Get Your Shine On

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

It’s going to be really easy for you to understand why I follow a passionate, vegan, web guru named Ali Dark and why I think you should too.

In a recent post, A Love Letter to (some) Bloggers Ali says,

“I’m looking at how you’re living your life, and I’m thinking about how to improve my own life.”

“I’m loving your attitude - and likewise – I’m working on becoming that person I want to be.”

“Watching you do your best helps me do my best.”

He speaks of heartfelt integrity, helping people shine and he walks his talk.

He was one of the first people I followed on Twitter and in a short time, I felt like I’d found a friend on the other side of the world. Yes, he’s down under and shining all the way from Brisbane to Vancouver!

“I help passionate people to ship their value to their people.” – Ali

1.  Why are you here?

If you’re asking about Twitter specifically, I started out thinking I had to do some kind of networking for the website business I was starting. I’m pretty sure this is the same reason a lot of people started on Twitter. I gradually stopped ‘networking’ and started hanging out – which is probably all ‘networking’ is anyway.

If you’re asking about life in general, I’m here as part of the plan – and I don’t have full access to it at the moment. I do know I need to be doing my best at the best things to do, and glorify reality by rocking it’s socks off.

2.  What is your future self calling for?

Wow. This is an awesome question. I need to be asked this on so many levels. He’s simply calling for me to stand up, and do what I already know how to do.

3.  How do you honour that calling?

I’m struggling with that, because I’m a lazy little mofo.

It’s amazing that I know what to do but am so incapable of doing it. It’s truly puzzling.

(Note from me: In a recent conversation with Ali I heard clarity showing up around that calling; stay tuned!)

4.  What is both effortless and life-giving to you?

Technically meditation is effortless, except that it takes a huge amount of effort to put down the mind for a time and just be still and quiet. It is definitely the source of all the goodness in my life.

In terms of work, effortless and life-giving would be designing blogs and advising on how creating value for the world out of passion and knowledge, on the blog. People developing and sharing their gifts with each other is definitely the future.

5.  What do you do better than anyone else?

I’m a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, which is really handy in my line of work because there’s all sorts of creative and technical abilities required to get a great site or blog going awesomely and quickly. Do I do this better than anyone else? In my own way. There are certain people I don’t work well with, you’ve gotta have some vision, or something.

I don’t have a need to be the best – I just need to honour this little manifestation of spirit that is me and make the most of it.

(Another note from me: For evidence of his jack-of-all-trades-ness, take a look at his art and listen to his music)

6.  What is extraordinary about your work and/or life?

I guess I meld worlds – because I’m at once a very mental, intellectual type person and a spiritual aspirant of sorts. It makes for very hard going because spirituality requires a fair amount of stillness. But this is the life I’ve lived through my entire (12 years) of adulthood and I’ve gotten quite good balancing the two which I guess makes me remarkable.

I do large and life changing things on a whim – like go to China to meet a girl (now my wife).

That felt pretty extraordinary.

7.  What is guaranteed to inspire you?

Oooh another tricky one. Work-wise, challenges that are both creative and technical inspire me.

In life, open-hearted, open-minded and fun people inspire me. Compassionate, selfless people energize my soul.

8.  What will your epitaph say if you’ve lived life on your own terms?

Here lies Ali, who lived with integrity, inspiration and who made life on Earth better.

Ali and I share the values of community and contribution; supporting people and businesses that are passionate and out to make a difference. So I wasn’t surprised that he offered a special to my peeps appropriately called, Mates Rates. He says it’s an Australian thing, but I have a feeling it’s more of an Ali thing!

“People developing and sharing their gifts with each other is definitely the future.” – Ali

If you’re drawn to working with Ali (and I highly recommend it), click here and type in the password: buddybud to get your mates rate.

You can find Ali shining his own light:

On AliDark.com

On Twitter

On Facebook

For a reminder of how this series came to be, read Follow You, Follow Me.