postcards from nowhere

Greetings!

Howdy, stranger!  Haven't been in your mailbox for a while.  
Been too busy living life to examine it or write about it. 
But thanks to an inspiring email sent to me by your fellow 
postcard reader, Kate, I'm all riled up and I have something 
to say.  

So here's the gist of it:  Kate sent me an email called 
poetry in action.  It suggested that poets protest 
the war by writing peace poems, which could then be compiled 
and sent to The Powers That Be.  I don't know whether it's 
a hoax or actually will get published, but I don't care.  
I am absolutely delighted by the concept.

So I'm here to pass on the inspiration.  And you don't 
have to be a poet to express your preference for peace 
(of course, if your preference is war, then you won't 
find this postcard very inspiring at all.  my apologies.)

Thanks to Kate, a seed was planted in my awareness.  
It's easy for me to feel hopeless, and fear that no action 
I might take could possibly change the course of events anyway.  
Too many times I've signed petitions, sent emails, and called 
my representatives, only to see them vote against public opinion.  
I've become cynical, wondering if maybe they only pretend to 
listen to those they represent.

But now, I feel hope again. My parameters for evaluating an 
action as 'effective' have changed.  I believe that there is 
some way that each and every one of us can take a meaningful 
action for peace.  Every action, no matter how small, matters, 
because our greatest hope now lies in uniting our intentions.  

As Kate said to me, peace begets peace, and hope begets hope.  
I want to encourage you to look around, and find your method of 
expression.  Let's stack the deck for peace.

This isn't about telling the world your opinion.  And it's not 
about your vote counting, or your voice being heard and changing 
the direction of the trajectory that our president favors.

It's about bringing peace to your own heart, and your own home.  
It's about the inner alignment that occurs when your actions 
reflect your deepest desires.  It's about personal integrity. 
It's about not standing by and feeling helpless, but taking an 
action, so that no matter what the outcome, you carry no regret, 
and there are no words left unspoken to decay in your heart.

So maybe you wear a peace sticker on your car, or dress your 
kid in an Arms are For Hugging T-shirt, or write a poem that 
expresses your grief at the loss of innocent lives.  Maybe you 
talk to your family tonight at the dinner table about your hopes, 
or your fears, for the future of our world.

Maybe you help a neighbor, or say a prayer, or write a letter.  
Maybe you fold a paper crane, or light a candle.  

Maybe you reach out to someone around you who is different, and 
instead of letting that difference create distance, you choose 
to remember that what we all have in common is our humanity.  

Maybe you make eye contact and smile at a stranger on the train.  

You'll know what act is yours and yours alone. Will you join me 
in standing for peace?

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

take care,
karen