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...

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...

The Japanese are famous for their board games. And an adult student of mine is an avid Go player. He joins games several times a week, and has become so skilled at it that he has become an instructor.

I hunger to learn all I can about different cultures, particularly the one I am in. So, when he invited me to one of his Go classes, of course I went.

That particular group consisted of older folks, who had the time to take their hobby seriously. A few members would come in, concentrate intensely as they played a game or two, and leave. Then others would arrive. This went on all day. This relaxed, friendly atmosphere was as important, or more so, than the games themselves.   Read more...

Deep down we all wish to live a rich and enlightened life and that is why we make those resolutions every year, for greater biological efficiency, less disease, increased finances, successful career, and an increasingly better quality of life. It is still not too late. Only a month has passed and there are eleven glorious months left to turn a new leaf, open a new chapter or just quietly revel in the sudden newness of your life.   Read more...

I just knew he was on our team!

Santa Claus is awarded for advocating for children.
Photo courtesy Joy Strotz

Santa Claus has won the 2009 Peace Prize presented by The Santa Claus Peace Council in Antalya, Turkey. STCPC, founded in Turkey by Muammer Karabulut, presents a new example of citizen diplomacy that occurs when an individual citizen, or non-governmental organization, in one country develops a strong relationship with the same in another country. In this circumstance, a clear East-West bond has formed.   Read more...

Touch is the first sensation we feel when we come into this world. A child’s mental, emotional and physical well-being initially depends a lot on a tender touch. Doctors insist on a newborn baby being placed immediately on the mother’s bosom to feel her heartbeat and to experience the gentle touch of her arms around the body. This helps the child gain a profound sense of security and it later helps in developing their self-esteem, as an adult.

Touch is a very important sensation for human beings to gain a sense of healthy emotional responses later in life. Every child learns the sensation of love and tenderness first with his mother’s touch. Even plants and animals respond to touch. They grow well, feel nurtured and cared for when they are touched. We bring animals into our homes and call them pet. The word pet is all about petting, touching, indulging and caring.

Touch is the nourishment for our soul. Touch releases the endorphins in the brain and essentially helps us feel good.   Read more...

Fire engines with their bright colors, whining sirens, rush and roar always seem to captivate a corner in everyone’s psyche. The entire heightened experience lends a sense of danger, of thrill, and of reassurance that there are folks brave enough to protect the most vulnerable in times of extreme emergency.

In Japan with its wooden houses and open-flame heaters, along with the reality of earthquakes, fires are a looming possibility at anytime. People live with a subtle, almost unconscious sense of insecurity. So, every evening, fire trucks periodically clang through the neighborhoods, providing a sense of vigilance and safety. Because they are so needed, firefighters are very highly respected in this sensitive archipelago. And every year in January, there is a day set aside to honor the fire departments and all those who serve in them.   Read more...

In their new book, Traveling with Pomegranates, Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, co-write a wonderful coming of age metaphor for their relationship as mother and daughter. They take the writing in turns as they share a travel adventure.

It was Sue’s prose that prompted this post as it echoed my own journey through menopause and my fifties.   Read more...

A friend sent me this article by Missy Comley Beattie. It has been reprinted in myriad publications on the Internet. Ms. Beattie’s bio: Missy Beattie lives in New York City. She's written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. An outspoken critic of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq, she's a member of Gold Star Families for Peace. She completed a novel last year, but since the death of her nephew, Marine Lance Cpl. Chase J. Comley, in Iraq on August 6,'05, she has been writing political articles.

“A few days ago, I was walking down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan when I noticed colorful ribbons, hanging from the iron fence in front and around the side of the magnificent Marble Collegiate Church. The green, blue, and gold streamers enticed me to cross the street and read the marker explaining the significance of the project called Prayers for Peace.   Read more...