the propeace community - culture - Comments

Meet in Boston

Andre Sheldon — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:42:53 -0400

Hello Susan,

Yes, it would be wonderful to meet with you in August! We have much to share. I would love to compare our spiritual paths, its interaction with reality, and how diversity makes the world special.

I look forward to your call.

Peace and Love,
Andre

With full-body chills...

Susan Livingston — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:32:15 -0400

...and a lump in my throat, I promise that I will investigate the movement you describe and respond to you in more detail. For now, I have a point I'd like you to ponder and a request for you to consider.

I'm not calling for a unified movement. On the contrary, I am calling on my inner resources to stretch and encompass diversity and beyond - conflict, chaos. I am asking myself to put my head together with racists, junk food junkies, libertarians - all kinds of people that violate my most cherished values.

When I saw your MA address and checked the google map, I was moved to ask for a meeting later this summer to explore our potential for collaboration. I'll be spending a week in metro Boston in mid-August, and I'm hoping to connect with a couple of other major contributors to this movement. Interested? I'll contact you directly within the week.

Editor, propeace.net

Women and Nonviolence

Andre Sheldon — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:41:52 -0400

Dear Susan,

I enjoyed your blog entry “Building a New World.” The positions you discussed are very progressive and intriguing. You wrote at the end that you wanted feedback to hash out some ideas.

The overall picture I received from your entry was a desire for unity. The second element was a need for a new political system. The third was the inclusion of spirituality and nonviolence. You finalized by stating you are still contemplating all these elements. For me, all the good work that is being done is not changing the core of the problems and if a major altercation happens in the world, people are not prepared to react nonviolently. Perhaps, a catalyst is required – something outside of the box, that will illustrate a new course of action and captures the world’s attention.

I would like to propose an initiative that gives meets the above criteria and gives credibility to the women’s agenda. The initiative itself would be the empowerment of women, specifically focused on peace and nonviolence. The initiative addresses unity, politics, spirituality and nonviolence.

Unity and Politics

On May 19th, in an AlterNet article Kathambi Kinoti, of AWID, wrote the following about a Srilatha Batliwala paper, “The challenge is in creating an overarching and shared political agenda so that on at least some set of issues feminist movements are speaking with a unified voice.”

The world is not focusing on the women’s agenda. What the world doesn’t realize is that the women’s agenda is not for themselves, but for others. Throughout time, it has been “for the children.” Herein lies the answer – a shared political agenda. The hypothesis is that if the world, women and men, mandates work for the children, a commonality, it would solve other problems. Are women able to direct the focus of society to prioritize working for the children? The end result, the goal, is elusive and subjective, but the road is what is important. The effort would be led by women, but not exclusive to women. Does the effort by women exemplify equality?

A mobilization of women around the world, for the children, would create unity. The unity would enable new political entities, such as the Earth Federation, you alerted me to. It sounds like a wonderful comprehensive plan. There are many supportive, visionary initiatives. Ex: Citizens Without Borders http://citizenswithoutborders.org/index.htm, Sophia Circles http://www.sophiacircles.org/, Tikun www.tikun.org, and the Open Society http://www.soros.org/.

What they don’t have is political clout! Part of the theory is that a people movement is required. Howard Zinn, author and activist, stated he would only follow a people movement. The director of the Boston Research Center, Virginia Benson, told me a study confirmed that for the U.N. to be more effective, it needs to be empowered by a people movement.

What will stimulate a people’s movement? Will women take on the role of peacemakers and change the world? On the Earth Federation website, I read the Manifesto, By Dr. Glen T. Martin. Part Eight, where do we go from here?, stated, “If many citizens of the Earth were to stand up on behalf of a decent world order at this crossroads of history, a world of sanity, peace, and prosperity would be just around the corner.” A catalyst is required to have the people stand up together.

Martin Luther King stated, in the Riverside Church speech, “Beyond Vietnam”, April 4th, 1967, “Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.”

Spirituality and Nonviolence

The next major element is nonviolence. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”

What if women and nonviolence are promoted as the catalyst? There are exceptions to every rule, but women are socialized to be less violent than men, therefore must have an advantage as promoters of peace.

Nonviolence works! The sages told us it works. How do we use it in the modern era?

What if a plan states it is time for “Nonviolence” to be the doctrine of all societies and countries. It is time for women to rise up, proactively, around the world, in every village, town and city to stop war, as a symbol of nonviolence, to “illustrate” unity, and to set in motion the development of a new political system of gender equality.

My theory is we, the people, have to DISPLAY nonviolence overtly. We, the people, must CREATE A MANDATE (political).

First peace within: By illustrating nonviolence, people will exhibit inner peace. It will be empowering. I agree with Maura Ubinger, people must find inner peace. Mother Theresa stated, “Peace begins with a smile.” There are thousands of spiritual and religious organizations that already support nonviolence. Would they support a women’s movement?

Proclaim nonviolence and NO violence for defense. (As you and Kathy Kelly agree) (I met Kathy and Cindy Sheehan two weeks before Cindy became famous. They were speaking at a Cape Cod Peace organization rally. I receive VCNV emails)

This all leads to STOPPING WAR and or preventing war. Therefore, we start by stating we will not allow war anymore. Women will be taking a proactive stance, based on kindness, compassion, forgiveness, with no violence associated! The plan is to create an achievement to set in motion equality and understanding in the future. The political elements will follow.

There are risks. Millions die in war. Nonviolence is the resolve. Both are dangerous, but what will affect opinions and societies in the future more?

All groups are attempting to enlist followers and be as large as possible. The plan is to be the largest, spiritual, nonviolent movement the world has ever seen.

Over the past six years, I have developed a plan called for a Global Strategy of Nonviolence, For the Children (GS of NV) and an initiative called a “Call to Women, a World-Wide Unity Campaign.” It is a people movement – an Action Plan and an Awareness Campaign. A Call to Women will be the catalyst. It is designed to create change, not wait for it. Conferences are imperative but there also is a need for action. Many state they are action plans, but do not create political clout. Please see my website, www.globalstrategyofnonviolence.org. (Still in development)

I’m writing to request your collaboration. I have the research, theories, and plans. The plans are designed as guidelines and include administration, funding, marketing, implementation, and follow-up. Plans include the enlistment of leaders and advisors.

I’m a Johnny Appleseed, a facilitator. The plan is designed as steps to change the political focus of the world (priorities “for the children”), address the obstacles of the male ensconced corporate, economic, military mind set – a Behemoth, via nonviolent conflict resolution, and empower women around the world to mobilize for change.

In conclusion, according to Riane Eisler, in the Chalice and the Blade, people have the intellect to change from a male dominated society to a partnership society (cultural transformation theory). I am dedicated to this premise.

James Carroll, columnist at the Boston Globe, June 9, 2008 wrote there is an “atmosphere of a civilization rooted in male supremacy.” The “…structure of oppression will not easily be dismantled.” Men “should want help in leaving it behind.”

Recently, at the United Nations conference, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) there was prolific evidence that women are not listened to. Despite incredible programs by NGO’s, women’s situations are getting worse instead of getting better. Reports of violence against women throughout the world abound. Each day our world is becoming more violent and going in the wrong direction. The world needs a counter balance, a movement for world-wide unity and nonviolence, giving credence to the moderate voice and showing mutual respect.

Socialization is the basic answer but obstacles and problems exist. The plan is idealistic, but the world needs action and idealism. Let’s create an ideal! Create curiosity. Create an appeal. Create an opportunity.

In preparation for after the election year, please work with me on this people movement to influence the new government and every government.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Andre Sheldon
calltowomen@rcn.com
andre@gsofnv.org
Newton, MA
617-964-5267

Sister Joan Chittister stated, from a speech at the Omega/VDay Conference in New York City, September 11, 2004:

“there must be a universal call to women and an organized international voice for peace.”

“The lives of our children, the protection of millions, the hopes of all humankind, wait again now for women, from opposite cultures, opposite tradition, to step over the line of political hatred to save them.”

“…must take a voice until they are given a voice.”

To paraphrase Sister Chittister: Women must be in the forefront because being first brings “courage and hope to others”.

hi

loetoy — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:37:58 -0400

I thank you for your comments on my fellow veteran who lost both of his legs. This is the problem with some Veterans. when in a emotional stress like this man was experiencing his reaction could have been either good or bad. They say that 75% of all the service men & women are coming back with PTSD. Yes I thought of reaching out to this young man but he might just have told me I don't understand. when someone experiences a loss like this veteran you are not sure if he is a ticking time bomb so to say. Yes I also suffer greatly from PTSD. It took the government 6 years to finally diagnose me. Since my PTSD is because of an accident (not combat related) they have no treatment for me. I now live my life on a government pension. I can only descibe myself by the movie RAMBO. Many Veterans are diappointed with the Department of veterans affairs. Just last week at the VA hospital in Temple Texas it was in the newspaper that there was a VA employee who was quoted on the internet saying to deliberately misdiagnose people with PTSD to less expensive rating like personality disorder. This is the closest VA hospital to crawford Texas I believe its about 30 miles away. many people do not know the reality of what war brings out in people who engage in it. It is a nightmare so to say

thoughts, emotions

papananook — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:21:53 -0400

I feel you, Susan, and I think you are a very intelligent person.
We all need to get outside more and reconnect with Gaia as living organisms ...to find a balance between our minds and bodies, thoughts and emotions...i recommend a day of body-surfing in a clean ocean...that always restores Harmony to my soul.
But since i live in Alaska now that's impossible, so i just roll around outside with my grandkids...

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

sushil_yadav — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 04:57:13 -0400

Regarding the discussion about gaps between Thinking and gaps between Emotion :

The gap between Days is Night.
The gap between Nights is day.

sushil_yadav

Bottled*Lightning

Rainbow Brain — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 20:33:41 -0400

The speed of Awareness is like lightning in a bottle, one only needs to remove the cork and share its light and energy with others, it is then that its pace and destructive force can heal and slow the aggression of ignorance.

BL*M
Global-Luvolution.blogspot.com

Thoughts and Emotions in the Information Age

Susan Livingston — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 02:25:58 -0400

There is a fundamental linguistic problem in our society, and after I explain it, I am hoping that some of our users who were raised in other linguistic environments will tell us if the same difficulty is found in their language. Until we know that, we don't know if the phenomenon I'm going to describe is a human thing or specific to one language group.

Start with the statement that "emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking."

Now turn it around, and see if "thinking is what we experience during gaps in our emotion."

The linguistic problem is that we do not distinguish between the two, and the result is that we use them interchangably - much to our unfortunate confusion. Another problem is that we don't have a good verb to express emotions.

*I am comfortable - a thought in which the subject is defined.

I feel comfortable - a feeling in which a state of being of the subject is described.

In the first assertion, "am" functions as an equal sign in the same way as describing a chosen profession, for example.

I am a teacher - a thought in which the subject is defined.

*I feel a teacher - an action (feel) by an agent (I) on an object (teacher).

That we accept the first pair but not the second pair as equivalent presents a problem. We are not our emotions. The fact that they fade away and we're still here is proof of that. By maintaining constant vigilance about what we identify with, we can create some space between ourselves and our emotions and perhaps begin to identify to ourselves and others what we feel. When we lose that space and become the emotion, we can't get enough perspective to describe it. Then, although we may display emotion, our emotional vocabulary and intelligence remain low. So I'm advocating that we develop the habit of saying what we feel instead of what we are.

We talk a lot in NVC about distinguishing between a feeling and a thought. Although the speaker meant the first two examples to be equivalent, we would argue that the first is a thought and the second is a feeling. Yet consider how often you hear statements that start with "I feel" and are completed with totally cerebral content.

*I feel it would be better to go elsewhere.

I feel angry; I think it would be better to go elsewhere.

I feel like I'm making a mistake.

I feel anxious; I think I'm making a mistake.

This is an interesting set. The first sentence definitely doesn't describe a feeling, so why can we accept the third? We can accept the third if you have made enough of this kind of mistake in the past, and you noticed that you always experienced the same emotion, or if what follows "like" is well-known to produce a consistent emotion across people. Then, the word "like" marks a simile.

I feel like a lost child.

If making mistakes has brought about several feelings in the past, then it is clearer to use number four rather than a lot of qualifiers.

*I feel like when I used the full measure of liquid in that pancake recipe and they came out so flat and hard.

I still have a problem with using the word feel for both of the concepts in the second pair of examples near the top. I like to reserve the verb "to feel" for describing my awareness of sensory input.

I feel a headache coming on.

His beard feels coarse.

We have a perfectly good verb to use when we want to say that an emotion is being expressed: to emote. Yet we save this verb for the non-verbal aspects of communication such as body language and tone of voice.

*I emote strong.

I emote strongly when I'm acting.

Notice that in the second example, it is clear that "strong" is not being used as a feeling word at all.

I have to disagree with Sushil Yadav's contention that emotions are slow. For physiological reasons, they last longer than thoughts, yet they start sooner than thoughts. They are more pervasive than thoughts; thoughts are brain waves - electrical impulses that travel along the neuron and cross the synapse when the impulse causes the release of the neurotransmitter, which is then picked up by the next neuron and sets off a new electrical impulse. Emotions, on the other hand, are chemical cocktails that travel in the blood, a slower mechanism, yet they start faster because the sensory apparatus is more directly connected to the emotional centers of the brain than they are to the cerebral cortex.

In one of the source articles, Sushil Yadav is wanting a way to measure emotion. I maintain that we have several ways to do that. We can measure tiny changes in the amount and salinity of perspiration, tiny changes in the temperature and electrical charges of the skin, tiny changes in the contraction of a muscle, etc., and then correlate these with the subject's self-report to find qualitative differences between emotions. When it's quantitative differences that are being studied, rating scales work just fine when there are no marks on the line and only the extremes are labeled. The subject's mark can then be measured afterward. This technique puts all measures on the same scale and overcomes a great deal of response bias.

I appreciate the loss of self-connection that comes with an urban lifestyle in the information age, but I don't agree that the solution is to return to rural living and slide rule calculation. I haven't yet give up on the human race's ability to adapt and learn how to slow down without regressing to some idealized former state. I think the simple act of becoming aware that we have the problem is already at least half of the solution.

Editor, propeace.net