I Wonder Why?

April 1, 2022 - This poem, written in 2015, reflected what I thought was a confusing time. Somewhat like the sign above, found in Gerlach, Nevada, I didn't know if it was a beginning or an ending. Now we know: strange times were just beginning. Where or when it will end is still to be determined. Maybe it's just part of the human state with almost 8 billion people trying to make it through the day on one fragile planet.

I wonder why?

I wonder why I, who believes in no dogma,

Who can no longer wear the badge of Christianity,

Keep asking myself, “What would Jesus do?"

And receiving an answer so different

from what I see around me?

I wonder why?

I wonder why we who live in the shelter

of freedom and abundance, allow mega-corps

a free ride while our wounded wander homeless,

our children go to bed hungry, and those who

have never known freedom or abundance

are turned away from our door?

I wonder why?

I wonder why we lock our doors at night and then

turn our backs on the creeping devastation coming our way?

I wonder why we still pour our money into weapons of mass

destruction as we climb into our cars and drink manufactured

water out of invincible bottles that will inherit our earth?

I wonder why?

I wonder why the heroes of our grandchildren are vampires,

zombies, and dead souls weaving their way through a dystopian

world without hope or reason, and why they inflict pain 

on their tender bodies in a search for art and meaning?

I wonder why?

I wonder why we lost our way?

Intend Peace

On September 15, 2009, I began this blog. At the time, it was called Peaceful Legacies and it helped me stay peaceful through challenging times. As my life changed, the identity of the blog changed and now it is changing again. Once again it began when a piece of art resurfaced ... art that was created as I thought about my intentions.

Here it is again with my renewed commitment to these intentions:

Trust Love
Create Beauty
Seek Truth
Give Freely
Receive Easily

Listen Generously
See Goodness
Honor Self
Laugh Often
Practice Joy

Be thankful for EVERYTHING!

Love Notes: Barbara Gaughen-Muller

Barbara Gaughen-Muller

Some miracles happen instantly: a call out of the blue, a sudden connection that takes you in a new direction, an insight that greets you when your eyes open in the morning.

Other miracles develop over time, building momentum until you’re finally gobsmacked by their magnitude. Barbara Gaughen-Muller is one of those slow building miracles in my life.

Barbara is a gift to everyone she comes in contact with. I call her a happy pill. She sees the best in everyone and never holds back in telling them how wonderful they are. I hope to someday be the person she thinks I am.

As often happens to people with an attitude like Barbara's, she has led a charmed life. She is a beautiful, larger than life presence who sweeps you up into her energy. She focused that energy into public relations and her talent for connection created magic from Hollywood to New York.

I met Barbara about 25 years ago and had the fun of watching her fall in love with Robert Muller, a life-long leader of the United Nations. Together they toured the world and hung out with a stellar crew of world movers and shakers. She lost Robert a few years ago but still pours her energy into the peace movement and played a key role in the Rotary World Peace Conference 2016 held earlier this year.

Over the years, in all my many zigs and zags, she has always found time to be a cheerleader for me. Talking to her for just a few minutes always gives me an "OMG I can do this” shot of adrenaline. And, sometimes, that’s all it takes … one person who believes in you.

Thank you, Barbara … I love you.

Barbara is also the co-author of Revolutionary Conversations which offers readers the brilliant SHARE model …  Stop-Help-Ask-Risk-Explore, which, once you understand it, becomes an almost automatic way of thinking.

Read more about Barbara here:

http://www.peaceconference2016.org/barbara-gaughen-muller/

https://www.seeintl.org/gaughen-muller/

This Morning I Woke Up

Peace, Joyce Wycoff

This morning I woke up in a place

I’ve dreamed about 

for as long as I can remember.

It’s a place that has called to me for decades

but stubbornly remained obscured 

in the geography of my mind.

I’m not sure how I got here.

I didn’t get in a car, board a plane 

or even walk down the block.

I just woke up and found myself here,

listening to the rain fall,

feeling the cells of my body realign themselves.

I woke up in the middle of a thought

when the world suddenly went quiet

and want and need dropped away.

No one brought me here.

No thing brought me here.

Here was always here;

it was me who was somewhere else,

thinking I had things to do.

Now that I’m here,

I realize that no thing matters.

 

Now that I’m here,

I think I’ll stay.

Hunger for Peace

JR won a TED prize with his wish to turn the world inside out with art.  In this TED Talk, he tells the story of how people are changing the world one picture at a time.

Peace Pilgrim

This month marks the 60th anniversary of a remarkable pilgrimage.

A story by NPR reports:  In 1953, Mildred Norman set off from the Rose Bowl parade on New Year's Day with a goal of walking the entire country for peace.  She left her given name behind and took up a new identity:  Peace Pilgrim.

She vowed to be a wanderer until mankind learned the way of peace and walked over 25,000 miles and fasted until she was offered food, and traveled on foot until she was given shelter.  To prepare for her walk she hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one year -- the first woman to do so.  Determined to walk until the world declared peace, she walked for 28 years carrying no money, with only the clothes on her back and a few items in her pockets.  She died in 1981 … riding in a car.

Stepping into Stillness

 "Today my intent is to step into stillness and let the Universe handle the details."

-- message from Krystina Morgainne in her daily "Wow Moments"  

Yesterday was Day 2 of the private "garage sale/party/meet the new neighbors" event that was part of my relocation process.  Only a few things were priced, everything else was ... take what you want, drop something in the red basket.  It worked fine and I didn't have to obsess over pricing and worry about haggling.  It left me free to visit and tell stories about the departing "treasures."  It also "cleaned the cupboard" ... everything else now goes with me.  I like this process of clearing space every few years.  It gives me a chance to re-evaluate all the stuff around me and see shifts ... where something was too important to let go of two years ago, now it is easy to see that I've moved on and no longer need its energy.

Preparing for the garage sale was a detail and I didn't realize how noisy it was until it was over, the people were gone and stillness flowed around me.  Today I'm doing an Artist Statement/Rackcard workshop at Timberline Gallery.  There will be many details swirling around me ... I turn them all over to the Universe and will stay in this stillness.

About this image:  Searching for Peace

 This is a piece I did a few years ago when I was desperately searching for peace.  I put a bunch of old art into the garage sale and was delighted when it all found homes.  The stimulus images were a portion of a mosaic floor in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport and a rock garden I visited in Big Sur where a "Peace" sign was hanging in a tree.  

It reminds me of how far I've come on my journey and how blessed I am to have found peace and a life that brings me joy every day.

Art for Today: Intend Peace

Today's art meditation:  Intend Peace