Practice For Peace

One of the most important narrative additions for me in 2022 was this “Practice for Peace.” It’s pretty rooted in what is now a 20+ year friendship with Toke Moeller (the above photo is from one of Toke’s social media feeds — thx Toke). It’s also pretty rooted in the work of Prem Rawat, whose book Hear Yourself: How to Find Peace in a Noisy World became very influential for me (over several listens in 2022).

Toke asked a key question that helped me discover something deeper in myself, to center many of the moving parts that is me and my life — “What if we weren’t trying to solve a problem, but instead were trying to practice peace, inner an outer, including 1 meter in front of us?”

You know how it is when “right timing” occurs. When something lands — an idea, a person, a thing to do — and grows naturally. This was the case for me with this question, and with a visit that took me to Denmark last year, and with the connection to a community of people convened there, oriented to this question.

Practice For Peace.

Note — it’s “practice.” Not a perfection. Not an outcome never to be revisited. Not a checklist item. It’s continuous. No finish line. It’s got nuance, like “well being for all.” Like “wholeness and wellness.”

Note — it’s “for.” Not an antidote. Not against something. It is “for.” My learning over many years has included what I know as amplified, more rich energy when “for” rather than when “against.”

Note — it’s “peace.” It’s a value that most people long for, young and old, without bias of gender, nationality, age, and occupation. “Peace” might be recognized in variation, and unrecognized as invoking narrative, but I’ve met few humans that don’t wish for peace being.

Right-timing.

Yes, Practice for Peace landed within me while completing a third Fire & Water initiation — and being in that learning and guiding over three years. With Quanita Roberson, our body of offerings (Fire & Water, Circle Immersion, Wisdom Series, Flow Groups) has become rooted in “wise and soulful” in both inner evolution and outer experience. The inner sources the outer. It is so often a neglected inner that can make hollow and less-lasting, the outer expressions.

Practice for Peace. Inner and outer. Now and for the longer arc.

A narrative. A way of being. A way of living. A centered purpose. A communal invitation. To both be and do amongst all of the others.

I welcome you to join in, to go together. In the complex and in the simple of this time of living.

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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature
is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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