Meet Sister CC. She is a flight attendant-turned-Catholic nun, running a beautiful monastery in the mountains of Oahu. I wish you could meet her how I met her... laughing and loving people from behind the grill where she is preparing delicious food for all. 🎉

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“Everyone that comes into my life is an appointment from God.” Amen, Sister, and we feel that when we are with you.

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Her faith, her wisdom, and her beautiful work serving people from all walks of life are inspiring. She has a special ministry with those who are homeless and those impacted by suicide. She is as real as they come, and full of love.

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#calledtoserveinkalaupapa

2020 seems to be a year with great cause for tears... In this solo episode, Kristen rejoices in the beauty and power of our emotions that produce tears - what can we learn?! About our needs, and our opportunity to grow and expand our capacity for empathy, and beyond?!

“When you can’t stop crying, Margaret, plant some roses. Then one day when you feel like laughing again, you’ll have rosebuds to give away.” - Margaret of Molokai, author Mel White

Is there someone who needs the softness and fertile space of your heart after your tears?

“God say, ‘Son, you have to RUN. You have to face the challenges.’”

Suresh Kumar was born to two parents afflicted with leprosy in the state of Bihar, India. I had the opportunity in November of 2018 to work in the village where he grew up, Little Flower. He has since returned from working abroad to make a difference for his home and all who live there, those with leprosy and their families. He is an inspiring man who dreams big and runs fast in that direction...listen and be ready to leave prepared to do the same...

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“What I dream, I RUN behind my dream. I know it takes some time, but whatever I dream, I achieve successfully.”

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“So confidence comes from there - if I believe in God, and we pray to God, we offer our request to God, definitely God is there to help. And Baba say, you have to give your 99%. Then God will help with the 1%, definitely.”

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To learn more and to send aid to his efforts to make the hospital for leprosy affected patients beautiful, and assist with his restaurant dream go to:

https://risingstaroutreach.org

(This is the wonderful organization that sent me to work in Little Flower.)

“I’ve been searching for ways to heal myself, and I’ve found that kindness is the best way.” -Lady Gaga

This last week I experienced small acts of BIG kindness on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a game changer, and I am inspired to do more, and be more...kind.

“What is quite clearly the most consistent and all-embracing act of faith is called Chesed, which means kindness and implies the giving of oneself to helping another without regard to compensation.” - Rabbi Maurice Lamm

“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” - Bob Kerrey

@georgettevolcano

👉🏼The stellar baker who shared his chocolate lilikoi macaroons and beyond with this nomad. ❤️

🌈Find a new way to show kindness this week...

Sarah Black and I have crossed paths in a gaggle of ways across the years and waters of this earth since our freshman year in college. She is an artist in every way who has found a beautiful craft to spread light and awareness to the world. It starts with her fabulous bags...

EXCERPTS FROM MY CONVERSATION WITH THE LOVELY SARAH BLACK:

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“I can’t imagine not using my talents to help other people.”

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“I think there’s always room... no one has the same voice or opinion you do...There’s someone who needs you to speak up...”

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“Whatever you’re doing, I think everyone is a creator...To some degree. I think that is the divine in us...we are built to create.”

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“You really find your people when you do what you love.”

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Follow her:

❤️@annebsarah

❤️@choosemade

And this woman creating incredible quilts using stunning colors to represent an daring awareness to the stunning humans of color we must remember...

❤️@bisabutler

A solo episode with yours truly, Kristen Leigh. Her first “red carpet pep talk” for YOU.

She speaks of hard work and digging deep to discern where are hearts need us to put our efforts and talents.

“There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.” - Coco Chanel

It all goes back to love.

“Let us ignite this world in a beautiful way... let the fire burn away what we don’t need, and light up what we do.”

YOU are needed right now. ❤️

GUMPTION: spirited initiative and resourcefulness.

Matilda Lartey is a woman of great gumption, as she serves the people affected by disability in Accra, Ghana.

“Anytime I touch someone’s life, I’m so happy about it. We don’t take money from people... on condition, you are serious, you want to do it, I am ready for you... when you are ready, you are serious, I’ll teach you freely from the bottom of my heart, because I know you will also touch someone’s life... “ -Matilda

Tune in to hear her heart as she shares about her non-profit foundation and how to help. She may just inspire you to magnify your talents for the benefit of others.

Thank you for your patience as recording an interview from a closet in Kalaupapa to a mobile data plan in Ghana presented difficulties, however, a good cause will always win. 🙏🏽 Namaste.

CONNECT:

Matilda Lartey

MFI Foundation

Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation

https://mfifashionghana.org

Instagram: MFIfashionGhana

https://www.facebook.com/matilda.lartey.37201

Collaborating Non-Profit

https://makefashionclean.org/

“There was this expectation.. I wanted to do something big...you want to leave your mark...and it’s really interesting, I’m feeling so happy... I can make a big difference in the lives of people around me...and at the end of the day that’s what matters.” -Christina Stinson

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Tune in to the first guest episode of @redcarpethumanitarian with my dear angel friend in New Zealand, Christina Stinson. She will inspire you to believe that the things you love can be used for blessing others... and then to go out and do it!!

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Please leave a rating/comment if you feel to do so!

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Namaste.

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Connect with Christina!

Instagram: createbychristina

Facebook: Christina Stinson

Welcome to the first episode of Red Carpet Humanitarian. I am your host, Kristen Leigh, and I am thrilled to have you here. In this intro, I share the origin story and my dream for this podcast.

Origins:

1. As an actress moving to Los Angeles, I started a blog: My journey to the red carpet.

#calledtoserveinLosAngeles

2. Before leaving to serve in a leprosy colony in Northern India, I cut up a thrifted red dress to create a “red carpet” I could bring to humans I felt deserved to be “seen.”

This podcast is the digital version of that red carpet. A place to marvel at the “stars” I found in the humblest of places around the world. I hope you will join me each week, and allow your heart to connect with those I have met, and see what is possible for us all as we emerge with more light.

Namaste : “The divine in me bows to the divine in you.”

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship... There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

“Thee lift me, and I’ll lift thee, and we’ll ascend together.” - Scottish proverb

[email protected]

Instagram: redcarpethumanitarian