100 Thousand Poets for Peace

Yesterday I participated in 100, 000 Poets for Peace, performing three poems about waking up to our true size and capability for Peace. I have been asked to post my introduction, which follows. (Tomorrow I will post the poems.)

In these heartbreaking times, when we have to reach so very deep for compassion and resilience, it’s not a simple thing to get a handle on what peace can be. We know it isn’t passive, that we can’t meditate and leave it at that. Peace is active and its action starts with a rooting out of violence and war inside ourselves. I see peace as a weave of my own personal peace with yours. And yours, and yours and yours.  A weaving of our personal healings into a vibrant, collective tapestry, a cloth of justice and harmony spread across the planet.

It may sound like a mere poetic metaphor. But saying—we are all connected, the peace we each create affects the peace of the planet— is no longer only a lyrical mantra. There is scientific proof, everything IS connected. A butterfly fluttering in Morelia affects a windstorm in Asia. And my reconciliation with that friend I haven’t spoken to in ten years contributes to the peace of the planet in an actual way. If I work for peace with anger and judgment, I contribute, not peace, but anger and judgment. The way you and I react to things creates waves of energy that move outward precisely like the Butterfly Effect, influencing the people and the world around us in small and large ways.

We can follow politics and register as Citizens Abroad for our absentee ballots, but we need to be responsible in another way as well. It’s time to dismantle the coverups inside ourselves. If I want to work so the Wall doesn’t get built on the border, I need to face and tear down my own walls. I need to do my own Disarmament work, so that my energetic imprint contributes to peace. Everyhing IS connected, and working for peace starts with an inside job. To step up to that work, let’s wake up to our largest selves!

Ajijic photo by Susa