Peace and Absorption

Andi McDaniel wrote in the August issue of Ode about a new kind of school near Copenhagen. It has architectural zones based on three learning concepts. They are:

Peace and Absorption
Discussion and Cooperation
Security and Presence

A far cry from the rote that characterized my everlastingly dull grade school experience.

In looking at the three zones, I am struck by how much they encompass the results that cultivating peace creates.

Inviting peace into learning helps absorption.
Learning under stressful conditions foils it.
Inviting peace into discussion fosters cooperation.
Discussion under stress dissolves it.
Inviting peace into security allows us to be present.
Security under stress makes us absent.

Some days my heart breaks that more of us are not more committed to creating peace. Its benefits are legion. If only we’d give peace a chance.