We're baaaaaaaaaaaack!

On World Earth Day let's give the planet Peace...

Well, I'm not quite back. But this little Peace Bee has been pressed into service by her Queen, the wonderful Mimi, to tell everyone about this year's edition of the BlogBlast for Peace... and what better day to do it than on the 40th anniversary of World Earth Day.

"You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet"  

- Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons, 1964

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." 

- John Muir

Because we are all connected, because we have but one planet to call home... let it be a beautiful, clean and peaceful home.



Here is my Queen's message:

Welcome to the 7th launch of BlogBlast For Peace aka Dona Nobis Pacem in the blogosphere. It's inception began in 2006 with one single post and a cry for peace in our world.
A small group of bloggers answered that challenge and it began to spread across the internet in ways that humble me still. It reaches across political lines and religious creeds, abides in corners of unrest and places of hope, gives voice to individual beliefs and promotes tolerance for diversity. It celebrates the genius in each one of us, found in sparkling conversations of passionate pleas for change in the earth. It is that hope for change that motivates us.

It was the Internet's first ever online movement of its kind to invite bloggers to post the same message on the same day. From blog to blog it has moved and continues to grow. We have been amazed to see the power and passion shown each year displayed on pages across the world. We visit each other with our prayers and scribbles, prose and poetry, art and angst, heart and hilarity - and we are moved by it. From one post to thousands of others in fifty countries and almost every state in the United States, something rare and wonderful happens on BlogBlast For Peace day.
I am privileged to witness it.
I invite you to experience it.
It's time.
Join us!

November 4, 2010
Bloggers from all across the globe
will blog for peace.
We will speak with one voice.
One subject.
One day.

How To Get Your Peace Globe 2010
Here's how to do it in 4 easy steps!

1. Choose one of the Peace Globe designs shown on this page. Right CLICK and SAVE in JPG format.

2. Sign the globe using Paint, Photoshop or a similar graphics tool. Decorate the globe anyway you wish. You can even include the name of your blog. Click here for thousands of inspiring examples from previous BlogBlasts.

3. Return the peace globe to me via email ~ blogblastforpeace at yahoo.com and sign the Mr. Linky below. Leave a comment and your blog's name and url in the Mr. Linky so that we can visit each other.
Your submission will be numbered and dated in the official gallery with a link back to your post and a permanent spot on the Official BlogBlast For Peace website.

4. On November 4,2010 DISPLAY YOUR GLOBE IN A POST on your blog, FACEBOOK WALL and TWEET IT!

Title your post "Dona Nobis Pacem" - Latin for Grant Us Peace. This is important. The goal is for all blog post titles to say the same thing on the same day. Write about peace that day or simply fly your globe.
Come back here and sign your name again once you've posted your own globe.

Need ideas and inspiration? Go to BlogBlast For Peace.com to see the gallery of thousands of peace globes and posts from 50 countries already submitted and numbered.
If you'd like to read about the history of this movement, go here.

You can also find us on....

Join the Peace TWIBE
Bloggers Unite group
IPEACE Group

What should you do while you're planning what to write and create?

1. Post this badge on your site and Facebook pages to promote.
Or feel free to use it as your globe on November 4th. Just grab the code below.

November 4, 2010

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2. Become a Peace Globe Worker Bee.
This organization of busy helpers and dedicated peace bloggers began in 2009. The concept was created by this man and taken up by a growing number of bloggers with a passion for peace and this movement. Read "You See There Were These Bees...." to find out how the bzzzzzzz started bzzzzzzzing. Any one of the bloggers mentioned in that post or who commented on that post are ready and willing to assist you.

What does a PGWB do? Many of you already do the following actions that define a Peace Globe Worker Bee: Spreading the word, posting the date, flying the Blog Blast banner, offering assistance to anyone who needs help making a Globe, or directing bloggers to one of the sites where they can find out more about the movement. Please take the bee badge with you too! We want to see the peace bzzzzz everywhere! We appreciate all you are doing already to spread the word.

3. SHARE and TWEET this post every chance you get until November 4th, 2010.

This is what has gone before.
I can't wait to see what you do with this movement in 2010.

Papa's Marbles ~ How It All BeganThe Silence Of PeaceBlogBlast For Peace #1

BlogBlast For Peace #2 June 2007

BlogBlast For Peace #3 November 2007

BlogBlast For Peace #4 June 2008

BlogBlast For Peace #5 November 6, 2008

BlogBlast For Peace #6 November 5, 2009

If words are powerful....then this matters.

Join us!

BlogBlast For Peace logo and concept is the sole property of Mimi Lenox.
2006-2010 copyright
All rights reserved.

Dona Nobis Pacem

“Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it. You got to change with it. If a day goes by that don't change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just about like trying to milk a dead cow.”
– Woody Guthrie

BlogBlast for Peace is finally here. Yay!

I’ve been struggling with this post (yes, me too Mimi). I’ve started about 5 different versions. This is because for one, I’m a procrastinator and when a procrastinator tries to go against her character and starts something too early… well, it gets complicated. The other reason is that a lot has happened in my life since the last BlogBlast of November 2008. I joined the ranks of the unemployed, I’ve had my share of illness, I lost my Dad… and through all this, I’ve been trying to find a new path to my Peace in this challenging year.

This BlogBlast finds me asking myself about My Peace… Where does it reside? There’s the obvious “All you need is Love” and “Peace begins with Me”, and they are both true. By loving those around me, by showing kindness to strangers, by offering a friend a comforting hug, by giving of my time at my Chicklet’s school, I send out a ripple into the world. Letting people know they matter. That someone cares.

Love and Understanding…

The losses I’ve lived through, struggled with in the past couple of years, prepared me for the past few weeks… That’s what life is, isn’t it? Woody was right. We change and grow.

I’m one of many, a bee, a part of The Hive.

The understanding reached and the beliefs that were forged during those challenges life threw at me prepared me to sit vigil with the woman who inspired this day. It allowed me to fulfill my part in her journey. Each bee in her hive had something to do, a specific task. Some bees, who had lost a parent or sat vigil themselves with a family member, shared their insight. Some bees, kept collecting the pollen and scouring the earth for new and undiscovered fields. The Hive hummed and buzzed. Friends came together.

So… My Peace…

“I'd rather have friends who care than friends who agree with me.”
– Arlo Guthrie

Arlo (Woody’s son and a fine troubadour in his own right) once said that accepting someone else’s opinion brings with it a “challenge to your own understanding”.

I like that… a challenge to your understanding. I’ve long held in my heart that if you can’t be bothered with finding out why people hold to certain beliefs, you’ll never achieve understanding… and you’ll never achieve Peace.

I recently read this quote:

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
– Aristotle

It’s a statement that governs my life. Not that I tout myself as an “educated mind”... But this is why I have to pick things apart. So I can understand where people come from, what their reality is. I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember.

I can’t walk away from differences… I need to understand. It’s the only path I know to acceptance, to Love and Understanding… to Peace.

“It is understanding that gives us an ability to have peace. When we understand the other fellow's viewpoint, and he understands ours, then we can sit down and work out our differences.”
- Harry S. Truman

In all these days I’ve been posting about Peace, I have never asked the question.

I mean, from what I see, with Peace Globes being crafted all throughout the Bloggosphere, and people marching for peace worldwide… and groups popping up everywhere on Facebook and iPeace and BloggerUnite…

Why?
Why is it that with what feels like the whole world asking for Peace, why are we not there yet?
How is this possible?
How can we look into a child’s eyes and not want Peace? And not FEEL Peace?!
What is keeping us from achieving what the clear majority of human beings on Earth seem to want?

I just don’t get it.

It would help if we knew why. I mean really… Because when you know what the obstacle is, you can overcome it. Understanding.

Recently, I accompanied my Chicklet as she embarks on her journey towards High School *sigh* HIGH SCHOOL!!! (um, excuse me, I need to take a moment and regroup… hug each other in the mean time… I’ll be right back…)

Ok… So, Chicklet goes off to do her thing while I sit in the same auditorium I used to sit in as a teenager, watching the plays the theatre group had put on, watching movies the school felt they wanted us young minds to experience… I sat there listening to the vice-principal tell us about the program we were, as families, considering for our precious children.

She talked about the values the program was based on.

One in particular stood out. Because lately, Peace is everywhere I look... like spooooooky… but in the best possible way.

It was about diversity, and about being able to come together and challenge our ideas and views and opinions.



She talked about how the children were encouraged to put on debates, to take positions, to listen to other people’s points of view… but that just walking away after each opinion was stated wasn’t where it would stop at the school.

As she said (or something like it - in French): “when you discuss, have multiple exchanges back and forth,… each time clarifying each position… at some point you just might find that both parties meet in the middle and come to a unified and slightly different point of view than each of them held in the very beginning. Sometimes, one person learns something knew, or gets a different angle about something and it affects their position. But even if nothing changes, at least they know each other a little more.”

“Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.”
- Mark Twain

I participate in BlogBlast, because I believe in Peace. I participate because, like Mimi and my fellow Peace Bees, I believe in the power of words…. I believe that we might reach people through them. It’s not enough to preach to the choir. We need to reach the people who are skeptical about the feasibility of achieving Peace. We’re after a culture of Peace…
This means getting through to people who are pessimistic about Peace, who may have hatred and fear in their hearts, who are just cynical and refuse to join a movement that’s about Hope. We must get through to the people who have wrapped themselves in the “woobies” that are their opinions… because you don’t grow if you don’t challenge yourself and your beliefs. You end up stuck trying to milk a dead cow.

If we stop just because someone crosses their arms, we’ll have let Peace down… We’ll have let each other down.
Walking away is not an option. It just isn’t… Not if you care.
I can only imagine how many wars were sparked by someone leaving the discussion too early. To achieve Love and Understanding, we must be willing to stay and talk, even if it’s uncomfortable, even if we don’t agree.

When someone walks away, stay… wait for them to come back. Sometimes the wait is long… we are now taking up what was started by those who came before us.

Words matter. The words to this song were written by Woody Guthrie. He was one of the first artists to realize that music could be an agent for change. I was born on the anniversary of Woody’s passing.
As Arlo tells us in this video, his father never wrote down the music that went with the words and took it with him when he passed… it was up to Arlo to set his father’s words to music. Much like it was up to Mimi to take her Papa's marbles and start the BlogBlast for Peace.
I know you’ve already spent some time here reading my ramblings and I appreciate it (maybe you’re a masochist), and there are many Peace Bloggers and Bees to visit… but listening to Arlo is one of those gifts of Love and Understanding. I hope you’ll listen. If not now, maybe soon… we’ll wait.

Like Arlo says.. it’s about the little peace that’s in you that makes people happy to see you, the one that makes the dogs lick you and the babies smile…

I've included the lyrics, should you be in a kumbaya state of mind and feel the urge to sing along. *smile*



My Peace

My peace, my peace is all I’ve got that I can give to you
My peace is all I ever had, that’s all I ever knew
I give my peace to green and black and red and white and blue
My peace, my peace is all I’ve got that I can give to you.

My peace, my peace is all I’ve got and all I've ever known
My peace is worth a thousand times more than anything I own
I pass my peace around and about ‘cross hands of every hue;
My peace, my peace is all I've got that I can give to you.


Words by Woody Guthrie
Music by Arlo Guthrie

wednesday wisdom...

Maybe we should get out of their way and let them lead us?

I'm off to give my time and attention to Chicklet's classmates and help out at the school library. How lovely to watch our future as they stiffle a giggle when they read a funny line in a story, watch their eyes sparkle as they venture into faraway lands and and frolick with mystical characters... in the peaceful quiet of the library.

Join the BlogBlast for Peace. Let the children know you care.

Dona Nobis Pacem - an invitation

We believe that words have power, so this matters.

You'll notice from a few of us Bees a fairly identical post. Bees do that sometimes. A Bee does a little dance that lets the other Bees know where the good stuff is. And so, Travis the dancing Bee, reminded us of this Meme and we're following him to the good stuff.



This is the best tag ever. It's about Peace and activism. It's about unity in the bloggosphere. It's about community.

It's about time.

We are tagging the universe for Mimi, (doesn't leave many left to tag - she's everywhere as Julie and I have noticed). But it's ok...the great thing about this meme is that you can tag your friends and neighbors on any social network site you prefer.

Peace Globes are on Facebook and Twitter and BloggersUnite and iPeace!

This meme first appeared in May 2008. Mimi introduced it, and the Peace Globe Worker Bees thought this was a great time to do it again. We're just 16 days out from this year's Blog Blast for Peace.



Begin direct quote from Mimi Writes...

Peace Globes did not begin as a meme. But it began to behave like a meme. Blog to blog to blog. Like a fog. We didn't use the word "tag" ....but that's what we did when we invited others in our blogrolls to participate. The fact that you did so without the obligatory tag is proof that the concept is powerful.

It's a fact that the fastest and most effective way to spiral an idea out of control in the blogosphere is via a meme. I should know! The 700+ bloggers who participated in past launches (and that truly is the tip of The-Iceberg-I-Never-Found) knows what it means to them. It's about unity. We have that in spades. It's about activism, awareness, crossing political lines, making a statement and sharing ideas. We've done that. We have the vision as a core group of bloggers for peace; but we do not - yet - have the power in numbers behind the message.


Unity in numbers = power.

Peace power?

What a revolutionary idea.

My vision hasn't changed. Nor has my commitment to the project or my willingness to work hard. But if it is to have the influence I know it can - then I have to work smarter. Today, I, Mimi Queen of Memes, toss a slew of beautiful little peaceful globes into the galactic blogosphere - to get the ball rolling.

How far will they go? Where will they land?

Who will catch them? Where will they send them next?

Who will draw a picture, write a poem, make a song, write a post....that might have the power to begin to change the landscape of my world?

Someone will.

Will it be you?


A friend told me earlier this evening "I have a healthy respect for the power of the written word. If we can all get together and do this on the same day, with the right post title, it can have meaning....It can extend the meaning and become more powerful."

Right, my friend. A revolution of words.

Don't you want to know how far your words will reach? Have you ever wondered if what you write has relevance and meaning to someone else? Maybe someone in another country, maybe even a violent place. Or just a lonely space.

I have to believe that there are many others who - given the opportunity - would like to speak for peace. I say we should use all the tools at our disposal to make sure they get the chance.

This meme is a movement.

Let's move it.



BlogBlast For Peace Meme ~ Join The Revolution

Here are the rules and the story.

Copy this into a post and tag as many people as you'd like.

The Peace Globe project began in the fall of 2006 with a simple post from one blog, Mimi Writes. The post ignited a flame in the blogosphere. The flame became a passion. The passion became a movement. It amazingly traveled from blog to blog to blog across the globe. Bloggers wrote passionate articles on what peace means to them, along with the promise of three Latin words scribbled on a globe - Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace) - branded with the integrity of their names or blog names. It was positively inspiring to watch. And it began to happen all over the world - from Singapore to China to Afghanistan to Brooklyn.

It was simple. And powerful.

We will speak with one voice. One subject. One day.

Won't you join us?

On 5 November 2009, DISPLAY YOUR GLOBE IN A POST. Title your post "Dona Nobis Pacem". This is important. The goal is for all blog post titles to say the same thing on the same day. Write about peace that day or simply fly your globe.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE TAGGED TO PLAY.

Please consider passing this meme through the blogosphere.

This is Mimi Pencil Skirt reporting from the lovely land of the Peace Globes.

Memeing the Movement.

End quote from Mimi Writes...

You're all tagged. Everything you need to know about how to participate can be found if you click on the Worker Bee Badge at the top of my sidebar. And once you've created your Peace Globe, email it to blogblastforpeace@yahoo.com so it can be included in the Gallery.

This is a worthy thing. It's a community thing. It's a blog thing. It's a human thing.

Do it. Post your globe on 5 November. And visit Mimi on that day. Sign Mr Linky and click on the hundreds of other links to travel through the bloggosphere and see other Globes, and read heart felt words about Peace.

Be a Peace Blogger.

Dona Nobis Pacem.

you have to keep trying...

Sometimes...

We can't feel what the other person is feeling... and we may hurt them...

... more than once.

But you know, when you have love in your heart, in the end... it's ok.

If everyone could forgive like Harry does... maybe there would be Peace.

A big smile and a giggle help too, don't they?

Oh...I just saw the most beautiful globe in all of Blogblast For Peace history on Thursday when I stopped in to visit Michelle of "Crow's Feet" at the urging of my Queen Mimi, the founder of this beautiful movement.

Go on and see... it's so very inspiring.

Go on... click the BEE... and BEE the change.

Join the Blogblast for Peace and get a Peace Globe for November 5th, 2009.
And yes, I have resorted to using cute and precious children to get you to join *grin*