For my fellow bloggers

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

All I Want for Christmas....

This seems like a good day to start blogging again. While I don't consider myself to be a Christian, I am still drawn to the energy and spirit of this day. I consider it a day (and a season) to make a special point of reaching out to family and friends in love and peace.

Regardless of your faith, I wish you the best of everything. May you find peace in your heart and your home. Please take some time today to tell someone you love them. Life is short. Make the most of every day. You'll never have this day again.

All I want for Christmas? World peace. Let it begin with me.

Free Burma

FREE BURMA

Please sign and forward this petition!

While reading updates on the situation in Burma/Myanmar, I discovered a petition to the Nobel Prize committee to consider a last-minute nomination of the monks who have been defending the protesters.

From the petition:

"Over the past week, the world watched in humility and awe as hundreds of thousands of unarmed Buddhist monks and civilians marched peacefully throughout the country. However, as we have seen, rather than respond in a civilized manner, the military and its thugs have killed dozens of monks and arrested thousands. Descriptions of Burmese soldiers ransacking monasteries recall fifth century barbarian hordes pillaging villages, rather than the actions of a disciplined twenty-first century defense force. Rather than submit, the monks have used other tools in the arsenal of peace. Monks who have been arrested are now on hunger strikes, while those who are locked in their monasteries chant the metta sutta to ward off evil and spread love."

Today's (second) website: Petition

One more: Up-to-the-minute news updates

Identify Your Own Uniqueness

A month ago I posted about a newsletter I'd recently signed up for, My Daily Peace. Today's entry was significant to me on many levels, from improving my home to searching for meaningful work:

Identify your own uniqueness and use it to improve your environment.

Today's website: Mir Movement

International Peace Day September 21

The International Day of Peace, established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly, was first inaugurated on the third Tuesday of September, 1982. Beginning on the 20th anniversary in 2002, the UN General Assembly set 21 September as the now permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

The Assembly's resolution declared that the International Day of Peace

"will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our Organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the Organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace. May this Peace Day indeed be a day of peace."

(Quote excerpted from the United Nations General Assembly Resolution UN/A/RES/36/67)

The amended Resolution adopted in 2001 permanently fixed the date of the International Day of Peace to September 21.

“The Assembly, reaffirming the contribution that the observance and celebration of the International Day of Peace make in strengthening the ideals of peace and alleviating tensions and causes of conflict, (decided that) beginning with the fifty-seventh session, the Day should be observed on 21 September each year, with this date to be brought to the attention of all people for the celebration and observance of peace.”

The new Resolution added the call for the International Day of Peace to be a Global Ceasefire:

"Declares that the International Day of Peace shall henceforth be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day..."

(Quotes from the amending UN resolution UN/A/RES/55/282 which fixes the date of the International Day of Peace on 21 September and calls for a Global Ceasefire on that Day.)

There are many ways you can celebrate International Peace Day, but in particular you can join countries around the world in holding a minute of silence at 12 noon. Please pause and spend a minute meditating for peace and nonviolence. Visit the World Peace Prayer Society for more information. Also visit International Day of Peace for more ideas and suggestions. May peace prevail!

Today's website: International Day of Peace

9/11

What to say today?

So many people have died, and why? Hatred, the quest for power, fear... humanity as a whole suffers whenever any of us allow ourselves to see another human being as the enemy, even more so when an entire society is villified. I don't have the answers to how to resolve our differences, but surely history has shown repeatedly that killing each other is not any kind of solution.

"We are one, after all, you and I.
Together we suffer, together we exist, and forever will we recreate each other."
(Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French paleontologist and theologian, 1881-1955)

Today's Quote: Wake Up!

"Wake up!
If you knew for certain you had a terminal illness - if you had little time left to live - you would waste precious little of it!
Well' I'm telling you ... you do have a terminal illness: It's called birth.
You don't have more than a few years left. No one does.
So be happy now, without reason, or you will never be at all."
(Dan Millman, American philosopher, born 1946)

Today's website: Your Daily Thought

My Daily Peace

This is another wonderful little newsletter I've recently discovered. It's motto is "Increasing peace in the world is as simple as doing one more peaceful thing today than you did yesterday." Every day I receive in my inbox a tip for living peacefully. The tip today: Scatter sunshine to all you meet today and to anyone close to you.



Today's website: Mir Movement Sign up for the newsletter, and have a look around at what else they do.

Going Further

I recently rented a movie from the library titled Go Further, a documentary by Ron Mann about Woody Harrelson’s Simple Organic Living (SOL) Tour. As it states on Amazon, the film “explores the idea that the single individual is the key to large-scale transformational change.” Woody and an assortment of friends toured the Pacific Coast traveling by a bio-fuelled bus and bicycles, talking to anyone and everyone along the way about what we each can do to "walk on the earth with a lighter footprint." It was both entertaining and inspirational, and I recommend it to all.


My reason for renting it had little to do with its focus on environmental issues, but rather its approach to addressing them. I was hoping for some inspiration on how I could get “PeaceRipples” back on track again. I haven’t been posting anything here in large part because I’d lost touch with my original vision of what I wanted to accomplish. I’ve spent a lot of time mulling over various ideas, but couldn’t figure out what the next step should be. A side benefit to renting it was that it reminded me that we can’t separate out the issues – if the environment isn’t take care of, peace isn’t being taken care of either. We need a healthy planet populated with healthy people in order to have peace.


Fortunately, my “ploy” worked, and the movie has renewed my energies for doing more and sharing more, and not letting myself get so hung up that I can’t post anything. Over the time I’ve been away, I’ve encountered several resources that I plan to share here over the next little while. Please, if you have any ideas and/or resources you’d like to see promoted here, email me at peaceripples@gmail.com – I’d love to hear from you.


Today’s website: - Woody Harrelson and Laura Louie’s VoiceYourself - for news and tips on environmental issues. (I was hoping they had a newsletter I could sign up for, but so far haven’t seen anything - if anyone looking through the website discovers one, please let me know!)

March For Peace heading for Washington DC

I just received an email bringing to my attention these two teenagers who are walking across the United States to promote peace. The March For Peace is currently working it's way through Nebraska, having started in San Francisco on May 21 and hopes to arrive in Washington, DC on September 11. If you're anywhere along their route, consider joining them or helping them out in any way. I'm sure they'd appreciate your support!


Meet the marchers mid way through the journey at Levi Carter Park in Omaha, Nebraska on July 14, 2007 for a music festival and rally for peace & social justice. Event sponsored by Nebraskans for Peace. Omaha Indymedia announcement for the rally here.


Check the "Route" page for the march route - catch them in a town near you!!


Objectives of the March for Peace:


1. Urge the U.S. government to End the military occupation of Iraq, and sign the Kyoto Protocol
2. Raise awareness about global issues and generate ideas for peaceful paths.
3. Please see our "Ideals" page for more reasons we march!

Stressful Day

June 20, 2007

Today was a stressful day for me. Forget world peace…. it’s enough of a challenge right now to have a peaceful home. I live with two other people, and we started the day at each other’s throats and we’re still recovering now, in the evening. At least things calmed down by the afternoon, but we’re all exhausted from it.

Everything’s fine now, of course, but it reminded me once again of how important it is to develop peaceful habits as part of your everyday life. It is so easy in the heat of the moment to say hurtful things, which only escalates what usually started out as a minor disagreement. I am willing to admit that I played a part in doing just that this morning, letting my fears overrun my reason. Instead of calming the situation down, as I would have liked to have been able to do, I made it worse.

A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong,
which is but saying that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.

(Alexander Pope, English poet, 1688-1744)

More Joy

My friend Aanya has put together a website More Joy. It's a continuation of her book Joy-Makers, which she has made available for free to subscribers to her newsletter. This isn't a quick throw-together ebook, it's 100 pages of wisdom she's put her heart and soul into. I highly recommend it. Look for the link at the bottom of the home page.

The Path of Transformation

I recently decided to re-read The Path of Transformation by Shakti Gawain. It was one of the first books I read last year when I started thinking about how to work towards world peace. It provided me with the inspiration that lead to the creation of this blog (and will eventually further lead to a website, when I get off my butt and build it). I highly recommend it to anyone interested in peace on any level.

From her introduction:

"Today's challenges can only be met powerfully and effectively through a shift in consciousness, which in fact is already well under way worldwide. We need to recognize, to the depths of our souls, that we are all part of one whole, that what each of us does individually has a powerful impact on us all. Our global crises relate to and mirror our individual processes. Only through healing ourselves on all levels - physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual - can we heal our families, our communities, and our planet."

Peace Quote

This is taken from a newsletter I subscribe to, Your Daily Thought. Today's quote is:

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted;
the indifference of those who should have known better;
the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most that has made it possible for evil to triumph.

(Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia, 1892-1975)

Gazoo

For my Blogazoo readers, here's a gazoo for you!

Thanks for reading,
Jen

Because You Can't Have Peace on an Empty Stomach

I'm looking ahead to the day (hopefully not too long from now) when I finally set up my peaceripples website. I want to include a section on hunger which will have both information on how this issue relates to peace and also recipes which are both economical and delicious.

If you have any recipes you'd like to submit, please email them to peaceripples@gmail.com with "recipes for peace" in the subject. If you have a website you would like to include a link for, you're more than welcome to.

Make Poverty History

This is an email I was asked to forward on.... please consider signing on to this campaign.

Dear Friend,

Today, I became part of an unprecedented global call to action to end poverty: Make Poverty History

Right now, there is active campaigning in over 100 countries around the three core demands: More and Better Aid, Trade Justice, and Cancel the Debt. In Canada, we're also campaigning to End Child Poverty in Canada.

You've just got to be a part of this campaign.

Go to http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca and sign on to the campaign yourself.

There is no time to lose. It doesn't matter who or where you are, your voice is critical to the success of this campaign. This is a rare chance to join me and millions of others across the planet to once and for all make poverty history.

What are you waiting for? Join me and click in!

Jennifer Cole

What you can do right now:

• Sign on to the campaign
• Tell federal MPs other politicians to commit to a timeline for 0.7%
• Click others into action - forward this message to your networks

"If everyone who wants to see an end to poverty, hunger and suffering speaks out, then the noise will be deafening. Politicians will have to listen."
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Upcoming Events in the Cambridge Area

For my local (Cambridge, Ontario and area) readers, there are a couple of events happening in the next week you might be interested in.

Thursday, May 3, 2007
7 – 10 pm
Calm & Ground Gathering
Balance Natural Healing Arts, 71 Dickson Street, Cambridge
519-620-0262

Please bring a food offering for potluck and any percussion instrument for drum circle.

Friday, May 4, 2007
7pm
Peace Walk
Waterloo Park

Join the Peace Walk on May 4th Waterloo park -west (enter off Westmount) at 7 pm followed by the viewing of the film, Gandhi (at the Princess Cinema). May 4th. The Humanist Movement is hosting this event. The film will begin at 8 pm for those interested. Regular admission prices apply.

Peace Quote

Violence just hurts those who are already hurt...Instead of exposing the brutality of the oppressor, it justifies it.

César Chávez

Blog Your Blessings Sunday on Life at the Edge

Surfing around the blogs today, I came across this post on a blog titled Life at the Edge. I highly recommend reading it. It's a Taoism chant from the 6th century, and it perfectly and simply captures the philosophy behind PeaceRipples.

I'm Back

I would like to apologize to my readers who may have been wondering where I disappeared to. I know it’s been awhile. Looking back I realize that my last post was 3 days before I ended things with my boyfriend. It was hard to focus on peace while getting daily harassing phone calls and dealing with the aftermath of the breakup. My new apartment that I loved so much and worked so hard to get became a place to be avoided. I’ve moved in with my dear friends Sherry and Charles and I don’t know if I ever want to return to that apartment. And that’s been the least of my worries.

It’s been a particular challenge to figure out how to deal with the situation as a peacemaker. I tried talking nicely to him, I tried being rational, I tried being blunt. Nothing worked. I called the police on him not once but twice – both times he got warnings to back off, while I was advised to change my phone number. (That “solution” wouldn’t have prevented the calls to my work, of course.) In desperation, I asked someone to have a not-too-friendly chat with him. I’m not sure exactly what was said, but it bought me a week with no phone calls, relative bliss.

On the seventh day, the phone calls began again in earnest. They started out nicely enough: “Jen, I love you and I miss you and I want to be friends.” Quickly they turned to threats, from the bizarre, “I’m suing you for mental abuse” to the unnerving, “Eyes are watching you everywhere.” When I got the last bunch of messages off my voice mail, I broke. I called a friend in tears and said I didn’t know what to do anymore. Skipping over the details, he got involved, the police finally charged my ex-boyfriend with harassment and he’s been in jail ever since. Not that that was the end of it – for a couple of days I started getting collect phone calls from the jail. Another afternoon spent dealing with the police, and he lost his phone privileges. I have no idea what to expect when he finally goes to trial. No wonder I have no desire to return home.

It illustrates for me the dilemma faced by all of us who work for peace: what to do when every effort you make towards peace is (or appears) fruitless? How do you protect yourself from those who wish to harm you? I think I’m finally beginning to understand the expression, “the personal is the political.” There can’t be peace on a global, national or any other political scale as long as people are experiencing conflict on the personal level. I already knew this, of course, but now I know it with greater clarity. This is why PeaceRipples is so important to me. I believe that by increasing the amount of peace we each experience in our own lives we increase the amount of peace felt by the whole planet. In this way, we truly can change the world.

Human Peace Project, Kitchener, Ontario

With the spring comes a barrage of wonderfull community events geared
towards promoting peace, love and light

Balance will be chartering a bus from their store to the park for this
event.
http://www.humanpeacesign.com/
The cost to join us on the Balance Bus is $5 and will include
refreshments before boarding and a candle to use in the event.

There are only 48 seats on the bus. Please come in to register and
pay ASAP.
Please pass this on to EVERYONE... This is the first year for this
event in Kitchener. Think we can attract 3000 people?

The candles used at the event will be 100% Soy, and will be made by
Balance Artisan Aura Care Creations

Hope to be seeing you and all of the people on your email buddy lists
VERY SOON at Balance to register

Peace and Blessings
Laura
balancearts@gmail.com

Balance is located at:
71 Dickson Street
Cambridge, Ontario
N1R 7A5
519-620-0262alancearts@gmail.com

Just For Today

Just for today, I intend
to relax

Just for today, I intend
to stay calm

Just for today, I intend
to trust in the universe

Just for today, I intend
to trust that the universe
is good

Today's Stress Tip

I subscribe to a newsletter "Today's Stress Tip" and when I read today's tip I had to share it with you. (First I got permission, of course.) I liked this particular tip because it ties in a "personal" issue with a "world" issue, reminding us of how our individual choices impact the world around us.

Today's Stress Tip - by G. Gaynor McTigue

Don't be a sucker for "I'm sorry."

Very likely, the two words in the English language most
often spoken with insincerity are "I'm sorry." People toss
the phrase about as if it's all they have to do to make
amends and wipe the record clean. And they frequently
express it with such shallow indifference...even an edge of
annoyance! So don't get all worked up over whether or
not someone apologizes. It's usually meaningless anyway.
Instead, judge individuals on their attempts at retribution
-- that is, their efforts to make up for what they did in
some way. On the flip side, be aware of how often you,
too, casually resort to an unfelt "I'm sorry." Taking sincere
responsibility for our actions is one way we can relieve the
tensions in our world. Why make yourself crazy?

excerpted from the new book "400 Ways to Stop

Stress Now...and Forever!" by G. Gaynor McTigue.

More at http://www.pickmeupbooks.com

March on Washington DC, January 27th

I received an email today from Peace Please letting me know about this event, which they are putting their full support behind:

On January 27, 2007, United for Peace and Justice, with the support of hundreds of other national and local groups, is holding a rally and march for peace in Washington D.C. Buses will be bringing people in from cities across the U.S. and there will be participants from other nations.

Anyone able to make it is encouraged to attend.

New Willard Street Article is Up

This week's article is up over at Willard Street. It's the 2nd in a series on anger management. Please check it out!

If you're interested in the subject of anger management, have a look at some of these useful books:

Blog: Glittering Muse

I found a blog that I'd like to recommend - Glittering Muse.

Quoting from the site:
"We all want happiness, love and meaning in our lives. This blog shares spiritual explorations through poetic and musical inspiration, physical and mental awareness, meditation and the power of mystery, all infused with a touch of gay spirit! Please share a glass of Incandescent Nectar with me."

Please hop on over for a visit!

Sufi Wisdom

Past the seeker as he prayed, came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them, the holy one went down into a deep prayer and cried, “Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?” And out of the long silence, God said, “I did do something. I made you.” – Sufi teaching story

Willard Street Column

I've just sent off my weekly column to Willard Street. It will be a few hours before Rob gets it posted, but I wanted to get a notice up about it, and at the same time pass on some links Rob sent me to some of his columns that have been published at Associated Content. Check them out, and it would help him out if you would give them your rating. Unless you're going to give him a poor rating.... that wouldn't be very helpful. The choice is, of course, yours.

Classic Eats... Step Back in Time at a Tucscon Cafe

Thank You, Mister Bush

Perhaps the Greatest Loss of the 2006 Election