The central ideas of the blog are:

1) Most humans naturally think egocentrically, and by this I mean we attempt to validate our own beliefs and we try to satisfy our selfish interests at the expense of others.

2) Most humans have the potential to think rationally, which is to develop one’s rational capacities and live a life respecting the interests of others.

You can find it here: http://acriticalodyssey.blogspot.com/

Here’s the usual summary of the last week or so:

·         I gave blood.

·         I registered to be on the Bone Marrow donor list.

·         Shared smoothies with friends on hot sunny days on the College lawn.

·         Decided to set up Oxford’s first Smile Society. [Still in planning stages – more information soon.]

I read a rather good, thought provoking article about habits (which can be read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/business/04unbox.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1210598331-mc9/EvwrKWkYhK47Vyc+3g&oref=slogin). Essentially if I want to change my behaviour I’m best off creating new habits than changing old ones. In other words, I’m better off creating habits of being kind than trying to change a habit of being mean. Makes sense.

And as a special treat here’s a fabulous poem, The Pig by Road Dahl: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-pig/

Habits of thinking need not be forever. One of the most significant findings in psychology in the last twenty years is that individuals can choose the way they think. –Martin Seligman

Emotions are not happening to you; they are habits of interpretation of experience. –Doug Powers

·         I helped out a friend by designing a ticket for a Musical.

·         I cycled 75 miles to attend my auntie’s 40^th birthday.

·         I started a habit of taking responsibility, and making the effort to make up when I’ve upset someone.

When I was cycling, however, a thought struck me: life is not a set of destinations but is something that is happening ‘now’. Allow me to illustrate my point; while I was cycling I was focusing on the goal of arriving at my auntie’s house at the expense of enjoying and appreciating the present ‘now’. This could be applied to everything, the destination is not to finish x, get to y or achieve z because there is no destination.

Here are some lovely quotes related to this:

‘One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things’. –Henry Miller

‘Life is a journey. We are passengers in a train called life, and we are alive in the moment called now. The journey of life is so beautiful that it needs no destination. On this journey, we have been given a compass. The compass is the thirst to be fulfilled. The true journey of life begins the day we begin to seek to quench our thirst. This quest is the most noble one’.–Prem Rawat

Peace,

After a 7 week of blogging absence I’m very happy to announce that I’m back!

I have completed the London Marathon in an awesome 3 hours 55 minutes and 46 seconds (my BIG SMILE thing) with a stitched up head and sprained ankle. [Which was nothing compared to one man running with his leg in plaster and two crutches...!] The support was unbelievably good.

It means though I can no longer justify being mean, cold and evil… so it’s back to being kind again!

First of all I would like to say a massive thank you to all those who sponsored me to run this. I have raised over £1,500 so far for Shelter!

It was my birthday recently and I asked my friends to doing something kind to someone else as a birthday present. Here is some of what they did:

-          Gave out compliments during the day.

-          Gave a friend the best taking cake in Berlin.

-          Made a regular commitment to Water Aid and smiled at everybody.

-          Broke into the post office and left the village postmaster’s birthday card and present.

-          My little cousin gave a rolo to his mum.

-          Paid for a friend’s meal and bought some flowers for their mum.

From now on I will attempt to do something kind to others on a friend’s birthday and dedicate it to them.

It has been an interesting 7 weeks – for although I have not been writing this blog I have still been doing kind things. And one thing I’ve noticed is that I’m doing more kind things than I was doing before I made this New Year’s resolution and it comes to me more naturally than it did before.

Looking back on the pledges I made over the last few months, however, there has been one which I haven’t done which is to change my diet to be a vegan. I have made some changes in my diet but not many.

I’m going to change the structure of the blog and now doing one weekly entry rather than splitting it up into days. This is because I’m abandoning the 1 smile a day rule to as many smiles a day. I do not want to save smile ideas when I could do them now simply so I have something to say in my blog for a particular day. I think that’s daft. Of course some days I won’t do anything but I will attempt to do as much as I can every day. This would make this project more natural and spontaneous. Moreover, there are some smile a day actions I don’t want to mention either because they are anonymous, it makes this blog repetitive, or they are small acts.

Here’s my summary for this week:

-          I downloaded some software from http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/. Now my computer runs research on developing climate models, drugs to combat diseases like hepatitis C and a cure for Muscular Dystrophy when I’m not using it. How cool is that?

-          I’m trying to do something about the number of plastic bags I use and instead remember to take my bag with me when I go shopping.

-          I registered with Amnesty and did one of their online actions.

That’s all folks!

(A smile a day keeps the devil away. Or something like that.)

You can sponsor me here: www.justgiving.com/davidlawson1

 

Day 34: Letter 

I read a book called ‘A Defense of Globalization’ by an economist called Jagdish Bhagwati, which is, quite understandably, not everybody’s idea of bedtime reading. It was, however, I must say an excellent book, and it has helped developed my views on certain economic issues. 

Perhaps unfortunately, wanting to do the right thing and act morally is not enough. Sometimes the cure is worse than the illness. Hence, for many issues you need to think about the actual impacts of what you do and for some issues (like Fairtrade) the answers may be rather surprising. This is something I’d like to explore more. 

I wrote the author a letter (although I actually haven’t sent it yet), but I won’t bore you with the details…

Day 35: Book on a park bench 

If you asked me to describe an image that would capture the phrase ‘naff ways to try and make people smile’ I would say leaving random books on park benches. 

Guess what? That’s what I did… 

Day 36: Day of appreciation 

We have World Peace Day, World Animal Day and even a World Jump Day (apparently just over 600,000,000 jumpers in 2006 failed to cause any permanent changes to the earths orbit – damn!- but managed to temporary drop the planets temperature by 0.09 degrees; well there you have it: the fun, if short lived, way to solve global warming…). So why not have a Day of Appreciation? 

So I spread some appreciation during the day to friends, to life, to myself, to anything I felt like appreciating. 

Appreciation is like looking through a wide-angle lens that lets you see the entire forest, not just the one tree limb you walked up on. –Doc Childre and Sara Paddison, HeartMath Discovery Program 

Day 37: Hugs 

I like hugs, other people like hugs. And almost like a mathematical equation it followed that hugging people would be a good thing to do. If you are feeling competitive (which I hope you aren’t, the peaceful, cooperative spirit and all that), try and beat my longest hug time: roughly one hour and a bit. 

A hug is like a boomerang — you get it back right away. –Bil Keane 

Day 38: The Return of Anonymous Kindness 

You’ll have to do with the (rather well done) ‘Three Pumpkins’ photo above. 

Day 39: Oxford Night Shelter Scheme 

This is a rather interesting one for me. It follows from two earlier posts – one post was about homelessness and the other was about making sure the cure is better than the illness.  Homelessness is a tricky issue for me – for homeless people on the whole have some relatively big needs, but whether giving them money or not makes things better is a moot point for me (think drugs, lack of independence etc).

While it’s all circumstantial, of course, I’ve come across the Oxford Night Shelter Scheme on the internet (quite ironically via an anti-tramp face book group that I stumbled across). They sell voucher pads to people in Oxford who can give them out to homeless people who ask for help (which happens a lot), and it entitles them to spend a night at the shelter – food, shower etc. The shelter, however, focuses on resolving their issues and problems, which is the main thing I want to see happen.

Day 40: The Hint

Today was another of those boring days for you (anonymous kindness), so instead I’m going to give you a tantilising hint that something big in the world of ‘Asmileeveryday’ is about to happen. Ooops there I have just given you the hint.

Do I now have a mass army of loyal henchmen spreading the lurve that I no longer need to do anything more? Are there plans for a BIG SMILE? I shall say no more.

Just by being what you are, other people will change … but you don’t do it because you want to change them. You do it to make your heart free. –Don Miguel Ruiz

Day 27: A write off 

Simple, easy and unusual. Today I wrote messages and pictures on the banknotes in my wallet. I wonder if anybody will notice them? 

The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money. –Anonymous 

Day 28: Microfinance 

I came across an interesting organisation called Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/about. What it does is it enables people to be micro financiers and give loans directly to small businesses in the developing world. So I made a loan to a barber from Azerbaijan. Apparently I will get email updates from the guy about how he is doing. 

“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.” –Ancient Indian Proverb 

Day 29: Planet Earth 

I lent my brother’s Planet Earth DVDs (don’t worry you’ll get them back!) to a French friend. Being French he’s missed out till now on one of the most amazing, to date, nature documentaries ever filmed. The world is truly a wonderful and amazing place. 

There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet. –Brooke Medicine Eagle 

Day 30: Oxford Smiles 

Given that I did an anonymous act of kindness instead of telling you what I did today I have a challenge for you. Can you work out where in Oxford these smiles are (see the two pictures above)? First correct answer wins a prize.  

Just by being what you are, other people will change … but you don’t do it because you want to change them. You do it to make your heart free. –Don Miguel Ruiz 

Day 31: A joke 

Damn, another act of anonymous kindness. You’ll have to do with a joke instead: 

All Tickets Please!

It’s the third week in January, three engineers and three accountants are travelling by train to a conference in Brighton. At the station, the three accountants each buy tickets and watch as the three engineers buy only a single ticket.‘How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?’ asks an accountant. ‘Watch and you’ll see’, answers an engineer.

They all board the train. The accountants take their respective seats but all three engineers cram into a toilet and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the toilet door and says, ‘All tickets please.’ The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.The accountants saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea.

So after the conference, the accountants decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money.  When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the engineers don’t buy a ticket at all.‘How are you going to travel without a ticket?’ says one perplexed accountant.’ Watch and you’ll see, ‘answers an engineer.

When they board the train the three accountants cram into a toilet and the three engineers cram into another one nearby.The train departs.Shortly afterward, one of the engineers leaves his toilet and walks over to the toilet where the accountants are hiding. He knocks on the door and says, ‘All tickets please.’   

Day 32: A joke 2 

Another joke… 

Little Leroy went to his mother demanding a new bicycle. His mother decided that he should take a look at himself and the way he acts. She said, “Well Leroy, it isn’t Christmas and we don’t have the money to just go out and buy you anything you want. So why don’t you write a letter to Jesus and pray for one instead.” After his temper tantrum his mother sent him to his room. He finally sat down to write a letter to Jesus.

Dear Jesus,
I’ve been a good boy this year and would appreciate a new bicycle.

Your Friend,
Leroy Now, Leroy knew that Jesus really knew what kind of boy he was, so he ripped up the letter and decided to give it another try.

Dear Jesus,

I’ve been an OK boy this year and I want a new bicycle.

Your Truly,
Leroy

Well, Leroy knew this wasn’t totally honest, so he tore it up and tried again.

Dear Jesus,
I’ve thought about being a good boy this year and can I have a bicycle?

Leroy Well, Leroy looked deep down in his heart, which by the way was what his mother really wanted. He knew he had been terrible and was deserving of almost nothing. He crumpled up the letter, threw it in the trash can and went running outside.

I’ve got your mama. If you ever want to see her again, give me a bike!

Day 33: Flowers 

I’ve been growing some rather beautiful daffodils in my room for a few days now. Today I gave them to people – friends, on park benches that sort of thing. Why not I thought.  

Learn from the lowliest in the earth, in the birds, in the trees, in the grass, in the flowers, in the bees — likewise listen to the birds, watch the blush of the rose, listen to the life rising in the tree. –Edgar Cayce

Day 20: Smile texts

Continuing the idea of sending messages I would like to receive myself, I decided to send a text message to 5 random people. (I ran out of credit though after 4 people…)

Random reaching out – I like that.

Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing. –Rollo May

Day 21: Friendship

This was more a spontaneous action than pre-planned. In essence, I made a new friend with somebody with similar interests to me – and interestingly enough it was somebody who I had given a pen at a lecture quite a few weeks ago. It seems that kindness opens new doors…

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. –Anais Nin

Day 22: Birthday Surprise

It was my grandmother’s birthday and I thought I’d do something unusual. So I sent her an orchid via interflora. (It was a happy coincidence that the cheapest set of flowers, I’m a student…, also happened to be one of my grandmother’s favourites – not that I knew that then.)

Thinking long-term, however, I can a potential problem: people may expect surprises from me, which makes them hardly surprising. I’ll have to think about that one!

Life is a celebration of awakenings, of new beginnings, and wonderful surprises that enlighten the soul. –Cielo

Day 23: Allen Carr’s Easyway to stop smoking.

I have a mate who’s trying to stop smoking (good for him). He tried initially through sheer willpower and was unsuccessful. So I got him a book called Allen Carr’s Easyway to stop smoking. I’ve read some of it – and it’s fantastic. It’s based on developing understanding the physical and psychological mechanisms of addiction, and is pretty much applicable to all kinds of addiction. I hope it’ll help my friend to quit smoking (if I’m talking about you have you read it yet?).

And quite interestingly his approach fits quite neatly with my personal philosophy: that self-understanding gives us the answers of life, and underpins any real transformation of ourselves.

If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem. –Jiddu Krishnamurti

Day 24: The homeless

Where I am living at the moment there are a lot of homeless people around. I find that tough – both because of the gross disparity in wealth and opportunities between ‘them’ and ‘us’ (a false dichotomy I think), and also because you can that most people ignore the homeless and I find it difficult not to do the same.

So I stopped and chatted with one and helped him out.

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty. –Mother Teresa

Day 25: The ripple on effect

I didn’t do anything today. I had a plan but it didn’t work out. Instead I’ll just like to state something I observed: I saw the result of an act of kindness which was strikingly similar to something that I did a week back. (I don’t know who did it and nor do I want to.)

Perhaps my own action was the spark for it, but then again perhaps not. If it is it suggests that there is “no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” –Scott Adams

Day 26: Happy in an Oven

At the top of this page is the latest instalment of ‘Happy in Oxford’: ‘Happy in an Oven’. A strange guy…

Just to give a tantalising hint at what I did today here’s a quote. At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. –Jean Houston

Day 13: What to do?

This is the first day where I’m not sure what to write. Not because I didn’t do something, but because I did an anonymous act of kindness to somebody who may read this blog!

If I give the details of what I did then if the recipient reads the blog they will know who was behind it; and to make matters worse merely mentioning the fact that I did an anonymous act of kindness to somebody who may read my blog may be enough information for the recipient in question to work out it was me who did it…

My, that was a bit of a mouthful.

So the dilemma is this: what is more important, anonymity or having a blog update for today?

Which brings me to the reasons behind my blog: firstly, as I’ve committed myself to writing about my efforts it is my daily ‘kick up the bum’; secondly; it is an helpful way to process and think about what I’ve done; and thirdly, I hope it inspires, motivates and challenges you.

I am quite conscious, however, of the impact the blog has on people’s perceptions of me. And I really don’t want to be trapped in caring about what other people think of me; I want the freedom of doing things because I want to do them – not because I think it will make people think I’m a good, funny, interesting or amazing person.

And what I want to do is to not to say anything; henceforth, any time I don’t want to say what I did I will write a joke or put a picture up instead.

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming more interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.” –Dale Carnegie

We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away. –Chuang Tzu

Day 14: Coca Cola-less

This was an unusual idea. I decided to simplify my life by not drinking coca cola for a week, and giving the money I would have otherwise spent to charity.

This wasn’t because I thought coca cola is inherently bad (of course it isn’t – or is it…?), or that we do some good via asceticism, and then giving the money away. Rather this was about simplifying life – an experiment with removing unnecessary things from the everyday course of life.

I suspect that a simplification of life makes the person who simplifies more happy – when they examine and let go of their attachments to the frivolous.

And what is the way to determine the truth of this? Experiment!

Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more. –Jon Kabat-Zinn

Day 15: Leaving the world in a better place

There is a common adage that goes like this: clear up your own mess. But why leave it there? Some people can’t clear up their own mess, others won’t. Slandering such people won’t change anything – taking action will.

So today whereever I went somewhere I made an effort to both clear up after myself and make the place a little better for the next person.

And why not – what do you lose? It’s everybody’s mess.

Of all those people who went before to prepare the way for us, most of those people will not ask us to pay them back. But what they do ask of us is to pay it forward -– that we make this world a better place for those who come after us in just the way that they made this a better place for us. –Naomi Tutu

Day 16: The internet

Today’s action was a continuation of the theme of simplicity. I decided to use my computer and the internet less – it’s very easy to spend lots of time on it. This action alone, of course, wouldn’t make any smile (except perhaps myself, but I’m not sure if I count…), so I set the search engine everyclick (http://www.everyclick.com/?locale=world) as my home page and registered with it (http://charities.everyclick.com/fundraisers).

Do you know of those charity websites, where you click on a button and adverts appear, raising money for the charity? This search engine is based on a similar principle (being a social enterprise and giving 50% of its advertising revenue to charity), except there’s no drawback for the searchers (i.e. you don’t spend time doing an utterly pointless thing). All it takes is to register, and make it your primary search engine and from then on you are generating money for your favourite charity. And just by doing what you normally do!

What a wonderful idea – why don’t you register?

Simplicity is central to engaging the aliveness of the universe, because it helps to clear away the distractions that separate us from direct connection with life. –Duane Elgin

Day 17: K.E.E.N. to smile

I went ice skating today with K.E.E.N. (kids enjoying exercise now), and I looked after a kid who

a)   couldn’t skate

b)   wanted to go as fast as possible

So of course the inevitable happened…

The kids who come to K.E.E.N. are either physically or mentally disabled. The challenge is to see beyond their disabilities and see them for what they really are. I’m told that most people have disabilities (although most of which would be fairly minor) – something which I suspect is probably true.

This raises the question: what is a ‘normal’ human being?

Perhaps there is no such thing? And after all who wants to be ‘normal’, if they can be extraordinary? Let’s celebrate diversity and accept ourselves for who we are.

‘Only by accepting ourselves fully for who we are, can we begin to change.’—err … me.

Day 18: Friendship

Friends are integral part of who we are. So I thought it would be a jolly good thing to show my appreciation to my distant friends by writing letters to them.

And so I did.

Let us cherish our friends – they mean a lot to us, so why not tell them that?

Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is. –Mary Ann Radmacher

I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love. –Gandhi’s Prayer For Peace

Day 19: ‘Happy in Oxford’

You can see the first installment of ‘Happy in Oxford’ at the top of this page– it is called ‘Happy in a tree’. The photographer’s artistic inspiration for his feeble attempts is his sister – a true artist. Think of Happy (the green paint bottle) as a metaphor – if that helps.

Day 6: Selflessness

I left home today to go back to university, and I thought I’d do something for my family before I left. So I set the bread machine on (with the ingredients in it of course–you’d be amazed how easy it is to mess this up), because my family love the home-made bread it makes.

Now I have made bread countless times before, but what made this time different was I wasn’t going to get any of the bread myself, as I wasn’t going to be around when it was ready. For me it’s about trying to see things from a wider perspective – in this case the needs and wishes of my own family. (Something, I must admit, they have been trying to make me see for a long time!)

So why don’t you do something kind today that won’t immediately benefit yourself?

Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer; into a selflessness which links us with all humanity. –Nancy Witcher Astor

Render selfless service to the universe, not to any particular group of people but to anybody and everybody, to all living creatures — animals, plants or human beings. Service is unilateral, not mutual. Where it is mutual, it is not service – it is commercial transaction. –Dharma Mahacahra

Day 7: Day of Laughter

Surely, ‘the most wasted of all days is one without laughter’ (E. E. Cummings)? I thought that bringing some cheer to the world would be jolly good thing – so I made an extra effort to make people laugh, by telling jokes, stories or doing funny things.

Here’s a few links to get you going:

A Monty Python classic (a must watch for all fellow philosophers – see if you think it’s making a profound point about classical philosophy):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5fGSBsfq8

For some hilarious comic strips look no further than:http://pbfcomics.com/

Make somebody laugh today.

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. –Yiddish Proverb

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. –Victor Borge

Day 8: Anonymous Giving

In some ways I’m spoiling the very spirit of today’s Smile Action by telling you what I did. I decided I wanted to do an anonymous act of kindness for somebody I didn’t know. So I wrote a letter that I would have liked to have received myself and put it in a public place (although it wasn’t too obvious so it may be a while before somebody picks it up).

With the letter I attached a Smile Card (see: http://www.helpothers.org/pics/cards/pif5_full.gif), which is about turning anonymous kindness into a game of ‘tag’.

We are more inclined to do something kind for somebody we know rather than a stranger. But how much basis has this really got? If we strip away our desire for security and our egocentric judgements of people we are left with the fundamental fact that we are all human beings and we all want to be happy.

Why don’t you order some smile cards (http://www.helpothers.org/cards.php) and begin a chain of anonymous kindness?

Giving anonymously is as hard as taking film in and never seeing the photos. –Dave Davidson

Day 9: The Family

The family is the nucleus of society. It is an important social network that provides support, love and empathy. So today I ‘extended’ my family, and visited my dad’s cousin, who I haven’t seen for a long time. The scope of a family tends to be bigger in the developing world than in the Rich countries; ultimately though, we are part of one big global family – and the more support, love and empathy we pour into it the healthier it is.

Why don’t you extend your family today? Or heal an existing fracture?

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof. –Richard Bach

What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.–Mother Teresa

Day 10: Sharing

It’s not materialism per se that I have problem with- there is nothing wrong with having things. It’s the greed, the selfishness, the unhealthy desires and attachments, and the planetary, animal and human suffering that often accompanies it that is the real issue.

Sharing is an excellent antidote to all this.There are three types of sharing, or giving.

The beggarly: giving away what you don’t want or no longer have any need for.

The princely: giving away things that are fairly important to you.

The kingly: giving away your life possessions.

Today I gave a book away to a friend who I thought might find it interesting; and this is firmly in category one, the beggarly, but it is a start.

Why don’t you share something today, or give away something to somebody whose need is greater than your own? Why don’t you think about your attachment to your belongings and the basis for it?

When we share — that is poetry in the prose of life. –Sigmund Freud

The miracle is this – the more we share, the more we have. –Leonard Nimoy

Day 11: Poster Power

No matter how well-intentioned we are – we all need reminders. A reminder that life is short and wonderful, to sing, dance and smile. Or as one Sufi poet put it to remember not to ‘open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.’ (Rumi).

So I decided to create a poster to serve as a regular reminder for both me and my friends (although I haven’t put the copies up yet).Our lives are one big sign to everybody else – why don’t we make our lives a reminder to others what life is all about? Let us consider to impact our actions has on other people.

Why don’t you create your own reminder of what is important to you?

Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake up and live! –Bob Marley

Day 12: Holistic Peace

We need people who support and work with us towards peace, love and kindness. I decided today to formally announce an idea I’ve had for a while for empowering myself and others: the creation of a holistic peace group to act as a forum for sharing ideas and experiences, for motivation and support, and encouraging exploration and open-mindedness with regards to overcoming our own spiritual and political delusions. A group that would ask questions like:

·    How can we connect with what is alive within us? How do we develop inner peace? How can we become happy? How can we understand ourselves better, and become our own best friend? (Things that could be covered are non-violent communication, meditation, mindfulness, self-understanding and loving-kindness.

·        What is the World Order like? What are the impressions we get of it from mainstream media? Does that match up to reality?  If it is something that needs challenging, subverting or replacing then what can we do? (Things that could be covered are Chomsky’s Propaganda Model and lateral thinking.)

I quote from my explanation letter:

‘Paradoxically, while I think these two areas cover some of the most fundamental matters of life –they are also issues that are little talked of. This is partly due to the fact that to do these topics justice you need humility, integrity, an ability to be critical, asking searching questions, and a genuine sense of openness. At the very least one needs to be willing to develop these traits.

So in a sense the hardest step of holistic peace is the first one – to begin the journey of self-discovery, to search for the path of happiness, to be willing to try and understand and change the world. Are you ready?’

If you are at university with me why don’t you join the group? If not why don’t you and your friends help each other to explore both inner and outer peace?

The way is long ~ let us go together.
The way is difficult ~ let us help each other.
The way is joyful ~ let us share it.
The way is ours alone ~ let us go in love.
The way grows before us ~ let us begin. –Zen ProverbNever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that has. –Margaret Mead