The most basic kind of peace work.  To know that you could even engage in peace work at its most grassroots level with just a smile – that’s a thought.  This makes me think a little about how just the word peace is quite multifaceted really; it is layered by the beholder and not easily summarized, and equally not easily sustained.  Just take a look around and you’ll see evidence of a lack of peace for sure ~ in politics, in wars between countries, between families, between parties, between races, between human identities.  And just today, during a mindfulness practice in session, I was reminded that finding peace is not about controlling everything around us, finding a way to make the world at large read from the peace script, or faking some kind of happiness to make it look like we’re all at peace with each other.  Peace is about finding quite stillness within to calibrate myself, my thoughts, my body, my feelings. And only then, I can move from that place to offer a smile that can begin a dialogue, that can soften a tense moment, or can bridge a gap of difference. 

I invite you to take a few moments of quiet stillness, to focus your awareness on the inner workings of your mind, to generate kind intentions, and then go from that place and use your beautiful smile to do the important peace work that is so desperately needed in our world today.

Namaste