52 Weeks of Peace [squared] / Week #67
Peace (~ and life ~ and beauty ~) exists, yes, even within life’s rough surfaces, craggy edges and crumbling emotions. It’s up to us to discover and allow, with eyes, heart and mind open.
Peace (~ and life ~ and beauty ~) exists, yes, even within life’s rough surfaces, craggy edges and crumbling emotions. It’s up to us to discover and allow, with eyes, heart and mind open.
“Night and day the river flows. If time is the mind of space, the River is the soul of the desert. Brave boatmen come, they go, they die, the voyage flows on forever. We are all canyoneers. We are all passengers on this little mossy ship, this delicate dory sailing round the sun that humans call the earth. Joy, shipmates, joy.” (Edward Abbey, The Hidden Canyon – A River Journey)
Where to next?
(ps: you can see all “where in the world is peace?” images compiled on our special “where in the world is peace?” page. Our book is on Amazon, our totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com or post them on our FaceBook page. Let’s see where peace goes!)
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
Postcards! Snippets of our lives captured with a picture and a few friendly words that tell someone we’re thinking of them. Except now… with instant email access from almost anywhere in the world, pictures arriving within seconds on our cell phones and exotic places available daily on tv, handwritten postcards are near extinction, relegated to “nostalgia”.
There was a time when it was a treat to send something in the mail from faraway places ~ maybe India or Paris or Jamaica, or from a child at summer camp “a million miles from home” ~ and just as much a treasure to receive.
Now, we’re home before the card. Or we’ve skyped from Finland. Or we’ve shared our stories on Facebook. The postcard is old news.
But this is also true: there isn’t one of us who doesn’t harbor a secret wish for a real letter in the mail. A real birthday card, a real thank you card, a real postcard. With real words written with a real pen by a real live bona fide human being who took the time to write … to you! There’s nothing that says “I’m thinking of you” more than a hand-written or hand-typed note. If you aren’t convinced, watch the sparkle in the eyes of a kid growing up on electronic communication when they see a real envelope in the real mailbox addressed to their very own name.
So maybe, just maybe, the new beauty of sending a card is actually its “novelty” all over again. And maybe, just maybe, the thoughtful, simple act of writing a note won’t go the way of the dinosaurs, not yet, not 100% completely.
By the way, if you didn’t know, it’s National Postcard Week this week. Every day, all week. So send some love out there!
(Of course, I happen to know about an awesome postcard book…! [forgive the brazen self-promotion] If you haven’t gotten one yet, my publisher has created an e-card set-up this week in honor of National Postcard Week, so you can send a smile to a friend for free. Nice!)
“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.”
~ W. Clement Stone
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
Pretty is a sweet word. Something light and graceful and attractive, maybe even delicate. Pretty is pleasing to the eye, to the ear, to the mind.
We think of “pretty” as feminine, but it’s not for girls only. Sure, we girls like to feel pretty, and I won’t deny that make-up or the right shoes (and definitely the right little black dress!) can give our spirits a lift ~ but one look at a soft pink sunset or a peacock’s feathers, or hearing the sweet song of a flute, or feeling the rhythm of a flowing dance … and I know that we all enjoy the pleasure of pretty.
After all, “pretty” makes the dusty bits of life a little brighter.
52 Weeks of Peace recently hiked the Grand Canyon, relaxed by the sea, warmed by a Virginia fire, went to work, and showed up “after the party”.
Thank you so much for these wonderful shots! ~ and helping to share our mission to inspire individual peace in everyday ways.
Where to next?
ps: you can see all “where in the world is peace?” images compiled on our special “where in the world is peace?” page. Our book is on Amazon, our totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com or post them on our FaceBook page. Let’s see where peace goes!
How did I miss this? It’s wonderful. If you haven’t already seen this terrific piece, I dare you not to enjoy it and take away some inspired thinking (as well as an appreciation for some pretty darn good whiteboard drawing!). If you have seen it, enjoy it again. : )
We should love Mother Earth every day, but since we’ve got “Earth Day” designated on the calendar, and it’ll be here tomorrow (April 22), I figured I’d offer a new bit of peace for the occasion, with this thought-wish:
May peace blossom in your world, with luxuriant petals that fall in soft, lovely patterns reminding us that both peace and the planet are endlessly beautiful. Tend them lovingly ~ for if not me and not you, then who will nurture all that is good and glorious in this world?
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
A perfect rose. A flawless chord. Pure white snow. The softness of a baby’s skin. A child’s laugh. A cherry tomato plucked from the vine. Mountain air.
We all love purity. I think on some level we crave it. And it’s not just a nice concept for optimists, it’s something real and raw, basic and primitive. It’s untouched and genuine. It’s unsullied, honest-to-goodness simplicity.
Even in this increasingly technological world, this world of mayhem, madness and convoluted this and that, a world where a drink may say “organic” because one of ten ingredients may have actually been organic, a world that sometimes seems almost tragically impaired by impurities of all kinds ~ purity can still be found.
We find it in the new seed planted in the garden, in the bear hug from a loved one, in the sunrise. The just right cup of tea. The sparrow’s song. The rhythm of a drum. Wit. Wonder. Wisdom. In so many ways, it’s all around us.
Go get some ~ however small, however large ~ and give it your attention, and let purity wash over your spirit like cleansing waves.
With a Rocky Mountain backdrop, tall pines and splashes of giant red rock, 52 Weeks of Peace traveled west this week, under the big skies of Colorado’s Front Range. (And a little fun was had setting the stage at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater!)
Where to next?
ps: All “where in the world is peace?” images are compiled on our special “where in the world is peace?” page. Our book is on Amazon, our totes, mugs and things are available here. Send your own pictures to 52weeksofpeace@gmail.com and we’ll also post them on our FaceBook page. Let’s see where peace goes!