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"Believe, and you shall be right, for you shall save yourself; doubt, and you shall again be right, for you shall fall. The only difference is that to believe is greatly to your advantage."

These words spoken by William James regard the idea of making a great leap, that one hasn't made before. "I have no evidence of my ability to perform it successfully; but hope and confidence in myself make me sure I shall not miss my aim."

Here, too, in this place you have found, we revel in the sheer audacity of belief, of optimism, of unconditional support, of taking leaps...

And what leap are we making?  The leap to Gaia.

Gaia is the interconnected web of the planet and everything it has given birth to and will give life to.  It's transformation, from the simplest universal elements into a more lively, liveable, conscious, connected, and cohesive structure.  It is an unabashedly beautiful view of what is.  Gaia is not just Earth.  Nor is it a fairy tale vision.  It is the beautiful view of who and what we are, and where we wish to be.

The beautiful view is what gets us going, gets us working, wakes us up, makes us kind, and creates the space for magic.  It's pragmatic.  Gaia is a great and better version of the world.  It is accepting of our limitations and the risks of living in the here and now, but it doesn't stop there -- it is also a vision which is held deeply, which in turn pulls us forward into a better place.  Does that make sense?

So if that's Gaia the idea, then what is Gaia the website?  Simply put, we believe that the same people who get the idea of Gaia will meet on a website called Gaia.

What are we going to do here?  We're going to hold the vision of Gaia until everyone arrives.  And then after that, we're going to hold the vision of Gaia. 

But what does it mean to hold the vision?  It means to focus your energy on what inspires you, rather than on what you fear.  To believe in the right way, rather than doubt.  To have the beautiful vision, rather than a vision of anything less or no particular vision at all.

To have the vision is also to share the vision.  To share your vision.  To have the vision is to encourage the vision of others.  To encourage the transformation of fear into clarity, of doubt into optimism, of questions into resonance.  Which in the end transforms Earth into Gaia.

We're here to do our part.  Our mission is to forge a community where every one of us is inspired and empowered to be the change we long to see manifest, whatever that may be.  By following our hearts, discovering our own greatest strengths so that we might give these in service to the world, and inspiring those around us to do the same, together we will catalyze a future of personal and planetary well-being.

Inside you'll find over 200,000 souls that hold the key to Gaia.  And over 3,000 groups that are discussing and forming the ideas of Gaia, from body health to the Tao to creative writing to local activism.

You belong here.  Do you believe it or doubt it?  And if you believe, will you take the leap?

I go right to work.  On my own little miracles.

To me, a renaissance is synonymous with a Golden Age.  And a golden age is a feeling of living amongst many great gardens. 

Gardens, in my terms. are anything that can provide paths, discoveries, exhiliration, and peace - they can be books, art, jobs, circles of people, real gardens, anything...  Most of all my true love.

When I have many great gardens in my life, that is a golden age. 

It even only takes a word to conjure up a grand garden.  Try to recall a few gardens from your years past and present.  Write one on a little card.  Do this many times.  Place them around you.  See how that feels.  You may already be living in a Golden Age.

Beauty is a call forward, a call to follow.  And it only goes a certain distance.  So in those ways it is like truth.  But there is a ring to truth that beauty will never have - and the reverse is not true...

What clear signs have I received in this lifetime?

I use the word 'resonance' for this.  A strong heart-felt feeling, representing clarity and knowing.  When one feels resonance, one finally feels the true oxygen of life filling the body.  You can't be conscious without this having happened at least once.  So when was it?

The question must be asked because even in our individualistic era, the clear resonances we've received are often discounted and forgotten.  But there is no other route to finding our best way through life.

Our resonances are our opportunities for original and highest quality contribution, as well as being life's supreme enjoyments.

Why have you ceased to keep your resonances in your top 3 priorities in life?

Those of you who have known me since 2000, or met me at points along the way, will get the significance of this.  The surreal-ity, I should say.

In 1999 I started a business plan for a technology called The Garden, software that would learn a bit about you and bring wisdom that would resonate with you in your current circumstance.  There was lots of other coolness to the idea, but basically that was the point.

But how to make it work more than 50% of the time was a huge sticking point.  I didn't go forward in the fundraising process because I wasn't sure I could actually provide a piece of software with an "Inspire Me" button and make it reliable. 

The dream didn't die, but I had to move on, as time and money had run out.  Luckily for the idea, I eventually saw a solution, one that had a "network of users" collaborating with each other, bringing content that mattered into the system, and to "friends of resonance" that could really use it.  Resonance begot a design for a Resonance Engine (copyright roughly 2001).

(Years and trials pass, resonance grows as a philosophy - the technology always on the tip of the mind...)

So in 2006 when I found a "social network" that values wisdom and collaboration, you can see why I would give up a job, a home, a city, friendships, and other intangibles, to jump aboard and tackle this old dream with new eyes. 

Luckily I had the skills I needed to contribute materially to the team.  When the team was acquired by Gaiam and started looking for new sources of functionality, I had something to provide.  Fast forward to 2008, and the resonance engine, version one, is released.

I could be more poetic here, but the facts are beautiful enough. 

Now I know that what is being called a Resonance Engine right now is just a user-rated batched search process.  But guess what's next?  I'll be building in connections to our base of quotes (wisdom) and adding components to the engine to learn what you're really needing or hungering for.  Step 2. 

And I'm wise enough now to only add to the engine what is needed by this circle of users, this team, this company, in these present circumstances.  In many ways, I'm starting the engine from scratch.  But it's surreal to realize how closely a complex in the mind from years ago is mapping to an extant reality. 

So in short, those of you who have heard me speak of the Resonance Engine, six months ago or six years ago, understand why my soulmate and I were popping corks on Feb 14, 2008  (two people who couldn't care less about valentine's day :)

(From http://pods.gaia.com/how_tos_and_faqs/discussions/view/245938)

A magic little secret resides within Gaia⁺, one that could connect you with new friends and souls that you may never otherwise meet. 

We call it the Resonance Engine.  At Gaia, we believe deeply in the concept of resonance: that electric sense of something amazing, the discoveries that were meant just for us, those rare clues that change our lives.  So we built a way to tap into this most real of mystical sources.  We're starting small, but we're already finding amazing results.

How does it work?  You decide exactly what it is you're looking for on Gaia, then through the Engine's potential criteria, you set that intention. 

Want to meet others who generally share your interests?  Who have a particular set of interests, who have the same hero or love the same book?  Who were born under the same sign?  Here's how you do it...

Once you've begun your Gaia⁺ subscription, you'll see a new box on your main profile page.  It's on the right-side of the screen, under your list of friends.  You may have to scroll down the screen.

 

Not much there.  Let's change that.  Click the link for ‘set your intention'.  You'll then be taken to the Intention screen.

This is your little workspace, to decide priorities, select criteria, and activate them for the Resonance Engine to study.  Let's look at this screen, from left-to-right. 

Active checkbox.  If you want to use a certain method, make sure it's checked.  If you want to disable a method, uncheck it.  (Make sure to press Save.)

Criteria.  Use the input boxes on any criteria that require a choice.  Pick a sign, enter an age range, enter a Love, whatever it asks for.

Intensity.  Think of this as a ‘weight.'  For every person on the system who meets your certain criteria, they'll be weighted according to this level, to this intensity.  And for Age, Sign, and Gender, setting to ‘5' means that the person has to meet this criteria.  (On the other end, ‘0' is the same thing as having the Active checkbox unchecked.)

Now wait just a minute... this means you can search just by gender and age?  You can.  But we'd invite you to try many different kinds of matches, especially on Loves.  It's remarkable the feeling you get when the Engine finds a person who truly shares your enthusiasms, no matter who they are.  (In our early testing, four of our Team members matched their current partners just by matching on Loves -- without even inputting gender or age.)  Ultimately, it's your decision.

What are Loves again?  Have a look again at your profile, or anyone else's.  In the center of the page, near the bottom, you'll see lists of Heroes, Teachers, Books, Movies, and more.  Definitely make sure that your profile reflects your strongest interests, hobbies, and favorites (you can do this by Updating your Profile from your main profile page).

Back to the Intention screen...  see the criteria for ‘Share my Loves'?  This will find people who have entered the same Loves on their profile as you have on yours.  There's even an option to more strongly weight people that share loves that very few members of the community do (this is the ‘rare' criteria).  And you can add extra criteria for matching particular Loves... just click the ‘Add Shared Love' link.

Make sure you press the Save button!  This will take you back to your profile. 

Give the resonance engine a little while to run.  Because it does such an intense search, we have it on an intelligent timer, so that it doesn't affect the rest of the system.  But within a couple hours you should see results. 

If you don't see results in the first few hours, go back to your Intention screen.  Make sure you have criteria that are Active and have set the Intesity level greater than 0.  Then Save and give it a little more time.

Sweet!  Now it's time to take a look at these fascinating strangers.  Click on an icon and you'll be taken to their profile, just as if you had clicked on one of your friends.  Feel free to send them a note, or even invite them as a friend! 

Don't like what you see?  There's an option on their profile, under their picture, for ‘Remove This Match'.  But first you might want to take a look at their quotes, their pictures, their blog.  You may be surprised.  And once a match is removed, you won't be rematched with this soul, even when the resonance engine is taught to do new things. 

You see them, but can they see you?  No.  The resonance engine does not set-up two way matches.  You'll only show up as one of their resonances if they're also a Gaia⁺ member and the resonance engine finds you, based on their own criteria.

What if you don't want to be found at all?  No problem.  In your Settings area, under the Privacy section, change the setting for ‘Show my profile to' to ‘my friends only'.  Of course this will restrict people from finding you in random ways on the site, too. 

Hopefully you'll enjoy playing along!  New matches will appear every couple days.  Once you have more than 4 matches, the pictures will rotate randomly, so keep visiting the site and your profile page. 

You'll find the Engine is one of those features that's wonderful to play with... sending another a message with the little phrase that Gaia sent you, and you'd love to discover why, can open the door to all sorts of possibilities. And what else is life really about?

Of course, this is just the beginning!  Questions, concerns, or difficulties?  Make sure to visit the Gaia Support pod. 

Have fun, and may resonance truly occur!