Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Finally home after a two week fellowship.

2011 Ahimsakas.
(Picture by Cal Poly Pomona photographer.)

I just got home from a two week fellowship called "Journeys of Nonviolence: Gandhi and Chavez," which was put on by the Ahimsa Center at Cal Poly Pomona. Basically, I went back to college for two weeks with about forty other K-12 educators. It was intense. We didn't really have a free minute, so I am still processing much of what I learned and experienced. I left the fellowship feeling much like I did when I was in grad school getting my Master's in Peace and Justice Studies: a little overwhelmed and paralyzed, yet inspired. I decided to go through my journal from the time I was finishing up grad school, and I read this paragraph that kind of comforted me a little.

From my journal in July 2009:

"I want to focus on living a simple life, living into these things I value. Because that is me. I don't value complacency or apathy to the world around us. Issues of peace and justice are more important than ever in this world and we should not be apathetic. Our actions affect others- how much money we spend, how we spend our money, what we consume, what we choose to spend our time doing. Our daily choices impact the environment and people throughout the world. We can actively work to decrease our negative impact and increase our positive impact. And we don't have to be Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., or even Barack Obama to make a difference in our world. We can simply be ourselves... just with a little extra focus and direction."

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing, and thus inspiring me with your quote. I needed that tonight. You do this so well already ...

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