Peace on earth!
Another year is nearly over as unbelievable as that is, and I, like many others, am trying to wrap up my work in time for the holidays. As busy as this season is, I try to take a little time every year to reflect on the past year and to clarify my hopes and goals for the new one. I, as an activist, and member of the human family, tend to think equally in a collective as well as personal sense, and include collective activism goals as well as my own in my thoughts.
In this regard, 2018 was a pretty good year, alot better than we have had in years and those who showed up, signed and shared, resisted and protested, spread love, hope, peace and understanding can be happy and proud of what we achieved. We are not there yet, but this year we actually began to move forward or at least not backward, and that is progress and a reason to celebrate indeed.
I believe our goal this upcoming year should be to answer the desire that is being felt and expressed more and more, to return to a unified, nice, normal, working society of goodness, greatness and peace, and to enable this society for all nations and all people. It was at various imperfect yet great and promising points in our history where we have been and where we can and must be again.
We are all doing well, alive in a wonderous but hard age. We all have hardship, but the hardships needn’t continue, and we can begin to focus on the good. It is the glory that is around us all these days and what can lead our path forward. We can all admit its hope, wonder and peace into our lives, and let it inspire us to build bridges and community, instead of walls and moats.
The problems we are having have torn us apart, but they are a good sign as well as being the cause of the hardship. It means most of us do deeply care and our disagreements can be just that, disagreements, not hatred for one another. Minds and hearts can be opened, shared, changed, expanded but not if we are in a state of war, and are trying to move forward with hate. We must move forward with love and hope, and have the humility, sense of honor and courage to open, change our minds, habits and beliefs if we are proven wrong or that we need to evolve. Being wrong is fine if you can keep your mind open to what’s right and be willing to change, accept it. Having faith in other’s knowledge and opinions is needed, as it does strengthen and mature society.
Let’s also start liking and loving each other. Imagine humanity as a large family. Let’s be a functioning, loving diverse family of shared core values, one that deals with its problems and responsibilities, lives in truth, peace, not a divided and dysfuctional one, yelling abuse at each other over the dinner table, and ignoring civility, our common bonds and the need to have them, our right to individuality, and the responsibilities we share.
There is no problem in life we don’t have the answer to, answers to or at least many great ideas about. We know the right and proven answers, what has failed or needs to be fixed. What we don’t know, we can rely on expert knowledgable advice or have the courage to try new things. So let’s unite to do this. Walk away from hate, and ignorance, and commit to working together. We share much more than what divides us. This year moving forward in unity and celebrating and enjoy mutual success and pride are how we will save, fix, create our brave, new and beautiful world. We are blessed, our lives filled with blessings. Let us be at peace with that, be grateful, and willing always to accept and share them.
Una Rose
December 2018
