. What can I say? Art of Living is definitely a one-world family.

Guess what? The International Year of Youth, proclaimed by the United Nations,
officially started on August 12, 2010. Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, marked the occasion on Parliament Hill after hosting a youth dialogue in Rideau Hall. I was invited to go by a friend of mine who somehow landed a summer internship with the Governor General. I went with a group of friends from the Faiths Act Fellowship, an amazing interfaith youth organization that promotes action toward the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. We all went to the G8/G20 2010 Religious Leaders Summit in Winnipeg! The evening on Parliament Hill was a spectacular one. We sat on the green lawn in between two sets of bleachers facing the resplendent Parliament building. We spotted our friend, the Governor General's lucky summer intern, and motioned him over. Before we knew it, we had bracelets to sit in the VIP area! As we were switching seats, Michaëlle Jean arrived and took her seat just a few rows ahead of us. It was very thrilling to see her so close up and personal. She delivered a power-house speech. I have no recollection of what she said, but, as we've all come to learn, presence speaks much louder than words. Her presence spoke volumes about her grand vision! Following the speech, we watched an incredible light & sound show that was projected on to the Parliament building. Mosaica is a stunning slideshow of Canada's history, with special effects that will leave you oohing and aahing. I highly recommend it! It runs weekly for the rest of the summer and is free to the public. Just another incentive to come visit the nation's capital! By the way, here is a website where you can find info on events planned throughout the year to celebrate the International Year of Youth. http://social.un.org/youthyear/

There was a whole lot of action happening last month in Ottawa, and, in...get this... Winnipeg! It all seems so far away, as I sit here with Anna and Amelie in sunny Montreal, where the the most pressing thought in my mind is if I should go for a third serving of watermelon ;) During the last few weeks, I found myself shaking hands with Justin Trudeau and chatting with Olivia Chow at an Equal Voice soiree. Check out the photo with two of my Equal Voice "femtors" (mentors - femtors, get it?!). It's the one where I'm wearing a big bow in my hair and looking about 12. The lady to the left is Niki Ashton, the youngest female MP on Parliament Hill and the lady to the right is Jen Hunter, a Green Party candidate. They're super amazing women! A few days later, I attended the All Party Interfaith Friendship Group meeting with MP David Sweet and Ottawa's religious leaders to plan a National Interfaith Breakfast in November. I proposed Swamiji as the keynote speaker! I'll keep you posted.

The highlight of June, along with our amazing YES!+ course, was the 2010 World Religious Leaders Summit in Winnipeg from June 21-June 23. Every year, since 2005, religious leaders of the world have been meeting in order to create a joint statement of suggestions and recommendations to the G8/G20 leaders about the topic of Millennium Development Goals. This year, over 80 religious leaders from all corners of the world and all faiths congregated in Winnipeg to discuss Poverty, Environment and Peace & Security. There were British bishops, Indian swamis, Buddhist monks, American Evangelists, Iranian Baha'is, Canadian Aboriginals, and many more! It was so exciting to be part of an international gathering with such a noble purpose. What was even more exciting is that this was the first year that youth delegates were invited to attend! So, the 13 of us, youth delegates, had a big responsibility. We had to prepare for the 1.5 hour block of time that the religious leaders had set aside to hear what the youth delegation had to say. Needless to say, we took this opportunity very seriously! The night before, we hosted a multifaith dinner for over 100 Winnipeg-area youth so that they could share with us their input about the topics of Poverty, Environment and Peace & Security. We summarized their comments and got ready for the big day! I had the great privilege of being one of the three youth speakers. My role was to present the youth perspective on Peace & Security. So, after crafting and re-crafting my statement and sprinkling it with Guruji's knowledge, I went to bed remembering my conversation with Swamiji a few weeks before. He told me that the right words would just come...

The next day, with my YES!+ button pinned to my blouse, I went up to the podium, cracked a joke (got laughs - phew!), and spoke to the religious leaders about Peace & Security, the importance of multifaith education in schools, the possibility of a non-violent approach, etc. What an experience! I thought that I would perish from nervousness, but when the moment came, I found myself in the zone. The whole experience felt pretty historic. The first line of the official statement now reads "We, the 80 religious leaders of the world and 13 youth delegates..." We were a success! So much so, that the organizer of the youth component of this year's summit, Hilary Keachie, was invited to organize the youth component of the next summit in France! I made some great contacts and I'm in the process of re-connecting with all of them...