Natural Awakenings Offers New Dating Website


ust in time for Valentine’s Day, Natural Awakenings is premiering a new online dating site, NaturalAwakeningsSingles.com, in partnership with the Conscious Dating Net-


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work, the Internet’s largest and oldest conscious/ spiritual/green dating site. Niche, online dating offers singles an efficient way to screen and date potential partners that share similar values and interests and are ready to be in a loving relationship. Natu- ralAwakeningsSingles.com is designed to facilitate this enlightened way of meeting, dating and connecting.


The site will allow singles to join, create a full profile, upload photos and videos, send hellos, indicate interest, and even read and reply to private messages and IMs, all for free. Upgrading, which allows members to initiate personally written messages and IM’s, is inexpensive compared to other online dating sites, with packages ranging from $7.97/ month to $16.97/month. Natural Awakenings Publishing Corp. CEO Sharon Bruckman says, “I’m really excited about this new alliance, which enables us to offer our 80-plus Natural Awaken- ings publishers around the country yet another way to help their readers connect with like-minded people, this time for the purpose of creating conscious relationships. I can’t wait to hear the new love stories!”


For more information, visit NaturalAwakeningsSingles.com. Receive a 20 percent Valentine’s discount when joining in Feb. by using the referral code, “NASingles”. See ad, page 9.


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Gratitude Kisses Lori Portka


eventspotlight


Clean Energy Resource Teams Conference in St. Cloud T


he Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) will hold their biennial conference this month. The conference will run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on February 20 and from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on February 21, at the St. Cloud River’s Edge Convention Center. The CERTs 2013 Conference will be an exploration and celebration of successful


energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, and a gathering of hundreds of people who are working to create a clean energy future in their communities and beyond. The first day will begin with workshops on planning solar energy projects, clean


energy efforts by local government and utility collaboration, and concludes with a reception. The second day will feature 10 informative, interactive sessions about clean energy technologies and project development for specific audiences, as well as an opportunity to meet with local attendees to share project ideas. An expo with 60 green organizations and businesses will run both days. CERTs connect Minnesotans with resources to identify and implement energy ef- ficiency and renewable energy projects.


Cost: Admission prices vary; discounts for students. Location: St. Cloud River’s Edge Convention Center, 10 4th Ave. S., St. Cloud. For more information and registration, visit 2013.mncerts.org. See ad on back of magazine.


A former counselor and educator, fine artist Lori Portka delights in the favorite things that inspire her: nature, traveling, animals, yoga and friends. She lets her art pour out in boldly rendered images that burst from each canvas via saturated pastels, paints, chalks and inks to forge a visceral connection between artist and viewer. “I make artwork that is a reflection of gratitude and joy in the world,” says Portka, whose expressive works fulfill her mission of spreading happiness through art. A personal loss led Portka to begin painting again at 30-something for the first time since the 10th grade, a process she says has opened her heart even more deeply. Inspired by Australian photographer and filmmaker Hailey Bartholomew’s documentary, 365 Grateful, about living on the sunny side of life, Portka embarked upon her own project, A Hundred Thank-Yous, creat- ing and giving away 100 paintings to 100 people that have touched her life, she says, “in a beautiful way.” “I feel like I am on the right path,


doing what I am supposed to do,” she explains. “Art feels like home to me.”


View the artist’s portfolio and follow her blog at LoriPortka.com.


natural awakenings February 2013 7


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