Sterling submits entry to Oprah's Grow-Your-Life contest

Oprah Winfrey and health expert, Bob Greene, have launched what Oprah is calling "Our Best Contest Ever!" Anyone can enter, and anyone could win. Just preparing your 150-word answer to the question: "What would you like to grow your life and why?" will be reflective time well spent.

by Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News

Yesterday morning was surreal. Maybe some day I'll give you the juicy details. Suffice it to say I'm grateful to be alive, and as I sat there in the bathroom, back in full consciousness, my eye caught something on the cover of the June issue of O magazine that my wife had with her stack of reading materials. It was labeled: "OUR BEST CONTEST EVER!" with a blurb: "Enter to win lunch with Oprah in Hawaii".

Something inside me told me: "You should enter that contest. You could win."

As I opened to p. 20, and read the parameters, I could see they were very simple and extremely broad. In 150 words, they want you to answer the question: "What would you like to grow your life and why? It could be anything--a friendship, a business, even a particular talent."

Of course the first thing always on my mind, with my focus for the past 11 years on exotic free energy technologies, would be to get an audience with Oprah to inform her about the myriad of promising things in process of emerging, and how they could transform the planet, both by cleaning it up and by empowering the people.

As I read further, I saw that the contest featured Bob Greene and the work he is doing to get back to sustainable growing methods that enrich the soil rather than deplete it. Having just spent the Memorial Day weekend on our Safe Haven Villages intentional community project just north of here (Ephraim, UT), where we are using permaculture/hoogleculture techniques to enable the desert to blossom, I thought that this is something that would be of interest to Oprah and Bob. We spent part of our time clearing tumble weeds from the property into a ~35-foot diameter pit, and covering them with some decaying straw bales for biomass. The pit will probably retain 10,000 gallons of water from drainage coming out of a small canyon. We hope to cover it with a dome to grow tropical trees.

I'm newly learning about these techniques of using swells in the ground with biomass in them to act as a sponge for incoming moisture, so it doesn't just flow downhill, but actually sticks around for a while, changing the local climate and restoring the aquifer. Using these methods, they've been able to turn the most unfertile soil and circumstances in the Jordan valley near the Dead Sea into a thriving forest. Our conditions here in central Utah aren't as bad as near the Dead Sea, but they aren't that inviting either. We want to demonstrate the viability of these methods while both providing food for ourselves and for the nearby community. 

One of the things that really impressed me in doing some background reading in preparation for making a submission to the contest, was an interview Oprah had with Brené Brown, PhD, an academic whose life has been transformed by her studies into the value, need and boundaries for vulnerability, as well as the importance of showing up and getting involved. Her TED Talks lecture two years ago has been seen by a few million people.

In the interview, they referred to a quote from Teddy Roosevelt about those who are in the arena, compared to those who sit on the sidelines and criticize. I remember my Dad talking about this quote when I was maybe 12 years old. Then yesterday, when I read it again, now having been beaten up in that arena, knowing first hand what it entails, I wept as the relevance of this quotation hit me. I suppose part of that was the sense of satisfaction I felt at having made a valiant effort in what I believe in, and reassurance that it's okay to be beat up -- an important part of achieving a high objective.

I added this quote to my profile page, and I've taken the liberty to edit Teddy's quote so that the ending resonates better with my soul, even though it does mix metaphors. It's okay here, because between the metaphors is a reference to life in general, providing a sufficient transition to allow for another metaphor.

     "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, planting noble seeds that others may harvest. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor momentary defeat."

-- Theodore Roosevelt, "Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910 26th president of US (1858 - 1919)

Here's the statement I submitted to the contest, whose deadline is June 17.

Thanks for running this contest to get people to think about and compose what they want to grow in their life. I've been asked to participate in a new initiative to launch a 24-hour alternative media network, covering all things 'fringe' in a professional manner, bringing attention to them, showing the evidence for them, and fostering their emergence into the mainstream. It would be a TV version of CoastToCoastAM type of content using new web technology. I would be coordinating the 'Machine' topics, with my specialty in featuring exotic free energy technologies that are getting very close to market and would not only be clean and distributed but cheaper than grid power. I'm also involved in a sustainable living intentional community project with permaculture. I'd love to meet you both, Oprah and Bob, and bring these things to the awareness of your awesome audience. See GrowSterlingLive.com for my story.

[Here's a tool for doing word counting.]

That's about all I'm allowed to say about this percolating project, which has some amazing talent coming forward and being attracted to it.

Here is the image I pinned to my vision board:

I had a blast last night listening to Coast to Coast AM with the guy spearheading that project, and I was even able to call a question into the guest via Skype, at nearly 3 am local time.

On Oprah's website "Official Rules" page, they say: " All entries will be judged by the editors at O, The Oprah Magazine based on the following criteria: creativity (50%); originality (30%); and expression (20%). In the event of a tie, the entry with the highest score in creativity will be the Winner."

I would like to encourage all of you to submit something. You all have good ambitions for your life and for the planet. It would be a good exercise to put your plans into 150 words.

I would love being the one reading the incoming submissions. Imagine how inspiring that would be! Imagine how hard it would be to select a winner!

Here's a little video I shot about this opportunity:

Feel free to post your 150 word statement in the comments below.

Sample Statements

Here's one from Susan Manning, who is one of the founding members of the above-mentioned Safe Haven Villages. She's also my mother-in-law and business associate.

Growing a city is my life’s dream, but not just any city. This city will have food forests and hugelkultur in all public spaces, using little water. It will be beautiful. Complimentary currencies will supplement regular dollars so that everyone can have a rich life. This city will celebrate beautifully-built earth homes and other alternatives that have no mortgages. This city will use energy sources that enrich the earth, not deplete it. Instead of chemical wastelands, this city will cycle its grey water and black water through living plants creating irrigation water. Community horses, fantasy playgrounds and boats on tranquil lakes will coax children off couches.  Bicycle and electric car co-ops will make it easy to get around. It has begun. Safe Haven Villages sits on ninety acres in the heart of Utah. Why? So everyone will know we can do it differently, and the love will spread worldwide

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