It may be that the Networked Economy, aka The Light Years, is already in full bloom – and by Light I include the concepts of  

• Fiber optics,
• Enterprise social software like Connectbeam that connects people + ideas, and
• Dylan Thomas’ “Dawn breaks behind the eyes” variety. 

These expressions are all coalescing, with once in a while a shooting star tearing across the sky.   

  Sherry Heyl at SoCon ‘08, courtesy of Mike Schinkel.

One such comet is my friend and colleague, Sherry Heyl, who – in the space of two years – has founded What A Concept! social media agency;  lunchtime educational MeetUps on same for the community;   SoCon, the annual Atlanta-based new media unconference; and this month Sherry debuted, in conjunction with the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), a special interest group called Enterprise 2.0.  Puneet Gupta, CEO of California-based Connectbeam, gave the inaugural keynote on “Using Social Software to Turbo Charge Innovation.”  The “innovation” word pulled me there at 7:30 in the morning.  Connectbeam basically brings consumer social networks – like FaceBook – inside the enterprise, secures them and then makes it easier for you to find like- minded colleagues.    

  Punete Gupta, CEO of Connectbeam

On the same day, Oprah Winfrey hosted the first in a 10-week series of live webcasts with contemporary spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, who also authored the #1 New York Times best selling book The Power of Now, and more recently The New Earth.  Over 700,000 people logged on to the opening webcast.  Thanks to my friend, Sharon Rockey  of Web Spin Studios, for letting me know. 

 Eckhart Tolle, The New Earth

I have The New Earth and started reading; turns out my favorite parts are the first five pages and the last four.   According to Tolle, you may be a builder, creator and achiever – or you might be, like me, a “frequency-holder.”   

“In past ages, they would probably have been called contemplatives.  There is no place for them, it seems, in our contemporary civilization.  On the arising new earth, however, their role is just as vital as that of the creators, the doers, the reformers.  Their function is to anchor the frequency of the new consciousness on this planet.  I call them the frequency-holders.  They are here to generate consciousness through the activities of daily life, through their interactions with others as well as through “just being.”                

In this way, they endow the seemingly insignificant with profound meaning.  Their task is to bring spacious stillness into this world by being absolutely present in whatever they do.  There is consciousness and therefore quality in what they do, even the simplest task.  Their purpose is to do everything in a sacred manner.  As each human being is an integral part of the collective human consciousness, they affect the world much more deeply than is visible on the surface of their lives.”      The New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, page 307 

Ah, it’s good to begin to know oneself.  I appreciate the clarity, and since it’s time for Sunday afternoon yoga class, I’ll say  

Bye for now.