Seven years! It's quite a milestone for our Holistic Chamber.

Seven is the biblical number of creation - the length of time it took to create the world. It sometimes seems like ever since, humanity has been doing its best to destroy that creation with greed, competition, waste and endless consumption of resources.

We in the Arizona Holistic Chamber of Commerce have a different vision for the world - a different vision of how we can live and do business. A vision that values connection, consciousness and sustainability above the bottom-line dollar.

We have spent the past seven years creating "a new spirit in business", attracting members to that vision, and feeling our way into what, exactly, that means. Yeah, we're moving a lot slower than God. And it isn't time to rest yet, but time to push forward with more energy and enthusiasm than ever.

Seven years . . .

A little more than seven years ago, I experienced the most painful loss imaginable - the death of a child. Fortuitously, shortly after that loss I found the Arizona Holistic Chamber of Commerce and, within it, a wealth of resources and connections that became instrumental to my healing journey.

We are an organization of healers: healers of hearts, minds, bodies and the world itself. This is true of every one of you, whatever your business, because you choose to bring holistic values into that business and to embody them in your life.

They say in seven years, every cell in your body is replaced. You are living in a completely different body than you were seven years ago. That is certainly true for this Chamber. We have lost members and gained new ones. Those of us who have stuck it out are not the same people we were seven years ago. We are not the same - we are better, stronger, clearer in vision and in purpose

Life can be broken into seven year cycles. Each seven years marks the closing of one phase of life and the beginning of another. This Chamber is moving out of its infancy and into adolescence: a time of rebellion against the status quo, a time of crystalizing identity, a time of getting clear about personal values and beginning to accept responsibility for acting in accordance with those values. It is a time for claiming personal, authentic power.

In terms of the Chamber, it's time for us to start kicking butt and taking names! (Holistically and with love, of course.)

Let's be honest. Adolescence also comes with growing pains, and I'm sure we will experience our share of them. But on the other side lies the promise of maturity. We are well on our way.

I am honored to be taking on the role of President of the Arizona Holistic Chamber of Commerce this year. Honored to be stepping out of my past and into my future. Honored to have a role in taking this Chamber, all of you, and the world itself forward into our brighter collective future.

Here we stand at the beginning of 2012 - the year the Mayans expected the old world to end and the new world  to begin. We stand here not as idle observers, but as trail blazers. We are not waiting for the new world to arrive, we are creating it. Together. Thank you for joining us on the journey.