The first part of the month found the 2011 Program Committee gathered for a working weekend to review presentation proposals and collaborate on the architecture of the next conference.  Notices of results of the committee's review will be sent this week to all submitters.

To accommodate already full schedules, leaders opted for the annual fourth quarter strategic planning session to be held in a virtual environment.  This presented a unique opportunity to integrate perspectives from interested, involved members who serve ISSSEEM in various volunteer capacities. Our planning process began mid-month with two weeks of exploration discussions.  The next two phases, direction and decision, will unfold over several weeks--great minds devoting careful attention over time--absolutely priceless.

Publications are being wrapped up for the year.  Editors and contributing artists and authors synthesized an outstandingly beautiful Bridges Magazine issue; member subscribers just received it and I've heard great feedback.  One member who chose to have hers printed in color at her local copy store found attendants writing down the website so they could check out ISSSEEM!    The final installment of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine Volume 20, our peer-reviewed scientific journal is well underway.  This along with Volume 21, Number 1 will be published before year end.   To learn more about the ISSSEEM tradition of premier publications, to submit articles, to advertise, or to subscribe, visit Publications at www.issseem.org  

Amid all this activity, I was off-line for nearly a week while in Costa Rica's rainforest on a long-planned, celebratory trip.  I felt the powerfully pungent beckoning of sights, sounds, colors, and varieties of life wane as I was drawn into the rhythmic pulse of the surroundings.  Nothing like a series of nights in a jungle to ground one's being!  While there, I became decidedly observant of mutualism, in its biological sense--individual organisms interacting to derive increased survivorship--displays appear everywhere.   I'm still fascinated and still contemplating why this natural phenomenon struck me so deeply.  What, if anything, has the concept to do with subtle energies or ISSSEEM?  And, how and where could it be applied?  Share your thoughts here.

Blesses All,
Denise