Dona Nobis Pacem

With everything going on, I almost missed Blog Blast for Peace Day! But I didn't :)

I don't consider myself nearly well-versed enough to tackle such heavy subjects as the war in Iraq or Darfur or any of the world issues. I have to speak about what I know.

I do believe in the phrase "Think Globally, Act Locally." So what does that mean in terms of peace?

Honestly? I'm still figuring it out.

Here's what I do know: when I participate, when I get involved, when I take the time to do something for a cause that's bigger than me, bigger than my family, I feel great. I feel like my place in the world makes some sort of sense. I feel connected to the human beings around me that make it all worthwhile.

A couple of years ago, the girls and I joined an annual event. We volunteer for Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots annual Day of Peace celebration. We get to go to one of the greatest treasures Los Angeles has to offer, Griffith Park, and watch doves made from love fly around us. We dance to music, we listen to speeches from brilliant people (including the amazing Jane Goodall), and we feel honored to be a part of it somehow. Sylvia even made her own speech there once:



It's an event that combines education and appreciation of our environment, our animals, and our humanity that together, can make possible Peace on Earth. Experiencing that, even just one day a year, is something we treasure and take with us in some aspect for the rest of that year until the next.

But there are even simpler ways to be involved, to make our own contributions.

The most obvious is for those of us who are parents to think about what we are teaching our children, and remembering that they learn the most from the examples we set.

But even more than that, there's simply each one of us. Taking the time to listen. Taking the time to care about another human being's troubles. Taking the time to offer a shoulder, and even more when you can.

And taking the time to take care of ourselves. We cannot run on empty forever. We cannot be at peace with ourselves if we continue to beat ourselves up for mistakes made long ago. We do the best we can to rectify them, live with them, and learn from them. We cannot be at peace with ourselves if deny our anger, our sense of loss, our desires. We have to find ways to deal with those feelings and let them pass through us in the least harmful ways. We cannot be at peace with ourselves if we shut ourselves off from those who care. We have to let them in, give them opportunities to earn our trust, and lean on them when we need it. We have to respect ourselves as we should respect others.

It can't get any more "local" than starting with just us. And anyone of us, and anyone of our children, could be as internationally important as Jane Goodall herself.



For more Blog Blast for Peace posts, check out Mimi Writes...