The most beautiful thing about the spread of the Holstee Manifesto has been the stories that it has helped to create. We have been honored and amazed by the most powerful response we have received since we put these words to paper: "Hey! This is me." 

“Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.”

- John Gardner, “Personal Renewal” November 10, 1990

Posted by our friends at The Acumen Fund

Photo of Norway via Makr Blog

Fed up with the lack of empowering television programs these days, Know This! redefines cool as knowing yourself, knowing your world, and finding a way to make your dreams come true. 

We are all about celebrating stories, inspiration, and the beauty of learning from the community around us. This is exactly the aim of the talented Ariana Proehl, and we could not be more excited by her Know This! series. Ariana has been touring the country to lend a voice to the intelligence, creativity, and potential that exits in a world seemingly pre-occupied with negativity. The result? An amazing set of inspiring interviews that celebrate diversity and speak to current issues in a positive light. Check it out here.

One of the things I often encourage to people writing in about the Holstee Manifesto is to write your own! What's stopping you? Putting life goals and dreams--be they specific or general--down on paper is a great way of holding yourself accountable to making them a reality and living consciously. That's what the Manifesto has been for us, a way of keeping us in check for the lives we want to live. A daily kick-in-the-pants, if you will. Do you have a Manifesto that you've written for yourself? We'd love to see it! Here is one of my favorites, from Frederic Terral of Right Brain Terrain:

One of the greatest things about my job at Holstee is being able to read the notes from people whose lives have been impacted by the Manifesto. It is a true privilege to hear the stories of how a line from the Manifesto sparked a realization or a change in someone's life. It never gets old to read how it perked up someone's day or made someone take the time to write down things they were thankful for. There are stories of how it inspired someone to realize their dream of starting their own company or pick up a camera and film a documentary of a trip around Europe. The Manifesto has thus become a completely humbling and amazing opportunity that we could never have imagined--allowing us to have these incredible conversations about life, inspiration, and dreams. 

Recently I got an e-mail from a girl who was asking for advice. She wanted to know: What if you don't know what you are passionate about? What if you are confused and searching? What if you want to do something you love but aren't sure what that is yet? 

I bring it up here because I think that these questions are important ones that all of us have asked at one point or another, and perhaps we are still asking these questions, or will ask them again in the future. It reminded me of a favorite quote of mine that I have come back to again and again:

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke

I love this quote because it is so central to the conversation we are want to have. Recognizing these questions and restlessness is in our lives is the start. We don't claim to have all of the answers ourselves and are seeking to learn and grow every day. We believe that life is a journey and the most important thing is to embark on it with open eyes and mindful steps.

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu is quoted, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Don't let not knowing the answers hold you back. You don't need to have it all figured out. The reality of the journey is that it is generally not as clear-cut or easily laid out as we would often like it to be. However, we are all on it together and need encouragement and inspiration from the community around us. That is what we want the Manifesto to be: a spark to a conversation, a call to action, and the journey of living the questions, together. 

I love the power of spoken word to challenge and inspire in a way that sends shivers down your spine. This one by the talented Anis Mojgani is a powerful reminder that whoever you are, wherever you are at, and in the midst of whatever you are going through--shake the dust.