Good morning, Community. To all the parents, caregivers, teachers, and lovers of children, I send out this message to you:
May you feel Peace inside of you today and always. May that Peace reach beyond your own body, into your family, and into your surrounding community.
I checked out an illustrated children's book from the library back at the end of May. At the time, it really resonated with some things I was going through personally, and I set it aside to copy quotes into my journal. The drawings are beautiful and the message was powerful, but I did not realize just how powerful until I finally picked it up again today. After a month and half of continued mindfulness meditation practice and continued learning on the topic, I returned to the book with new eyes. It is so much more than a children's picture book, but rather a treatise on living for people of any age.
In "Peace," Wendy Anderson Halperin depicts the impact that human beings have on one another in an emotionally moving and artistically creative way. She uses over 80 quotes from a wide range of visionaries including Maya Angelou, William Faulkner, Desmond Tutu, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Confucius and many more. The notion that peace begins within and gradually grows to impact the world on a global level, is illustrated page by page with narrative that ascends and descends to ultimately portray the circular nature of interdependence.
I highly recommend you check it out. In the meantime, I will enjoy it as long as I can before someone else catches on to its magnificence and I need to return it to the library. When that happens, I'll definitely be acquiring my own copy. Thanks, Wendy Anderson Halperin.
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As an aside, when I opened up my email this morning, I learned that yesterday was Deepak Chopra's 2nd Annual Global Meditation for Compassion. The idea of meditating for peace together with a community across the world feels powerful beyond words to me, and I'm a little sad that I missed it (although I had a wonderful day visiting with family, which I realize is an aspect of building peace in its own right). This may sound silly to those who haven't yet experienced what a few mindful minutes a day can do for one's own life. If that's the case, forget the global idea, but try it yourself... What's the gamble in carving out a few minutes each day to sit and do nothing, when the payout could be a more peaceful, enjoyable and dare I say more productive life? I hope you do...
