I'm here in the Bishop Arts District of Dallas enjoying the PEACE Block Party hosted by ArtSpirit to celebrate International Day of Peace. DPC has a table here, and I'm talking with people about the DPC and why they might want to join. And then I see the Channel 33 news crew doing interviews. So I wander over that way, surely they will want to talk with me. But what will I say? I've never had a real knack for impromptu speaking, so I wander back to the table, thinking about what I might have said. And then it hits me (nonviolently, of course). We're here in the midst of all these wonderful artists, people who spend their time creating. One of my favorite sayings "Create rather than compete" or to paraphrase "Create rather than destroy". Yes, these men, women, children have chosen to use their skills and talents to create things, to express that creativity in a positive way, and I am filled with joy and hope.

And then I begin to reflect on times when I see schemes that people think up, elaborate ways to steal or cheat people out of their possessions or even out of their hope. . . . what if . . . what if they used this creative talent they have for good? To make the world a better place? Or plots people devise to harm or even kill others, what if they used their talent to help their fellow man, to build rather than destroy? Why do people choose to use their creativity one way instead of the other?

What I come up with is that each and every one of us, at some point in our life, usually in our childhood, has had their heart broken. Not just a glancing blow, but a soul-wrenching agony, and until we recognize how painful that hurt is, we spend our life trying to get even, trying to revenge the hurt. It's part of what makes up our character, of who we are, and we go through life usually not even recognizing that this pain is a driving force behind how we treat others, how we act in the world.

I'm not a psychologist, for sure, and this is just my own theory, based on countless observations and conversations and my own experiences in this world. To me, it's a logical explanation of why people act in hurtful or harmful ways. I know we are not born this way, and each person is shaped by their experiences. I truly know we are born with love in our hearts, and in a perfect world, this is what we would always express, always.

The question is, how do we get there, to this perfect world? I see kids being slapped and spanked and yelled at and mistreated in dozens of ways, and my heart aches. And then I see someone like my friend Johnny and his daughter, and you can see he has nothing but love for her, and he treats her in the most caring and loving and respectful way and I know she will grow into a person who will treat all she meets in the same way. There is hope. I see hope.

I'm reminded of the Native American parable of the child who asks the elder why some people are angry and others kind. The elder tells the child that all people have two wolves inside, two wolves that always fight. One is anger, bitterness and revenge, the other is compassion, kindness and love. "Which one wins?" asks the child, to which the elder replies "It depends on which one you feed."

The same force that creates strawberries also creates poison ivy. The only difference in which one will flourish is which one gets attention - care and water and fertilizer.

Jane Goodall said it this way -
"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference
you want to make."

Let's be aware of how it is we show up in the world, how we interact with others. Let's make a conscious effort to feed the wolf of love, to nourish the strawberries, and to make a positive difference. No one can do this for me, I have to do it for myself, because Peace Begins with ME!