This headline from the online Palm Beach Post News caught my eye on Twitter.

10 naked people caught making a peace sign in Delray Beach

Cool, I thought, why not?
Well, it turns out that peacemaking nudity is not an option in the United States. Read on, MacDuff!   Read more...

Lions clubs around the world sponsor the Lions International Peace Poster Contest in local schools and youth groups every year. The image above is the Grand Prize winner from 2008-2009.
Their story goes …

This contest encourages young people worldwide to artistically express their visions of peace. The theme of the 2009-10 Peace Poster Contest was “The Power of Peace.” Students age 11-13 by November 15 were eligible to participate.   Read more...

I was talking with an acquaintance the other day and we were speaking in general terms about parenting while also sharing experiences. I didn’t know this person very well so I wasn’t sure how receptive she would be to learning that my kids never have consequences put on them that my husband and I get to make up. Natural consequences, yes, those are a part of being alive and human. A natural consequence is very different than an arbitrary one. Many, ok most, parents I meet look at me like I am from Mars when I tell them my kids have never been grounded and have never gotten punished. (My guys are 12.) I see the look on their face of, “so you are a permissive parent whose children run all over you and control you.” I understand their reaction, as it goes against the advice of most “parenting” books . Thankfully, the advice of giving kids consequences and making up arbitrary punishments never felt right to me. My kids are grateful for that!

After I tell people that we “don’t do” punishments or consequences, they either quickly change the subject, or they ask me what this non-punishment “looks like” in our house. It is scary for many people to think about doing things differently than what was done to them and/or what they see as “normal” in their culture. They turned out “all right”, they say. If we all buy into our fears, nothing good would ever happen! Parenting is evolving, it has to. I was afraid to do things differently at first too, but I knew in my heart I could do it no other way. It was not an easy road at first; jumping outside the box isn’t always the easiest route. However, jumping outside the box is what keeps us evolving into more conscious, compassionate people. Change is good.   Read more...

We all value ourselves. Sometimes we don’t. Relationships are an integral part of our well being, but there are times when we unknowingly allow close relationships to impinge upon who we truly are. Love is a thing of splendor, true, but sometimes even the closest relationships could go askew and stifle us, and that is when we need to examine closely. Are we really letting ourselves go, in a literal way? Is this love or relationship adding to my value, or taking away something from my valued self?

Often there are times when we find ourselves in a Hamlet like situation “to be or not to be” read, ‘to give in or not to give in’ to some of the demands our partner makes on our inner resources.   Read more...

Japanese culture and way of thought are in many ways quite special. And when other outlooks come in contact with things Japanese, some interesting and sometimes amusing results can emerge.

Here, for example, it is considered extremely insensitive and impolite to praise yourself or those connected to you. Personal identity is far more than one’s ego and being. It includes all those connected to you, whether that be family, colleagues, schoolmates, or club members. Here in Asia the fundamental awareness is, “You are, therefore I am.” In fact, the character for “person” consists of two slanting lines, one resting on the other, making a sort of upside down “Y”. This is a small everyday reminder that a person is not an isolated individual, but rather part of a larger network. You are because of all those who hold you up and support you. A true culture of dependence.   Read more...

I know, I know, it’s after Valentine’s Day, and I’m writing (again) about The Valentine Peace Project, but this is for a good cause. Federico Hewson, the founder, is looking to create the world’s first peace brand!   Read more...

In the January-February 2010 issue of Spirituality & Health, Sister Karen Zielinski, OSF, writes about a special day of spiritual practice for peace: The World Day of Social Justice.

Now, ordinarily, I’m with Lao Tze on the justice front, but read Sister Karen’s first paragraph:

Rather than lose weight, read more books, or exercise more, why not resolve this year to share peace? Giving peace away is just what our troubled world needs (and what we personally need, too). It is a simple idea—but a challenging one. Giving away peace does not cost much, but it calls us to change our way of thinking and to respond to our planet and the people on it.   Read more...

V-Day isn’t always a delight for everyone. Not everyone has drunk the koolaid of our couple society. More to the point, a lot of us are d-o-n-e with coupledom. What to do?

Tip #1: Acknowledge how you feel about Valentine’s Day even if it’s only in your bathroom mirror. Don’t dwell on it, but tell yourself the truth about it. There are as many responses to this holiday as there are souls. Your feelings are yours, and they’re legitimate.   Read more...

“Fish smells from the head” – Vietnamese proverb.

Therefore, if our society stinks, chances are today’s leaders have gaps in integrity and honesty.

Most people cannot imagine Spirituality and Leadership mentioned in the same breath. To many this is combining two entirely unrelated concepts. Yet, the level of our intelligence and our ability to think and analyze and the fact that the human mind’s base is compassion and goodness, this combination of unlikely bedfellows may create the new story we need for the future.

Father Thomas Berry, the late eminent ecologist said in his book Evening Thoughts; “The old story has ended and we are not quite sure what this new story is all about”.   Read more...

I read about this on Amazing Women Rock.

Here’s a small-is-beautiful, grassroots community peace initiative request from De Whalen, of the Richmond Women’s Resource Center, in British Columbia, Canada.

To be a part of this cool 2010 Peace Project coinciding with the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, send your peace message today. I’ve already sent mine!   Read more...