Sitting for half an hour, visualizing peace, I surprised myself by having a wonderful time.\u00a0 First I saw myself as a dove, taking the tidings of peace to every country on the planet:\u00a0 America, Mexico, Guatemala … New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania … Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia… China, India, Russia … Bhutan, Kurdistan, Uzbeckistan … Egypt, Ethiopia , Tanzania … Spain, France, England …\u00a0 I was a little ashamed at how few countries I know.\u00a0 I did pretty well in Europe: Greece,Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Serbia, Croatia … Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland …\u00a0 though I can\u2019t remember all the countries that once made up Yugoslavia.\u00a0 Is there still a Macedonia?\u00a0 We do a lot of their dances.<\/p>\n I imagined people dancing in the streets, then I imagined live music for them to dance to, food for everyone, enough clean water for everyone…\u00a0 Understanding that peace can only be built on sustainability, I imagined people being stewards, preserving nature, no cars in Yosemite Valley, in fact no cars anywhere \u2014 cheap, well-organized, fast (those trains that run on monorails above the ground), bicycles in cities, free to everyone \u2014 you just leave the one you used outside your destination and trust there will be another when you come out (think this is really happening in\u00a0 some European countries). Bus-taxies that don\u2019t have a regular route but pick up people when called and deliver them where they want to go, computers making sure that their routes are most efficient (this already exists at airports).\u00a0 No police, but \u201cOfficers of the Peace,\u201d trained in Aikido<\/a>, NonViolent Communication<\/a>, and mediation techniques.\u00a0 People are tearing down dams so the salmon can run upriver again (this has really happened, and it blows me away that the salmon know where to go when no salmon has been that far in generations).\u00a0 People are removing pigs and rabbits from Pacific Islands and the native flora and fauna are rebounding faster than any scientist predicted (this is also real).\u00a0 Whales and Dolphins and Elephants are recognized for their intelligence and revered for their wisdom.\u00a0 Absolutely nothing is done to harm them or their habitat.<\/p>\n That was about as far as I got in 30 minutes.\u00a0 I emerged full of enthusiasm and hope.\u00a0 I will hang on to this vision, and offer another one: Matt dancing around the planet<\/a>, places you\u2019re never heard of and famous places, people dancing with him of different colors, wonderful!\u00a0 It\u2019s a place I go when I\u2019m depressed or discouraged.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Monday, September 21 Today is International Peace Day.\u00a0 Many people will be gathering to pray for peace in the world.\u00a0 We gathered yesterday at Neskaya to meditate for Peace.\u00a0 We wrote our hopes on white dove pieces of paper and … Continue reading ![\"12009815_1070666322944261_2814168906454345894_n\"](\"http:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/12009815_1070666322944261_2814168906454345894_n-300x263.jpg\")
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