2 Days to Peace Day

“I have nothing new to teach the world.  Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills.  All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.”  Gandhi

So, I’m totally out of the closet now: I’m obsessed with Gandhi.  For years, I haven’t actually thought so much about him, but in my 20s, I was thoroughly obsessed.  During my first week in law school, I even remember walking around the campus clutching my copy of his “All Men Are Brothers” and reading it during my breaks.  Over the years, my interest in Gandhi has waxed and waned, and writing these countdown posts not surprisingly initiated a new surge.

One of the reasons I’ve resonated with him so much is reflected in this quote.  I too am drawn to experiment with truth and non-violence, both within myself and with my actions in the world.  My experiments generally go something like this: 1) I notice a disruption, 2) I get an inclination about how to draw it out and engage it, and 3) I follow out an experiment in order to try transform it and/or understand it better.  The upsides to all this are that I learn so much in the process and sometimes a beautiful alchemy does result.  The downsides: it makes me do some weird shit, and sometimes my results are more like the ones Neville Longbottom would end up with in one of Professor McGonagall’s transfiguration classes.  If you’ve ever been baffled by my actions (ie. gypsying around the country, my Gary Johnson crusade,….), it may very well be because I was engaged in one of my little experiments.    

Experimentation is also my motivation for this countdown.  When I first read about the global meditation, the possibility of thousands (maybe millions!) of people around the world unifying their intentions at one moment in time captured me.  Then, I read an article about how experiments on group meditations showed a reduction in crime rates and violence, and I was totally hooked.  The social scientist inside me became totally engaged with an incredible sense of interest in the great potential.  I felt and still feel such a desire to help build the number of people who participate (3 PM EDT from wherever you are!), and I’m just this wide eyed and curious kid waiting to see how it all comes out.

So there it is, folks, my secret life inner life is a compulsive string of experiments.  I can’t seem to stop myself from doing it again and again, for better or worse, and forever hoping for the outcome that seems most impossible to believe.

#peaceday #september21