Planning for2021 International Day for Peace

 

Bit of a different approach this year - creating and sending out peace buttons. Buttons with original peace art.

Peace 2017

©2017 Barry Smith - Imagine peace on International Peace Day 2017

The years seem to pass so quickly. Another year has gone by and it has been one that it has had:
far too many threats of war and aggression;
far too much intolerance; and
far too little acceptance and respect.

On the very positive side it has also been a year where many people in the blogging community have been making small efforts to connect around peace, share peace and encourage others to think about peace.

This year I was moved to make a stash of Peace Leaves and to send them out to folk across Australia and internationally.

©2017 Barry Smith

©2017 Barry Smith - Peace be yours

Many of those leaves are making there way into hands and hearts and are creating a number of small ripples that can counteract some of the intolerance, abuse and aggression - peace be yours and peace to those around you.

and so we commemorate and honor and participate in the international day of peace

mary jane dodd - 2016 om hanging

on a daily basis, do you make time for peace?

do you honor it as a necessary part of your life?

when peace settles into our hearts and minds

it calms agitation

it illuminates darkness

it quells fear. 

when you feel more peaceful, you carry it with you.

sharing it with other living things

caring about ki's well being

(robin wall kimmerer - the founding director of the center for native peoples and the environment at suny believes that we need to leave behind the pronoun 'it' for living beings. ki is a being of the living earth and kin is its plural form. she believes our thinking can be transformed with this change in language. and as words become thoughts and thoughts become actions, i completely agree with her. )

growing in the knowledge that we are all connected. 

walls come down

trust grows

we feel safe in all respects

and, as a result, every being thrives. 

make time for peace

and soon it will become unimaginable 

that you moved through the world in any other way. 

Birds fly for peace

Yesterday Fiona and I installed our peace birds and imagine peace cards in our so named peace tree at the front of our house.

We hope that as they blow in the breeze they might send out some peace energy; and hopefully some folk walking by might pause to read the words and imagine peace.

Birds of peace for International Peace Day

My birds of peace will be hung in the peace tree at the front of our block over the next couple of days leading up to and continuing to fly after the 21 September.

©2016 Barry Smith - A few birds of peace for International Peace Day 2016

May these birds of peace just send a few more peace ripples out into the world.

wednesday september 21st

here we are again, looking at the imminent arrival of the international day of peace. 

one week from now. 

i am guilty of not having been active here - and yet the world has shown us over the past year that the need for the honoring of peace is just as important as it ever was. and probably ever shall be. for it needs to be tended to - as anything else. we need to stay mindful and active, our young ones need to be guided and given solid role models. 

it is, in effect, a life's practice. 

my work this year has gotten bigger - but with the same goal in mind. for it to be used in ways that promote peace. offering bowls and wall plaques and hangings- using techniques and skills i've honed in the making of adornment - are coming off of the anvil. set with words that resound deeply within me. 

morning mantra offering bowl 2016

as there is never a bad time to share your thoughts or work - please feel free to share. i know it's going on steadily. 

----

as the moon sets

and the sun rises

may i begin my day

awake.

may i move through each moment

mindfully

lightly

and 

with clarity.

a heart bursting with love,

a mind propped open, 

may i shine to lessen 

the darkness

of another being's 

suffering. 

----

in peace - 

mary jane

The Lotus

May I live like the lotus, 

at ease in muddy water

The lotus has been my source of inspiration.

To allow me to be at ease,

  in the moment,

      just being.