tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52611973520620540632024-03-13T09:47:25.262-07:00ONE WORDSMITH Writing to simply change the world..."Writing to simply change the world."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-6695933075330398952018-02-12T11:35:00.002-08:002019-08-24T17:29:49.214-07:00Sometimes Heartbreak is A Necessary Thing...<br />
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We all feel it. You know we do. It's that low grade melancholy that is humming in the background of our days... like a radio accidentally left on behind the scenes... droning on for so long that we don't notice it's still there... we don't even hear it anymore.<br />
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We have become acclimatized to the murmur of looming extinction. On our present trajectory, if something isn't done, isn't changed, it's not a question of "if" anymore, but "when." We are so deeply gripped by the stages of grief, we can't recognize them for what they are. Denial... anger... fear... bargaining,.. depression... resignation... helplessness... acceptance.<br />
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Yes, denial is one simple way to deal with the unthinkable. Ignore it and it will go away. But something that <i>spiritually</i> demands attention and cannot be ignored... well, it <b><i><u>haunts.</u></i></b><br />
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When humans are faced with overwhelming danger they default to 3 defenses: <b>fight / flee / freeze.</b> This film "How Do Humans Heal a World?" is designed to move grief that is frozen in place and inspire you to move through the grief to the place where we began and belong-- a place that's familiar, that feels like home. A place called "love." And there is where you make a difference. Love is where you heal the world.<br />
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Barbara is the Founder and Director of Walking Moon Studios, an international studio of artists dedicated to storytelling with art that moves-- metaphorically and literally. Walking Moon films represent art with a message.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-3605955069141463962018-02-12T11:14:00.001-08:002018-02-12T11:22:13.252-08:00<br />
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Sometimes Compassion Must Be Fierce: Revolution, Renewal and Angela Davis</h2>
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She walks into the hall and a cheer goes up while a tear rolls down...<br />
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<a href="https://charterforcompassion.org/restorative-justice/sometimes-compassion-must-be-fierce-revolution-renewal-and-angela-davis" target="_blank">Read the story here.</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-54718351630574424432017-01-28T17:50:00.000-08:002018-02-12T11:20:12.839-08:00The GIft in the Shadow of Climate Change<h3 class="graf--h3 graf--first" id="9437" name="9437">
Or: How do Humans Heal a World?<br />Heartbreak is a Necessary Beginning</h3>
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To an observer, the world can look extremely dysfunctional. Humankind seems mired in violence and hate, in political posturing and war-mongering; people who are supposed to be people-of-faith make “illegitimate” and make “other,” those whose beliefs are different; greed and corruption seem to be running the world and we brace ourselves daily against terrorist attacks like those in Paris and more recently, Belgium. As if that’s not enough, we are bombarded with concern for the environment and climate change.<br />
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With everything already in chaos, we are afraid to admit to ourselves that the planet may be dying even though we suspect there’s truth in it. It seems that we feel the distress on some level whether it’s conscious or not. We can’t wrap our minds around the idea that life on this planet, which includes human life, could cease to exist. We flee in terror from our feelings in order to avoid pain and having to comprehend annihilation. The mind simply cannot embrace the truth for there can be no evacuation — there is nowhere else to go.<br />
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As we gasp for breath and ache for hope, we long for relief from the massive personal and collective suffering and for the magical appearance of a path to new life. We yearn for a mythical rise from the ashes and deliverance to a new beginning, a new way of being in the world. We pray for a savior or wish for a superhero to lead us out of this mess. “He” is us. "She” is humanity. Yes, “we are the ones we have been waiting for;” it’s not just some New Age platitude.</div>
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Every human ego has a shadow side and a bright shadow, which are often in conflict with one another. The ego is the infantile self that demands attention, has tantrums, believes in entitlement, manipulates to get its own way and demands more, more, more and thinks ‘it’s all about me.’ The human bright shadow is the part that connects the ego to the heart and to all sentient life and thus the whole of existence. Bright shadow demonstrates human brilliance and compassion. It reveals most evidently in the midst of tragedy. Give humans a disaster showcasing the suffering of others, and watch the bright shadow emerge and shimmer in those who have the wherewithal to act. It is the noblest of all the kinds of love for it is born of compassion. It is eminently “soulful.”<br />
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<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/environment-reports-and-documents/earth-day-speaker-series-and-presentations-2016" href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/environment-reports-and-documents/earth-day-speaker-series-and-presentations-2016" rel="nofollow"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Learn about the Charter’s Earth Week Speakers Series</strong></a></div>
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Soulful or Soulless?</h4>
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“Soulful” is the natural state of the human being; we come hard-wired for compassion. (Goetz, 2010) We know whether something we are doing is soulful or not. Our body telegraphs to us in unmistakable messages about what is nourishing and soulful and what is life-depleting, harmful and soulless. When you suggest something to your body by holding it in your mind or speaking it, the innate body messaging tells you whether or not it’s soulful. <br />
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You can access and observe it by giving your mind/body a choice. For example, if I asked what is more soulful — spending Saturday volunteering at your local animal shelter or going to the casino? Or what is more soulful — going to the fast food restaurant for dinner or the family making homemade pizza at home, and you temporarily “embody” each, your body’s wisdom tells you clearly what is soulful. When the message is subtle, you need but “listen” more carefully: what is more soulful — roller-blading in the city park or a walk in the forest? Use your imagination to try it on; the body <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">knows</em>.<br />
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Soullessness is destructive; it turns the human spirit dead and hardens the heart. Soulfulness is good for you; it nourishes and brings the human spirit to life — it leaps inside.</div>
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The body summons pain in the face of something that’s not soulful, or when we use only the intellect (head stuff) to examine something instead heart stuff. Discomfort is the price for ignoring that high inner wisdom. Ignore it and watch ease disappear, tightness or tension settle in, or aching, shortness of breath, physical pain, mental anguish, regret, poverty of spirit and eventually opportunistic illness…<br />
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There are those who stand for goodness, human rights and justice tempered with kindness and compassion and who reflect the basic goodness of humanity. They “do the right thing” simply because it is the right thing to do. (The body knows it feels, and is, soulful.) When they stand up, they give others permission to do the same. Then there are those others ignoring the caution messages; they like to make the world in their own cynical image. Does cynicism feel soulful? How about optimism? Hope? Which would your body rather carry?<br />
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Making soulless choices can become habit so that one uses wealth, power and influence to bend the world to a selfish ego and its will. There are those who devalue humans, life and the planet. Practicing habitual soullessness brings people to a place where they have nothing to lose. When there’s nothing to lose, anything goes. Then people cavalierly cross thresholds without considering the outcome or consequences. They hide from themselves and deny the impact of non-soulful action on the world and in the future. They deny their own shadow and what comes with that denial, is the impulse to project it onto others. To justify treachery.<br />
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Greed crosses a healthy threshold; making war is a threshold; invasion, occupation and colonizing is a threshold; Auschwitz was a threshold; Sarin in the subways of Japan was a threshold; slavery; Apartheid; genocide; Hiroshima…<br />
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All thresholds humans crossed… but so is the moon landing! So is the establishment of the United Nations; the rise of the Red Cross, international humanitarian law, human rights and the rules of engagement; Doctors without Borders; the Hospital Ships Hope, Comfort and Mercy; Mediation, Diplomatic Intervention, Reconciliation, Reconstruction, Peacekeeping and Peace building; the International Space Station…<br />
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Human capacity for destruction (employing the shadow) is equaled by a capacity for sweeping humanitarian compassion (bright shadow in action.) Humans acting from compassion are capable of super-human mobilization and stunning accomplishment. Observe them in a tragedy or natural disaster and watch the miracles happen.<br />
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When it comes to the environment, the natural state of the world and climate science, runaway shadow in pursuit of wealth, militarism, greed, colonialism and consumerism, has unbalanced our world. The unchecked abuse of the natural world and nature’s benevolence have recklessly brought us to a precarious place some are concerned, is irreversible. We have arrived at the tipping point; “here” is another threshold. Only this time the stakes are very high.</div>
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Integrating the “Other”</h4>
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We live in a world of duality, where we use opposites or opposition to determine our position. If it’s not down, it’s up, if it’s not in it’s out; if he’s not like me — he’s “other;” friend/enemy; for/against; life/death; make or break; all or nothing. The world is meant to be in balance, not at one or another pole of a spectrum. The feminine and masculine polarities are present inside each human, for each human is inherently born with both. These polarities are active too in the collective of humanity. They constitute spheres of existence — the (micro) human and the (macro) world.<br />
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The world has, for the last few thousand years, leaned heavily into the shadow side of the masculine — the warrior archetype has been prominent and dominant: conqueror, machismo, macho, warrior, hunter, war-monger. And the feminine micro and macro archetypes have been underemphasized. So, with feminine and masculine principles imbalanced we have made quite a mess of things.<br />
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“The true feminine brings a deep wisdom rooted in trusting one’s intuition and heart. It is a passionate, creative, and life-giving force. The true feminine supports deep heartfelt nurturing of all creation and the passing along of traditions from one generation to the next.” “The true masculine is characterized by confidence without arrogance; rational thinking without a need to control; honor without a desire for war. It provides stability, strength, and courage in an ever-shifting world.” — Arkan Lushwala, Indigenous Leader and Ceremonialist<br />
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We humans must end polarization and integrate both poles of dualities. We can observe our tendency toward shadow and at the same time acknowledge our bright potential. Behind shadow become active in the world is its opposite pole. A great deal of shadow shows up in the world as violence. If we could see the shadow through Alice’s looking glass, we’d find bright shadow waiting to be expressed.<br />
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Bright shadow shows up in compassion, empathy, generosity, magnanimity. Acknowledging and embracing shadow can actually lead us to the light in human bright shadow. To illustrate: the nuclear age was a time of despair, anxiety and nail-biting for individuals while the world collectively teetered on the brink of destruction. Doom over-“shadowed” the global landscape and hung in the air. The arms race insanity, once past denial and faced squarely, found humanity with the inspiration and momentum to come together to work out a solution. The superpowers (formerly acting out of the ego’s shadow) found a way to compromise and so drafted treaties and weapons decommissioning plans (bright shadow engaged) Without that threat of annihilation, the superpowers and the world would not have come together to work out a peaceful coexistence.</div>
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Sound familiar? Humanity, in order to save its planet and therefore itself, must come together in unity not just to peacefully co-exist, but to continue to exist. It will take moving out of the shadow into the light of bright shadow to pull it off. This new threshold — a tipping point that demands a new way of being in the world requires that we look at our choices and ask: which of these ways nourishes the soul of humanity in the collective? Which way makes the human spirit shimmer? Which complements faith in humanity, in the future? (That will save the world.)<br />
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To come to choices which showcase the brilliance of humanity, we may summon the innate wisdom each of us carries. You and I already have it; we already know it. You can observe: what makes your body tense? Which choices feel right in your body? Which way of being deepens your breathing and makes the breath fuller? We can continue arguing with our innate knowingness, but then the collective loses. Trust that the body wisdom discerns what feeds the spirit, what nourishes the soul; and it knows what depletes them. A twinge isn’t just a twinge; it’s a message from your deep inner knowing.</div>
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We can feel the urgency; we feel the creeping infection of shadow. Have you noticed that people seem inordinately fearful, angry, easily annoyed, behaving out of character — often violent? They are turning inward and self-protective. Does it feel as if our culture is careening out of control with runaway greed, colonization and consumerism? People know what’s going on because they feel it in their bodies. That unease becomes evident in the prevailing sadness and collective melancholy surrounding the lack of stewardship of our precious planet.</div>
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The Gift in Grief</h4>
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In hundreds of discussions with people about the environment, every person revealed themselves to be in one of the stages of grief that Doctor Elizabeth Kubler Ross identified in the dying. Denial, fear, anger, overwhelm, helplessness, hopelessness, resignation… are all part of the process of grief. Grief lives in our shared consciousness, in our breath. On some level, we know that we know that we know… <br />
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Denial of climate change may bring temporary relief from the overwhelming deep grief in letting the truth sink in, but it’s not healthy nor will it fix things. Grief invades our bodies even when uninvited and unwelcome. We can sit frozen bracing ourselves against reality or collapse into hopelessness. Or we can mobilize. We can fight with shadow or shadowbox with the feelings that paralyze us or we can demand change and take action.<br />
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How do we thaw our feelings and free up that energy to mobilize? We courageously walk right into the feelings, allow them, deeply experience them in order to pry loose their grip on us. We can release that pent-up energy with movement. If you’re moved to tears — good. Tears release the sadness! Movement loosens and releases feelings. Whatever the feeling, go boldly into it and allow its humanness to shake you awake. Embrace your vulnerability, your brilliant humanity. Feel it fully, allow it to move and to move you. Movement is medicine. Dance your anger; dance your fear, your sense of failure. Let your body express it.<br />
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Cleansing the toxic sludge you have accumulated in your internal ecosystem is self care and compassion. Allow your heartbreak — nothing softens the human like heartbreak. That heart you hardened is brittle; allow the soft vulnerable animal to feel and move the body. Then fortified with human compassion, you can put love from that same heart into action — share information, come together, join something, create a community task force. Invite people to your living room for a conversation. Ask them to feel with you, get them to move, inspire them to action. Leave behind your part of the problem. Become the solution instead. <br />
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It’s going to take our collective bright shadow to counter the darkness we find ourselves in. We, together, have unconsciously created the world we now inhabit; it’s time to awake and consciously create a new one. To mobilize compassion, we need to mobilize the deep love we already feel but have mistaken for grief — love for self, for others and the planet. Together.<br />
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<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" data-href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/environment-reports-and-documents/earth-day-speaker-series-and-presentations-2016" href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/environment-reports-and-documents/earth-day-speaker-series-and-presentations-2016" rel="nofollow"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Learn about the Charter’s Earth Week Speakers Series</strong></a><br />
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<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Sources: Goetz, Jennifer L., Dacher Keltner, and Emiliana Simon-Thomas. “Compassion: An Evolutionary Analysis and Empirical Review.” Psychological Bulletin 136, no. 3 (May 1, 2010): 351–374. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed March 28, 2016).<br />Quote by Lushwala, Indigenous Leader & Ceremonialist from “Do These Two Forces Exist Within You?” by Nick Polizzi Arkan</em></div>
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“One Wordsmith” Barbara Kaufmann “writes to simply change the world.” Writer, filmmaker, artist, minister, nurse, healer, spiritual advisor — trained conventionally with a Management Degree, trained unconventionally and ordained in seminary, alternative healing disciplines, Spiritual Emergency and shamanism, she dreams out loud of “a more humane narrative on the planet.” In pursuit that more human narrative, Barbara founded and is editor, contributor and steward of “Words and Violence,” a 600 page compendium of resources about bullying in all its incarnations hosted in the Education Section of the Charter for Compassion International. She writes for a variety of publications including The Charter for Compassion and Huffington Post. Lifelong activist, leader and citizen diplomat, she believes in communication, connection and agency through the arts. Lawrence University Dean of International Students once called her work in the arts <em>“art in service to humanity."</em></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-30543140141888982192017-01-13T11:58:00.002-08:002017-01-28T17:49:33.256-08:00Standing Rock: The view from 2 women who attended Oceti Sakowin Camp<div style="text-align: left;">
Singer-Songwriter Aliza Hava and Scholar and Operations Manager for the Dominican University School of the Arts and Humanities, Keiko Ehret, tell .us about Standing Rock and their adventures at the camp. This interview is not what you expect- it will startle you from another view.</div>
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STANDING ROCK</div>
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<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Photo Credit Adam Alexander Johannson<br /><br />This is destined to become an iconic photo of an iconic event<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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“Standing Rock” refers to Camp Oceti Sakowin, an
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The water protectors are exercising their first amendment
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The Missouri River Basin supplies water to millions of
people and an oil spill would affect everyone downstream. Energy Transfer Partners had to reroute the
original pipeline because it came too close to Bismarck and the predominately
white residents there objected. </div>
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The Sioux Tribes filed a lawsuit alleging the Army Corps
of Engineers violated several U.S. Laws treaty provisions when they gave DAPL
an easement to build on federal land and land that would endanger sacred sites
on the Sioux Reservation.</div>
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Standing Rock is an unparalleled historic event...<br />
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the largest coming together of Indian Nations in cooperation and allegiance
since Little Big Horn—than 300 nations gathered there in support of protecting
water. Allies came from all over the world and the United Nations denounced the
tactics used against peaceful prayerful people protecting their land and water.
American Veterans also joined in solidarity as well as Indigenous from around
the globe.</div>
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Police, pipeline security and a hired division of
Blackwater used water cannons, fire hoses, tear gas, rubber bullets and
concussion grenades to intimidate the protectors in violation of their
constitutional right to peacefully assemble in protest.</div>
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Others who gathered in solidarity came from Nature
Herself—a herd of buffalo that spontaneously showed up, eagles, and geese who
flew over at the moment of victory as the word came that the pipeline would be
suspended.</div>
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This single event of Standing Rock and peoples standing
up for their rights became a rallying cry, a model for prolonged peaceful
protest, and a flashpoint for the environmental movement. </div>
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The speakers on the podcast program were Aliza Hava and Keiko Ehret from the San Francisco Bay area of
California. Aliza is a singer-songwriter, bandleader for Eve of Eden Folk Rock
Band and activist who worked in Israel/Palestine as a musical peace activist; Keiko
is Director of Operations for the School of the Arts, Humanities and Social
Sciences at the Dominican University. </div>
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Interviewer Barbara Kaufmann
is staff and Lead Volunteer for the Arts Sector for the Charter for Compassion
International and is herself and activist, artist, writer and journalist. She
has written for magazines, newspapers, blogs and The Huffington Post and is the
Founder and Steward for “Words and Violence” a publication now in its 4<sup>th</sup>
edition—a program about bullying in all its incarnations including in the last
edition, how we bully the planet.</div>
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Story and podcast created for the Charter for Compassion
International courtesy of Walking Moon Studios- people who tell <b><i>story
</i></b>about fierce compassion in images. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-58346121150200851922016-12-21T17:18:00.005-08:002016-12-21T17:24:05.463-08:00A new way of being in the world:<br />
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Cooperation, not competition, survival not of the fittest, but of the kindest. Jon Ramer is the CEO of the global Compassion Games. Here's our interview:<br />
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It turns out that the hard work of fixing the world,
uniting the divisions among people and solving painful social problems doesn’t
have to be work at all. It can be fun, inspiring, invigorating and playful and
everybody is welcome to get in on the game!<br />
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Just when you think the world can’t get any darker... poisonous politics,
terrorism, militarization of public streets, conflicts, war zones and
inhumanity that makes people refugees and then makes them “other” coupled with
climate changes that threaten life itself... along comes something and with a
flash of insight sparked by the fire of inspiration, the torch of compassion is
ignited and hands from every corner of the world reach for this torch that
resembles, in the moment, something too often elusive-- called hope. Then along
come others to shine a light on how human compassion plays out in the world.<br />
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Play” being the operative word.</div>
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More... <a href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/playing-a-new-world-into-being" target="_blank">Read the whole article at the Charter for Compassion</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-5525163009413203502016-02-15T17:39:00.001-08:002016-04-16T11:06:26.980-07:00Sometimes Compassion Must Be Fierce: Revolution, Renewal and Angela Davis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have had a secret for all these years that I finally admitted-- I have an unnamed hero. It's been held in the quiet recesses of a heart that kept its own council and kept silent about an admiration that was once controversial and likely to raise eyebrows, questions, or worse yet, ire. </div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVyCFoVhlUA/VsJ7wDk0UNI/AAAAAAAABHA/hC6LANBOm2M/s1600/Black%2BPower%2BFist.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVyCFoVhlUA/VsJ7wDk0UNI/AAAAAAAABHA/hC6LANBOm2M/s200/Black%2BPower%2BFist.png" width="140" /></a>What happens to women of a certain age is that they can become bold enough to exit whatever closet they may have been hiding in. That courage, with its late arrival leave one wondering "why" does it suddenly seem important to speak your uncensored truth and let the heart step into the vulnerable. <br />
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It may be that it's legacy calling. Or it may be that the time comes when not speaking a truth is the same as a lie.</div>
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Meet my unlikely hero in this article...</div>
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"Sometimes Compassion Must be Fierce: Revolution, Renewal and Angela Davis.</div>
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<a href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/restorative-justice/sometimes-compassion-must-be-fierce-revolution-renewal-and-angela-davis">http://www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/restorative-justice/sometimes-compassion-must-be-fierce-revolution-renewal-and-angela-davis</a></div>
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<img height="96" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVyCFoVhlUA/VsJ7wDk0UNI/AAAAAAAABHA/hC6LANBOm2M/s1600/Black%2BPower%2BFist.png" style="left: 64px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 80px;" width="67" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-35048597388838669112016-02-15T16:22:00.000-08:002017-01-28T17:52:51.650-08:00The World Talks Climate Change: An existential conversation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The conversation about Climate Change is existential. <br />
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Decisions that are made <strong><em>right now </em></strong>will determine whether human life will continue on the planet. The best argument for human beings to start getting along with one another on this planet is taking place as we speak. We are one. We'd better "get"that, and soon. We're already past a benchmark set by the scientific community <strong><em>to continue life as we know it. </em></strong>Climate change is already underway under your feet. <br />
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The glaciers are melting, the ocean is rising, the weather is changing... and humans are engaging in activities that may lead to the extinction of the species. Whether or not humans will extinguish themselves depends on what we do immediately. <br />
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We can't afford to take time to invent a strategy. There is no time. We've talked it to death; we have to stop talking and start doing. The first thing we need to do is a mental adjustment: awaken to the idea that <em>we're all in this together.</em> We are an interconnected and intimate shimmering web of life; the times demand that we stop thinking "I" and start thinking "we." We need an adjustment that opens the heart as wide as the arms and lets everybody in. If we continue this path of "them" and "us" and xenophobia or separation, we will be drafting our own death warrant. <br />
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When I talk with people about what they are feeling about the Earth, the environment and planetary stewardship, they all speak to a feeling of sadness, sometimes crushing sadness, sometimes melancholy that is similar to a low grade fever, sometimes a deep grief that lodges as an ache in the region of the chest or rib cage. <br />
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I think we all feel it. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we feel a thick sadness. One can freeze in that grief which prevents any movement. What is underneath that bone-aching sadness is love. The love for Earth and all of sentient life is immense. We are, after all, mammals. We feel the connection and we feel the hurt. People will try to avoid the deep heartache that wants to take up residence in the body with distraction, denial, distancing, bravado, avoidance, overwhelm, paralysis, grave sadness, a cavalier indifference, avoiding the subject, becoming and staying angry, disgust, minimizing... Those are all the ways we humans are "whistling past the graveyard" which means creating an illusion of safety so as to deny the danger. Danger motivates. Let it. Love motivates better. Let it.<br />
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If we freeze in an emotion and flail around in a frenzy, nothing changes. Nothing gets done. Rathr than lock up that energy, find a way to redeploy in fixing the problem. The most healthy way to come to terms with the crisis is to allow the feelings in, witness them, allow them to chip away at your protective armoring and mold you into a steward.<br />
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Keep in mind, the reason you feel the way you do is because you have a limitless capacity to love. Sometimes love and compassion is fierce. Let it be fierce in you.<br />
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Read my article about Climate Change here:<br />
<a href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/environment-reports-and-documents/the-world-talks-climate-change-an-existential-conversation">http://www.charterforcompassion.org/index.php/environment-reports-and-documents/the-world-talks-climate-change-an-existential-conversation</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-83385710378195175142015-04-20T16:26:00.000-07:002016-02-15T08:11:26.262-08:00Every Earth needs a good song... <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Z-g3irqNwU/U1LIAw_rUPI/AAAAAAAAA8k/cCEIDQEowhw/s1600/earth%2Bhug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Z-g3irqNwU/U1LIAw_rUPI/AAAAAAAAA8k/cCEIDQEowhw/s1600/earth%2Bhug.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">It turns out that not only are we, the collective, journeying through the stages of grief about what is happening to our planet— whether we are conscious of that grief or not, but we are all personally grieving and inhabit a unique stage of that grief. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Journalist Richard Schiffman writes about the environmental crisis through the eyes of Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross' seminal work that showcases the stages and coping mechanisms of those facing the end of life and its loss. His essay “The Five Stages of Environmental Grief” is included in a trilogy of his work featured with permission, in the 4th edition of “Words and Violence”—one of the Charter’s educational programs and a permanent installation at Voices Education Project Pedagogical Institute, now adopted as the educational arm of the Charter for Compassion International. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Schiffman traces the stages of grief as we travel the environmental path together that we have constructed or allowed others (mindfully or not) to forge into the predictable future. All toward our tomorrows-- on this planet. Or our no tomorrows. Our fate hangs in the balance and is dependent on our awakening and when awakened, engaging in earnest, in the work of healing the planet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last summer, I staffed a booth for the Charter Environment Sector at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association annual exhibition and conference at their headquarters in Wisconsin. For the 3 days and nights that I immersed myself in dialogue with people walking through the exhibits, a common narrative emerged. I came away knowing one thing to be true: W<em>e know.</em> We know <em>and we feel it</em>. We sense what is happening to our world. Everyone I met was feeling it. It was in their speech, in their eyes, in the way they held their bodies, in their language, in their involuntary sighs, in their breathing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Because the problem is earth-sized, (soul sized, really) we can easily stagger around in a state of overwhelm at the magnitude of what we face. And because we can feel so insignificant in comparison, we sometimes cope with defense mechanisms that protect us from allowing that grief in. We armor ourselves against it. <em>Every person I met and spoke to at the MREA was personally in some stage of grief </em>and feeling things like—anger, overwhelm, hopelessness, pain, despair,... All felt a sense of urgency. Some were even using denial, indifference or distraction to cope. There was a lot of anger. There were mostly failed attempts at denial or minimizing. There was some resignation but mostly there was frustration. Many felt powerless. They felt helpless. Impotent. And nobody wants to feel impotent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a former nurse, I know well the varied stages of grief Elizabeth Kubler-Ross identified in those facing a loss of life. I have accompanied people through those stages during their final journey. I witnessed the same phenomenon in everyone I spoke to at the conference. To a person, each of them was inhabiting a stage of personal grief. Some demonstrated multiple stages. I listened. I understood. I validated. And I congratulated everyone for their capacity to love and the magnitude of that love for their planet—for that is the truth of where and why these feelings arise. And I told them about the Charter for Compassion and the hope intrinsic in a movement racing toward critical mass that aims to spread compassion over the earth and create a more humane narrative for humankind on this planet. I acknowledged the collective pain and vowed to do something to help thaw frozen grief, for grief that is stuck in the human heart-- harms. It can prevent action. To move beyond the grief, we must first acknowledge it and feel its impact to allow it to move through unimpeded. If impeded, it cannibalizes our energy and produces an emotional stalemate. When we thaw, we are freed to move forward.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The film featured here is a journey where we are accompanied to our feelings, through our grief (whether unconscious or not) and to the soul-sized message that underlies our anxiety-- LOVE. (Big love.) What triggers this grief is a deep and fathomless love for our planet and its gift of life. </span><br />
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Author and scholar Karen Armstrong, founder of the Charter for Compassion International has said that a compassionate community is an uneasy community-- uneasy because where there is a lack of compassion, there is suffering. And there is likely suffering somewhere in the ecosystem we call "home." <br /><br />more...</div>
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We are all a bit uneasy about things like "the environment" or "climate change" because we feel this "field" of suffering and we aren't quite sure whether we humans have caused it. The "field" is one of many names assigned to the collective consciousness, the prevailing paradigm or pop culture memes, the dominant mind-set. or the collective unconscious, or the shadow side (infantile and self-centered) of the human ego and its counterpart, "bright shadow." Bright shadow is the human being's innate and hard-wired capacity for brilliance and compassion-- the internal hero that steps up in service to humanity when a situation calls for it. (Think Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the same persona.) It's not just anthropology that confirms the hard-wiring for empathy and compassion-- "hard" science now agrees. The new studies in neuroscience and neurobiology have identified "mirror neurons" that foster an empathic response in the brain for what it meets along the spectrum of human experience, and even for what it simply imagines. "The planetary field" carries the vectoring of all human attitudes, beliefs and actions-- ever-- on the planet since the beginning of time. Everything leaves an imprint in the morphogenetic field of what Carl Sagan called "the pale blue dot," our Earth. <br />
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Peter Russell wrote about "the global brain" which delineates a kind of arc of existence, that if maintained, establishes an ecosystem that precisely supports human life. Wander outside that range and life is threatened. Think of that curve as the cerebellum or brain stem that is rudimentary and regulates temperature, chemicals and processes that make life possible. The collective "intelligence" of this global brain or its frontal cortex is... us. We are that vectoring of human endeavor on this little speck of dust surrounded by a vast and frightening sea of silence and death. The edge of this world is the edge of life; step off this world and step into nothingness and non-being. There is a part of the human (brain? intelligence? soul?) that senses or knows an encounter with truth and reality-- call it the actualized or spiritual self that has/is another faculty altogether. The human intuitively knows what is life-affirming or what is death-dealing. This advanced intellect or self knows automatically what is soulful and what is not-- that is hard-wired too and when this intelligence is accessed given a choice between two alternatives, knows the life-affirming and soulful one <em>innately</em>. Test it for yourself. Ask "which of these choices is soulful" and wait for the body's response. The bones know. Thus our uneasiness about the state of our world. <em>It's in our bones. </em> They are, after all, made of the same stuff as the cosmos.<br />
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This planet is a gift to us. We didn't create it. But we have the power and capacity to destroy it. <br />
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Humankind reached that fulcrum of evolution when it became capable of extinguishing itself and all life. We arrived there when the Manhattan Project split the atom and released that energy, then went forward with a plan to build a bomb capable of the destruction of our planet and all life. Suddenly there was the power to turn the planet into cinders, into ash. Was it a good idea to pursue splitting the atom? Or was that like giving an irresponsible species a new plaything it wasn't mature enough to handle and wasn't ready for? <br />
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The same question could be asked of the industrial and technological advancements of the species today and the runaway exploitation of resources that are here for, and collectively support-- all life. The question we need to ask ourselves is: are we ready for the responsibilities associated with the planet's gifts? Are we capable of stewardship? And especially, are we prepared to assume the consequences if we are not?<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This film is designed to help you answer that question or at the very least, to help you ask it. Humanity usually teeters between the poles of opposites, between dueling archetypes. In this case study (Planet Earth) we teeter archetypally between soaring and raw pain and soaring and raw beauty. </span><br />
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If you think you're ready to take this soul-size journey, wa<span style="font-family: inherit;">tch it at your own risk.</span><br />
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When one can make a difference, one should. Everyone has unique gifts and abilities they brought to this planet. This film was produced by an amazing group of gifted artists who understand that there are those who come here to make a change with a haunting restlessness to make the world a better place. Perhaps it's destiny; perhaps it's a calling. Maybe its a compelling drive to hone one's unique abilities as an answer to the fits and whispers of bright shadow and beyond. Or maybe, on this pale blue dot, it's simply art in service to humanity.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last year, the “Words and Violence” Project, a program of Voices Compassionate Education, the Pedagogical Institute and educational arm of the Charter for Compassion, released its 4th edition. The emphasis in the 4th edition is on Mother Earth, and how resilient she has been in the wake of the endless ways we bully her. We've heard the stories of climate change, deforestation, global warming, pollution, and the misuse of our natural resources. This new edition of "Words and Violence" helps concretize the planet's reality, and offers hope for a new beginning, with ways to thaw frozen grief, cultivate the love that lies within the human heart and transform our concerns into motivation and action. </span><br />
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Compassion is the antidote to bullying. To suffering. Compassion in 3-D. For self. For others. And for our Earth. <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To launch your 3-D Compassion journey, watch the film with the intention to find and feel compassion for your own grief. And feel the love in that. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You may feel a sense of restlessness or uneasiness. That's a good thing. That's love masquerading as something else. You may know what you have to do or you may have to learn it. Or you may have no idea where to start. Start by joining the Charter for Compassion. You'll figure it out. <a href="https://charterforcompassion.org/join" target="_blank">Join the Charter</a></span><br />
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Occasionally there are those who come to earth to champion humanity, to accept responsibility and become co-stewards of our reality. Of our planet. Thank goodness for them. They inspire us and call us to the internal source of our bright shadow. They call in voice, in messages, in images, and many times in the universal language of music. And every Earth needs a good song.<br />
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Time to sing along? Then sing your own song. And you're invited to harmonize with the rest of us. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-38467354847702894692015-02-21T09:58:00.000-08:002015-02-21T09:58:46.863-08:00Health and Human Rights and Women<div style="border-image: none;">
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KbOWuRfR8TE/VOjCxJjy14I/AAAAAAAABAo/P4xB2wIufUc/w140-h63-p/Women%2Bheal%2Bthe%2Bworld.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Women heal the world.png" border="0" class="cg-Cl-Mg-de" height="144" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KbOWuRfR8TE/VOjCxJjy14I/AAAAAAAABAo/P4xB2wIufUc/w140-h63-p/Women%2Bheal%2Bthe%2Bworld.png" style="transform: rotate(0deg);" title="Women heal the world.png" width="320" /></a>In the International Health and Human Rights class I'm taking at Stanford, I'm having to confront some very uncomfortable issues. I knew "intellectually" about the oppression of women planet-wide, but that kept me safe at a distance from real harm or real emotion. Since joining the class, I've not just "learned" about how women all over the world "give up" their rights involuntarily at the hands of men, I have come to know some of those women. They have become real people to me because I can interact with them in real time. Imagine the stories that begin "in my country.." and that recount similar yet divergent ways in which women's sovereignty is violated. </div>
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How does this happen in the modern age? In the 21st century? Well, it's an old tradition the arises out of ignorance and a sense of "entitlement" on the part of men. Many men around the world believe it's a privilege of their gender to do whatever they wish to women in their culture. Incredulously, some of these same men complain about fascism, cast systems, domination and slavery. </div>
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Entitlement and domination come through economic suppression, illiteracy or lack of education, an accident of geography or birth, cultural traditions, religious doctrine, tribal and other rivalry, attempts at ethnic cleansing through forced procreation, war-making and just plain... opportunity.<br />
What is it about human nature that welcomes superiority and an opportunity to wield "power over" another human being? Do we believe so little in our own intrinsic worth that we feel compelled and satisfied to diminish someone else's?<br /><br />What's really striking about the practice of entitlement, superiority and domination over other beings is that as humans we are NOT hard-wired for barbarism. We are actually hard-wired for empathy and compassion. It's hard work to overcome one's natural inclinations so as to justify the submission of other humans in whatever form that takes. It's a practice of the ego, not of the human heart. We literally have to "harden our hearts" to accomplish violence, barbarism, terrorism and war.<br /><br />Given the times in which we live and the urgencies that face us as a planet running out of resources, running out of tolerance for human consumption, waste and folly, and running out of time-- we might want to look at how to develop solidarity instead of creating differences artificially and acting out of illusion or delusions that there somehow is forever or endless capacity for human infantilism and egocentrism.<br /><br />Newsflash: This is not the planet I signed up for:<br />
Bully Women and You Risk the Planet: <a href="https://charterforcompassion.org/node/8403">https://charterforcompassion.org/node/8403</a><br />
(Article at the Charter for Compassion)<br /><br />And neither did you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-83862830066650206962015-01-23T22:25:00.001-08:002015-01-31T22:33:03.074-08:00One Billion RisingA couple of years ago Eve Ensler (Vagina Monologues) quietly started a movement. It's not quiet anymore. One billion people joined the movement and scheduled activities and staged flash mobs all over the world.<br />
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We continue the tradition February 14 in 2015 to stand up and speak out about violence against women. The statistics are sobering. The stories are compelling. The violence against women on this planet is mind-numbing. <br />
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But we must not be numbed. We must be moved. We must bear witness to some of the most heinous crimes on the planet and the senselessness of harming women and girls. There are so many ways women are wounded by a kind of patriarchy that is cowardly and criminal. One in 3 women will be assaulted in their lives. This is completely unacceptable. Untenable. It must stop. Womens' lives must be valued. They are the nurturers and bearers of life. <br />
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Women are valuable. Real men know that. Real men are kind. Real men stand up for their daughters and their daughter's futures. <br />
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No looking away. No excuses. No passes. We must act. And we must build solidarity among women. From mean girls to sex trafficking to the kidnap, torture and killing of women because they are diminished people is inexcusable. <br />
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Join us. Stand up. Speak. RISE! <br />
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For resources go to <a href="http://www.onebillionrising.com/">www.onebillionrising.com</a> and create and promote your event!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="415" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Qbh7-_ro3lg" width="560"></iframe><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-44294145387224831182014-09-02T14:22:00.003-07:002014-09-02T17:51:35.942-07:00Words and Violence 4th Edition "Bullying the Planet"<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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This is the fourth year that Voices has compiled a new
edition of <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/content/words-and-violence">Words
and Violence</a> </div>
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The emphasis in this edition is on Mother Earth, and how
resilient she has been in the wake of our endless "bullying." We've
all heard stories of climate change, deforestation, global warming, pollution,
and the misuse of our natural resources. This new edition helps concretize the
planet's reality, and offers hope for a new beginning, providing ways to take
our concern and move us to action.</div>
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"<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7866">Who
will save us now?</a>" is our invitation to examine the problem of
"Bullying the Planet" and to find the antidotes for becoming the
solution. As we consider this poignant question we come face to face with a
trilogy written by environmental journalist, Richard Schiffman. Schiffman
introduces us to the "<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7871">Five
States of Environmental Grief</a>," forces us to consider still another
question, "<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7872">Are the Oceans
Failed States?</a>" and concludes with exposing us to the issues of "<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7873">Hunger, Food Security and the
African Land Grab</a>." </div>
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In a second trilogy, this time written by <i>Chicago
Tribune </i>columnist Robert Koehler, he unmasks his life mission and
invites us to join him in <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7860">undoing
the mythology of violence</a>. <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7859">Walk Softly,</a> speaks from
the Indigenous voice and looks at what the earth's marginalized peoples may
have to teach us about balance and how to protect the context from which we
live. He explains why <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7861">We
Can’t Afford to Lose Another Decade</a> and why and offers a reasonable
request in asking us to grow up and act<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7862"> In Partnership With Mother
Earth</a>.</div>
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Poet and author of <i>Harlem Renaissance
Encyclopedia</i>, Aberjhani, contrasts the philosophy of shared community with
guerilla decontextualization—the insidious and deliberate art of manipulation
in order to discredit and nullify, in <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7863">Creative Flexibility and
Annihilated Lives</a>.</div>
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We enter a day-long healing chamber where we begin <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7864">Awakening the Dreamer</a>, a
process of waking from the modern trance, healing the grief, and creating an
environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just world.</div>
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Artist and storyteller Carol Hiltner, who works with the
Altai of Siberia guides us on a journey with those who have been pushed aside
in favor of modern progress and with Maia Rose, we learn their story from the
inside out in<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7867"> Mother Earth
Cannot Be Bullied</a>.</div>
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There is something you casually do every week and more
often, that graphically demonstrates bullying to your children-- from the time
they are toddlers until they become adults. You personally escort them through
a gauntlet of bullying that illustrates, in living color, precisely how to
brutally bully someone, humiliate them, dehumanize them, and sometimes even
dismember them publicly-- for sport and entertainment. This demonstrates to
your children how to take this bullying public by publishing it to a wide
audience. And you do this a minimum of 500 times before they graduate from
school. Your silence gives them permission. You may then wonder, "where do
these kids get these ideas?" And when the principal calls to tell you that
your child has been involved in an incident of bullying-- and not as the
victim-- you may be shocked and asking yourself how in the world your child
learned to be so mean. How? You taught them how and your silence was permission.
You exposed your child freely and willingly to this toxic environment and you
never once complained. Did you <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7869">Teach
Your Children Well</a> ? </div>
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In this edition, educator, author and admitted tree-hugger
Kate Trnka takes us on a fanciful journey with her students as they explore the
magic that awaits them in the forest as they communicate with trees and get to
know them intimately in <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7868">If
These Trees Could Talk, Park I </a></div>
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Lesa Walker, M.D. leads us through some classroom
exercises, antidotes and compassion games in <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7865">Bullying the Planet: Is There an
Antidote?</a> Community Activist and Environmental Guru Karen Plamer
shares ideas for organizing a community and teaching kids about
eco-responsibility with her game “Let’s Save the Earth” as she finds out <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7891">Can Educating Them to Be Stewards
be Easy, Educational, Engaging and Fun?</a></div>
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We then discover HIStory’s mystery person: <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/7894">Someone Who Was Singing Earth’s
Song Long Before It Was Fashionable To Become Her Voice</a>.</div>
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Voices Education is the education arm of the <a href="https://charterforcompassion.org/">Charter for Compassion International</a>. <a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/the-charter">The Charter</a> is
committed through its work and network of partners to bring compassion to the
earth and all living things that call this place "home." You might
even want to join the global movement toward compassion and make a donation.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-60306976985420950362014-08-15T09:13:00.000-07:002014-08-15T09:18:50.627-07:004th Editon of Words and Violence to be released soonWe are working on the 4th edition of the <em>Words and Violence </em>Project at Voices Education (dot) org, a humanitarian organization and pedagogical institute. The work addresses bullying in all its incarnations and seeks the antidote to bullying grown to epidemic proportions in words and images. <br />
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The resource has grown to more than 600 pages with an audience of educators, civic leaders, and the general public in 140 countries.<br />
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We are please to welcome contributors to the 4th edition: Robert Koehler of the Chicago Tribune: Richard Schiffman, Environmental Journalist; Author and Poet Aberjhani whose work in "guerilla decontextualization" examines how bullies attack by dismantling the humanity of their target; Carol Hiltner, Author, Artist and Founder of Altai University who works with the Indigenous in Siberia; Kate Trnka, Author an Educator who takes students into the woods for conversations with nature... and more...<br />
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We are excited and hope you are too. If you'd like to become a contributor, please let us know by sending me an email. <br />
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The ways in which we bully the planet are countless: irresponsible environmental stewardship; exploitation of the Indigenous; mismanagement of land, oceans, water, air; the greed of earth's resources that belong to all, not to those who wish to conscript them as commodities and commerce; the skewed and exploited economy; climate change; artificial agriculture and food production; political indifference or the abuse of influence; the treatment of animals; land grabs and mismanagement; the collective psychic disconnection and denial; the moral vacuum in business and commerce; racism; double standards; the rising phenomenon of a spiritual vacuum; the abuse of authority and power; the trampling of human and civil rights; slavery; conflict; genocide; war...<br />
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If you have submissions, ideas and suggestions, or wish to volunteer to help with the project, please contact me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-80111986438330371382014-07-27T07:14:00.000-07:002014-09-15T08:29:45.357-07:00Bring your Red Shoes- we're changing the world<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_fdt7-rC5UU/U9VfAygRnrI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/z9cXMsMPUTw/s1600/Dorothy+red+shoes+rotate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_fdt7-rC5UU/U9VfAygRnrI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/z9cXMsMPUTw/s1600/Dorothy+red+shoes+rotate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_fdt7-rC5UU/U9VfAygRnrI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/z9cXMsMPUTw/s1600/Dorothy+red+shoes+rotate.jpg" height="320" width="248" /></a></div>
Author and Scholar Karen Armstrong asked the question: "If we were truly compassionate with self, others and the planet, what would the world look like?"<br />
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The Charter for Compassion is asking, and answering, that question.<br />
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Karen described her fantasy in a TED Talk that won her the annual prize. She then set out to meet with religious leaders and luminaries asking them to help her draft a "Charter for Compassion" that would transcend all religious, ideological, and national differences.<br />
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At the mystical core of all religions lies the Golden Rule. All gods say the same thing: "be what you want to receive." That also happens to be how the quantum world works, so we are talking about creation here. <br />
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We are all living immersed in the invisible quantum soup that determines our experience. Do you want fear? Look for it in the world and stir in more... Do you want violence? Go looking for it; throw more into the pot. Or would you like a compassionate world where everybody is a steward of everybody else and the planet? <br />
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What will you stir into the quantum soup that becomes the ecosystem you have to live in? If you want to sour the soup bring hatred, fear, anger, prejudice, violence, war... If you want to sweeten the soup, bring generosity, empathy, kindness, love, compassion...<br />
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You might ask "is it really that simple?" The answer is "yes." The creation and the cosmos is a dance of atoms and molecules and minds. What if everybody brought their best game and wore their red shoes to the party, could we create a new Oz instead of a faux one? <br />
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The Charter for Compassion is asking you to sign on. So far there are almost 900 partners worldwide and close to 300 compassionate cities. It's the best idea humanity ever had and it's growing exponentially. You can join the charter by signing and you can become a member by making a donation whether that's with your money, your time, your talent, your enthusiasm, or your voice to spread the word. Spread the word, spread the world.<br />
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Be the change to make the change.<br />
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You're invited to the party. Oh, and bring your red shoes.<br />
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Here's how it works:<br />
<br />
Part I<br />
<a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7417" target="_blank">What if the World Gave a Compassion Party and Everybody Came? Or bring your red shoes, were changing the world...</a><br />
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Part II <a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7417" target="_blank">Bring your red shoes...</a><br />
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Part III <a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7333" target="_blank">Bring your red shoes...</a><br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-58151275799740663802014-05-16T07:48:00.002-07:002014-07-27T13:32:59.295-07:00Who Remembered Their Mother?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Mother's Day, mothers were recognized for their care, love and sacrifices while raising their children. Some have done it with partners and some single mothers have done it alone. Some have had the privileges that come with a comfortable life, and some have struggled through hardships in places that are challenging, neighborhoods that are poor, streets that are not safe and housing that is barely habitable.<br />
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Some mothers cared for their children in homeless shelters or maybe even on the streets because there is no partner or the partner was downsized and they are unemployed, have lost their home to foreclosure or a health crisis drained their savings and bankrupted them.<br />
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Some mothers have had to carry water miles to shacks that are sticks and straw while navigating through territory of marauders, rapists and predators. Some mothers have nothing to feed their children. Some children themselves have become mothers to their little brothers and sisters because their own mothers died from an AIDS epidemic that went unchecked by the uninterested. And yet...<br />
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some Nigerian mothers didn't have their daughters, didn't know where they are or even if they are still alive because almost 300 of their daughters were kidnapped and punished for attending school while these "men," terrorists fueled by religious extremism, take what doesn't belong to them and force their philosophy onto others through violence. They don't even recognize females as equal and deserving human beings, but view them as property.<br />
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And many of us forgot to be grateful to our first mother. She too, is to be remembered, revered and respected. She too, deserves a standing ovation. Will you stand up for her?<br />
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<a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7415">http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7415</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-44688843049354795122014-05-14T15:28:00.002-07:002014-07-27T13:35:08.138-07:00For Mothers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was Mother's Day and mothers everywhere were celebrated. "Mother" is supposed to be synonymous with "nurturer," "fierce protector," "first teacher," and one who would lay down her life to save her children. <br />
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Kevin Durant, who received MVP (Most Valuable Player) award for basketball, thanked his mother in an emotional speech that ended with his mother getting a standing ovation.<br />
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A black man who grew up in a rough and poor neighborhood claimed his stature as a successful professional by saying "we weren't supposed to be here." <br />
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He thanked his mom: <br />
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“We weren’t supposed to be here. You made us believe,” Durant told his mother. “You kept us off the street. You put clothes on our backs. You put food on the table. When you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate and [you] went to sleep hungry. “You sacrificed for us. You’re the real MVP.”</div>
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But there were some mothers who did not celebrate Mother's Day. Mothers in Nigeria spent the day in tears and anguished pleas "Bring our girls home." <br />
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Poet and author Aberjhani spoke for them...<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
In chilling contrast to the lyrical verse and candy-sweet images that millions of American families are preparing to enjoy on the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day, May 11, the families of almost 300 abducted school girls in Nigeria are struggling to maintain sanity while praying for an end to the ordeal...<br />
<a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7396">http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7396</a><br />
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And he spoke about his own mother: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7414">http://charterforcompassion.org/node/7414</a><br />
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As long as there is slavery and rape and human trafficking, the world's mothers and daughters are not safe. When school girls can be stolen from their dormitory beds in the middle of the night and the world is not properly outraged, something is very, very wrong with society. <br />
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In a church service, members of the congregation were each given a slip of paper with one of the girls' names and an individual and collective prayer went up for their safe return. I brought the name home and shared my flowers and placed a candle so as to not forget... Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-44609138780654719812014-04-19T11:32:00.001-07:002015-03-04T08:20:46.582-08:00An invitation...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The 3rd edition of <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/content/words-and-violence" target="_blank">Words and Violence</a> an internationally recognized (140 countries)pedagogical resource on bullying in all its incarnations... from the playground to the tabloids to the mortuary-- and hosted at Voices Education Project, featured "Performance Arts" in 2013 because they are a quintessential communicator and change agent to impact contemporary culture. It is one of the places where mass change can occur, where minds are awakened, challenged and where a portal opens for the enlightenment of mass consciousness.<br />
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"Performance" is <strong><em>story</em></strong> and communicates with words or without, with photos and images, movement and art... it is often where the human first encounters the mirror of self reflection and the glint of (Aha!) possibility. The arts can paint both the horror and beauty of the human condition and make us Think! (capital T.) It inspires some things and expires others. The canvas of human imagination, this table rasa of potential and raw material of human evolution grows the psyche, breathes inspiration and creates the collective future earth narrative. We are, after all, what we imagine ourselves to be and what we make of ourselves and our ecosystems.<br />
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The current ecosystem supports bullying and does it in ways that we don't even imagine because they are so acculturated as to have become invisible to us. But they are there-- like background noise that we no longer hear because it is such a constant low drone. We are infected with a virus-- epidemic and pandemic and while we have identified the illness that the virus causes (despair, overwhelm, cynicism, intractable fatigue, adult and horribly-- youth suicide,) we haven't quarantined the virus nor found its true cause. Time to get into the lab and take a look under the microscopic eye of honest and fearless scrutiny. Here's how...<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The tide of bullying has swept the earth like a great flood while we, like Noah, helplessly cling to our personal craft, violently reeling while watching the Tsunami size of the problem drown human dignity. We assign blame elsewhere instead of examining our own violence and our complicity with the ecosystem we are all swimming in. <br />
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The 4th edition will address the ways we bully the Earth. That subject is only limited by human imagination-- the economy, climate change, artificial agriculture and food production, political indifference or influence, the treatment of animals, land grabs and mismanagement, abuse of the Indigenous elders and their wisdom, collective psychic disconnection and denial, moral depravity, racism, double standards, the rising phenomenon of a spiritual vacuum, abuse of authority and power, the trampling of human and civil rights, slavery, conflict, genocide, war...<br />
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Yes the possibilities are unfortunately endless but fortunately for us-- they are now under our lens! There is beauty in that horror for it highlights the shadow thereby summoning the best of us and what we may call forth from the internal and deep well of the bright shadow of the brilliant Self. <br />
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If you would like to look at the "Words and Violence" compendium, email me. We publish the next edition just before the fall semester. Submission are welcome-- send us a proposal. If you have something to contribute, we would like to hear from you. <br />
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You may find the Program "Words and Violence" <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/content/words-and-violence" target="_blank">Here</a><br />
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and in the addendum a <a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/2487" target="_blank">list of Writers, Designers and Contributors</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-26655264029281213922014-04-15T16:36:00.002-07:002014-04-19T12:24:23.391-07:00Compassion served here! Now there's a drive up window!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Do you often wonder whatever happened to honor and integrity? Altruism? Compassion? <br />
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Are you just plain tired? Some days, dog tired? Were you up all night with a sick child? With your children and family responsibilities is it enough just to get the groceries purchased, food on the table, the car payment made, the lawn mowed in Summer or sidewalk shoveled in Winter? <br />
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Can you stand one more thing on your list of things that you have to check out? Is it too much to ask you to be informed on every single issue that affects you-- in the financial world, the political climate, your school system, the news, weather and climate change, what products you use that may be toxic, what is being recalled for what reason and that your food is safe?<br />
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Don't you wish people would "do the right thing" simply because it's the right thing to do? Wouldn't it be nice to <strong><em>expect </em></strong>the truth because that's just how things are done-- with unimpeachable honor? With impeccable integrity?<br />
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Don't you just wish that everybody on this sandbox we call "Earth" would just get along and play nice? <br />
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Wouldn't you like to reclaim your idealism or at least retract your cynicism and ...<a name='more'></a><br />
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rely on the "experts" to tell it like it is and on the media to tell you the truth? You just don't have the time or energy to look up everything or vet all the information or check on the background or political slant of each journalist who taps your mind because the kids need baths and the septic tank is sputtering or the pilot light is out again and the neighbors are mad at you for some imaginary infringement... You're doing your best to keep up. Some days it's tough.<br />
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Don't you wish that everybody who does business would place their heart ahead of their wallet or care about the environment because it's the right thing to do? Don't you wish the politicians had integrity and would just behave themselves and would stop fighting long enough to actually get the peoples' business done? Why is Washington always at a stalemate? Have you just stopped voting because you think it doesn't count and they don't listen anyway?<br />
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Wouldn't you like to find honor and integrity in all the transactions you navigate on a daily basis from your car dealer to the butcher, to your civil servants and the corporations who make all your "stuff" to the neighbor who is now speaking to you this week? And don't you want the rest of them to just grow the hell up?<br />
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More and more I hear about how people are tired. Tired of corruption, tired of unequal pay for equal work, living paycheck to paycheck, tired of politicians getting nothing done, corporations who cheat or pollute or hide reports about deficiencies, the obscenely rich person who is trying to buy an election by throwing obscene amounts of cash at a campaign or candidate. They are tired of people who should know better behaving like juveniles, of police who overstep their power and misuse their authority, of a media that is out of control and attacks, sensationalizes, or exaggerates to get eyes on the page or viewers to the screen. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Z-g3irqNwU/U1LIAw_rUPI/AAAAAAAAA8g/jna--9hUp2M/s1600/earth+hug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Z-g3irqNwU/U1LIAw_rUPI/AAAAAAAAA8g/jna--9hUp2M/s1600/earth+hug.jpg" /></a>More and more people are tired of the games, tired of being pawns in the games. They are weary of mass shootings, unsafe schools, war, poverty and lack of opportunity. They are tired of a coffeehouse magnate making $9,000 per hour while opposing a fair minimum wage. <br />
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Is there a cure for that creeping unease sometimes become despair? Is there hope? Hell, is there even a future for the human race given the rate of deforestation, use of fossil fuels, nuclear leaks, global climate concerns, rapid extinction of species, land and water grabs by corporations, displacement of the Indigenous and gentrification of cities?<br />
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Can you afford to allow your mind to wander into what kind of future your children will have or is that territory just too scary? Are you afraid of your own creeping cynicism?<br />
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Are you just tired? Exhausted?<br />
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Are you hungry for the antidote? A cure? A cause for hope?<br />
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Then come to the drive up window! Sign in and place your order! There's a place where compassion is being served... It's called the Charter for Compassion and the global compassion movement. If you're not part of it, you should be. Check it out. You'll feel a whole lot better knowing there are people in this world who care. No, not that kind of care-- the minimal and lip service caring. The real kind. <br />
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And they are doing something to change the world. </div>
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Hungry for that? Come to the party. Come hungry. </div>
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And bring your red shoes; you're going to want to dance.</div>
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<a href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/">www.charterforcompassion.org</a> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-34820743934123913632013-11-30T09:28:00.000-08:002014-02-17T09:15:55.067-08:00Two Hands (Up) for Compassion <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Four years before the shooting in the Sikh Temple, it was my own faith that was under attack. In 2008, a man who sharpened his anger on the jagged edge of hate walked into a Unitarian Universalist Church and opened fire killing two people and injuring eight.<br />
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The Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville held 200 members and 25 children that day who were presenting a stage play for the congregation. The shooting was politically motivated. The shooter railed against liberals, democrats, African Americans and homosexuals saying they were the ruination of America. <br />
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Unitarian Universalists are free thinkers and the standing joke is that trying to organize UUs is something like herding cats. Each is on a different path to faith and understanding. The bonding factor for Unitarian Universalists is that all believe the questions are the answer and each is on a quest for truth. Call it a search for the holy grail if you will-- and it may be religious (or not) but it requires no allegiance to dogma or doctrine. All faiths and journeys to God (or not) are respected. UUs are known for a common dedication to social justice and to make the world a better place. <br />
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The Sikh Temple shooting wasn't a politically motivated act. It was pure racist rage. <a name='more'></a>The man who walked into the temple in Oak Creek was a Skinhead White Supremacist. He was acting out of hatred and the fear that his race was destined to be extinguished. I attended a candlelight vigil in solidarity not at Oak Creek but at our local Sikh Temple. <br />
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I was impressed by the warmth of the membership, the solemnity was certainly present but there was a generosity of spirit and a welcoming that went far beyond simple protocol. The appreciation for the support shown by the community rallying in brotherhood was palpable. We were welcomed into the sanctuary and treated to food in order to break bread together-- an old and cherished religious custom. It was beautiful and I thought I had done my part to show solidarity and sympathize and my part was over.<br />
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Until I met Pardeep Kaleka and Arno Michaelis. <br />
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Pardeep lost his father, the Temple President, in the massacre in Oak Creek. The morning of the shooting his mother and father were already there and Par was on his way when he turned back to retrieve the notebook his daughter had accidentally left behind. Still grumbling about her irresponsibility, he encountered a police car blocking his access to the temple after watching several emergency and official vehicles whizz past him. <br />
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Par cites something that has visited every person who has suffered fear and shock in a highly charged situation:<br />
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"Sometimes you hear someone say something and you ask 'what?' not because you didn't hear them but because you can't bear what you heard. Your mind can't grasp it and you think if you ask again maybe the result will be different."</blockquote>
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Par's mother called his cell phone from her hiding place in a closet to tell him there was gunfire in the temple and someone was shooting people. The Priest called him from his fathers cell phone to ask him to get help because his father was wounded.<br />
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By the time it was over 6 people were dead, one was left vegetative and a police officer had been shot 8 or 9 times; he miraculously survived. The shooter was wounded in the stomach by an officer and then took his own life.<br />
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Pardeep had to be strong and delay his grief for the sake of his mother and the community. When he was finally ready to confront the whole of it, he reached out to Arno Michaelis on a recommendation by AVE- (Against Violent Extremism.) Michaelis was an author ("My Life After Hate") and a former Skinhead and metal musician whose music was filled with hate and used to entice new recruits to white supremacy. <br />
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Michaelis, with his tattoos, 6 plus foot frame and raspy booming voice could be scary and intimidating on first meeting. Or second. Or seventeenth. As lead singer for Centurion, he belted out many screaming lyrics and his voice betrays the abuse to his vocal chords. <br />
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He is a towering figure. His story is compelling. He explains how racism is a prison of sorts and how life becomes more and more narrow until all that is left is the paranoia. The rhetoric is that it is everyone else's fault and the white race must be saved from the mongrel mixed races at all costs. Life must be preserved for the white children, for the future. What Arno describes is a cult-like programming, an indoctrination and a fraternity that might appeal to an angry and disenfranchised youth-- precisely whom makes the perfect recruit. <br />
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Under any other circumstances these two on the same stage might be an visual oxymoron. They met, spent hours talking together and over time developed a trust and kind of brotherhood. The two have a genuine affection for each other. And their union inspired an epiphany-- they would make something beautiful from tragedy. They would partner in bringing their story to kids. They would infuse art and inspiration into the sterile desert that has become schools. They would take their message to educators-- that children need more than physical security and safety in schools; they need social wellness. <br />
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Social wellness is more than zero tolerance for bullying; it is a hands on nurturing of respect, recognition and celebration of the individual. Serve 2 Unite, the brainchild of this most unlikely coupling of reformed violence and violent reformer with souls reclaimed is a program being piloted in several of Milwaukee's public schools. Serve 2 Unite speaks of diversity, challenge, and compassion-- a radical kind of compassion takes responsibility and embraces everyone while accepting the obligation to create change for a better world.<br />
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If you want to read more and know the whole fascinating story as it unfolded, go to the Charter for Compassion where it is featured as a part of the chartered movement toward global compassion. <a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/node/6391">http://charterforcompassion.org/node/6391</a><br />
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And while you're there, sign up as a compassion advocate, a compassionate school, compassionate organization, compassionate city or country. <br />
<a href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/">www.charterforcompassion.org</a> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-26727586306056835122013-11-30T08:13:00.002-08:002014-02-17T09:16:17.383-08:00Charter for Compassion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Jeremy Rifkin says we are hard wired for compassion. I want to believe him. I think it's one of those things like buying a red sports car. When your new car is a red sports car, suddenly you notice that there are a lot of red sporty cars on the road. <br />
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Do you see in the world what you are looking for? What you are "accustomed" to seeing? Are you more inclined to notice the vibe you are "attuned" to? It's a kind of resonance. Did you know that a guitar "G" string plucked in a room of guitars will cause all the other guitars to play that same G? And if you strum a "D" all the other guitars will resonate to "D." <br />
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A drum struck in a room full of drums will vibrate all of the skins on all the drums. And if you put sand on a on a plate over a drum or music, it will arrange itself in organized geometric patterns.<br />
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Did you know that if you put a whole room of clocks with pendulums in a room swinging at different rates, when you come back in the morning they will all be swinging simultaneously? <br />
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Perhaps <strong><em>we truly are what we resonate with</em></strong>. <a name='more'></a>If you want to change the world, Gandhi said you have to be the world you want. Be the change. If I take personal responsibility for the world and the way it is, and I do my part to make it better, it becomes better. If you join me in taking the same responsibility for the way the world is, imagine what we could do together. And if you and I recruit more people to our movement, we change the whole world. <br />
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We don't have to invent a way to do this; it already exists. Go and sign the Charter for Compassion and join the movement. <a href="http://www.charterforcompassion.org/">www.charterforcompassion.org</a> <br />
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If I want a compassionate world, I have to employ compassion-in-action. I have to be more visible and vocal with compassion (or what's even more fun is to do a compassionate act anonymously.) And I have to engage my own compassion more. I am... a work in progress.<br />
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Racism can be healed. Violence can be healed. Compassion heals. <br />
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Radical Compassion heals radically.<br />
<a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/node/6391">http://charterforcompassion.org/node/6391</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-71429303856147902052013-09-23T13:36:00.003-07:002014-02-17T09:17:27.822-08:00The 3rd Edition: "Words and Violence" and the Healing Arts - How to De-Weaponize Words<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="color: red;"><u><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">The Power of Words:</span> </b></u></span></h3>
Our weekly Unitarian Universalist Fellowship ("UU church") service ends with these words: <i>“Let us carry the
light of compassion and commitment to build a better world." </i><br />
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<i> </i>A pledge repeated becomes a mantra and a mantra repeated becomes a vow, a deeply embedded blueprint for how one lives life. Vows coupled with strong emotions construct realities. Vows are not to be taken lightly; they change lives; they change the world. </div>
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I am a storyteller and studio and performing artist and I believe that the arts-- particularly <i><b>story</b></i> and <b><i>the performing arts--</i></b> holds the greatest potential for healing a troubled and broken world. <a name='more'></a>The arts have the power not just to change the world, but to heal and evolve it. I founded "Words and Violence" because as a wordsmith, I understand the power of words-- written, recited, in sermons, as scripts for films, lyrics, plays, poetry, the spoken word and in the performance arts. "Words and Violence" was born to <b><i>create a more humane narrative on this planet</i>. </b><br />
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<b>Our own U.U. Fellowship Music
Director, teacher and composer Jay Thomas</b>, helped to "build a better world" when he began writing the
lyrics to his original composition <b>“It Shouldn’t Bother Me”</b> three months after the tragic suicide of a seventh grader at his middle school. It was discovered only after her
death that she had hung herself because she had been cyber-bullied by peers. The students left for Summer, but when Fall returned them to school, they were still reeling in the aftermath of losing a classmate in such a senseless and horrific way. </div>
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Jay introduced the score finished over Summer to his school chorus and built a concert around it performing it for the school and parents. It became one of the students’ favorites. And it helped to heal a school.</div>
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Jay has loaned his composition and its story to the “Words
and Violence” Project, initiated in 2009 and hosted at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Voices</i><i>
Compassionate Education Project</i> which reaches an audience of 40,000 visitors per week in 140 countries and is a sister project and website to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charter for
Compassion</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Compassionate Cities</i>. </div>
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<b>Jay also loaned us an anthem “For the Sake of Heart” based on a Rumi poem</b> that asks the question 'what do you think will happen' if we engaged our hearts and compassion in all our affairs? Jay’s first composition helped a school to heal and created
awareness of the impact of bullying. We hope that educators around the world will find Jay’s work useful in their schools. His second composition "For the Sake of Heart" is a general blueprint for healing the world.<br />
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The story of that girl bullied in her school also inspired <b>Ron Haese, local Wisconsin filmmaker </b>to produce “Real for
Us" filmed at Neenah High School and featuring student actors. "Real for Us" joins this 3rd Edition of Words and Violence in the brand new <u><b>Performance Arts as Healer Section</b></u>. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><b><br /></b></u></span>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><b>The Way to Healing:</b></u></span></h3>
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<i><b>Story</b></i> itself as a vehicle for communication and the social responsibility artists carry is addressed in this 3rd edition by <b>Terri Schwartz of UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.</b>
She speaks about the enormous inherent obligations of storytellers to become mindful and to consciously consider what is released to the public and mass
consciousness.<br />
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The "Words and Violence" Project is a resource for educators, and is written for middle school, high school and college levels and addresses bullying, and violence with words. It is <b>a downloadable, free resource network. </b></div>
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<b><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GUPfiudrQdo/UkCmKztbWBI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/Fbhxgzhmc_A/s1600/sign+when+words+are+true+and+kind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GUPfiudrQdo/UkCmKztbWBI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/Fbhxgzhmc_A/s200/sign+when+words+are+true+and+kind.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></b></div>
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Joining Jay and Ron and their work in the 3rd edition, is the<b> Iroquois Nation’s <i>Drum and Dance Company</i> </b>and their "Call for Peace" through dance along with <b>Oneida Indian sister Debra Morningstar’s “Talking Circle”</b> feature which is a blueprint for healing with words.<br />
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Racism, social justice and political reform is
addressed by<b> our newest contributor-- Head Roc. Heady is DC’s Mayor of Hip Hop
</b>who uses spoken word, Hip Hop and Rap for social justice and political
reform.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><u><b>Something is Not Working</b></u></span></h3>
"Words and Violence" is a compendium of free resources on bullying in all its incarnations-- from the playground to the tabloids.
Cyber-bullying is the worst offender. And where did kids learn this? Where is it role modeled? Well, every time you visit your supermarket
your children must run a gauntlet of gossip and bullying on the front
pages of in-your-face magazines at the checkout. When "journalism" targets the gifted and
talented, makes real people into caricatures and publishes and distributes it
worldwide-- bullying is being demonstrated, new consumers are being groomed, and... the
children are watching.<br />
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Despite the scores of programs on bullying, kids are still dying by their own hand over the violence inflicted by words. Why? <i><b>Because adults are demonstrating bullying to them through what they allow and consume.</b></i> How to fix this? You can start by: Complaining to your grocer. By demanding that media clean up its act. (Media does pay attention to letters and comments.) How about constructive commentary instead of the usual sour and anonymous sniping that masquerades as the "comment" section. (See Terri Schwartz's article about a call for new media responsibility.)<br />
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I think this 3rd edition is our best work yet because it addresses how to heal bullying. Educators, community leaders, parents and clergy have addressed the subject writing volumes that examines and educates about bullying and are wringing their hands because kids are still taking their own lives. So what now?<br />
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Now I think we examine, explore and experiment with how to heal the wounds of bullying and the violence that results when words are weaponized to marginalize, dehumanize, diminish and divide and we join a movement toward a more humane narrative on this planet. We "perform" better and we role model that with responsible performance. "The arts" is a vehicle that can reach a mass audience. All the world is a stage and all the stage a world. Let's begin to heal it.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Here are some "Words and Violence" 3rd edition highlights: </span> </h3>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_243512161"></span>Introduction to the 3<sup>rd</sup> Edition </a><span id="goog_243512162"></span>~ B. Kaufmann</div>
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<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5996" target="_blank">Performance Arts as Healer List of Entries- the 3rd Edition</a></div>
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<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5982" target="_blank">Story, Social Resposibility and the Case for a New Model for Entertainment and Performance<br /> </a>by Terri Schwartz, Dean: UCLA School of Theater, Film, Television)</div>
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<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5986" target="_blank"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5986" target="_blank">Music as Song, As Story </a>~B. Kaufmann</div>
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<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5987" target="_blank">Music as Healer: Composer Jay Thomas at Jet Musik</a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/6005" target="_blank">(For the Sake of Heart- Rumi set to music, Jay Thomas)</a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/6005" target="_blank"></a><br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5983" target="_blank">Filmmaker Ron Haese- Making Films by Heart: An Interview</a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/6001" target="_blank">(Film Trailer)</a></div>
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5984" target="_blank">(History and Teacher's Guides)</a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5985" target="_blank">(Casting Students as Actors - an Interview with Zach Boyer, Lead in "Real for Us")</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5988" target="_blank">Hip Hop as Art and Agent for Social Change and Political Justice</a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5989" target="_blank">(First a Word about the N-Word)</a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5990" target="_blank">(What's A Head-Roc?) </a><br />
~B. Kaufmann <br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5991" target="_blank">(When the N-Word Strikes in Chocolate City) </a>~Head-Roc <br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5992" target="_blank">(Meet the Mayor of DC- the Hip Hop Mayor)</a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/6002" target="_blank">(Head-Roc Videos- Hip Hop for Reform and Social-Political Change)</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5993" target="_blank">Dance as Storyteller, As Story </a>~B. Kaufmann<br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5994" target="_blank">Call for Peace- The Drum and Dance Company: Bringing the World together in Dance</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/content/native-american-talking-circle" target="_blank">The Native American Talking Circle- Debra Morningstar, Professional Storyteller</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5995" target="_blank">If I am Not for Me: How Storytelling, Faith and Action came from Sexual Shaming and Bullying</a><br />
(A Sermon by Joanna)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/6003" target="_blank">Black Girl Lessons by Jamia Wilson</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
----------------------------------</div>
<br />
Our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (U.U. church) is a member of a community that is listed as a Compassionate City-- that is, our city is a
member of the <a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/the-charter" target="_blank">*Charter for Compassion Network.</a><br />
<br />
*Want to join the Compassionate Network? <a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/the-charter" target="_blank">Sign the Charter. </a><br />
<br />
Links: <br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/content/words-and-violence" target="_blank">Words and Violence </a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/" target="_blank">Voices Education Project: Website</a><br />
<a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/2487" target="_blank">List of Contributors </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-2833242902139970802013-09-02T11:39:00.004-07:002014-02-17T09:44:47.043-08:00Dance as Community<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mCsWdkMoe3I/UiTaC388hXI/AAAAAAAAA2k/qgzmDLSh-3k/s1600/Drum+and+Dance+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mCsWdkMoe3I/UiTaC388hXI/AAAAAAAAA2k/qgzmDLSh-3k/s320/Drum+and+Dance+2.jpg" height="234" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Call for Peace Drum and Dance Company</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Dance is a communicator, it tells "story;" dance builds community.<br />
<br />
<div>
This brand new 3rd edition of "Words and Violence" features Performance Arts as a catalyst for change, for compassion, for human evolution in “story” conveyed:</div>
<ul>
<li>Through the force of words</li>
<li>Through the eyes of art</li>
<li>Through the language of movement, </li>
<li>Through the magic of film</li>
<li>Through the magic of storytelling via “song.” </li>
</ul>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0wlcEULNYqM/UiTbLZJwwRI/AAAAAAAAA2s/_2jKVXHxVdI/s1600/Hip+Hop+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0wlcEULNYqM/UiTbLZJwwRI/AAAAAAAAA2s/_2jKVXHxVdI/s320/Hip+Hop+collage.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a>It’s part of the movement toward a new narrative on the planet– one that is compassionate, responsible and deliberately created. WE write the script. WE perform the dance and dramas. WE sing the world into being. WE are the narrators and the narrative. WE tell the story of the world. The world is a performance! Our performance! <br />
<br />
The world is a vectoring of what we dance. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>It’s the collective performance of humanity, a work-in-progress. The soundtrack of your life is the soundtrack of the planet. What lyrics do you want to sing? What dance do you want to dream? What live play do you want to perform? What motion picture do you want to create the world to be? What song do you want to join to sing the world into being? What new language do you want to create? What new story of the world do you want to tell? <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Words and Violence” is featured front page! We
just released the 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> edition to 120 countries on August 29. The work will help to stem bullying in
all its incarnations, where it’s found and where it’s addressed: school, home,
media, social justice, political reform <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
the arts… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See the front page feature: </span><a href="http://voiceseducation.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://voiceseducation.org/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Speaking of the arts, we felt that the Performing Arts was
the perfect place to begin showcasing the antidotes and ways to reverse bullying
because we believe the arts, and particularly the performing arts, shows the
most promise for changing the paradigm and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">creating
a more humane narrative on the planet.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Introducing the 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> edition: </span><a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5981"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://voiceseducation.org/node/5981</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">New “Performance Arts” section: </span><a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/5996"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://voiceseducation.org/node/5996</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<br />
(see the list at the bottom of the page or click through the section via the
next “title” bottom right) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Contributors: (Updates in progress)<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><a href="http://voiceseducation.org/node/2487"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://voiceseducation.org/node/2487</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
Borrowing from David Letterman:<br />
Top Ten Ways </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">YOU can help promote “Words and Violence” and Compassionate
Voices:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sharing the links<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Blogging about the project<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Talking to educators about this resource<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Taking it to your school, principal, High
School, university, school of journalism or the arts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Using the content in your programs (more than
600 pages of resources)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Making a contribution to Compassionate Voices or
asking others to contribute<br />
</span><a href="https://compassionateaction.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=7&reset=1&id=6"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">https://compassionateaction.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=7&reset=1&id=6</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Notifying your constituencies about this
resource<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">8.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Becoming a partner: Signing the charter for
Compassion: </span><a href="http://compassionateaction.org/partners"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://compassionateaction.org/partners</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nominate your school, college, organization or city
as a compassionate partner </span><a href="http://compassionateaction.org/programs"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://compassionateaction.org/programs</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">10.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Become a volunteer or volunteer contributor to “Words
and Violence” or recommend someone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
Write to Barbara Kaufmann personally with your ideas. (See email link right sidebar)</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> The Words and Violence materials are free for downloading to educators and interested parties except for products developed by artists featured in the new section (original musical scores, films and accompanying teacher's resources)</span></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-84520708588044799562013-07-26T14:19:00.001-07:002014-02-17T09:42:23.827-08:00Finding the Antidote to Bullying<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nu7Ui96YQdw/UfLsJeogPnI/AAAAAAAAA0w/AsZG29HMa-E/s1600/Voices+Words+and+Violence+cover+3rd+ed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nu7Ui96YQdw/UfLsJeogPnI/AAAAAAAAA0w/AsZG29HMa-E/s320/Voices+Words+and+Violence+cover+3rd+ed.jpg" height="320" width="227" /></a> We (individually at Voices Education Project) and collectively as a culture, have done a good job of pointing the finger at bullies and bullying. We have raised consciousness to the ceiling. <br />
<br />
But the culture of violence continues. Why?<br />
Because we have created school curricula, documentaries, anecdotes and antidotes; we say "It Gets Better," or "I Choose." <br />
<br />
We pronounce with any number of clichés, tired pseudo-encouragement slogans, and we think we motivate change. But as long as we miss the point, support and demonstrate a culture of violence, or perpetuate a disconnect between adult behavior and childrens' bullying, the violence is not going away. <br />
<br />
We need to teach and role model <strong><em>social wellness.</em></strong><a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
We can't have it both ways. We can't mourn for Newtown but place the value of guns above the value of children. We can't favor the purchase of semi-automatic weapons with magazines that hold multiple rounds of rapid fire deadly mini missiles over sensible laws about background checks and responsible ownership. And I've never seen a deer ferocious enough to require an AK-47 to bring it down.<br />
<br />
We can't feature bullying, ridiculing at a distance and cat fights on prime time TV and expect our children not to notice. We can't cut someone off in traffic or make a hand gesture that our children witness and expect them to behave compassionately with their peers. <br />
<br />
We can't keep dragging our children through the gauntlet of bullying and dismembering people on the front pages of magazines and tabloids at the supermarket checkout and wonder where they learn to post bullying messages on public forums. Public figures, the famous, politicians, and celebrities are people despite the tabloids' deliberate formula to gradually de-humanize them in order to make you more comfortable with bullying them and dismembering them publicly more palatable.<br />
<br />
We, as adults and role models can't call others names or epithets, or marginalize and bully other groups and peoples, offer hypocritical and empty speeches or pay only lip service to real problems of real people and social justice; we can't place profit above people or show indifference to someone else's misfortune or rights, or access to work or healthcare; and we can't ignore the common good in favor of the "entitled" few or grab and hoard planetary resources privately that are meant for everyone, and expect our children to be respectful, inclusive, kind or compassionate toward others.<br />
<br />
If we don't walk the talk we are not credible. And if we talk the walk and don't walk it, our words are empty, our values are empty and our children will be as empty. Words are employed for violent means all the time, and that is where the disconnect lies. If we don't walk the talk, we have no credibility when we talk to kids about bullying.<br />
<br />
Then when communicating with kids, we need to talk their talk or speak their language. Lecturing about bullying doesn't work when hypocritically pious adults preach while at the same time demonstrating bullying to youth with our own behaviors. We can't speak about how unethical bullying is and how dangerous the consequences while we role model it to them.<br />
<br />
It's time to connect the dots and walk the talk while talking it." Preaching and anti-bullying rhetoric doesn't work while our own lack of ethics shows. We need to demonstrate the antidote for bullying... compassion, empathy, community building and stewardship.<br />
<br />
The new edition of "Words and Violence" features "performance art" because I believe that is the most powerful contemporary forum for demonstration and it's where hope for change lives.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-60978239210082529322013-04-23T10:39:00.001-07:002014-02-17T09:59:10.307-08:00Tabloid Journalism at Huffington Post?<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qlZaRPDcoKY/UXbH_WyHEtI/AAAAAAAAAxI/2Dw2QYkdnlI/s1600/sign+spiritual+courage+to+take+responsibility.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qlZaRPDcoKY/UXbH_WyHEtI/AAAAAAAAAxI/2Dw2QYkdnlI/s200/sign+spiritual+courage+to+take+responsibility.png" height="175" width="200" /></a>Well, I am now duly impressed. This is encouraging: the Huffington Post now has a section: "Tabloid Journalism." Whoa. <br />
<br />
I once wrote a piece about an icon-- Whitney Houston, and featured how she was directly linked to Nelson Mandela and his release from prison. <br />
<br />
Yes, <em>that</em> Whitney Houston. <br />
<br />
<em><strong>Did you know that Whitney Houston was an anti-apartheid activist who began some freedom fighting activities in South Africa disguised as concerts where she sang about freedom? Did you know that Houston's covert activism was one link in the long chain of events that led to Mandela's release from behind the barbed wire?</strong></em><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
I wrote that story. It wasn't published. The editor gave no explanation or feedback. It was just... well, ignored. This was shortly after Houston's death and she was she was the manic topic d'jour so my piece was timely. I suspected it wasn't "sexy" enough or macabre enough. It was the truth. But truth often doesn't sell well; it likely wasn't <em>tabloid enough.</em><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><a name='more'></a><br />
So you may never learn that about Whitney because you may never get past the legacy of "overdose" and "drugs." It's because of things like "eyes on the page" and "hits" and market share. It's about the dismemberment of people for profit and distribution and demographics. Because the yellow newspapers want to get you the "sexy" news and the juicy stories, there's a lot you don't know. Ever wonder what that might be? Whitney is only the surface of something that is rattling underground. <br />
<br />
Is the Huffington Post feeling the tremors? Do you suppose they are catching on? Are they finger-on-pulse watching trends and trending? Are they feeling the vibe? <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GJ0hgcRPUYQ/UXbJZHzQXgI/AAAAAAAAAxY/zFoYwWdN0rk/s1600/Tabloid+headlines+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GJ0hgcRPUYQ/UXbJZHzQXgI/AAAAAAAAAxY/zFoYwWdN0rk/s200/Tabloid+headlines+2.jpg" height="200" width="165" /></a></div>
America is tired. The world is tired. We are all filled up on it. We long for something....<br />
<br />
else.<br />
<br />
Some don't even know what it is... but they want somebody to show up with it.<br />
<br />
The first "journalist," or "blog," or "blogger," and network that gets that message will have the lion's share of the market... in a heartbeat. (There's your smoking gun hidden clue: "heartbeat.")<br />
<br />
Will it be the Huffington Post? I dunno, but let's stay tuned. Meanwhile... oh the irony.<br />
<br />
"Tabloid Journalism" at Huffington Post:<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/tabloid-journalism">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/tabloid-journalism</a><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-57521274770502831902012-09-12T07:34:00.005-07:002014-02-17T10:00:59.391-08:00A More Humane Narrative, Please<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ArJD2WoAKBg/UFCeiv9WNqI/AAAAAAAAAvI/B7Nl4dIKT3A/s1600/Words%2Bhurt%2Bbullying%2Bphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ArJD2WoAKBg/UFCeiv9WNqI/AAAAAAAAAvI/B7Nl4dIKT3A/s400/Words%2Bhurt%2Bbullying%2Bphoto.jpg" height="290" width="400" /></a></div>
When did mainstream media become "medialoid" and when did social media become "mean-stream?" <br />
<br />
One of the initiatives at Voices Education Project is to: "create a more humane narrative on the planet." Why is the current narrative on this planet so inhumane? <br />
<br />
When did mainstream media become "medialoid" and when did social media become "mean-stream?" One of the initiatives at Voices Education Project is to: "create a more humane narrative on the planet." Why is the current narrative on this planet so inhumane? When did mainstream media become "medialoid" and when did social media become "mean-stream?" One of the initiatives at Voices Education Project is to: "create a more humane narrative on the planet." Why is the current narrative on this planet so inhumane? <a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
If you've ever left the radio on and gone about your daily routine with the drone of the radio in the background, you have invited the influence of something impacting you that colors your day without your conscious awareness. This influence becomes barely perceptible after a while, as it runs in the background of your life. This "hum" in the background, while innocuous and indirect, can influence the decisions and behaviors of your day unawares. And what you are likely to unconsciously experience from the radio is not a positive experience, but will be slanted toward doom and gloom. <br />
<br />
Talk radio, newscasts, satellite radio, the twenty-four hour cable news, and informative programming are not generally focused on good but more likely the bad and the ugly. It's a constant drone of information that feeds and reinforces cynicism to human DNA-- the biological human computer operating system. Can that influence be good? Uplifting? Hopeful? <br />
<br />
What does it portend when the human is bombarded by messages that reinforce the human concepts of violence, competition, suspicion, distrust and scarcity? When the programming or content is violent, the human mind reacts by bathing the brain in chemicals that are anything but beneficial. Competition triggers hormonally adrenalin and suspicion, distrust and scarcity produce fear-- that releases all kinds of chemicals in the brain and bloodstream and provokes the tribal survivor mind. <br />
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To illustrate a contrast, there are some things that human DNA is impacted by that produces Endorphins-- the feel good brain chemical. But they are rare and not usually constant. There are some kinds of music that soothe, and a fountain running in your home has, within the sound of running water, a calming and centering effect on the psyche. Those living in that environment are not consciously aware of the influence of the sound of running water but are calmed by it. The sound of falling water has an even deeper impact on the human psyche, and actual waterfalls release negative ions in the atmosphere that generate a sense of well-being.<br />
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Our ecosystems impact our moods, our productivity, and our worldview. We have many ecosystems that form concentric circles of influence around us and that extend into our lives and the roles we assume in our lives. There is a home ecosystem, work ecosystem, religious ecosystem, parental or family ecosystem, digital or virtual ecosystem, a leisure or entertainment ecosystem, the ecosystems of interests, and a local, regional, national and world ecosystem. And all of these ecosystems impact our worldview. Without mindfulness, these ecosystems have an unconscious impact that is processed subconsciously or below the radar of our awareness. They are like a droning radio playing in the background.<br />
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One stark example of how these "ecosystem drones" may affect daily life and lifetimes, is to recall the era of Soviet-American friction and the subsequent cold war. After World War II and post-invention of the nuclear bomb, the world's ecosystem became filled with fear and trepidation. Those living in that ecosystem felt the constant threat of their imminent demise. The world was a hostile place and the threat of spontaneous nuclear war was very real. Imagine having that ecosystem droning on in the background of your days, informing all your decisions and deciding your life's direction. Many at the time had no direction or felt it secondary to living in the moment for they were conditioned to believe there may be no tomorrow. <br />
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There is a contemporaneous similar drone in modern society-- and it is the vibe of cynicism that permeates the ecosystem. The sense of failure, of loss of the "American dream" or of making something of one's life separate to consumerism runs in the background almost imperceptibly. There is a vague sense of something being wrong and a sense of desperation but it is not easily identified. Humans are indoctrinated to want more and more and when that is achieved, to want better and better. It fosters a hamster-wheel existence of unconscious striving that in order to "fit in" complies with the cultural rules while at the same time rebelling against them yet straining to scan the horizon for the next shiny object to want. <br />
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It's exhausting. It conjures a mentality summed up in the Peggy Lee song "Is That All There Is?" When the "background radio" in our lives drones on and on spewing cynicism into the atmosphere, the suffocation in that atmosphere is going to get to us eventually. So, there is a growing dissatisfaction with the trappings of life. People get confused about what they are supposed to want so they want what's in front of them that feels good only in larger doses or a more outrageous form-- "All I want for my birthday is a big booty hoe." ~2 Chainz Kanye West. <br />
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The cynicism drone leaks into our everyday lives and informs our speech, our music, our literature, our leisure activities, our behavior, our treatment of one another, the level of competition rather than cooperation, the focus on how we are separate and different rather than how we are alike and how we might cooperate to solve our collective problems and the unhealthy ecosystem and our injuries from hanging out in it for so long. And nowhere is the vibe of cynicism more evident than in the media. <br />
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When the world is on the brink because of a paradigm that is old, too tribal, no longer working and filled up to the top, the ecosystem becomes infused with an unrest. The evidence of the unrest is everywhere-- the Arab Spring, Wisconsin's recall election, the Occupy Movement and the 99% who clamor for change. <br />
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Some of the movement is not well defined nor are the goals, but there is an underlying current of unrest. It portends close examination of values, a prioritization and a call for change. I hope it's a formulating call to change in the ecosystem and what impacts human DNA. <br />
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I hope it is a Holy Unrest. I hope it heralds a new era and a more humane narrative on this planet that is more a weapon of mass dissatisfaction than the weapons of mass destruction the media has become.<br />
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I think the world is rather fatigued with being shown the mirror of its darkest self in media-- the shadow print of the tabloids, yellow journalism leaked into mainstream media and become medialoid. The world is appalled by the trend of youth-- bullying and being bullied to death. <br />
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The biggest bully on the planet is words and how we use them. I want this shower of cynicism that permeates our culture and our world, to change to a new effervescence of human dignity, empowerment and enlightenment. <br />
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I want to be fed information about what's right with humans, humanity and the world rather than a steady diet of what's wrong. And I am not alone. <br />
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I am hoping that what this unrest signals and portends is an evolutionary leap toward the evident but unrecognized and unheralded spirituality (not religion) of human beings. I hope it features how humans shine and rise permanently to the best and finest incarnation of themselves-- not just when there is a shared threat or tragedy. <br />
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I hope there comes someone who can stimulate the positive brain chemicals and can change the dark cynicism and replace it with joy and pride. I remember how James Brown's lyrics changed a whole generation when he released "I'm Black and I'm Proud." <br />
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Rather than to feed the cynicism and amplify the sound of it, I want to hear the new background drone and the new lyrics of an unwritten song: "I'm human and I am proud. <br />
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It takes one voice, one story or one song to begin a movement. What song will we sing in the millennium? Who will write those lyrics? Who will release that music into the ecosystem? Who, indeed. If we want change in our ecosystem, we must begin it. If we want better, we must demand it. If we want a more humane narrative on this planet, we must begin a conversation that favors it. If we want a change, we must be it. Maybe we are the ones we have been waiting for? <br />
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You may read all of Barbara's articles in favor of a new narrative... <br />
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At the HUFFINGTON POST<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-barbara-kaufmann">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-barbara-kaufmann</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5261197352062054063.post-1579922127572334502011-09-10T07:56:00.000-07:002011-09-21T08:00:46.225-07:00Our new film at Voices Education Project<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/28381782?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="650" height="250" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/28381782">Man Behind the Myth</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user8320073">Walking Moon Studios</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0