Smart, savvy women jazz me. I include pioneering women like Mary Baker Eddy, Myrtle Fillmore, Johnnie Colemon and H. Emilie Cady in this category. And, then there are  a select few women whose accomplishments compel me to take action. I count Louise Hay among the elite group. These women operate like forces of nature. Nothing can stop them.

Louise Hay - Science of Mind's 2009 Spiritual Hero of the Year

Beyond Ms. Hay's personal accomplishments, which include being the 6th all-time best-selling female authorever, healing herself of cervical cancerwithoutmedical intervention, working with AIDS patients at a time when they were considereduntouchableand much, much more, Louise has almostsinglehandedlymoved New Thought from the fringe into the mainstream.

Doesn't that just turn you on? I'd get to work now but I have to finish this article first.

Now, imagine my excitement when I found not one, but two in-depth articles written about Ms. Hay. I found the first article, entitled "The Queen of the New Age" by Mark Oppenheimer, through an archival search on theNew York Timeswebsite. And, the second article came to me courtesy of a dear Facebook friend. This article, entitled "The Ambassador of New Thought" by Claudia Abbott, appears in the January 2010 issue of "Science of Mind."

As expected, each interviewer approaches Ms. Hay from a different point of view. Abbott's story in "Science of Mind" proclaims Ms. Hay the "Spiritual Hero of the Year." But, while it touches on Ms. Hay's tremendous accomplishments, it fails to give the full weight of what Hay House means for New Thought now and to future generations. Quite frankly, I was surprised to find that Abbott did not offer a proper context in which to consider Hay House and its achievements.

New Thought has always had a literary tradition. Our principles have chiefly been communicated through the written word. It's why the inspirational quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and others touch us so deeply. Check the Facebook fan page of any person talking about the Law of Attraction (which is what mainstream media has reduced New Thought to) and you'll find it chock full of inspirational quotations from these thinkers and others.

Consider this: in an industry run amok with consolidation, where the big eat the little, Hay House has not only survived, but it has also thrived. According to Oppenheimer's profile, Hay House has the cash reserves to pay advances that rival those of larger publishing houses (upwards of $1,000,000). Moreover, they've pioneered a model wherein their writers' fortunes do not turn on book sales or critical reviews alone. Instead, the writers earn royalties on their books as well as ancillary products inspired by their books, i.e. greeting cards, inspirational keepsakes, etc. No other publishing house can make this claim. And, Hay House has consistently fended off larger corporations that have sniffed around, attempting to purchase them.

Ms. Hay (and her business partner Reid Tracy) has built a company that can survive long after she's gone. And, this is significant because it is the first time that a sustainable business like Hay House has been produced fromwithinthe New Thought community. We have lots of wonderful New Thought books. And, we've had strong businessmen like Robert Collier ("The Secret of the Ages") and Napoleon Hill ("Think and Grow Rich") and many more. But, those men came from the business world and latched on to New Thought principles. They made use of New Thought teachings, but they laid no business apprenticeship pathways for others to follow.

Conversely, Ms. Hay has built a media empire that creates pathways to wealth for other New Thought adherents. That's major!

I expected Oppenheimer to miss the true value of Hay House and he doesn't disappoint. But, I expected a publication like "Science of Mind" to zero in on an important perspective like this. Here is a woman who has taken New Thought out of relative obscurity and made it mainstream. Moreover, she didn't just build a company that benefits herself; she has instead created a lasting platform from which New Thought writers can be launched for years to come.

Before there was a Rhonda Byrne, there was a Louise Hay tearing down walls and barriers so that a video like "The Secret" could have a platform.

The mainstream media is going to color our stories in a shade of weird. Consider the backlash in the review column on for "The Secret." Few people want to accept FULL responsibility for their experience - the good and the bad. Even though what we teach -that you can have the life you want, just choose it- has the ring of truth for them, it always comes back to the question of why bad things happen to good people. "So, are you saying that the people who died in the 9/11 attacks brought that on themselves?" they will ask.

As the next generation of New Thought thinkers, we cannot look at ourselves through the lens of the mainstream media. Just as we choose the lives we lead, we must also choose the lens through which we see ourselves. Louise Hay has done something that is utterly remarkable and should be recognized appropriately for it. She is way more than just a spiritual hero. Let us give Hay House and Louise Hay her full and proper due.