1:05 a.m. - 2003-09-19
Peace
I woke up this morning with a profound sense of calm and peace. My first thought was "I must be dead". I hadn't felt that degree of being centered, "non-attached" as the Buddhists describe it, since my teens. Then the twinge in my hip, a stuffy nose, the sound of the cats playing happily in the nursery, and fleeting memories of dreams that involved stopping animal abuse (what is up with that) suggested that I was still in this world. Oh well.
That didn't change my mood at all though. In fact, it was heightened by the knowledge that in my teens I wasn't responsible for nurturing and supporting a family, I didn't have to worry about the where and when of my next contract, I had grown up with a strong sense of safety and trust, and I knew little of the type of people who I now deal with on a day to day basis. Yet, even with all the additional responsibility and knowledge I have now, I still felt centered most of the day. Lost contact with it a bit during the evening news, but watched White Christmas as an antidote. The "Counting My Blessings" song always calms me down and reminds me what's important. I'm not certain why this gift of peace now, but I'm grateful for it.
There was an interesting article in the librarians' e-newsletter I receive library. Apparently for the first time in decades, the top four out of five bestsellers on political issues have been expressing non-conservative philosophies. The sense is that the tide of public opinion and values has undergone a significant shift. I guess war and economic problems focus peoples' attention on what is really important to them rather than "the what's in it for me" syndrome. The stage for this values shift seemed to be set by the recent series of revelations of the degree of corruption pervading large corporations and public institutions such as Enron, Arthur Andersen, the church sex scandals, and "lies our governments have told us". The bias in the media with respect to what and how it reports information, also appears to be in question.
Synchronously, in the same set of e-newsletters was one offering information about an upcoming three day conference/workshop in Puerto Rico in early December. The focus? To ensure that the global problems inequities of information have created - media and government reporting for example - are better understood. The purpose is to improve the quality of citizens' responses to our governments' "problem solving" initiatives. The belief being that as a community we would rather help than beat down other communities who are already suffering. The organizers? Oscar Arias Sanchez (Costa Rica) Nobel Peace Laureate 1987, Deepak Chopra: Author, Antonio Fas Alzamora: Puerto Rican Senate President, Baltazar Garzon (Spain) Judge Advocate International, Justice Kerry Kennedy-Cuomo (USA) Human Rights Advocate, Ashok Khosla (India) Environmentalist, Ricky Martin (Puerto Rico) Grammy Award Winner, Sara Osacky-Lazar (Israel) Co-Director Arab-Israeli Center for Peace, Roberto Savio (Italy) Founder Inter Press Service, and Betty Williams (Ireland) Nobel Peace Laureate 1976. solutions is their web-site.
I found the list of organizers fascinating, because it is far from the usual mix. It has a very strong representation from "latin" countries. Maybe it's time that another perspective drives the process. The euro-centered version has been a dismal failure. I think part of that has been because of a basic distrust of the original colonizers by countries needing a hand up that just could not be overcome. Critical co-operation on objectives was rarely present as a result. We'll see. I would love to go, but right now I'm still looking for work therefore it's not a line item in the "basic needs" part of my budget. Maybe there will be other ways I can be involved. Don't know.
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