My Life is My Job, My Job is My Life

Sorry, I haven't written this week, I've been sick since Monday. I have this entire nose-ear-throat-thing going on and currently inserting a constant stream of lemon and honey cough drops into my mouth to keep my throat from feeling like it is on fire. {smile}

Last night was really nice. One of the guys who is staying with me and is also in the Metta Program knew I was sick and made dinner so that I didn't have to worry about it. It was nice.

I think that one of the most amazing things about this summer is this sense of family and community that has been present in this house since I arrived. I am staying with Tucker Malarkey, an amazing host with a warm, outgoing personality. She is a professional author working on her 3rd or 4th book. She has done work on scripts and even had a meeting with George Lucas (Jackie eat your heart out!). She has a son, Elliot, who is seven and very kind and funny, an a eccentric cat and cute dog. Her house is beautiful with three gorgeously furnished floors and the front door is always open to neighbors and relatives. This summer she invited three of us from the Metta Program to stay with her.

There is me of course. Then there is Nick who is from Indiana and shares some of the rural, farmtown identity that I hold. I feel like I have known him my entire life which is nice because I feel no need to tip-toe around him. Ketan is from India and a total crazy person. He has so many talents and excels in so many fields that it is amazing. He's a very goal oriented person with check lists and 5 year action plans galore. For someone like me it's totally surreal to watch him go on and on. And as he would say it takes a lot of energy to be so serious and organized, so he has to make the rest of his life silly in order to let go of the stress. He takes this silliness just as serious as the rest of his life. Sometimes he's so ridiculous that I have to send him into the other room because I can't handle it anymore, but his simle and laugh are definiately contagious and it is a blessing to be sharing the summer with him.

But yes, this new home is nice. I like spending quality time with a bunch of people and it is so amazing to watch Elliot hang out with us and play. It is such a good experience for him to interact with so many different types of people and just learn about the world. I would have been so much further ahead of the game if I got the same chances as a kid. I'm so happy for him. His life is going to be amazing, I can already tell.

I called Katy the other day and told her that we had to buy a large house when we got back to Rochester and just rent out rooms to random awesome people and have community dinners and a garden in the back yard. There is certainly something to be said for communal living. Building supportive, ecouraging, rejuvinating, inspirational, and loving networks should be the new American dream. Who says that every good American should live in a two story single family home with a white picket fence and a dog? Who says a married couple and there children should not live with there grandparents or siblings in America?

Who ever says it must be lonely.

But yes, this I feel really is central to peace building. I feel so much more rejuvinated here. I feel like I can keep doing the work I've been trying to be just because I'm so closely connected to these people. Even though this is going to sound corny, it is so inspiring just to watch these people grow everyday even in little ways, it is nice to be alive with them. It reminds me that I am alive. It reminds me that we are ALL human and growing and this is the key to doing peace work!

Speaking of small steps and realizations of peace I had another experience that examplifies something that may seem insignificant or silly but is also so important to peace work, physical contact.

Let me explain. I went with my friend Sachi to see Amma, the Hugging Saint of India. We went to her ashram where there were over two thousand people waiting to be hugged by her. It doesn't matter if you believe that she is a saint or not. It doesn't matter if you believe that she was actually giving hugs as the Divine Mother for over 14 hours straight. What does matter is that you realize that this woman was giving hugs for 14 hours straight, no food breaks, no bathroom breaks, just embracing people and giving them her love! Simply because they deserve it and because she believes that the best way to create love and peace is to be it.

A simple touch, a sincere hug full of gentleness love and respect can break down those walls that stand in the way of peace. And it can build internal peace. I know that I have gone months without giving or receiving a hug and those are always the months that I feel the most hopeless, lost and desperate.

So, baby steps is the peace phrase of the day, and "Be peace" is the today's tagline.